The off camera flash han.., p.11
The Off-Camera Flash Handbook, page 11
FIGURE 17.1
GOAL IMAGE. I WISH I COULD GIVE YOU THE SETTINGS FOR THIS, BUT MY METADATA GOT ERASED!
Step by Step
Find a spot: When I’m looking for a location to turn day into night, I’m usually looking for a window. Showing a window will help create a contrast between indoors and outdoors. Without showing the outside, there’s no indicator to the viewer that the image was taken at night (even though it wasn’t).
Position your subject: Just because we’re showing a window doesn’t mean that the subject has to be right up against it. In fact, it’s better to create some space. It’ll be easier to work with the light reflection that way. I suggest placing the subject at least 10 feet away from the window.
Choose a lens: Lens choice is up to you and your creativity. I love using long lenses, especially for situations like this where I want to bring the window “closer” to my subject.
Put modifiers on the light: Put on the full CTO gel. I usually won’t go more orange than that because it gets too unrealistic looking, but you are welcome to. Also put the modifier of your choice on the light. You’re inside and you aren’t fighting the sun, so you don’t have to worry too much about sucking up batter power.
Position the light: I typically shoot with my light to the right or left of my subjects at a 45-degree angle. Go even more to the side if you’re looking for something more dramatic. For this example I wanted a little more drama since it was a night shot, so I put the light at a 90-degree angle, to the side of my subject.
Set the camera exposure: Set your camera exposure as if you’re taking a photo that will expose outside of the window—maybe a stop or two darker. You don’t want it to look bright outside, so manipulate your settings to make it look dark.
Set the white balance: This is where you make it look like night. Set your white balance to about 3200 Kelvin. You may change this depending on how the flash looks, but go for what makes the background look right first.
Set the flash power: I suggest setting your flash power to TTL +1 because of how many modifiers your light is passing through. If you’re using a manual flash, start in the medium-low power range or use a light meter and adjust up or down to your liking. Take a test shot and adjust your light to be more or less powerful according to your taste.
Look at your colors and histogram: Take a look at your histogram to make sure that you’re not too dark or too light. Adjust for “blue” and light power as needed.
Shot by Shot
FIGURE 17.2
EXPOSING FOR THE BACKGROUND.
CANON 1DX II, CANON 50MM 1.2, ISO 100, APERTURE 3.2, SHUTTER 1/250
FIGURE 17.3
ADDED A PROFOTO B2 WITH 2X3 SOFTBOX AND CTO GEL.
CANON 1DX II, CANON 50MM 1.2, ISO 100, APERTURE 3.2, SHUTTER 1/250
FIGURE 17.4
LOWERED WHITE BALANCE.
CANON 1DX II, CANON 50MM 1.2, ISO 100, APERTURE 3.2, SHUTTER 1/250
FIGURE 17.5
THE FINAL IMAGE, EDITED IN LIGHTROOM.
FIGURE 17.6
LIGHTING DIAGRAM.
Potential Problems
Turning day into night can be tricky. If you think that your subject’s skin tone looks too blue, warm up the image by raising the Kelvin. However, this may make the background not look like night anymore. If you find that happening, set your Kelvins to what you want the background to look like, and then add more CTO gel to counter the blue. They make quarter, half, and full CTO gels so you can back off by going to a half CTO, or add more by stacking quarter, half, or full CTOs on top of each other.
Depending on your photographic brand, you may want to add a fill light that will spread light everywhere. To do this, set up a second light with the same CTO gel on it and a light modifier that will spread it everywhere (like an umbrella or a shoot-through umbrella). Position that light right behind and above you, pointing toward the middle of your frame. It’ll fill in the shadows with a warm color that’ll create even more of a contrast between the outdoor blue look and the inside warm look. It’ll also make the lighting look a bit softer.
Other Techniques
Once you’ve mastered this technique, build on it. You can add a rim light or light flare or anything else you want to shape your light. If you have buildings or streetlights in your image, you might want to add some “illumination” in post-processing. I don’t necessarily recommend it, but if you’re shooting into a window at “nighttime” and there are buildings outside, it stands to reason that people in those buildings would have their lights on. It’ll make the image more believable, and it’s not something that you can do in camera, so it has to be done in post.
FIGURE 17.7
NATURAL LIGHT IN THE ROOM.
FIGURE 17.8
EXPOSING FOR THE BACKGROUND USING A PROFOTO B2 WITH 2X3 SOFTBOX.
FIGURE 17.9
PUTTING ON THE CTO GEL AND LOWERING THE WHITE BALANCE.
FIGURE 17.10
LIGHTING DIAGRAM.
SCENARIO 18
Tiny Little Details
Creating a natural light look with the littlest of things.
GEAR NEEDED:
Camera + Trigger
Detail lens (I enjoy a 50mm or 100mm Macro)
Off-camera flash
Reflector (optional)
GOAL IMAGE
One of my favorite parts of a wedding day is photographing the details, bathed in soft, beautiful light. However, very often I’m not photographing in a gloriously lit space, but in a tiny, dark room. This section will show you how to create better light in a flash (puns always intended).
I want my detail pictures to look like they were shot with natural light so they match the rest of the images that I take throughout the wedding day and fit my brand. To have a nice, soft look to your pictures, you need a big light source. I like to think of this technique as creating my own big, floor-to-ceiling window. The best part is that you really only need a speedlight to get it done.
Step by Step
Find your window: By window, I mean wall. Find a white or lightly colored wall and plant yourself and the details you’re shooting a couple feet away.
Position your reflector: If you’re stuck in a black hole with nothing but dark walls, use a reflector. Lean it against a wall in place of a white wall.
Position the light: Place your speedlight on the floor or the speedlight stand and point it at your wall. Try to have it fairly close to you so the light spreads as largely as possible on the wall. Remember, the bigger the light source (in this case your light source is where your flash it hitting the wall), the softer your light will be.
Set the camera exposure: Set your camera for how you like to photograph details. For me, that’s a fairly shallow depth of field and as low of an ISO as I can get. Because you’re using a speedlight, you may want to raise your ISO a little bit so the flash doesn’t need to pump out as much power. Raise your shutter speed to lower the ambient light in the room so you don’t have overhead tungsten lights affecting the color and luminance of your image.
Set the white balance: Your flash will be hitting your subject, so set your white balance to flash or 5600 (depending on your flash).
Set the flash: I start with TTL here, and then flip to manual and go brighter or darker depending on what I’d like my images to look like. If you’re shooting on manual, use a light meter or start at the mid power range and adjust from there.
FIGURE 18.1
GOAL IMAGE. A PROFOTO A1 WITH DOME DIFFUSER BOUNCING OFF A WALL.
CANON 1DX MARK II, CANON 100MM 2.8 MACRO, ISO 500, APERTURE 4.5, SHUTTER 1/160
OPTIONAL: Have a reflector opposite the wall that you’re firing your flash into. This will fill in the shadows on the other side of the image and create an even softer look.
Shot by Shot
FIGURE 18.2
I USED A PROFOTO A1 WITH A DOME DIFFUSER BOUNCING OFF A WALL.
CANON1DXII, CANON50MM 1.2, ISO 500, APERTURE 1.8, SHUTTER 1/160
FIGURE 18.3
CANON 1DX II, CANON 100MM 2.8 MACRO, ISO 500, APERTURE 3.5, SHUTTER 1/160.
FIGURE 18.4
CANON 1DX II, CANON 50MM 1.2, ISO 500, APERTURE 2.2, SHUTTER 1/160 TAKEN WITH A PROFOTO A1 SET TO 4.5 WITH A DOME DIFFUSER BOUNCING OFF A WALL.
FIGURE 18.5
BEHIND THE SCENES.
Potential Problems
You do not necessarily need to have a blacked out image to start with. If you want some of the natural light to affect your picture, then it’s OK to have a bit of an exposure when you first set your camera. However, that could lead to weird colors mixing into your image depending on what the natural or ambient light in the room looks like. You might like it if it’s a normal color, but if you’re in some kind of magenta room, that color may seep into your pictures.
Practical Uses
This is a great tool to create a natural light look for your detail pictures. In addition, it’s helpful if you’re in a dark room and just need more light. Even with a large window to light the room, if it’s cloudy or raining it still may not provide enough light for the look you want.
When photographing a macro shot, I may need to raise my aperture to f/6.3 or higher to get more of the object in focus. To compensate for that I’ll usually need to raise my ISO. This causes the image to look different from the others in the series because of the added noise. Using flash here lets me bump up my aperture. I raise the flash power to compensate for the light loss instead of raising my ISO, so the images in the series all match in an album spread.
SCENARIO 19
Table Details
My go-to, easy-peasy wedding reception lighting setup that shows off every little detail.
GEAR NEEDED:
Camera + Trigger
50mm or 85mm focal length lens
2 Off-camera flashes
2 Light stands
2 Grids
Third off-camera flash (optional)
Gel set (optional)
GOAL IMAGE
I absolutely love my time at wedding receptions photographing all of the décor. My goal is to capture it as it looks, so sometimes that means using only natural light.
If you’re photographing a daytime wedding, this lighting setup isn’t appropriate or necessary. But if you’re photographing a night wedding, this will show you how to capture every little detail and keep the ambiance of the room (Figure 19.1).
My goal at a wedding is to create imagery that represents what guests and clients see when they walk into a room. I used to color balance for an orange-glowing room, but then I realized I was taking all of the natural color out of the images. My clients would wonder why the images didn’t show the warm candlelight feel they were going for, so I stopped color balancing my lights to match the ambient light.
I used to just bounce flash the detail pictures. The problem with that is that you’re not controlling the light, so it’s bouncing and lighting both the table and backdrop, killing the ambient light. Bouncing the light doesn’t show off the details quite as well as pointing it more directly at your subjects does.
My favorite method uses two lights on either side of the table. This allows for light and shadow to show off the texture and color of what I’m photographing. Occasionally, I’ll let one of the lights flare into my shot, giving the image a glamorous feel.
FIGURE 19.1
GOAL IMAGE. SHOT WITH ONE PROFOTO B2 ON CAMERA RIGHT.
CANON 1DX, CANON 24MM 1.4, ISO 1600, APERTURE 3.2, SHUTTER 1/125
Step by Step
Grid the lights: It would be best to use two grids of the same size. However, I own 20-, 10-, and 5-degree grids. I have only one of each size, so I use the 20- and 10-degree grid one on each light. I then position the 10-degree gridded light a few feet farther away from my subject than the 20-degree gridded light. This prevents the spread of light so that both sides of my subject (the table) are lit evenly. This does potentially mean that the light that’s farther away may need to have a brighter power setting.
Position the lights: Choose what you’re photographing and place one light directly to the left of it and one light directly to the right of it. Raise the lights to just at or above the height of the centerpiece of the table.
Set the camera exposure: Create an exposure that shows off the level of ambient light (e.g., candlelight, uplighting) that you want to see in the image. I like using a shallow depth of field, somewhere around f/2.2–3.2, to get the look I’m going for.
Set the white balance: Because the flash is your main light source, set your white balance to the flash preset or 5600 Kelvin depending on the temperature of your light. If you want the entire image to have a slightly warmer look, you can raise your white balance to achieve this.
Set the flash power: Turn both lights on and take a shot using TTL. Flip to manual mode and adjust. You do not have to have both sides of the subject evenly lit. You could decide to have the right side a bit brighter than the left. That is completely up to you. If you don’t have TLL available, start on the lowest manual setting your flash has and slowly move up until you have the desired brightness, or use a light meter. Do this one light at a time.
Move lights to shoot table details: When you’ve shot the whole table and centerpieces and want to move on to the details on the table like the plates, glasses, and silverware, you may need to lower the lights. This way they will light the table and décor more prominently.
OPTIONAL: Place one of the lights a little more behind the subject and pointed towards you to get a bit of flare in your image.
OPTIONAL: If you have a boring room without much light in the background, throw a third light with any color gel in the back. Point it towards a background wall to add some life to the shot.
Shot by Shot
FIGURE 19.2
THIS FIRST LIGHTING SETUP IS ON THE RIGHT SIDE. I USED A PROFOTO B1 WITH A GRID.
CANON 1DXII, CANON 85MM 1.4, ISO 1250, APERTURE 2, SHUTTER 1/200
FIGURE 19.3
I ADDED A SECOND LIGHT ON THE LEFT. THE BACKGROUND UP-LIGHTING CHANGED BUT DIDN’T AFFECT IMAGE TOO MUCH. I USED TWO PROFOTO B1S WITH GRIDS.
CANON 1DXII, CANON 85MM 1.4, ISO 1250, APERTURE 2, SHUTTER 1/200
FIGURE 19.4
IT’S EASY TO MOVE AROUND FROM THERE TO CAPTURE SMALLER DETAILS. I USED TWO PROFOTO B1S WITH GRIDS.
CANON 1DXII, CANON 85MM 1.4, ISO 1250, APERTURE 2, SHUTTER 1/200
FIGURE 19.5
LIGHTING SETUP.
Potential Problems
The reason I place the lights above the table centerpiece is because the tablecloths at weddings are typically white or a light color, while the flowers are a mix of colors. Because of this, it can be very easy to overexpose the table itself, even when the centerpiece is exposed correctly.
Avoid this by raising the lights to specifically light the centerpiece when you’re photographing the table as a whole. Then when you’re ready to move onto the smaller details on the table you can lower the lights as you see fit.
FIGURE 19.6
THE WHITES ON THIS TABLE ARE BLOWN OUT BECAUSE I DIDN’T USE A GRID FOR THE TWO PROFOTO B1S. THIS IS BAD.
CANON 1DX, CANON 50MM 1.2, ISO 1600, APERTURE 2.5, SHUTTER 1/125
I have certainly had my share of marathon wedding-reception-room shoots. If you’re short on time just use one light. Set the light on manual and walk around (faster with an assistant, but you can keep moving around a light stand) from detail to detail, holding the light at the same distance from and angle to your subject each time.
We had about six and a half minutes to photograph the most glorious wedding reception of my career. It was a bummer to have to rush, but gosh darn it, we did it, and it was epic none-the-less.
FIGURE 19.7
SHOT WITH ONE PROFOTO B2 ON CAMERA RIGHT.
CANON 1DX, CANON 24MM 1.4, ISO 1600, APERTURE 3.2, SHUTTER 1/125
FIGURE 19.8
HERE THERE IS AN UNDESIRABLE SHADOW ON THE DRINK COASTER. I REMOVED THE ITEM THROWING THE SHADOW AND USED ONE PROFOTO B1 WITH A GRID.
CANON 1DXII, CANON 85MM 1.4, ISO 1250, APERTURE 2, SHUTTER 1/200
Since you’re likely inside trying to keep your ISO as low as possible to get a clean image, I imagine your shutter speed will be a bit on the lower side. Sometimes this can let in a little too much light. Try raising your shutter speed to darken the ambient light in the space. Alternatively, if you’re taking a picture and you feel like it looks like you’re shooting in a black cave, lower your shutter speed to make the background brighter.
Sometimes you’ll need to move table details that are not in the shot so they don’t throw a shadow on what you’re photographing. You could also move the light, but I often find it’s easier just to move whatever is throwing the shadow.
Practical Uses
With this method you can have a bit more creative fun shooting wedding reception details. You can use a nice long lens like an 85mm and shoot under, over, or through wedding décor in the foreground. It makes for a very pretty, intimate-looking photo that wouldn’t be possible with a bounce flash. The bounced light off of the foreground makes it distracting instead of being an entry point into the photograph that draws the viewer’s eye through to the detail you’re photographing.
