Gillespie Photography - Top Colorado Mountain Wedding Photographers

Using light to separate your subject from the background

Nov
8th
Photo by Gillespie Photography - All Rights Reserved

While shooting headshots for several clients today, I had short breaks in between each appointment. During this time, I varied my secondary lighting to illustrate two methods for separating your subject from the background. Formal business portraits are commonly taken against a black backdrop, which can result in the subject looking like a cardboard cutout because of the black […]

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Using Gorilla Pods for mounting flash heads

Nov
8th

When Joby first introduced the Groilla Pod lineup, my initial reaction was they were a gimmick. Who would use such a silly looking device? I now own two of their products and use them on nearly 50% of my shoots. Not necessarily to mount a camera though, but rather a flash gun. As a wedding photographer, your always […]

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Three tips about going business for self

Nov
7th

Last night after Stacy and I finished our short conversation about the presidential election, we started talking about small businesses, and how most of them fail to turn a profit in the first or even second year. If I had to take a guess, I’d say that most entrepreneurs understand this even before starting up. So […]

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The best way to make lighting diagrams

Nov
6th

When winter hits and the wedding photography slows down, I usually pick up a few commercial jobs to keep myself occupied. Some of it being product photography, which isn’t the most creative use of my time, but it still needs done. Upon delivering professional results, companies often continue to send me additional product to be […]

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A lens that pays for itself

Nov
6th

I get a lot of “What lens should I buy?” questions from beginner photographers, and to be honest, it’s challenging to answer with one sentence, or even a few. Each arena of photography has a few lenses that are built for the task at hand, and then a handful of compromises. If you have any ambition […]

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Radiopopper JrX & Flash Gun in Tandem

Jul
16th

Photographing a wedding, it’s important that you have equipment that works as fast as you. The same works in reverse. You need to be able to push your gear. Ask a seasoned professional why they use the gear they use, and you’ll get an answer pertaining to its speed and reliability. Pertaining to image quality, […]

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Black Foam Flash Modifier for when the Ceilings are too High

May
7th
Black Foam Flash Modifier Top

So you just purchased your first flash unit, and now its time to buy one of those flash modifiers you see plastered all over the internet or photography magazines. Hold off one second before you drop $30 to $40. First, take an hour or so and read about how to properly bounce your flash. However, […]

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The Sangre de Cristo range

Apr
18th

Growing up, the range’s name sometimes loses its meaning, but every so often, you’re reminded why they are “The Blood of Christ.”

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The 5D MKIII Noise Performance

Mar
2nd

Photographers hate image noise. So much in fact, that when they hear ISO 12800, they cringe. Those days are nearing an end. With the release of the 5D MKIII, we’re venturing to guess that our usable ISO range (if we had a 5D MKIII) is somewhere around the 25600 mark. Insane. DPreview, with their hands […]

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The Canon & Nikon full frame showdown

Mar
2nd

This past February, Nikon announced the D800. Yesterday, Canon announced the 5D MKIII. Both of which are important and worth noting. For those of you who haven’t made it to our gear page, the Canon 5D MKII is our most used body, producing somewhere between 70 to 80% of the work we do. So when […]

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The 41mp camera phone. Why?

Feb
27th

Earlier this morning, Nokia debuted their 808 PureView phone… featuring a revolutionary 41 megapixel camera. But, I would almost go as far as to say it is a bad move for the cell phone and imaging industry. Megapixels != Better Image Quality != is another way of saying… does not equal. Congrats to the Nokia […]

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Worth Mentioning: Camera & Camera Case

Feb
26th

Another two photography deals we wanted to mention. First is a Fujifilm Z90 14.2 MP camera with touch LCD. It’s a solid camera to throw in your purse or maybe give as a gift. It has more than enough resolution to print 8×10 photos. For the price, it can’t be beat. It’s not going to […]

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Never pass up an opportunity

Feb
17th

There are youngins, practiced and seasoned photographers. You’re somewhere in that mix. There comes a time when you might want move up a level. From n00b to amaeture, or amauture to professional. So what does this process consist of? It can actually be captured in one simple phrase, “Never pass up an opportunity.” What exactly […]

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Types of light sources

Feb
14th

If had to happened to catch our earlier write up about giving your camera more light, this post is a good extension to it. We’ll be covering light sources, the different types of them, and the pros & cons of each. Our eyes rely on light to see, and so do our cameras. Since the […]

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Photo deals worth mentioning

Feb
11th

We’re suckers for a good sale, and we love sharing them with you, our readers. First up, canvas prints. If you’ve got a disc full of photos laying around, here is you chance to finally use them for something other than collecting dust. Walmart is running a special on canvas prints. Order a 11×14 or […]

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