Lighting | Jason Heller Photography Blog

Cenotes Underwater Photography – Amazing Light

11 01 2011

I just spent two short days photographing some of the most beautiful light i’ve ever seen underwater. Cenotes are fresh and brackish water sink holes in the jungle of Mexico’s Riviera Maya, just south of Playa del Carmen. These are cavern and cave systems that ultimately lead out to the ocean. The water is crystal clear and the light is absolutely on a whole other level. Here are just a few examples, More to follow…

Thanks to Dive Aventuras and the Omni Puerto Aventuras Beach Resort for being such wonderful hosts!

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Tags: Cenote, Chac Mool, Mexico, Playa del Carmen, Puerto Aventuras, Riviera Maya, Taj Mahal Cenote
Categories : Landscape, Lighting, Underwater Photography, Wildlife

Kicking off 2010 – 365 Project: An Image a Day

2 01 2010

Jan 2, 2010: Self Portrait

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Tags: 365, Self Portrait
Categories : 365, Lighting, People

Underwater Geisha – Part 3

4 05 2009

Another image from the “Underwater Geisha” series. This is one of my favorite images of 2009 so far. I enjoy pushing underwater photography as far as it can go. Stay tuned for more…

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Tags: Conceptual Photography, Fasion, underwater, Underwater Photography
Categories : Conceptual, Fashion, Lighting, Underwater Photography

Underwater Geisha – Part 2

1 05 2009

Image #2 of the “Underwater Geisha” series – a beautiful underwater reflection. © Jason Heller

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Tags: Conceptual Photography, Fasion, underwater, Underwater Photography
Categories : Conceptual, Fashion, Lighting, Underwater Photography

Underwater Geisha – Part 1

30 04 2009

I’ve recently been working with this fantastic model in NYC, Masae. We will be working on a series on underwater conceptual shoots, here is part one of a small series that I have informally been calling “Underwater Geisha”.

Underwater Geisha - Jason Heller

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Tags: Conceptual Photography, Fasion, underwater, Underwater Photography
Categories : Conceptual, Fashion, Lighting, Underwater Photography

The Christmas Crusaders – A Unique Shoot For The Holidays

26 12 2008

What better way to etch an indelible memory of a family holiday than to create an image that nobody will forget. So I forced convinced Wendy’s family to pose for this cool conceptual shot (thanks guys, you were all troopers). What is the concept you ask? Well, I was going for something out of a comic book. For now the temporary name is “The Christmas Crusaders?” But I’m taking better suggestions – hit the comments below…

The Christmas Crusaders

The Christmas crusaders (from left to right) are : Terrence, Cory, Me, Wendy, Jorge, Kelvin.

Happy holidays everyone!

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Tags: Christmas, Christmas Crusaders, Comic Book, Conceptual
Categories : Conceptual, Lighting, New York

Mixed Emotions About Sushi – Except When Shooting It

11 10 2008

As an underwater photographer who has a love for the creatures and beauty of life in the ocean, I have major mixed emotions about sushi. I love sushi, but have been very selective on which types I eat due to the environmental threats to species like Tuna – yes Tuna – they’re almost gone folks! Especially “Toro” or the fatty Tuna, which comes from Blue Fin, the most threatened of all the world Tuna species.

Anyway, we were eating in our local sushi spot the other day and I was watching the owner struggle with her little point & shoot camera to capture the beauty of a particular sashimi dish the chef just made. I happened to have my D3 and two speedlights with me, so I offered to shoot it for her. I arranged a nice background and voila – not bad for 10 minutes during lunch. We’re going to schedule a full blown photo shoot now to capture all the amazing sushi art that this particular chef creates. he is truly skilled!

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Tags: food photography, sushi
Categories : Food, Lighting, New York

What Underwater Photographers Do When Not Underwatwer

14 09 2008

Something about water always draws me in, usually quite literally. – diving in scuba gear or in a pool. But today I’m sitting at home with no access to the ocean, a pool, models, or anything underwater. So while I was admiring some strawberries for breakfast this morning, I decided to incorporate one of them into a quick underwater studio shot. The original idea was to fill a glass halfway with vodka and drop the strawberry in. I figured that something about the viscosity of vodka would look cooler than the water, but it was early in the morning and I wasn’t about to drink the vodka after the shot, so I just went with water rather than wasting half a glass of Kettle One or Gray Goose. Cheers!

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Categories : Lighting, Random, Underwater Photography

Underwater Photo Shoot – Modern Angel

8 09 2008

It gets too cold in New York to shoot in an outdoor pool past September, so I just booked an indoor pool every Sunday for the next 3 months. Stay tuned for more underwater fashion and advertising shoots this fall and winter. Until then, join me in reflecting on my last underwater shoot…

Modern Underwater Angel

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Categories : Fashion, Lighting, Style, Underwater Photography

Ok, I Had To Try The “Dave Hill” Look

25 08 2008

Gotta pay homage where it’s due and Dave Hill has a kick ass style from his lighting to his post processing. There’s a bunch of info out there on how to get “the Dave Hill look”, but I chose a different method. Not quite there yet – but guarantee I’ll figure it out, not to replicate another photographer’s style, but just as an exercise in lighting and post processing skills. Dave if you’re reading this – serious props – you have mastered your style brother!

Anyway, here’s my first attempt. Granted – a little over processed – the lighting is tight and it’s a great shot without the processing, but I am trying to nail this…. I will update the blog next week with more.