*For more information visit AdoramaTV YT page, and of course you can keep up with David on Instagram and Twitter @DavidBergman. LATEST UPDATE: David opened up new IGTV episodes where you can ask him questions live! find out more at http://www.AskDavidBergman.com

Composing the photo piece by piece is a meticulous yet very rewarding process. You, as a photographer, are in full control of lighting conditions, framing, and overall set environment.  Famous NY based photographer David Bergman with  AdoramaTV is going to talk about how he likes  to build up an image one piece at a time. 

“I very often I find myself using multiple  flashes to make a portrait. I can place  speed lights almost anywhere  individually like small sections of the  image. This allows me to create depth and  texture on my subject or in the  background. I’ll use an image from last  year’s cover shoot for the Belikin  calendar that I did here in Belize to  show how I put that into practice. After  I had my camera positioned and determined  the image I wanted to make, I use a low  ISO, and close down my aperture just  enough to kill the ambient light  completely. Without my flashes it’s a  completely dark frame now I could begin  to add light only where I wanted.”

“In this  case I started by setting up one speed  light off-camera right to light the  jukebox, and move the light around until  I got it exactly how I wanted it.”

“Then I  turned off that flash and had someone  stand in for the model. Setup a hair  light, high above and behind him so I  could separate him from the background.  Once the hair light was set I added back  in the jukebox light, to see how those  two lights looked put together.”

“By the way  one of the joys of using  radio-controlled speed lights, is that I  can turn the lights on and off and  change their intensity right from the  camera. I don’t need to physically get to  that hair light every time I want to  make a change. Once I confirm those two  lights looks good together, I turn them  off and repeated this process over and  over.”

“Setting up the next light alone and  then trying them all together to build  up the image  slowly but surely  In the end I added in  the light on my subject for that final  piece of the puzzle  once that one was set  I could just shoot away knowing that  all of my lights are doing exactly what I want.  That allowed me to concentrate on  getting the best out of my subject  without having to worry about what my  lights were doing. So break down your own  images one piece at a time, and you won’t  have to think about any of the tech  stuff.”

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Watch the full episode with David Bergman and Adorama TV: