{"id":12117,"date":"2012-12-03T17:48:21","date_gmt":"2012-12-03T21:48:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/?p=12117"},"modified":"2018-08-27T20:55:43","modified_gmt":"2018-08-28T00:55:43","slug":"night-time-photo-session-using-off-camera-flash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/night-time-photo-session-using-off-camera-flash\/","title":{"rendered":"Night-time photo session using off-camera flash"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Night-time photo session using off-camera flash<\/h1>\n

Sarah and Mark were in New York, dressed to the nines, to attend the Rockettes show. And while they were dressed up, and with some time before the show they were attending, we did a photo session. You might remember them as the couple in my book,\u00a0off-camera flash<\/a>. I’ve also photographed\u00a0Sarah<\/a> on other occasions. I thought that the New York skyline at dusk would work as a perfect backdrop to how stylish they were dressed. (I did ask Mark if he felt like James Bond, all suited up like that in his tux.)<\/p>\n

The lighting setup was straight-forward. The main light was a speedlight in the\u00a0Lastolite EZYBOX 24\u00d724″ softbox<\/a>\u00a0(affiliate<\/em>).\u00a0The rim-light was another speedlight behind them, with the plastic diffuser cup on so that the light would spread wider.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

You can see from this photo that I angled the softbox upward, to force light fall-off to the bottom of the frame. I didn’t want to light up the ground. I also didn’t really need their legs and lower body to be lit up as well as their face. So this way I was able to accentuate their upper body and face.<\/p>\n

The flashguns \/ speedlites were controlled manually. TTL flash would just have been hard work here. TTL flash would’ve meant constant controlling the flash exposure compensation for each shot because of the large areas of dark tones. So manual flash it had to be.<\/p>\n

I didn’t meter for the flash. From experience, I have an idea of what the speedlight’s output is when used in that specific softbox. The rim-light was also adjusted by eye. I know, I know … it goes against solid principles to do it this way, but the images work. I controlled the speedlights’ output from my camera, via the\u00a0\u00a0PocketWizard AC3 Zone Controller<\/a>\u00a0(affiliate<\/em>)\u00a0on top of the \u00a0PocketWizard FlexTT5 transceiver<\/a>\u00a0(affiliate<\/em>). Each speedlight had its own\u00a0\u00a0PocketWizard FlexTT5 transceiver<\/a>\u00a0(affiliate<\/em>) controlled manually from the AC3 on my camera.<\/p>\n

As we were shooting, the ambient light was fast fading. Therefore you’ll see the background gradually going darker. I adjusted my shutter speed a little bit. Then at some point, I opened up my settings a lot more to allow more of the city lights in.\u00a0None of the flashes were gelled.<\/p>\n

The image at the top, was shot last, with the Manhattan Bridge as the background.
\nThis is the only image shown here which was shot with the longer zoom,\u00a0Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 AF-S VR II<\/a>\u00a0(affiliate<\/em>). All other images were shot with the\u00a0Nikon 24-70mm f2.8G AF-S<\/a>\u00a0(affiliate<\/em>).<\/p>\n

camera settings for the image at the top:
\n1\/15 @ f\/4 @ 800 ISO; flash not gelled.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Direction<\/a><\/div>\n
\n

Lighting & Design for Portrait Photography<\/h2>\n

Lighting & Design<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0is a\u00a0follow-up of sorts to Direction & Quality of Light<\/a>.\u00a0It\u2019s a slightly eclectic mix, discussing the thought-process with various scenarios shooting portraits. The examples use available light, bounce flash, off-camera flash as well as studio lighting.<\/p>\n

The idea is that in every one of the 60 sections, there is something to be learnt and applied, regardless of your level as a photographer or where you shoot\u00a0\u2013 all\u00a0shaped to form a cohesive narrative arc throughout the book.<\/p>\n

You can either purchase a copy via\u00a0Amazon USA<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0or Amazon UK<\/a><\/strong>. The book\u00a0will\u00a0also available on the Apple iBook Store, and Amazon Kindle.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Photo gear\u00a0(or equivalents) used during this photo session<\/h2>\n