Comments on: workshop view: Philadelphia, PA http://neilvn.com/tangents/2009/10/01/workshop-view-philadelphia-pa/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=workshop-view-philadelphia-pa photography by Neil van Niekerk Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:03:22 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Stephen Cox http://neilvn.com/tangents/2009/10/01/workshop-view-philadelphia-pa/#comment-30018 Stephen Cox Fri, 04 Nov 2011 05:10:18 +0000 http://www.planetneil.com/tangents/?p=1643#comment-30018 Neil, Thank you for publishing a clear, concise and practical guide to photography. I have sincerely learned more about taking pictures in the 30 mins I spent reading some of your material than in all the classes and experience I have had prior. It is one thing to be able to take a good picture, it is another ball of wax to relate how you took the picture, what your thoughts were, and why you made those decisions. Thanks again. Neil,
Thank you for publishing a clear, concise and practical guide to photography. I have sincerely learned more about taking pictures in the 30 mins I spent reading some of your material than in all the classes and experience I have had prior. It is one thing to be able to take a good picture, it is another ball of wax to relate how you took the picture, what your thoughts were, and why you made those decisions. Thanks again.

]]> By: Neil vN http://neilvn.com/tangents/2009/10/01/workshop-view-philadelphia-pa/#comment-18742 Neil vN Sun, 06 Mar 2011 23:16:11 +0000 http://www.planetneil.com/tangents/?p=1643#comment-18742 <blockquote>Sam .. the article on <a href="http://neilvn.com/tangents/2010/11/04/flash-photography-essentials/">flash photography essentials</a> covers the through process behind this. See if it makes more sense then. Neil vN</blockquote>

Sam .. the article on flash photography essentials covers the through process behind this. See if it makes more sense then.

Neil vN

]]> By: sam http://neilvn.com/tangents/2009/10/01/workshop-view-philadelphia-pa/#comment-18659 sam Sat, 05 Mar 2011 18:16:46 +0000 http://www.planetneil.com/tangents/?p=1643#comment-18659 hi neil, love your blog. i've learned so much thank you. my question is, after metering at 5 at max sync speed, than underexposing to 6.3, how do you determine the flash output on your speedlite? I've been shooting with ttl mostly and it's still tough for me to determine where to put the flash power. I shoot with a 7d w/ 580ex ii w/ mostly the 70-200 f2.8 using pw to trigger. Is there a "rule of thumb" of to where to start? I'm sure you have a tangent blog about it somewhere, but I probably can't find it. Thanks again. Hope you can help. hi neil, love your blog. i’ve learned so much thank you. my question is, after metering at 5 at max sync speed, than underexposing to 6.3, how do you determine the flash output on your speedlite? I’ve been shooting with ttl mostly and it’s still tough for me to determine where to put the flash power. I shoot with a 7d w/ 580ex ii w/ mostly the 70-200 f2.8 using pw to trigger. Is there a “rule of thumb” of to where to start? I’m sure you have a tangent blog about it somewhere, but I probably can’t find it. Thanks again. Hope you can help.

]]> By: Charles Henry http://neilvn.com/tangents/2009/10/01/workshop-view-philadelphia-pa/#comment-4019 Charles Henry Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:46:11 +0000 http://www.planetneil.com/tangents/?p=1643#comment-4019 I know this thread is a few months old, but I'm going to make a reach here. Is this the Mark Crosby from 49th and Walnut Street in West Philly? If so, this is a very old friend who would love to hear from you. -Charles I know this thread is a few months old, but I’m going to make a reach here. Is this the Mark Crosby from 49th and Walnut Street in West Philly? If so, this is a very old friend who would love to hear from you.

-Charles

]]> By: mark crosby http://neilvn.com/tangents/2009/10/01/workshop-view-philadelphia-pa/#comment-4018 mark crosby Sat, 28 Nov 2009 03:02:13 +0000 http://www.planetneil.com/tangents/?p=1643#comment-4018 Neil, Leo, thank you. I understand OCF and the way you went about getting the shot, I think for me it is more the terminology that confuses me...I think I've got it now. thanks again, -mark Neil, Leo, thank you. I understand OCF and the way you went about getting the shot, I think for me it is more the terminology that confuses me…I think I’ve got it now.
thanks again,
-mark

]]> By: Neil http://neilvn.com/tangents/2009/10/01/workshop-view-philadelphia-pa/#comment-4017 Neil Thu, 26 Nov 2009 09:42:38 +0000 http://www.planetneil.com/tangents/?p=1643#comment-4017 <blockquote>Mark .. Leo has it there in his description. As for specifically behing f6.3 .. if you go back in the description at the top, I metered for the general scene using my camera's built-in meter, and got to an exposure of 1/250th @ f5.0 @ 400 ISO .. and this also looked good on my camera's LCD. Then, as I mention there: "The next step is to purposely under-expose the subject by 2/3rd stop or 1 stop so that we can add flash to the final set-up." So I decided to go 2/3rd stop under on the ambient exposure (f5.0), and this is f6.3 .. and that is how we decided on f6.3 and metered for f6.3 We may just as well have decided on f7.1 or f8 ... anything that we will then meter for with manual flash to give us correct exposure. I hope this makes sense now. Neil vN</blockquote>

Mark .. Leo has it there in his description.

As for specifically behing f6.3 .. if you go back in the description at the top, I metered for the general scene using my camera’s built-in meter, and got to an exposure of 1/250th @ f5.0 @ 400 ISO .. and this also looked good on my camera’s LCD.

Then, as I mention there: “The next step is to purposely under-expose the subject by 2/3rd stop or 1 stop so that we can add flash to the final set-up.”

So I decided to go 2/3rd stop under on the ambient exposure (f5.0), and this is f6.3 .. and that is how we decided on f6.3 and metered for f6.3

We may just as well have decided on f7.1 or f8 … anything that we will then meter for with manual flash to give us correct exposure.

I hope this makes sense now.

Neil vN

]]> By: Leo Dj http://neilvn.com/tangents/2009/10/01/workshop-view-philadelphia-pa/#comment-4016 Leo Dj Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:15:21 +0000 http://www.planetneil.com/tangents/?p=1643#comment-4016 Hi Mark, If I can answer your question, based on my understanding and my experience. We setup the speed to 1/200 just enough to darken the background/ambient, but also because it is the max sync speed. Once you decided which ISO you want to use, then you decide what shutter speed to control the ambient light (how dark or light you want it to be). The flash is using manual setting (not TTL). So either you manually set the flash power (full, 1/2, 1/4, etc) or use your aperture to control the amount of flash exposure you want to have. We did use a light meter to get the aperture setting, though. But you still can do a series of shot to decide which aperture is best for you, given the same power flash setting. I find that if the ambient light is not dark enough for our taste, since we can't go past the max sync speed (1/200 or 1/250 depending on your camera), I would have to make the aperture smaller, like f/11 or even f/16. Then your only option is to set the power on the flash manually to have the subject exposed as desired. Of course the distance of the flash to the subject will also have an influence on the exposure level. In other words, you don't have room to play around with the aperture to control the amount of flash. I hope this helps. Leo Dj Hi Mark,
If I can answer your question, based on my understanding and my experience. We setup the speed to 1/200 just enough to darken the background/ambient, but also because it is the max sync speed. Once you decided which ISO you want to use, then you decide what shutter speed to control the ambient light (how dark or light you want it to be). The flash is using manual setting (not TTL). So either you manually set the flash power (full, 1/2, 1/4, etc) or use your aperture to control the amount of flash exposure you want to have. We did use a light meter to get the aperture setting, though. But you still can do a series of shot to decide which aperture is best for you, given the same power flash setting.

I find that if the ambient light is not dark enough for our taste, since we can’t go past the max sync speed (1/200 or 1/250 depending on your camera), I would have to make the aperture smaller, like f/11 or even f/16. Then your only option is to set the power on the flash manually to have the subject exposed as desired. Of course the distance of the flash to the subject will also have an influence on the exposure level. In other words, you don’t have room to play around with the aperture to control the amount of flash.

I hope this helps.

Leo Dj

]]> By: mark crosby http://neilvn.com/tangents/2009/10/01/workshop-view-philadelphia-pa/#comment-4015 mark crosby Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:33:24 +0000 http://www.planetneil.com/tangents/?p=1643#comment-4015 Neil, I've been noodling around with OCF for a while now but there's one thing that for some reason doesn't sink into my brain and I'm finding tough to understand, I hear it often but can't grasp the meaning. In your description you say... "Then it becomes a simple matter of..... metering for the manual flash until we get f6.3" ... You're adjusting the power of your flash manually until the subject is lit to your desire, but where does the f/6.3 come in? like I say, this never seems to sink in with me! many thanks, mark. Neil, I’ve been noodling around with OCF for a while now but there’s one thing that for some reason doesn’t sink into my brain and I’m finding tough to understand, I hear it often but can’t grasp the meaning.
In your description you say… “Then it becomes a simple matter of….. metering for the manual flash until we get f6.3″ … You’re adjusting the power of your flash manually until the subject is lit to your desire, but where does the f/6.3 come in? like I say, this never seems to sink in with me!
many thanks, mark.

]]> By: Neil http://neilvn.com/tangents/2009/10/01/workshop-view-philadelphia-pa/#comment-4014 Neil Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:16:56 +0000 http://www.planetneil.com/tangents/?p=1643#comment-4014 <blockquote><a href="http://leodjphoto.com/blog/2009/11/glamour-fashion-portrait-photography-lighting-workshop-with-neil-van-niekerk/" rel="nofollow">A review of the workshop by Leo DJ</a>. Neil vN</blockquote>

A review of the workshop by Leo DJ.

Neil vN

]]> By: Sherry McCracken http://neilvn.com/tangents/2009/10/01/workshop-view-philadelphia-pa/#comment-4013 Sherry McCracken Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:01:49 +0000 http://www.planetneil.com/tangents/?p=1643#comment-4013 Neil, I love this photo! Not because it's my shot, but because it really captures the mood of your workshops. Such a fun learning environment! It's a treat to spend time learning from someone who obviously loves what they do, is so talented and knowledgeable, and is willing to share all that they know! Thanks again for the fabulous workshop! Sherry Neil,
I love this photo! Not because it’s my shot, but because it really captures the mood of your workshops. Such a fun learning environment! It’s a treat to spend time learning from someone who obviously loves what they do, is so talented and knowledgeable, and is willing to share all that they know! Thanks again for the fabulous workshop!

Sherry

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