Issue 02 - Good Light!

Mag - The New Way of Portrait Photography

Issue 02 - Good Light! Mag - The New Way of Portrait Photography

Your Lighting Setup

by Ariel Cohen

Instant
Portrait Light

by Michael Zelbel

You Get What

You
Pay
For
by Jacques Rattaz
5 Questions for
Michael Zelbel
by Sebastian Stelter

GoodLightMag.com

One Location,
One Model,
Two Looks
3 Photographs. 3 Ideas. 3 Photo Sets.
Unlimited Festive Mood!

Contents

FEATURES

One Location, One

Model, Two Looks
By JEEAN ALVAREZ

Your Lighting Setup!

By ARIEL COHEN

Instant Portrait Light

- a Flash in Your
Shopping Bag
By MICHAEL ZELBEL

You Get What You

Pay For
By JACQUES RATTAZ

Quicktip: The Sunny 16

Rule
By SEBASTIAN STELTER

Waterfalls - One Light

Setup
By SARAH PULVERMUELLER

Reponsive Wordpress
Themes For
Photographers
By SOPHIA FROMUTH

Helicon Filter - A
smart toll for low
budget
By HANNO KNIERIM

5 Questions for
Michael Zelbel
By SEBASTIAN STELTER

Your Lighting Setup!

3

One
Location,
One
Model,
Two
Looks
By JEEAN ALVAREZ

One Location, One Model, Two Looks

4

For my shoot I wanted to create two

different looks with the same equipment in the same location. The photos
were taken at a harbor which is close
to the models residence. In order to
know everything about my workplace at the actual shooting day, I inquired the location beforehand. If you
work in an office, you know all about
it as well, so gather all information
about a shooting location if youre not
going to shoot in a familiar place.

The Shooting

bikini for a nice natural look.

I always bring along a wide range to
my shoots so I have an alternative if
somethings missing. You may have
realized that the white leggins are
missing on the final result. Where
have they gone? Well, whilst testing
the lights I thought that the white hotpants didnt achieve the result I was
hoping for. We looked through our
shooting suitcase and we decided on
the jeans hotpants which matched
way better.

The first pic should look a little bit

fashy and sexy at the same time
whilst the other one was meant to
show the natural look of the model.
Both shoots took place at the same
time of the day. We started at half
past seven on a delightful evening. I
love to shoot in the dusk theres no
blazing sun and I can create my own
light. So this was the perfect time for
me. Blinding sun is unfavorable for
shooting; the model squinches her
eyes and its not easy to get a relaxed
facial expression.

Getting outfits for your shooting isnt

as hard as you might think. You could
ask your model whether she had
clothes shed like to bring to the
shooting; shell pack her favorite
things for sure. The good thing is,
shell feel comfortable in her own
clothes. If you want a wider range of
outfits, just go ahead and ask your
sister or your friends to provide you
with cool accessories and clothes for
your shooting. If you put aside some
money for your shooting you could
also meet up with your model and go
shopping together.

I arrange my shoots very carefully. For

this shoot I previewed the outfits and
the styling together with the model
Sara-Joleen and the make-up artist Ira
Sam. We decided on a black bra and
black leggins. Along with Sara-Joleens
black hair the outfit contrasted the
paving stones and yellow stripes
which looked amazing alltogether. For
the second idea we chose white hotpants, brown boots and the top of a

For me, its very important that the

model feels comfortable. It makes
work easier for me and it provides a
more pleasant atmosphere. I asked
Sara to go up and down the path. I
told her something amusing at the
same time and she began to laugh.
This was just the perfect moment for
me to push the shutter release button
and her gorgeous smile was captured

One Location, One Model, Two Looks

5

on camera. If you are no born entertainers, ask an assistant or a friend

to help you out. An easy conversation
could be enough for your model to feel
comfortable. In addition, she doesnt
see you simply as a photographer with
a camera at the eye and its not completely quiet. Imagine youd have to
pose in complete silence for half an
hour, an hour or even longer and your
photographer doesnt say a word and
the only thing you hear is click click
click. Youd get bored pretty fast. You
could also bring some music to the
shooting location. I like working with
some good music in the background
and if the model agrees, theres nothing that could come between you and
your shooting party. ;)

I Love To Play With Different

Perspectives. Give It A Try!
The upright picture I took laying on
the ground, the horizontal one I took
left of the model or above her, that
makes the person taller and the legs
dont seem so compressed. For the
black & yellow shot I was standing and the camera was positioned
above the model. Just try it yourselves! Let your model pose in a
comfortable position and take your
photos from different angles. You can
choose the perspective you like most
at the PC later on.

One Location, One Model, Two Looks

6

Light Setup
The shooting was outdoors. There was no electricity, also we had no car. So
a battery flash system, which is very portable, was the best choice. I took the
Elinchrom Ranger Q and used it with two A-Heads. One of them was fitted on
an Octabox (90cm / 36) as main light.

First Light Setup (Landscape Format)

Second Light Setup (Portrait Format)

I put the keylight above the model for

a flattering light, therefore I used a
deep octabox (90cm / 36).
The second light, a Quadra A-Head,
had the single task to illuminate the
background.

For a natural look, the main light

stood slightly above the model.
An octabox (90cm / 36) acted as
the keylight.
The other light was placed behind
her to light her beautiful curly hair.

Background Story
Theres one little background story Id like to tell you about this shooting. The
pictures were taken relatively at the beginning of the shooting. The day and our
shootings lasted some hours longer. Because we arrived by train, we actually
had to decide to finish the great shooting somewhen in order to catch the train
in time. Good thing was, our model Sara-Joleen offered us to spend the night at
her apartment and so we stayed and I shot until the morning arrived.

One Location, One Model, Two Looks

7

After a few hours of sleep and a great breakfast we packed our things to go
home. A few meters away from our house we noticed the smell of smoke. We
went in and the whole building had this scent. But the apartment was okay
and so I checked on the internet to find out if something had happened here.
Strange, I know. In fact, our residential building where 50 people live in had
burned from the basement up while we were at the shooting but 60 firemen
were able to stop the fire. Unbelievable, right? This shooting will definitely stay
in my mind. Photography changed my life again. This time in a very unusual
way for sure.
JEEAN ALVAREZ (whose civil name is Gerrit Grosshans) discovered
his passion for photography in the year 2009. Especially, he lets this
passion slip in his people & lifestyle photographies. Experiencing
people, communicating with them and catch them in his pictures is a
similarly intensive experience as life itself. Dortmund is the central location for his life and his work. Spotting new sites of action however
is an important part for his fresh view. These new perspectives always reveal new facets in his photographies which become parts in
his photographic repertoire.
Photographer:
Jeean Alvarez, is a People & Lifestyle Photographer
who is based in Germany.
More info at:
www.jeeanphotography.com
Model: Sara-Joleen
Make-Up Artist: Ira Sam

A Cookbook for Improving

Your Boudoir Photography
This eBook features 74 pages full of recipes for awesome photography in any
bedroom
use simple and absolutely reliable lighting setups
return from your shoot with posh professional photos
make your boudoir models really proud

Packed with actionable tips and tricks

In the ebook I walk you through
the way that I perform my boudoir photo shoots. All you need
to do is follow the 6-step approach that I provide you with:
1. basics like the right lighting
gear and lenses for a bedroom
2. lingerie and clothes which
work vs. things that do not
work
3. the lighting setups which
deliver the best results
4. poses for every model, from
standard to creative
5. how to find the best camera
angle the common mistakes to
avoid

Findout about this book at Boudoir.cc

Your Lighting Setup!

9

Your
Lighting
Setup!

In this issue: Ariel Cohen

- Beauty Portrait

Your Lighting Setup!

10

Shooting studio was always frightening to me. Because it means you need
to go pro- Use heavy-duty strobes,
serious light-modifiers and control all
aspects of your light. But shooting in
a controlled environment is something
that I always wanted to try.
So, with great sad feelings, I sold my
beloved Playstation 3, added a few
bucks, and got my first strobe - Elinchrom D-Lite 4 it. Its an entrylevel strobe (400W), but offers everything that I needed at that time.
I also bought a 44cm white beautydish which will allow me to control the
light in a more punchy way yet not
losing the quality of it. After I got all
that gear, I got a request from a local
model-wanna-be who have asked me
if I could do her a beauty shot. I saw
the opportunity to produce an editorial
beauty portrait session and said yes
right away.
Since I wanted to do face and upperbody shots, I didnt need much gear
other than those I pointed earlier. Ive
positioned to model right in the middle
of my home-studio (aka, my livingroom). Ive placed the strobe above
the model (plus a little to the side) and
setting it to about 2.5~3.0 power. The
strobe was about 1m away from her
face. Since lighting your subject from
above often produce shadows below
eyes and neck, Ive compensate that
by using a silver reflector underneath
the models torso (silver reflector
bounce more light than a white reflector). So, there we have it a key-light

(the strobe) and a fill-light (the reflector). All that has left is to simply push
the shutter-release button.

Lighting Setup
One of the main things that a fashion/portrait photographer should bear
in mind is, to make sure you able to
capture a catch light in the models
eyes. You now all those cartoons
where theres a puppy who stare at
a some hotdogs at a grocery-stores
window when suddenly theres a
sprinkle of light in his eyes well.. its
the same here catch light can give
your photo that extra thing you need
to make it come to life. For me, making sure theres a catch light is crucial.
And I can do it by simply reviewing
my photographs as I take them on my
back of my camera or, as I usually do,

Your Lighting Setup!

11

reviewing them on my computer as I shoot tethered (what I shoot goes instantly

to my laptop, since Ive learned that the cameras LCD can be deceiving).
At the end of that session I got about 300 photos (RAW format) and sat to
choose the best and move them into the retouching phase. I mainly work with
Adobes Photoshop CS6 and give a little polish with Portrait Professional 10.
For this photo of Maria, I wanted to give her a perfect-lit background (to match
the elegant look Maria is posing). So, Ive cheated a-bit and replaced the whole
original background with a radial-gradient-fill in Photoshop. The overall result
was very pleasing as the model was very satisfied with it, and thats one of the
ways you know youre making the job right
Equipment List
Canon EOS 7D - 1/200sec, f/11, ISO 200
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM MACRO
Elinchrom D-Lite 4 it
44cm White beauty-dish
Silver Reflector
Apple MacBook (for shooting tethered)
About Ariel Cohen
Im a 33 years-old enthusiast photographer. Ive made my
first steps in photography about two years-ago. Since then,
I have fell in-love with shooting portraits (mainly, senior-portraits and beauty). For me, photography is all about aesthetics- making clean and elegant art. I take much care about
quality and for that reason, I let the retouching phase to be
an integral part of my workflow. The ability to manipulate
light to your advantage and creativity is one of the key elements that every photographer should apply.
ariel.c@me.com
www.ariel-c.com

Instant Portrait
- a Flash
in aYour
Shopping Bag
MakeLight
her happy
with
spontaneous
portrait
12

Instant
Portrait Light

a Flash in Your Shopping Bag

By Michael Zelbel

Instant Portrait Light - a Flash in Your Shopping Bag

13

Today I want to share with you an

old German proverb. It goes like this,
A bag for shopping makes your light
jaw-dropping! Stop acting like youve
never heard it before! Fine, you got
me its not really a proverb; but Im
German and I use it all the time! In a
couple of centuries it might become a
household wisdom for young photographers to heed and abide by. I and
the team have also prepared this article on shooting marvelous portraits
with nothing but a speedlight and a
shopping bag, so this blessed time
may come sooner.
If you havent yet bought a good selection of gear for conducting photo
shoots, or find yourself deprived of
fancy equipment, or get stage fright
working with complex lighting setups,
you will find this article very useful.
You will learn a very simple and effective trick for quickly taking beautiful

pictures using only the barest minimum of equipment and the slightest
bit of effort. Employing this technique,
you will achieve several goals simultaneously: practice your skills, win
the trust of a new model (or a client)
and immediately impress everyone
around you!
Actually, even if you are an advanced
photographer, you can still benefit
enormously from using this trick. It
works like a charm for ensnaring people to do full-blown photo shoots with
you; when they look at the beautiful
pictures that you can take anywhere,
at any time, they can t but allow you
to work your magic on them in a studio! Just like I said, it is a very useful
and impressive technique.

Instant Portrait Light - a Flash in Your Shopping Bag

14

Instant Portrait Light - a Flash in Your Shopping Bag

15

Instant Portrait Light - a Flash in Your Shopping Bag

16

Instant Portrait Light - a Flash in Your Shopping Bag

17

But enough promises lets cut right

to the chase and look into this awesome trick in depth!
This is what you will need:
a white shopping bag roughly 54x44
cm (21x17 inches);
a speedlight;
a camera and a model (obviously).
Now, time to pull off our effortless
yet so impressive trick. Seriously, its
as simple as it gets so you might at
least act all mysterious and imposing,
lest it all seem too easy!
First, calibrate the speedlight to 1/16
power and place it inside the bag,
facing upwards. Next, place the bag
about 60 cm (2 feet) away and slightly
to the side of the model, at a 45-degree angle so when the flash goes
off it will light her up nicely. Adjust
the camera to 100 ISO and f/2.8 diaphragm, then pick the shutter speed
that is right for your lens (we used
1/200s). If your lens is not sensitive
enough to open up the diaphragm
so much, set the camera to f/4 but
change the setting of the speedlight to
1/8 power to compensate.
At last, point your camera and shoot
away! If you have done everything
correctly, the resulting picture will feature a lot of soft light in the foreground
and a substantially darker background.
This type of lighting is very flattering; it
never fails to leave the model thrilled
and asking for more!

Make a test photo of your bag. Is it glowing

white? If not, then adjust your flash power.

Make a test photo of your hand. Is the exposure correct? If not, then fine tune the flash
power.

Very important: place the bag really close to

your model. Otherwise the light gets hard instead of soft.

Instant Portrait Light - a Flash in Your Shopping Bag

18

Despite the simplicity of this technique, we still recommend that you

practice it before going out there and
testing your newly acquired skill of
creating ins tant and awesome portraits. To further smooth out the learning curve and make it even easier on
yourself, follow these guidelines:
The bag with the speedlight inside
should be very close to the model, to
the point that, whenever you slightly
shift the frame to the side, it pops
into the image. If you need to place
it far away, youre doing it wrong
check the settings on the flash and
on your camera, then try again;
You dont need an actual model to
practice: just place an object in her
place and take a couple of shots to
get the feel of the lighting;
When looking at the images in the
tng properly, there should be virtually
none.

If the colors seem a bit off, check the

white balance. You can see in the
lighting diagram that we used 5600
Kelvin for the shoot, in tune with the
speedlights color temperature. Try
not to leave it on auto.
Heres a quick way to check the
lighting before the shoot: take a picture of the bag and see if its illuminated completely; next, shoot your
hand next to the bag and see if its
exposed correctly. If its too bright,
bring down the power of the flash
if its too dark, turn it up.
Now you are ready to go out there
and impress the heck out of everyone! The beauty of this trick is that
you dont need a studio; you can pull
this off in a caf, in an apartment
anywhere. As long as you have a
shopping bag and a budget speedlight, you can make magic happen!

Instant Portrait Light - a Flash in Your Shopping Bag

19

We encourage you to learn this simple

technique and try it out. Heed the wise
saying, A bag for shopping makes
your light jaw-dropping, and act upon
it who knows, maybe it will catch on!
Michael Zelbel
Model: Fredau Hoekstra
http://fredauhoekstra.co.uk

Pictures in this article are

100% unretouched just
to give you a clear idea of
how big a difference you
can make with simple manipulations like the ones
described in the article.

Download Free
Movie Poster
Template
One sure-fire way to make your photography work stand out
and attract attention is to display it in a unique manner that
demonstrates clearly just how creative and inspired you are. It
will be especially effective if its the happy client or model that
proudly does the displaying.
To make the heroine of your most recent photo shoot even
more delighted with the pictures you have created, you can
go an extra mile and drop your best photo of her into this slick
movie poster template.
Next, fill it in with the models name, your name and your
website address and dont forget to credit other people who
helped in your photo shoot. As a final step, save it as a JPG
and either enclose it with the other pictures from the shoot or
post it on the models Facebook page. Let the word of mouth
do the rest her friends will hardly resist the temptation to
oooh and aaah over this awesome-looking poster!
To top it off, you could print it out in high resolution and use
it as an eye-catcher in your studio it would double as an unusual piece of decoration and an advertisement for your skills!
The template is available for instant download (in PSD format,
to edit in Photoshop and compatible software) for the low, low
cost of nothing whatsoever all you need to do is sign up
for our newsletter Photography Talk. It is chock-full of excellent advice on photography. No spam we hate it as much as
you do. No obligations you can unsubscribe with one click at
any time.
You want it, dont you? Then click here to grab the template
right now:

Photography Talk
And may your new elegant movie poster make your models
happy!
Tip: you can make another, more light-hearted version of the template
by simply inverting the background of the poster from black to white. It
looks like a dream for wedding photos!

Oleg Starko

You Get What You Pay For

21

By JACQUES RATTAZ

You Get What You Pay For

Most professional photographers agree that you should not save on the wrong
things. For some of them it is clear that you should not save on lenses, because
they are very important. Others will tell you that you must not save on lighting. And then there is us. We dont save on our effort to ask photographers who
obviously know how to make great photos what they wont save on. This time
we asked Jacques Rattaz who is working as a fashion photographer and photography tutor at ETAP Srl Photography Institute. In his video he shares two of
his lighting setup with us and discusses how much you have to spend on good
lighting.
For more information about
Jacques Rattaz and his work
visit:
http://www.glamboudoir.ch
http://www.photospassion.com
http://www.etap.ch

Quickitip: The Sunny 16 Rule

22

By SEBASTIAN STELTER

Quicktip: The Sunny 16 Rule

Turns out you dont really need a light meter in your camera if you just follow
the simple rule in this article. To get really good at lighting and photography,
you must develop a good feeling for light. And if you base your feelings on the
Sunny 16 rule, it will pretty soon be as good as or better than your light meter.
Lets dive into it. Lets say you set your aperture to f/16 (sunny day), your shutter
speed will match your ISO value. Sounds easy right? But lets make an example:
You set your aperture to f/16 and the ISO to 100... and your shutter speed will
be around 1/100 second (some cameras 1/125 second - closest to 1/100)
a = 100 (basic ISO setting)
> f/16 / ISO a / shutter speed 1/a
You set your aperture to f/16 and the ISO to 200... your shutter speed will be
around 1/200 second (some cameras 1/250 second)

Quickitip: The Sunny 16 Rule

23

a = 100 (basic ISO setting)

> f/16 / ISO a*2 / shutter speed 1/a*2
I think you get the point. But theres more. Remember you use f/16 because its
a nice and sunny day. BUT even when the sky is e.g. cloudy and the conditions
change, you can continue using this rule. You just have to set a different aperture value. Take a look at the table:
Aperture

f/22

f/16

f/11

f/8

f/5.6

f/4

Lighting
Conditions

Winterwonderland /
Desert

Sunny

Thin Overcast

Overcast

Heavy
Overcast

Sunset/ Open
Shade

Shadows

Dark with Sharp

edges

Distinct

Soft around the

edges

Barely visible

None

Long

Lets make an example for a different lighting condition. Imagine you spend
time with your girlfriend in the park and you are very close to sunset. What
would you dial in? Yes, you are right!
You set your aperture to f/4, your ISO to 100 and your shutter speed to 1/100
second (some cameras 1/125 second). What about changing the ISO? No problem, just think about the rule.
Set your aperture to f/4, pump your ISO up to 200 and set your shutter speed
to... Yes, 1/200 second (some cameras 1/250 second).
I know theres more to photography than following the rules. But sometimes
rules can help you to get a better feeling for light. They can give you something
even more important: More self-confidence. I didnt include a photographic example because I want YOU to go outside and try it out. I think this is the best
part of a new thing to learn. I wish you lots of fun!
Sebastian Stelter

Waterfalls - One Light Setup

24

Waterfalls One Light

Setup
By SARAH PULVERMUELLER

Waterfalls - One Light Setup

25

Shooting
In summer time, I love to shoot at interesting spots. Especially when I want
to do full body fashion photographs,
I prefer a scenery that already exists.
Surely you can create a scenery in a
studio but in this case youd need a lot
of materials and accessories and this
can cost you a lot of time and money.
You can do a lot of experiments indoors but I think you should take advantage of good weather conditions
and go outside with your camera.
Look out for nice spots in your surroundings. Take your time and check
the location. Watch out that the place
is not crowded with people at shooting time. Shooting locations in public
areas are often free of charge and no
releases are needed but check this
out in advance to be sure!
You can already see the final picture,
but how did I get there?
I was lucky that Laura Schmidt, a fashion design student, wanted to have
fashion photographs from her newest semester work. I was very happy
to have exceptional clothes that ask
for a special surrounding. The brand
new area with artificial waterfalls has
opened its doors in our region. It fitted well to the colors of the fashion
clothes and the spot was outstanding
like her unique work.
tBefore I start shooting, I walk around

in the shooting area with my camera

to check out different views. I already
start to imagine where to position the
model in the scenery. The advantage
is that the model does not have to
wait until I have found a good perspective. Models like the feeling that
you already know what you want.
During the shooting we tried different poses to see what is best for this
shoot in this location where I have
never been before.

Setup
After heavy rain, we went to the artificial waterfall area in the afternoon.
As it is a very wet and slippery place,
I chose a one-light-setup with a Yongnuo strobe attached on an EzyBox
from Lastolite, fixed on a handle held
by an assistant. I didnt want to use a
tripod because I was afraid that the
flash with the softbox could fall into
the water and I preferred the flexibility of an assistant who can change
the position of the light pretty fast.
During our shooting there was no direct hard light from the sun, therefore
I didnt have to cope with hard shadows on the model or the walls. The
main light was the strobe and the sun
was used as fill light for the scenery.
The soft box with one strobe was directed to the face of the model from
right above. Watch out that the legs
get enough light and that the exposure from head to tiptoe is homogeneous.

Waterfalls - One Light Setup

26

I was almost sitting on the ground, not

too far away from the model to emphasize the length of her beautiful legs
with a focal length of 73 mm. My camera settings were f / 4.5, 1/160 sec and
ISO 400. I could have extended the
shutter speed to 1/60 or more to get
the falling water even smoother but I
was pleased with this setting.

Camera and lens settings / StrobeEquipment

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Lens:
EF-70-200 f/2.8L IS USM
Camera settings 1/160 sec, f / 4.5, ISO
400 focal length: 73 mm
1 strobe : Yongnuo YN 560 and 1 radio
trigger RF-602RX from Yongnuo
Softbox-System: 38 cm x 38 cm Ezybox Hotshoe with a handle from Lastolite

Postproduction: Adobe Lightroom

4.1
For I love to work with Lightroom, I try
to do as much as possible with this
software and in this case this photograph didnt see any Adobe Photoshop at all.
I increased the image contrast and
sharpness to give more drama to the
water, walls and cloths. I lowered the
saturation of the colors and raised
the luminosity of red and orange to
make the skin brighter and softer. To
give the image a cool look I colored
the lights in grey and the shadows

in light brown. Furthermore, I used

the adjustment brush and marked
the clothes and raised contrast and
sharpness again to highlight the outfit. Thats it!

Profile (Angaben zu meiner Person und den Models, Modelvertrag, Homepage)

Photography is my second language.
Im a passionate photographer from
Saarbruecken in the south-west of
Germany. Since the last few years,
photography became an essential
part of my daily life. I love to shoot
aesthetic people photography and
touching wedding photography. The
retouching phase is an integral part
of my workflow but in the end its always the people that make an image
unique and fascinating - especially for
the photographer himself.
Photographer: Sarah
Pulvermueller, Germany
Homepage: http://www.
sarah-pulvermueller.de
More photos of the
waterfall series:
http://www.sarahpulvermueller.de/index.
php/publications/
goodlightmag
Contact: info@sarah-pulvermueller.de
Model: Anika Felzen
Fashion: Laura Schmidt
H&M: Viktoria Treib

Reponsive Wordpress Themes For Photographers

27

Reponsive Wordpress Themes

For Photographers
Does this happen to you, too? Youre surfing the web with your smartphone and
you have to zoom/scroll all the time just because the page isnt optimized for a
mobile device? And yet its so simple to optimize your own website for all devices. Reponsive theme is the magic word it delivers optimum design for every
resolution. Since we present mostly images on our pages, its especially interesting for us photographers. Fast indulgence for the observer of the portfolio who
should be able to enjoy the picture without too much effort!
Wordpress is perfect for everyone who wants a fancy website in a short period
of time. The design is installed in a couple minutes and you can add functions
as you like. The only thing that is timeconsuming is finding the fitting design! To
save you time, here are my top 3 Wordpress themes for photographers/portfolio-pages:

1. Touchfolio by Dmitry Semenov

I like this design very much because it keeps things simple and it shows images
to their best advantage. You can choose between two different layouts for the
cover page. Either various images with text or one single picture that fills the
whole area. In opposite to many portfolios its not dark but bright. Simple, beautiful brilliant!
Download: http://dimsemenov.com/themes/touchfolio

Reponsive Wordpress Themes For Photographers

28

2. Pinboard by One Designs

What I like most about this design is that you can reload contents on the
cover page visually very appealing and well-arranged! You can choose preinstalled templates for the display of a portfolio, multiple columns, no sightbar.
Here, the elements are reloaded as well, as soon as the observer scrolls down.
I have to say, I like the social media icon bar - I like the colours when you move
the mouse over it!
Download: http://www.onedesigns.com/wordpress-themes/pinboard

Reponsive Wordpress Themes For Photographers

29

3. Gridly by Eleven Themes

This design impresses by its innovative layout. The menu is simple but not invisible, the main point lays on the individual elements. There is one special thing
about this design: the images are shown very large in article-view. This way, it is
also suitable as portfolio. I could imagine several categories which are presented on the cover page, such as fashion, stills etc. and with just one click you can
navigate to the relevant gallery amazing, modern design!
Download: http://www.eleventhemes.com/gridly-theme/

For everyone who hasnt got enough of those three designs or simply wants to
be inspired here is an overview with a total of 29 designs:
http://www.pixelsophie.de/free-wordpress-themes-forphotographers/
Text: Sophia Frohmuth - info@pixelsophie.de
Images: Screenshots - Sophia Frohmuth

Helicon Filter - A smart tool for low budget

31

By HANNO KNIERIM

Helicon Filter - A smart tool for low budget

As an ambitious amateur photographer I always keep an eye on smart software

solutions for the image processing. Yes, I know, nothing compared to programs
like Adobes famous Photoshop or Lightroom, also it doesnt compare to the immense costs bundled with it. For me there are much brighter prospects in using
some excellent tools from the open source market. Usually theyre cheap to free
and they have powerful features which often can stand comparison with the big
brother.
Today I want to introduce you to something I have found on the internet. Its a
piece of candy for those who want to process pictures in quick and easy steps.
Its called Helicon Filter.

About the Program

You can get the program free of charge in a full featured demo version, which
means that you can try out all features of it with no time limit. Youll have to
pay for it if you want to get your results without a watermark and if you want to

Helicon Filter - A smart tool for low budget

32

Get your results without a watermark

and if you want to use the software
without advertising.
Now, lets take a look at its features.
Helicon proceeds all the standard
image formats you need including
RAW-processing for most of the modern cameras you can get. For quick
processing this is a great thing. The
usability of the program is great and
mostly self-explaining. As you can see
on screenshot #1 it looks quite professional.
On the left hand side you have a
file-browser bar which includes a
thumbnail preview. In this preview, all
supported image formats are shown including the RAW-Files. This way, its
easy to find the desired files. Once selected with a single-click, the image is
loaded to your workspace. In case of
selecting a RAW you will get some information about the image in an extra
pop-up window. In this case you have
to wait a few second until the RAWFile is loaded.
The moment the file appears in the
workspace, you are ready to use the
following features:
1st Button: This button is for opening any supported file without the file
browser
2nd Button: Crop the image, resize or
change the resolution of the image
3rd Button: Adjust luminance, contrast and remove light fog
4th Button: White balance, saturation,
colour balance

5th Button: De-noise the picture

6th Button: Sharpen the picture
7th Button: Distorsion / torsion
8th Button: Add text to the picture
9th Button: A palette of retouching
tools e.g. clone stamp, smudge, red
eye reduction...
10th Button: Different picture frames
11th Button: Some more important
functions like bokeh effect, colour toning...
The last button is logically the button
you want to use for saving your new
picture.
Each of these buttons has a preset
sight by default which is useful for
beginners. If you are an expert, you
might want to use the expert mode
which enhances more options to proceed.
I am sure you will enjoy this tool for
quick processing just try it out and
explore.
Software: Helicon Filter
Source: http://www.heliconsoft.com/
heliconfilter.html
Price: Demo Version (free), 1 year license ($20.00), unlimited license
($75.00)
About Me:
Hanno Knierim, working as web developer
and certified TYPO3 in Hamburg, Germany
Contact:
info@amateur-foto.com
Web: www.amateur-foto.com
Translation:
Sakura Iwamoto - s.iwamoto91@googlemail.
com

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5 Questions for

Michael Zelbel
By SEBASTIAN STELTER

Hello Good Light reader! My name is

Sebastian Stelter and I am the editor of
Good Light! Magazine. Today, I feel very
lucky to interview my cousin Michael
Zelbel. Michael is among other projects founder of SmokingStrobes.com,
ProPortfolioClub.com and Good Light!
Magazine. For our team and many other
photographers around the globe, he has
brought so much to life. Thats why we
want to dedicate our 5 questions for section in this issue to him. We had so much
more questions to ask and I think we
managed to let some of them sneak in. ;)
We wanted you all to be part of this interview. So we have asked our readers
and fellow photographers to send in
some personal questions. Thank you all
for that. Weve picked 5 of your favorite questions and theres more: Michael
and I went spontaneously through some
more of your questions and taped his

5 Questions for Michael Zelbel

36

5 Questions for Michael - Part 1

5 Questions for Michael - Part 2

5 Questions for Michael Zelbel

37

answers for you. So check out the video below

for more.
[GL] Good Light! Magazine
[MZ] Michael Zelbel
[GL] Hi Michael. Thank you very much for being here with us. Its been a very busy year
and it still is. A new magazine... this is a really
amazing project for all of us, right? Before we
start, please tell us a little bit about the idea
behind the magazine.
[MZ] Good Light Mag follows the same goal
as SmokingStrobes does: Inspiring our fellow
photographers to enjoy beauty photography
as a very rewarding hobby. On SmokingStrobes I am posting videos to achieve this,
simply because I love videos. But I also love
photography magazines and I love how photos look on the iPad. When Apple came out
with Newsstand on iOS all of a sudden I saw
a chance to combine all these things which I
love into one product: Good Light Magazine.
I am very glad that my team and I took the
chance because together we came up with
a magazine which is fun to make and fun to
read - a win win for all sides.
[GL] Thats true. Lets start with the questions
of our readers. First and probably the most
important question: Where do you get your
wardrobe and how would you call your clothing style? For those who dont know why we
are asking: Michael is wearing those fancy
asian style jackets in all of our videos.
[MZ] Most of my jackets in the shows are traditional Chinese jackets. They are called Tangzhuang. Wikipedia features an article about
them, which does not mention the appearens
of these jackets on SmokingStrobes, but nethertheless, its still worth reading:

5 Questions for Michael Zelbel

38

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangzhuang.
When I wear such a jacket in combination with
an ordinary pair of American jeans, then some
people call that strange while I call it fusion. Let me tell you: Fusion is the new black!
I buy most of my jackets on TaoBao, which is
the Chinese version of eBay: http://www.taobao.com. Tip: Even if your dream dress is not
a Tangzhuang, TaoBao is an awesome source
for good and affordable photo gear.
[GL] You have just answered the most important question in this interview. But lets still
answer the other questions. ;) Michael, how
did you start? When did you discover your love
and passion for photography?
[MZ] Some year ago my new girlfriend and I
tried out taking a cool photo of her taking a
shower in my apartment. We had so much fun
with it that we started doing beauty and nude
photography as a hobby. Now we are married
for 6 years already and we are still loving our
hobby.
[GL] It all started with the hobby... I think a lot
of us have partly similar experiences but you
started to do something on a whole other level. Has photography become your fulltime job
I sometimes ask myself? Does he really sleep?
You are always putting so much time into all
of your projects. You must be doing this as a
fulltime professional! Or is there a day job and
can you give our reader some tips about WorkLife-Balance?
[MZ] For me, photography is a nice and rewarding hobby besides my day job, which is
also nice but much tougher and much more
demanding than photography. I believe the
reason why I can pull of a thing or two in both
worlds is that I am really motivated. In the

5 Questions for Michael Zelbel

39

long run motivation always beats talent and

resources. One guideline which I apply to both,
profession and hobby is something which I
learned from a smart marketer named Joe Polish: Only do ELF business! ELF stands for Easy,
Lucrative and Fun. So if for example a photoshoot is easy, lucrative and fun for me, then I
do it, otherwise, I give it a pass. Even though
I make quite some money with my photography, lucrative here does not necessarily
mean revenue for me. Shooting the portfolio
photo which I always wanted to shoot or filming a fun tutorial for SmokingStrobes or for Pro
Portfolio Club is often for me more lucrative
than money. After all its a hobby. However,
ELF does also apply to my day job.
[GL] I absolutely agree. So... Ive already asked
you about the idea behind the magazine. So
tell us, why are you doing all of this!? Whats
your motivation? What drives you every day
to put so much effort into teaching photographers around the world?
[MZ] I see that our tutorials inspire viewers
to meet other people, like models, stylist and
other photographers. They do beauty and
nude photo shoots together. They all have fun
and they produce photos which make all of
them proud. I believe that this helps all of us
as a society to overcome this old-fashioned,
shame-driven education, which made us feel
like our body is something dirty and that we
have to be ashamed when we show our body,
let alone when we have fun with it. This education causes a lot of issues for us. Thats why
I love to fuel a movement which helps us finding a mindset with much more freedom, peace
and fun and with much less shame.
[GL] Thank you very much for being so open.
Last question: What can we expect in the
next... lets say... two years?

5 Questions for Michael Zelbel

40

[MZ] I hope that in two years from now I have

found a way to focus on exactly those ways
of communication with my fellow photographers, which provide the most benefit to them
and which in turn fuel our movement as much
as possible. Focus, because I dont want to
slice myself too thin and I certainly dont want
to become a workaholic. Easy, lucrative and
fun..., ya know?
[GL] Michael thank you so much for answering
all of our questions. The whole team is very
happy to be part of the movement and we
cant wait to share more of your inspiration in
the future.
[MZ] Thank you so much for your questions.
Good light!

Back Issues?
Have all
of them!

Publisher
ProPortfolioClub.com
Zelbel Ltd. & Co.KG
2012, all rights reserved
Editor
Sebastian Stelter / Michael Zelbel
Text
Oleg Starko
Photos / Video
Michael Zelbel
Jacques Rattaz
Postproduction
Gina Hernandez

Cover
Model: Mrs-VPhoto: Jeean Alvarez aka
Gerrit Grosshans
SmokingStrobes.com

Graphic Design
Renzy Memije
Alex Zlatev
Contact
Edtitorial / Commercial /
Advertising
Helpdesk@GoodLightMag.com
http://www.GoodLightMag.com