example: direct off-camera flash vs softbox
example: direct off-camera flash vs softbox (model: Ulorin Vex)
Ulorin Vex posing for us during part of the on-location session of the flash photography workshops which I presented in San Francisco earlier this year. Ulorin Vex is of course absolutely stunning, as always. While I often direct models how they should pose, this one is all her doing . Not even I can improve on that. The image here at the top was shot with an off-camera softbox - my usual preferred Lastolite Ezybox softbox. The direction of the light here should immediately reveal the approximate position where the Read more inside...Practical tutorial: Controls for manual flash exposure
Practical tutorial: Manual flash - distance, power, ISO & aperture
The photo above is of Hannah, one of our models at the workshops in Dublin, Ireland. The lighting is off-camera flash via a softbox to camera left, held up on a monopod. In this instance we used TTL flash with Radio Poppers. TTL flash makes it easy to get to great (or close to great) flash exposure immediately. But for consistency, manual flash is usually the best option. There are 4 things controlling flash exposure: - distance from your light source to your subject - power of your flash (including diffusion Read more inside...photo session: urban ballerina – Oktavia
photo session: urban ballerina - Oktavia
Oktavia is the stunning model on the cover of my book about 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. Read more inside...Off-camera flash for dramatic back-lighting
Off-camera flash for dramatic back-lighting
During this engagement photo session with a couple, Ashley and Michael, we roamed around the campus grounds of the university where they had met. In the one part of the grounds, there was this clump of trees, planted in a small rectangle with two seats. Since it was so dark there under the trees, they wondered who'd ever go and sit there. It just didn't look appetizing. Then I though ... hmmm, with some off-camera flash from behind, we can really make this place look like something. Read more inside...off-camera flash – creating separation with back-lighting
off-camera flash – creating separation with back-lighting (model: Bethany)
Another image from the photo session with Bethany, when I was in San Francisco earlier this year. This interesting background is part of the lobby area of a San Francisco night-club. I knew the wooden panelling and subdued incandescent lighting would make an interesting background because of the repetitive pattern and glow. A slow shutter speed brought the background light in ... and then I used flash to light her. I didn't gel my flash - specifically so that the background light would go that warm. The Read more inside...off-camera flash – adding dimension with back-lighting (model: Lea)
multiple off-camera flash - adding some pop with back-lighting
Lea is a model I've worked with on previous occasions. With her striking looks and easy demeanor, she is just a pleasure to photograph. We spent some time this afternoon in down-town Manhattan, looking for interesting spots as backdrops. Jessica spotted this dramatic gate and interesting glass front. It seemed like the perfect place to start the photo session, but it needed something extra to give the photos some drama. The final image is shown here at the top, but let's look at how we got there ... Read more inside...Off-camera TTL flash
Off-camera TTL flash
This image of Amy, one of our models at a workshop, is a fairly straight-forward portrait using off-camera flash in TTL mode. And it is ideal for an overview again of how easy the ambient & flash exposure metering is. The basic approach with this on-location portrait is to expose for the ambient light in the background, making sure our subject is somewhat under-exposed ... and then to add off-camera flash with a softbox. The first question that came up was - how did I meter for the ambient light? Read more inside...Multiple off-camera flash – gelling your flash for effect
Multiple off-camera flash - gelling your flash for effect
All the light you see in this photo, is from two speedlights. The blue color in the background is because I gelled my one flash. While that might give you the idea that I gelled the background flash with a blue gel, what I actually did, was gel my main flash with two 1/2 CTS gels (affiliate). That's all I had with me, but I wanted those hard cold blue tones to the background. A single 1/2 CTS gel would take the flash to 3700K. Adding a 2nd gel didn't take it as far as a full CTS would've, but closer to 3350K, going Read more inside...Mimicking window light with off-camera bounce flash
Mimicking window light with off-camera bounce flash
Continuing the photo session with Ulorin, we worked inside the hotel room for the next part. The photo above is a candid shot of Ulorin fixing her hair between changes in clothing. Ulorin's next outfit shown in this article, was more revealing than the previous outfits during the photo session. (Just a heads-up for the Tangents readers who are surfing from their workplace.) Photographing inside the room, I initially tried to work with just the window-light, but hit a small snag. The indirect light through the window kept changing Read more inside...- « Previous Page
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