Multiple speedlite portrait setup using Rogue Flashbenders
The PDN Photo Plus Expo in New York took place last week. As always, it's it's always a bit of a head-rush walking around, overwhelmed by all the photography goodies and people. Of course, you'll inevitably bump into old friends and catch up a bit. One of them, is Michael Corsentino who I met during the After Dark photo conventions.
Not only is Michael Corsentino a pre-eminent wedding photographer in San Francisco, but has also written a book - the Canon Speedlite System Digital Field Guide (Amazon). If you like Read more inside...
photo shoot & off-camera flash - making the background count
I got a call from Michael Saab of the Modern Gypsies to let me know that they were performing in a night-club in Manhattan, and would I be interested in doing some promotional photos for them? Of course! Other photo sessions with the Modern Gypsies were all energizing experiences. (The Modern Gypsies also featured in my book, off-camera flash.) Working with creative people always fuels the creative spark.
At the night-club, I looked around for interesting areas I could shoot some portraits. I felt this curving Read more inside...
Controlling bright daylight with direct off-camera flash
Working with Molly K as our model during an personal photography workshop in New York, we put into action the thought-process when using flash in very bright light. There's a specific algorithm that gets us to optimal settings.
But, as usual, there's more to a final image than just the numerical settings on the camera ... Read more inside...
Photographing a model on-location: the progression of an idea
As often happens for me when working a model on location, the final photographs are the result of a progression of an idea, rather than a fully-formed idea from the start. That colorful background came to be because of how I gelled for the flash. It's a technique I've shown a few times, and here it helped me in bringing a blah scenario up to something more eye-catching.
The idea is to create an interesting shift in the color balance between your subject and background. It works especially well if the background is not Read more inside...
I really like using a medium-sized softbox when photographing portraits. A softbox allows me to get soft, directional light pretty much anywhere. The most recent example I showed here, was Lucia and Alvin's wedding in Central Park, New York. I do make it easier for myself when using off-camera flash for photo sessions on location - I pick my battles. I don't try to make everything work. With a photo session where I can control the light and background and setting for my subjects, I can make it easier for myself by not choosing tough lighting Read more inside...
A groom holding up the softbox for me ... as you may well guess, there's a story here. Alvin and Lucia are from the UK, but decided to get married in Central Park. Of course, there's a story here too. Read more inside...
Off-camera flash photography: Short lighting vs. Broad lighting
"Short Lighting" is when the side of the face turned away from the camera, is better lit than the side of the face closest to the camera. (top image)
"Broad Lighting" is when the side of the face closest to the camera, is better lit. (second image)
This has as much to do with the position of the light, as with how your subject is posed into the light. This is true for studio photography and off-camera flash on location, and for when you photograph a subject with just the available light. As shown in a previous Read more inside...
Adding rim-lighting to available light, with off-camera flash
Off-camera flash need not be all that complex as it might appear to you if you are new to this. During a lunch-time conversation, a friend told me that she felt intimidated by the on-location flash photography by other photographers. The way to use multiple-flash setups seemed impenetrable to grasp. How would one go about and where do you even start. This made me wonder - just how complicated should photography lighting be? I don't think it has to be complicated. It just has to be enough to be effective or solve a Read more inside...
Off-camera flash in low light - choosing your shutter speed
With flash photography, the maximum flash sync speed is an important camera setting. It is the best go-to camera setting when you use flash in bright ambient light. But when we shoot in low ambient light levels, then we need to adjust our shutter speed accordingly. We would most likely be at a shutter speed where the ambient light shows up. We want some of the ambient light to register in our photographs, because it gives us context. Allowing more ambient light to appear in our low-light photos where we use flash, enhances Read more inside...
My favorite diffuser / modifier for off-camera flash, is the Lastolite Ezybox 24x24 for speed lights (affiliate). The Lastolite Ezybox has featured often on the Tangents blog. (Here is the review). It's easy to use and super-easy to set up. And in its original configuration, folds up to a surprisingly small bundle.
The good news for photographers who have been curious about the Lastolite Ezybox, is that Impact now makes a softbox - the Impact Quikbox 24x24 softbox (affiliate), which is virtually identical, at a lower Read more inside...
