As I mentioned when I posted my previous entry, my shot of the merged flags marks a transition between one stage in my photography and the next: one that will shift the nature of at least some of the shots that I post here. In essence, the change is a simple one: rather than relying on natural light, or the haphazard and often ill-conceived application of off-camera lighting, I'm going to be spending a lot more time working on how to use light to create technically competent and aesthetically interesting images.
My overall aim is a simple one: 12 months from now I'd like to in the position where either David Hobby or Zack Arias email me to say "hey, that's cool – how did you do that?" ;) It's not going to happen – I'm sure that both of them are more than capable of reverse-engineering even the most complex of one of Joe McNally's epic set-ups – but I'd rather aim high, and not get there, than meet an easily achievable goal that doesn't require a great deal of effort.
So, to start the ball rolling, here's a shot of Harmony that was lit by a combination of window light (to the right) and a 41" shoot-through/translucent umbrella: placed three feet away and 45° to the left, about one foot above my daughter's eye-line. The light source was a Canon 580 EX II set to 1/4 power.
It's a very simple start, and one that echoes a lot of my natural light shots (flat, uniform lighting), but it's definitely a step along the road: not least because I now know that the catchlight from a shoot-through umbrella at close range isn't especially attractive ;)
I should also add that I'll be posting the originals of each of these shots. 12 months from now I'd like to think that there won't be a great deal of difference between the version I post and the one that I shoot. For the time being though I suspect that most will need some additional work.
comment by Cesar at 06:14 AM (GMT) on 22 March, 2010
It`s good to keep learning :)
I hope you can achieve your goal in less than 12 months :P
comment byGary Eddleston at 07:17 AM (GMT) on 22 March, 2010
With your editing skills this new venture can only go well. I have played about with lights and it does get confusing at some points but when you hit that "pop" you picture comes alive.
Good luck Dave with this, we will all be watching closely...
comment byCraig at 07:24 AM (GMT) on 22 March, 2010
There's no doubt in my mind that you will master this subject and I very much look forward to seeing your progress. Lighting is something that I find a real mystery so it will be good to make this journey with you and learn from you along the way, good luck :)
comment byYoram at 09:25 AM (GMT) on 22 March, 2010
Welcome to the madness. I have been "lighting" since January, and I haven't felt this inadequate as a photographer in years. Every shot (at first) comes out flat and boring... there is the unavoidable curve of skill acquisition, followed by the realization that "properly lit and exposed" shots are not necessarily the interesting ones.
A particular hurdle that you will face as well (knowing your photography) is the desire to create mixed light - getting something cool on location, but adding drama through light. If you think getting your ass up a snowy hill for a landscape shot on a winter morning is heroic, wait till you just packed away your lights and THEN find an interesting shot... set it all up again, dial in the right light, and then hope your subject hasn't left the room to play with something else.
Studio work is daunting, too... We are used to "finding" light, but in the studio you have to create your own. Fair enough, fortunately there are some standard variations (light from top left, or top right, the kickers and hair lights, etc...)
You can delete what follows, if you don't want to step on anyone's feet. Or we can continue this via email (or -gasp - phone)
You'll go through it yourself, but my experience was that the little strobes that Dave uses are really portable, but I don't like the light quality. Also, the multiple light-source set-ups are a lot of fun, but they suck a certain spontaneity out of the process. He makes it seem easy, esp. when copying some of his set-ups, but it takes a while to see light that way. I think the better places to start is Zack's One Light approach. Another inconvenient truth is that the little lights don't give you anywhere near the quality of light that the bigger heads do... but it means a LOT more gear instantly. Even Hobby stated as much a week ago. I bought a ProFoto D1 500 Air kit at GPP and it profoundly changed the way I shoot with lights.
I slightly blasphemous admission: I use the new PocketWizards TT5s for Canon, and they enable E-TTL. IT is a surprisingly good solution. I set exposure compensation to -2/3, and bump the Flash compensation on the main light to +1/3, and get great results off-camera by holding the flash in my left hand. But you can play with that at your leisure... it's best when following the kids around a party, trying to nail a couple of unique portraits.
Ping me if you want discuss. I will be putting up a new website in two weeks. It's already built, but I am slowly re-processing about a hundred images, as well as re-designing my blog, so I am waiting for a certain "unveiling." But my most recent work will be on there, much of it lit. We can discuss individual shots if you're interested.
And finally, the best way not to get frustrated is to use available light occasionally. Get some with flash, and then go back to the way you know. At first your old-style shots will be the ones that work, but the ratio begins to shift.
Good luck, eyes to the light!
comment byPaolo at 01:11 PM (GMT) on 22 March, 2010
mmm... I don't know. the final image is noticeable for the final effect of emphasizing the girl's eyes. if this was your goal, ok, it's achieved, but I feel overall unhappy with the picture
comment bydjn1 at 01:15 PM (GMT) on 22 March, 2010
Yoram: you're right, the temptation is to jump straight to creating shots with multiple lights, but I'm going to try and restrain myself and stick with something simple to start with, i.e. one diffused/soft light. From there I'm going to try using one hard light (I have some Honl grids and snoots). Once I've got the hang of using a single light I'll move on.
I'm also tempted by bigger lights, but am thinking about the Elinchrom Quadra's as I'd really like the portability of a battery powered set-up. It's only a 400 w/s head, but for the type of work I have in mind I don't think I need anything more powerful - at least not just yet.
As for E-TTL: I'm tempted, and already have the Mini TT1, but think I'll stick to manual, at least until I have a better understanding of what I'm doing.
And yes, I'll probably be in touch at some point as I suspect that I'll get stuck more than once :)
Paolo: could you clarify?
comment byAdam Ham at 06:28 PM (GMT) on 22 March, 2010
Love the idea! Keep up the good work.
comment byCarlos Garcia at 07:06 PM (GMT) on 22 March, 2010
Dave,
I've been saying, "Wow! How did he do that?", for a long time now :) I am looking forward to what you learn being displayed in your photography. You are talking about portraits, right? Speaking of which: this is a beautiful young lady and you have captured a beautiful portrait. Slightly on the "bright" side, but very nice.
I guess that working with all those flash geezers over in The Emirates has rubbed off!
Good luck with your foray into lighting. I still have all my Bowens 1500W/s studio kit but rarely use it. I have played around recently with the small off-camera flash approach and find that these days with digital it can work really well. You can't beat a large softbox though; the smaller units feel the strain a bit when you get over 1 metre square.
Absolutely agree with your self-imposed goal to have a result out-of-camera that needs little digimagic. It will come!
comment byDan Kaufman at 12:43 AM (GMT) on 23 March, 2010
I am so excited that you are making this move to "strobist" photography. I too have been--still am--a natural light photographer with a "fear" if you will of how to use external lights. I'm looking forward to learning with you, from you, how to light my photographs with more than ambient light.
AND a great Harmony portrait too by the way !!
comment byJason Dale at 10:35 PM (GMT) on 28 March, 2010
David I'm also beginning to think about lighting and saw some nice Bowen lights at focus... however I'm going to sit back and watch how you get on David before I take a plunge and I still have to pay for some of this "L" glass I recently acquired ;-)
BTW The catch lights are not the best I'd agree ;-) but overall I still think this is a great capture..
comment byAndy Rapkins at 08:50 AM (GMT) on 29 March, 2010
Looking forward to this next chapter of Chromasia images. As comments have indicated already, I think there will be many who will follow the progress huge interest. A lot of people wish to improve their lighting and seeing your journey along with your PS skills will be fantastic I'm sure.
I'm with you on the Quadras. The LED modelling lights are great and the functionality with the inbuilt Skyport system is very good with power adjustment and LED control from the transmitter. A couple of those with some basic modifiers - soft/octabox, grids - makes a fantastic mobile kit.
comment bydjib at 12:39 AM (GMT) on 30 March, 2010
Lovely portrait. The eyes are lovely and very sharp.
comment bySteveO at 08:35 PM (GMT) on 1 April, 2010
Man, I've not visited in ages, hasn't she grown up compared to the pictures I remember :-) Nice shot mate.
As I mentioned when I posted my previous entry, my shot of the merged flags marks a transition between one stage in my photography and the next: one that will shift the nature of at least some of the shots that I post here. In essence, the change is a simple one: rather than relying on natural light, or the haphazard and often ill-conceived application of off-camera lighting, I'm going to be spending a lot more time working on how to use light to create technically competent and aesthetically interesting images.
My overall aim is a simple one: 12 months from now I'd like to in the position where either David Hobby or Zack Arias email me to say "hey, that's cool – how did you do that?" ;) It's not going to happen – I'm sure that both of them are more than capable of reverse-engineering even the most complex of one of Joe McNally's epic set-ups – but I'd rather aim high, and not get there, than meet an easily achievable goal that doesn't require a great deal of effort.
So, to start the ball rolling, here's a shot of Harmony that was lit by a combination of window light (to the right) and a 41" shoot-through/translucent umbrella: placed three feet away and 45° to the left, about one foot above my daughter's eye-line. The light source was a Canon 580 EX II set to 1/4 power.
It's a very simple start, and one that echoes a lot of my natural light shots (flat, uniform lighting), but it's definitely a step along the road: not least because I now know that the catchlight from a shoot-through umbrella at close range isn't especially attractive ;)
I should also add that I'll be posting the originals of each of these shots. 12 months from now I'd like to think that there won't be a great deal of difference between the version I post and the one that I shoot. For the time being though I suspect that most will need some additional work.
.../archives/lighting_diary_1.php
camera
lens
focal length
aperture
shutter speed
shooting mode
exposure bias
metering mode
ISO
flash
image quality
RAW converter
cropped?
Canon 5D Mark II
EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM
66mm
f/4.0
1/100
manual
n/a
evaluative
100
580 EX II (1/4 power)
RAW
ACR
1x1
It`s good to keep learning :)
I hope you can achieve your goal in less than 12 months :P
With your editing skills this new venture can only go well. I have played about with lights and it does get confusing at some points but when you hit that "pop" you picture comes alive.
Good luck Dave with this, we will all be watching closely...
There's no doubt in my mind that you will master this subject and I very much look forward to seeing your progress. Lighting is something that I find a real mystery so it will be good to make this journey with you and learn from you along the way, good luck :)
Welcome to the madness. I have been "lighting" since January, and I haven't felt this inadequate as a photographer in years. Every shot (at first) comes out flat and boring... there is the unavoidable curve of skill acquisition, followed by the realization that "properly lit and exposed" shots are not necessarily the interesting ones.
A particular hurdle that you will face as well (knowing your photography) is the desire to create mixed light - getting something cool on location, but adding drama through light. If you think getting your ass up a snowy hill for a landscape shot on a winter morning is heroic, wait till you just packed away your lights and THEN find an interesting shot... set it all up again, dial in the right light, and then hope your subject hasn't left the room to play with something else.
Studio work is daunting, too... We are used to "finding" light, but in the studio you have to create your own. Fair enough, fortunately there are some standard variations (light from top left, or top right, the kickers and hair lights, etc...)
You can delete what follows, if you don't want to step on anyone's feet. Or we can continue this via email (or -gasp - phone)
You'll go through it yourself, but my experience was that the little strobes that Dave uses are really portable, but I don't like the light quality. Also, the multiple light-source set-ups are a lot of fun, but they suck a certain spontaneity out of the process. He makes it seem easy, esp. when copying some of his set-ups, but it takes a while to see light that way. I think the better places to start is Zack's One Light approach. Another inconvenient truth is that the little lights don't give you anywhere near the quality of light that the bigger heads do... but it means a LOT more gear instantly. Even Hobby stated as much a week ago. I bought a ProFoto D1 500 Air kit at GPP and it profoundly changed the way I shoot with lights.
I slightly blasphemous admission: I use the new PocketWizards TT5s for Canon, and they enable E-TTL. IT is a surprisingly good solution. I set exposure compensation to -2/3, and bump the Flash compensation on the main light to +1/3, and get great results off-camera by holding the flash in my left hand. But you can play with that at your leisure... it's best when following the kids around a party, trying to nail a couple of unique portraits.
Ping me if you want discuss. I will be putting up a new website in two weeks. It's already built, but I am slowly re-processing about a hundred images, as well as re-designing my blog, so I am waiting for a certain "unveiling." But my most recent work will be on there, much of it lit. We can discuss individual shots if you're interested.
And finally, the best way not to get frustrated is to use available light occasionally. Get some with flash, and then go back to the way you know. At first your old-style shots will be the ones that work, but the ratio begins to shift.
Good luck, eyes to the light!
mmm... I don't know. the final image is noticeable for the final effect of emphasizing the girl's eyes. if this was your goal, ok, it's achieved, but I feel overall unhappy with the picture
Yoram: you're right, the temptation is to jump straight to creating shots with multiple lights, but I'm going to try and restrain myself and stick with something simple to start with, i.e. one diffused/soft light. From there I'm going to try using one hard light (I have some Honl grids and snoots). Once I've got the hang of using a single light I'll move on.
I'm also tempted by bigger lights, but am thinking about the Elinchrom Quadra's as I'd really like the portability of a battery powered set-up. It's only a 400 w/s head, but for the type of work I have in mind I don't think I need anything more powerful - at least not just yet.
As for E-TTL: I'm tempted, and already have the Mini TT1, but think I'll stick to manual, at least until I have a better understanding of what I'm doing.
And yes, I'll probably be in touch at some point as I suspect that I'll get stuck more than once :)
Paolo: could you clarify?
Love the idea! Keep up the good work.
Dave,
I've been saying, "Wow! How did he do that?", for a long time now :) I am looking forward to what you learn being displayed in your photography. You are talking about portraits, right? Speaking of which: this is a beautiful young lady and you have captured a beautiful portrait. Slightly on the "bright" side, but very nice.
C.
I guess that working with all those flash geezers over in The Emirates has rubbed off!
Good luck with your foray into lighting. I still have all my Bowens 1500W/s studio kit but rarely use it. I have played around recently with the small off-camera flash approach and find that these days with digital it can work really well. You can't beat a large softbox though; the smaller units feel the strain a bit when you get over 1 metre square.
Absolutely agree with your self-imposed goal to have a result out-of-camera that needs little digimagic. It will come!
I am so excited that you are making this move to "strobist" photography. I too have been--still am--a natural light photographer with a "fear" if you will of how to use external lights. I'm looking forward to learning with you, from you, how to light my photographs with more than ambient light.
AND a great Harmony portrait too by the way !!
David I'm also beginning to think about lighting and saw some nice Bowen lights at focus... however I'm going to sit back and watch how you get on David before I take a plunge and I still have to pay for some of this "L" glass I recently acquired ;-)
BTW The catch lights are not the best I'd agree ;-) but overall I still think this is a great capture..
Looking forward to this next chapter of Chromasia images. As comments have indicated already, I think there will be many who will follow the progress huge interest. A lot of people wish to improve their lighting and seeing your journey along with your PS skills will be fantastic I'm sure.
I'm with you on the Quadras. The LED modelling lights are great and the functionality with the inbuilt Skyport system is very good with power adjustment and LED control from the transmitter. A couple of those with some basic modifiers - soft/octabox, grids - makes a fantastic mobile kit.
Lovely portrait. The eyes are lovely and very sharp.
Man, I've not visited in ages, hasn't she grown up compared to the pictures I remember :-) Nice shot mate.