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September 27, 2011
This striking portrait is of Britney, one of the number of models that are at this, the current After Dark convention. Regular followers of the Tangents blog will easily recognize the lighting as being a video light. In this case, I reverted to the Lowel ID-light because it creates a stronger beam of light which can be spread wider than an LED video light. Typical of After Dark, this photo session / mini-presentation was an impromptu one that started after the evenings classes and presentations had already ended at midnight.
Meeting up with Britney and her sister Nicole (who is also a model), and two other photographers, the group of photographers eventually spilled out to the lobby of the hotel and swelled to a group of about 30 photographers all taking part. And that’s the reason I wanted to use the Lowel ID-light … the person holding up the video light, could stand further back and we’d still get decent camera settings. An LED video light would not have been powerful enough for this situation.
image details:
1/160 @ f2.8 @ 1000 ISO … with video light; no flash
Nikon D3; Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 AF-S VR II (B&H)
The lens was used at 200mm to compress the background – an out-of-focus piece of artwork.
more articles about the use of video light for photography
Enough of the video light though. I’ve gushed about the After Dark experience before when I presented at the Cincinatti event, and when I had a quick look-in at the Las Vegas event …
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September 22, 2011
romantic wedding portraits with video light
By now it should be clear that I’m quite a fan of video lights for the romantic portrait session with a couple. The Incandescent WB of the video light usually matches the existing light fairly well. Because video light has a rapid fall-off in light intensity to the edges of the beam, it doesn’t “flatten” out the light like bounce flash would. In addition, the video light can seem quite natural in context of the existing light, and not even look like additional lighting. Somehow the light just appears to be great right there.
Here are two of my favorite images from a recent wedding, where I had my assistant hold up an LED video light to help light the couple. (It’s the same wedding where I used the black foamie thing during the indoor ceremony.)
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September 20, 2011
Jessica, a portrait in Dublin
Hovering somewhere between a snapshot and a candid portrait, I really like this photograph. We were hanging out in the Temple Bar area in Dublin, late late in the evening after the recent workshops in Dublin. When it started to rain, we took shelter under the canopy in front of one of the many pubs there. As Jessica took the first drag of the cigarette, I playfully lifted my camera as if to take a shot, and she reacted with this suitable sneer. And I like the result. I even think it is the kind of image that would’ve worked on an album cover by The Smiths or Morrissey. Just one of those timeless vignettes of life. A moment and gesture that draws you in for a second look.
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September 19, 2011
bounce flash photography & white balance settings
A question that often comes up, is whether the white balance will change when bouncing flash. The answer is an obvious one – yes, the light will pick up any color cast from a non-white surface. But that is why we need to shoot in RAW. Then the decision about exact White Balance becomes less crucial.
The photograph above, is of Roz, and was taken during the recent flash photography workshops in Dublin, Ireland. Roz was Ireland’s contestant in the 2010 Miss Universe contest, so it was quite a privilege to have her as one of our two workshop models!
The lighting in this image is simplicity itself: on-camera bounce flash, with the black foamie thing as a flag to block the light from the flash directly hitting her. Of course, the ambient light coming in through the window acts as a secondary light, helping with a bit of rim-light there and also in creating background lighting.
In getting the light from my on-camera flash to come in from a pleasing angle – short lighting – I had to bounce the flash off the wooden panelling in the room. This of course made for a far-too-warm white balance:
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September 18, 2011
flash photography workshops – Dublin, Ireland
It’s been a hectic week, flying in to Dublin (Ireland), for two sold-out workshops there over the past weekend. (Sept 17 & 18) Barely any time for sight-seeing, but it’s been a fantastic trip over.
In the photo, from left to right: Roz, our one model (an entrant for the Miss Universe competition for Ireland!); myself; Hanna, our other model, (an entrant to Ireland and UK’s Next Top Model competition for 2011); Liam Ramsell of Pro Foto Training (host of the workshops); Jesssica, my infamous assistant with a ‘tood; and Peter Kane, our make-up artist extraordinaire.
Here is a short video clip shot during the bounce flash session of the workshop:
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September 12, 2011
photo session: urban ballerina – Oktavia
Oktavia is the stunning model on the cover of my book on off-camera flash. We’ve intended to do another photo shoot ever since then, but busy schedules kept us from that until recently. A theme that Oktavia wanted to explore, was that of the Urban Ballerina. The idea with the urban ballerina is the contextual dissonance of having a graceful dancer in the middle of some urban setting. There’s no real meaning to it other than contrasting art & beauty against the harsher urban setting.
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September 9, 2011
Lea – moving portrait – Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS II
Canon just released the Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS II (B&H), an update to an already highly-regarded lens, and I was able to get a review copy courtesy of B&H. I tried this lens out during a photo session with a model, Lea. Instead of just photographs, I decided to shoot video and create a “moving portrait” of her.
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September 8, 2011
You’re a photographer, but at a wedding as a guest? Well, then just be a guest.
A recent article on the Off-Beat Bride blog, dealt with the topic of the unplugged wedding. They mention some brides now request guests switch off their cameras, and rather be in the moment and enjoy the wedding. I truly want every photographer, whether professional, amateur, or at any level, to read that article and take it to heart.
If you’ve been to a wedding and observed the people there, you will surely have noticed the barrage of cameras. It is especially prevalent during key moments such as the bride entering the ceremony with her dad. What you’d also notice is that as soon as the bride has swept past any guest with a camera, they are immediately checking their cameras. Engrossed in the image on the back of their cameras with their heads down, they give the bride and groom only a further glance again as something to photograph.
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September 7, 2011
bouncing flash forward without getting that direct flash look
When bouncing my on-camera flash, I rarely point the flash straight-up. Most often the flash is pointed behind me or to the side to a certain extent. This way I get directional light. I want that off-camera soft-box effect. However there are those times when it just isn’t that practical.
With this recent wedding, the indoor ceremony was held in this large room. As you can see here in this test shot, the ceiling isn’t white, but is a light brown, with wooden beams. The thick cross-beams have the effect of blocking flash when bounced, containing the spread of light.
Bouncing flash behind me just about killed the light from my flash, so little of it returned to light my subject. So for the ceremony, kneeling down in the center aisle, I had to get light onto the bride and groom. The most logical way to do this, and still get good soft light on the couple, was to point my light forward at an angle to get enough light there … but I still needed to block direct flash from hitting them.
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September 2, 2011
Ring flash is one of those light modifiers that are quite trendy to use. It gives a distinctive halo-like diffuse shadow around your subject when used on camera. When used on-camera, it also gives very flat lighting. As a single light source this doesn’t suit all subjects, and this does mean that the ring flash has its detractors. But used in conjunction with other lights, it is a very useful addition to the photographer’s arsenal.
Stephanie, a frequent guest here, tried out the Orbis Ring flash (B&H),
a handy device which turns any speedlight into a ring-flash.
ring flash techniques with the Orbis Ring Flash
Bring up the topic of ring flash at a crowded table of photographers and opinions will vary greatly. You’ll hear everything from “It’s harsh ugly flat light.” to “This is the coolest, trendiest light out there!” to “It’s a great tool when used properly.”
For the new photographer or someone with limited knowledge of ring flash, such differences of opinion can be confusing. Some of the greatest fashion photographers out there regularly use ring flashes. But there are also examples of really bad work done with a ring flash.
So that brings up the question: Why would you use a ring flash?
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