workshop view: Jersey City and Manhattan

May 27, 2010

flash photography workshop in New York

Aleona was one of our striking models at the recent 2-day flash photography workshop held in Jersey City and Manhattan. The setting here was in the DUMBO area of Brooklyn, with Manhattan in the background. The challenge was to overcome the hard sunlight with a small speedlight … and still make it look good.

The flash photography workshops have undergone certain changes over time – the material and sequence of material are always honed over time. The biggest recent change is that the workshop has expanded with an optional 2nd day where we play around further with on-location lighting. The first day is still the intensive workshop – the combination of seminar and practical sessions where we cover everything thoroughly. The first day takes place in a hotel in Jersey City with a magnificent view of Manhattan. (It is right next to the Path station, so it is easily accessible for anyone coming from Manhattan or Brooklyn.)

The second day is where we have fun, and walk around with two models, and try different backgrounds and lighting scenarios. So that’s the workshop now … 2 days, with the first day an intensive 10 hour workshop, with two models. The next day is the application of that, and we roam around the Meat-Packing District in Manhattan with two different models.

Thank you to everyone who attended and made it a success. And a big thank you to our four models; my friend Richard and my assistant-with-an-attitude, Jessica, who helped on the day. For anyone who might be interested, the next workshop series is coming up in July.

As an aside: the two recent posts on combining video light and ambient light and photographic composition in editing, both featured images from this workshop …

15 Comments »

Guys! You’ve gotta attend Neil’s workshop in person. I have photographing weddings for 6 years and read all Neil’s material online. It somehow just put everything together nicely for me after the workshop at Jersey City this time! (Maybe I am slow but) it’s definitely worth it! I would highly recommend the workshop! You can see some of my SOOC shots here: http://www.neussephotography.net/?p=2621

Comment by Agnes of Neusse Photography.com — May 28, 2010 @ 12:18 am
Neil,
sou naturalizado Brasileiro.
meu trabalho evolui muito…deste o dia que comecei a fazer visitas no seu site. Aprendi muito com suas ótimas dicas.
Uma pergunta; “a primeira foto foi feita a medição no centro do céu”?
Meu muito obrigado!
Abraços

Comment by Ricardo Carvalho — May 28, 2010 @ 8:30 am
Hi there Ricardo .. You’re going to have to help me then. I can’t speak Portugese. I have to rely on Google’s translation. But since you’re a naturalized Brazilian, I assume you can speak / write in English? That’d be a help. ;)

Neil, I am a naturalized Brazilian.
My work evolves … this very day I began to make visits to your site. I learned a lot from there. Great Tips.
One question, “the first photo was made to measure at the center of the sky”?
Many thanks!

My settings were: 1/250th @ f22 @ 100 ISO
camera and lens: Nikon D3; Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 AF-S (B&H)

I didn’t specifically meter off any part of the sky. Based on the Sunny 16 Rule, I knew I needed a small aperture of f16 … or smaller for the bright light. I set the speedlight to full power in manual. At that distance it gave me f22 for 100 ISO. I knew that would give me a dramatic effect, with Manhattan as a silhouette.

Neil vN

Comment by Neil vN — May 28, 2010 @ 3:28 pm
Neil,
Striking photograph of a very striking model. Was that small speedlight on a stand? Handheld by an assistant? Fired directly or shot into an umbrella? Or have I learned enough to work it out for myself? Perhaps if you had all of the equipment with you, you would experiment until you got the result you wanted?

I can’t believe you manage to find time to post every day. But we all owe you a big thanks. John

Comment by John Riding — May 28, 2010 @ 3:42 pm
John .. it is bare flash from an off-camera speedlight.

Everyone in the workshop took turns in figuring out the settings, and holding the light, and getting to a final set of images that work well.

Here is a photo I snapped with my iPhone to upload to Facebook. This is from a little earlier when we were still right at the river’s edge. The image at the top of this post was taken when we had moved up the grassy hill for a higher viewpoint.

But we used the same equipment – a speedlight on a monopod, triggered with a pocketwizard. The frame you see there is the speedring on which we had attached a softbox earlier on in the day. (Here is a listing of some of the equipment used.)

Neil vN

Comment by Neil vN — May 28, 2010 @ 4:18 pm
Thanks for the swift response, Neil. Everything makes so much sense – love the iPhone shot. I also like the small amount of flare. It’s practically unavoidable so why do anything about it? The shot looks all the more natural with it.

Comment by John Riding — May 28, 2010 @ 4:50 pm
I wish you would do some workshops in Australia Neil! Especially in Perth, West Australia – the east coast get all the good things! let’s have Neil over here in the west! Come in August – September for the best weather and when it’s not too hot. I’m not asking too much hey?!!

Comment by Pat Reynolds — May 29, 2010 @ 12:05 am
Pat … I’d have to figure out the logistics of a workshop in Australia, but I’m definitely not averse to the idea .. despite the super-long commute. We’ll see. :)

Neil vN

Comment by Neil vN — May 29, 2010 @ 7:06 am
Can you give a little 411 on how you got your settings for the featured image of this tangent? DId you spot meter your sky to get an underexposed F-stop setting based on 1/250?…. and then how did you get the settings on your speedlight?

Comment by Amanda — May 30, 2010 @ 1:14 pm
SORRY SORRY… I overlooked your explanation you already gave…. :)

Comment by Amanda — May 30, 2010 @ 1:16 pm
You need to concentrate there in the back of the class! ;)

Neil vN

Comment by Neil vN — May 31, 2010 @ 4:57 pm
I know ur a busy man…but it would be cool if you could do a photo walk in NJ.

http://worldwidephotowalk.com/leader

Comment by Derryl — June 1, 2010 @ 12:52 pm
Great shot Neil. Love the lighting on her face.

One question on using small apertures (f22). At some point diffraction issues will become noticable, especially on high pixel density sensors (7D or 50D come to mind). Do you have any comment on how this might affect the IQ on larger prints, or do you not worry about it (I realise you are not using the above cameras). From my perspective, diffraction becomes noticable on my 7D at about f11 when viewed at 100%, but I usually don’t worry about it as I tend not to print that equivalent size in reality (around 11×17 at 300ppi).

Comment by Anthony — June 1, 2010 @ 7:22 pm
Anthony, I do see lesser image quality when I shoot at f22 compared to how sharp images are at f8

However, in this caae the small aperture is forced on me by a combination of:
– very bright ambient light,
– the limitation of max flash sync speed.

I could go to high-speed flash sync, but I would need additional flashguns to overcome the reduction in flash power. And I don’t have a flash tree like Joe McNally. Not yet.

Neil vN

Comment by Neil vN — June 2, 2010 @ 1:31 am
Any chance of you coming to Europe for a workshop? Would absolutely love to take part in one of your workshops! Come to Ireland :)

Comment by Paula — June 7, 2010 @ 2:40 pm