The off camera flash han.., p.15
The Off-Camera Flash Handbook, page 15
FIGURE 26.10
TWO PROFOTO B1S WITH GRIDS CREATING FRONT LIGHTING.
CANON 1DXII, CANON 35MM 1.4, ISO 2500, APERTURE 2.5, SHUTTER 1/125, WB 5600K
Both options require a similar setup, which we’ll go through in a minute. The last thing I wanted to address in this are the room lights, or the lights from the DJ or band. I prefer to use those as backlights because they’re natural rim lights and they create a fun, colorful background. Plus, I won’t have to worry about crazy polka-dot patterns showing up on people’s faces. Does this mean that my background is the entertainment? Yeah, it does. But just a slight shift to the side or playing with a shorter depth of field lets me still shoot into their lights without having the DJ booth or band in the image.
Step by Step
Grid the lights: You’ll be placing the lights father away from the center of the action so they’re not obtrusive and not a tripping hazard. You’ll need to direct the light toward the dance floor rather than flooding the whole space. If you flood the whole space you may as well just bounce flash. How large the space is and how far away your light is will determine what grid to use. Use a 5- or 10-degree grid to start, turn on your modeling light, and see where the light is falling. If it’s too spotted and you can’t follow enough action around, use a 20- or 30- degree grid.
Position the lights: I recommend pointing both lights towards the center of the dance floor. A little variance is fine, and you may end up liking to shift them a little once you get a feel for these setups. Most importantly, the lights need to be at least 9 feet high (preferably 12 feet) to light over people standing with their hands up dancing. You don’t need to tilt the lights down toward the ground on the center of the dance floor or room; they can still be straight, or slightly tilted down depending on the size of the grid you are using. A modeling light is very helpful here to see where the light is hitting as you’re setting it up.
Set the camera exposure: Create an exposure as if you’re photographing the room’s natural light. I like a shallow depth of field so I set my camera around f/2.2–3.2 to get the look I’m going for. I’ll likely be around 1⁄160 of a second, so I don’t have motion blur with all the crazy dancing, and 1600–2500 ISO depending on how dark the room is.
Set the white balance: Set your white balance to the flash preset or 5600 Kelvin depending on the temperature of your light.
Set the flash power: Turn both lights on and take a shot using TTL. Flip it to manual and adjust. Both lights may not be at the same power setting depending on how far away they are from the subject. 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 of the light, or use a light meter and measure from the center of the room. Do this one light at a time. You may find that keeping your lights set to TTL works best for you, and this setup keeps up with you as you move around the room.
You may like adjusting your light power manually as you move around the room. Maybe you like a super powerful backlight. If that’s the case, brighten whatever light is behind your subjects, and reverse it if you move and that backlight becomes your front light.
Focus: You’ll need a fast-focusing lens for this technique. Because you’ll be shooting in a dark room, you’ll really want a lens that’s great at focusing quickly and in low light. However, some of the newer mirrorless cameras have insane face-detection autofocus that works really well, even in low light. I recently tried the Canon EOS with the newest firmware upgrade (August 2019), and it blew my mind. It focused perfectly in the dark when even I couldn’t see any faces.
Move around while shooting: As you move around, the lighting pattern will change on your subjects, and the mood of the image will alter. I highly suggest moving around to see what the light does depending on where you’re standing. It’s a great way to learn about light and how it looks as you change your angle. Feel free to let in some light flare for fun!
OPTIONAL: Throw a colored gel on one of the lights to add a bit of fun to the image. You might not want that colored light to be the main light hitting your subject’s face though!
Shot by Shot
FIGURE 26.11
NATURAL LIGHT.
CANON 1DXII, CANON 24MM 1.4, ISO 2000, APERTURE 2.5, SHUTTER 1/125, WB 5600K
FIGURE 26.12
SHOT WITH TWO PROFOTO B1S WITH GRIDS, OCF ON TTL
CANON 1DXII, CANON 24MM 1.4, ISO 2000, APERTURE 2.5, SHUTTER 1/125, WB 5600K
FIGURE 26.13
I SWITCHED TO MANUAL AND LOWERED MY LIGHT POWER AND ISO TO BETTER THE QUALITY OF THE IMAGE SINCE I HAD ENOUGH LIGHT POWER USING TWO PROFOTO B1S WITH GRIDS.
CANON 1DXII, CANON 24MM 1.4, ISO 1250, APERTURE 2.5, SHUTTER 1/125, WB 5600K
FIGURE 26.14
LIGHTING DIAGRAM AND BEHIND THE SCENES; THE PROFOTO A1 WAS NOT FIRING, JUST TRIGGERING THE OTHER TWO LIGHTS.
Potential Problems
Make sure the backlight isn’t hitting your subject on the side of the face. It can easily blow out the skin tone and usually isn’t very flattering. Be conscious of where you’re standing and where the lights are set. For this reason, a lot of people choose to have an assistant with them, walking around holding up a light on a light stand or monopod in relation to the shooter, throughout the night.
Sometimes speech-givers ask the reception to stand for a toast. When that happens they all stand up and block your lights. I highly recommend using a 12-foot light stand so you can securely put up lights high enough to be over the crowd. Make sure your lights are at least 9 feet high to anticipate sudden standing so it won’t affect your shot.
Just because the room is big, it doesn’t mean you have to put your lights all the way in the corners of the room (although I do find that’s the safest location for them, liability-wise). Bring your lights to the edge of the dance floor instead of the edge of the room.
If there are a lot of harsh shadows, try using an on-camera flash with a bounce card that will trigger your lights and act as a fill flash. You’ll lessen the shadows and find it easier to shoot in more locations around your lighting setup.
FIGURE 26.15
NATURAL LIGHT.
CANON 1DXII, CANON 35MM 1.4, ISO 1600, APERTURE 2.5, SHUTTER 1/160, WB 5600K
FIGURE 26.16
SHOT WITH TWO CANON 600EXII SPEEDLIGHTS WITH MAGMOD GRIDS.
CANON 1DXII, CANON 35MM 1.4, ISO 1600, APERTURE 2.5, SHUTTER 1/160, WB 5600K
FIGURE 26.17
SHOT WITH AN ON-CAMERA CANON 600EXII ADDED FOR BOUNCE FLASH AND TWO CANON 600EXII SPEEDLIGHTS WITH MAGMOD GRIDS.
CANON 1DXII, CANON 35MM 1.4, ISO 1600, APERTURE 2.5, SHUTTER 1/160, WB 5600K
Practical Uses
This setup is fun for shooting dancing or any type of special event (first dance, parent dances, cake cutting, bouquet/garter toss) that happens in the center of the room. I also enjoy using it to take a full-room shot that emphasizes the size and liveliness of the party.
Get an overall shot of the reception hall. Throwing one light to one side of the room or adding a second light to the opposite side of the shot works for me. I use an ultra-wide lens and get a shot of the entire room (hopefully from a higher angle). Try doing this with a really slow shutter speed of around 1⁄10 of a second (and maybe a tripod) to capture the movement of the dancing while keeping the other elements of the photo crisp.
You have the option to add more lights to give you the freedom of moving around and shooting from different places while maintaining a consistent look to your images. Add these lights one by one to the corners of the dance floor or room. If you’re quick, you can turn on and off the lights from your trigger as you move around the dance floor to keep the same light pattern image to image no matter where you’re standing. You can also choose to fire all of them at the same time and not worry about it at all.
One of the perks of this technique is being able to use the foreground because it won’t be lit. This will help lead the viewer’s eye toward what your subject. It creates a beautifully dramatic image for speeches, dances, or anything else going on at an event.
The key to lighting like this is understanding that your shooting location will determine what the light looks like in the image. It’s fun to be able to photograph a flat-lit photo, then a sidelight, a rim light, and then create a silhouette shot without changing anything on your camera or lighting. However, it can also be limiting if there is movement happening outside of your lit area. If possible, use a system that triggers your off-camera flashes with a flash on your camera. This way if you have to move outside your lit area, you can easily bounce flash with the flash that’s already on your camera. Oh, and turn off the other lights when you do so they’re not flashing like crazy for nothing! #beenthere
SCENARIO 27
Making a Rainy Day Sunny
How to “bring the sun” to any shoot.
GEAR NEEDED:
Camera + Trigger
Medium to long focal length lens (50mm or higher recommended)
Off-camera flash
2 Full CTO (color temperature orange) gels
Light stand
2 Umbrellas (optional, but probably a good idea)
Second off-camera flash and light stand (optional)
GOAL IMAGE
I work in weddings in the Northeast, and it rains like hell all the time. I envy people in California who get 300+ days of sunshine. For me, it feels like we get 300+ of rain (or at least clouds). It’s super depressing. I have a vitamin D lamp for the winter. I call it my happy lamp.
OK, back to photography. The point is that the threat of rain is very real on any given wedding day. My couples dread their bright and vibrant wedding day being turned into doom and gloom. I tell them not to worry because “I bring the sun.” I love having the confidence to know I can give them beautifully bright and sunny-looking images no matter what the weather.
The key to this shot is being able to find a place outside with an overhang. Warning: You will likely get wet. You want to place your subject(s) just at the edge of the overhang so that the natural light is hitting their faces, without them getting wet. This means you need to be out in the rain. So grab an umbrella for yourself, and another one for your light, which will also be out in the rain.
FIGURE 27.1
SHOT WITH A PROFOTO B1 BEHIND THEM ON CAMERA RIGHT WITH A CTO GEL.
CANON 1DX, CANON 85MM 1.2, ISO 320, APERTURE 5.6, SHUTTER 1/160
Step by Step
Position your subjects: Place your subjects just at the edge of the overhang so that the natural light is hitting their faces (without them getting wet!). Ideally the background behind your subjects is a bright and has foliage and depth.
Position the “sun” backlight: This is the light that will have the two CTO gels on it. Try to place it at least 20 feet away from your subject and behind trees or bushes that’ll break up the light and make it look more natural. Don’t point it directly at your subjects, but place it in a way that allows the light to pass across their backs.
Set the camera exposure: Get an exposure for the natural light on your subjects’ faces. Ideally the exposure will also create a bright background that’s as evenly exposed as their faces. If that’s not the case, consider moving your position to a spot where you can have a background that has the same amount of light on it as the light hitting your subjects’ faces.
Set the white balance: Auto white balance would work in this case because the light hitting the faces is natural. Alternatively, dial in your Kelvin temperature according to the natural light hitting your subjects’ faces.
Set the back flash: Turn on just your back flash and use TTL to get a power setting. Flip to manual, keeping the same power setting, and adjust until you like how powerful the “sun” looks. You can also use a light meter or start on mid-high manual power and adjust to taste.
Make adjustments: Once you have a solid image, feel free to change your exposure, white balance, or flash settings. Be sure to only change one thing at a time so you don’t get too far away from what was working originally and you can’t get back. Your goal is to balance the natural light with your flash so that it looks like the sun is lighting the background and hitting the back of your subjects.
OPTIONAL: Use another off-camera flash with a soft modifier to light your subjects’ faces if you don’t like the existing light pattern or you need more light.
Shot by Shot
FIGURE 27.2
NATURAL LIGHT.
CANON 1DX, CANON 85MM 1.2, ISO 320, APERTURE 5.6, SHUTTER 1/160
FIGURE 27.3
SHOT WITH A PROFOTO B1 AND CTO GEL BACKFLASH.
CANON 1DX, CANON 85MM 1.2, ISO 320, APERTURE 5.6, SHUTTER 1/160
FIGURE 27.4
LIGHTING DIAGRAM.
Potential Problems
The most difficult part of this scenario in my opinion is finding the perfect spot. You need to have some kind of greenery (or something) in the background for the flash to hit so it looks like it’s the sun hitting the background. In addition, you want to have the light hitting your subjects’ faces match the light that’s hitting your background. On a naturally sunny day, the light is usually fairly even on your subjects and the background, so you need to find a way to mimic that.
Move your subjects closer or farther away from the edge of the overhang until the light on their faces matches the light on the background. If there’s not enough light on their faces and they can’t move forward without starting to get wet, consider using a second flash with a soft modifier to add a bit more light to their faces.
Practical Uses
Depending on how large of an overhang you can find, it can be used for individuals, couples, and large groups. The best part is that once you have your light set, you can move people all around and switch from groups to individuals in a heartbeat. The light is spread around so far behind them that a little movement throughout the session shouldn’t affect your photo too much.
FIGURE 27.5
THIS METHOD IS A SET-IT-AND-FORGET-IT SYSTEM, SO AFTER YOU’VE DIALED IT IN, IT’S EASY TO WALK AROUND AND GET DIFFERENT SHOTS THAT YOU NEED WITHOUT CHANGING YOUR SETTINGS.
SCENARIO 28
Lighting to Look Like Window Light
For soft, even light that looks like it’s natural—but it’s not!
GEAR NEEDED:
Camera + Trigger
Lens of any focal length
Off-camera flash
Light stand (optional)
Reflector (optional)
GOAL IMAGE
As much as I love shooting in places with floor to ceiling windows, it doesn’t always happen. Even if I have windows to use, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the light quality will be what I want it to be. This setup is an easy way to make it look like there’s beautiful natural window light, even if there really isn’t.
There are two ways to create this light. This scenario covers scenarios with white or light-colored walls to bounce light off of. If you don’t have one, you’ll have to make do by using the largest light modifier that you can get your hands on.
Think about rooms with large windows. The light comes in from the window side and pours into the room. That light then bounces off every surface around the room and back at your subject.
With that in mind, you’ll want to position your light so that it double bounces off the walls. You need to have your subject in between two white or light-colored walls. Position the light towards one of the walls, and set it to output enough power that the light will reach the other wall and bounces all around (Figure 28.2).
FIGURE 28.1
GOAL IMAGE: THE LIGHT DOUBLE BOUNCING.
CANON 1DX II, CANON 50MM 1.2, ISO 800, APERTURE 2.5, SHUTTER 1/200
FIGURE 28.2
LIGHTING DIAGRAM.
Step by Step
Position the subject: Place your subject with a white wall to their right and left. If there are windows in the room, positioning your shot so they are behind you could be ideal because they can add some fill light. However, you could also place the window behind your subject.
Position the light: Place the light on whichever side has the largest wall with the least amount of interference (furniture, pictures on the wall, etc.). The light should be far enough away from your subject that it won’t be in frame, but far enough away from the wall that it lights up the entire wall. Point the light at the wall and, but slightly toward you so that the light bounces back, hitting your subject at about a 45-degree angle. Make sure that the light also bounces off the opposite wall. Test fire your light and look at the opposite wall to see where it is hitting. Adjust your positioning if it’s not hitting enough of either wall.
Set the camera exposure: Set your camera exposure as if you’re taking a picture of the background. I do not try and eliminate the natural light in this scene because I want to use both light sources—unless the lights aren’t so attractive (like overhead tungsten lights). In that case I turn them off, either by actually turning them off or darkening my exposure so that light doesn’t affect the image as much. Try to set your shutter speed to around 1⁄160 of a second so you have room to raise or lower your shutter speed to darken or lighten the natural light in the room without affecting your flash.
Set the white balance: Because the flash is your main source of light, set your white balance to flash or 5600 Kelvin depending on the original color temperature of your light. If you’re bouncing the light off of a wall that is colored, you’ll need to adjust your Kelvin temperature to compensate for that.
