Workshop on Sept 1, 2007

I didn't realize until too late that I had chosen the Labor Day weekend for the workshop date. I had lots of interest, but only a few folks could actually make the date. Rather than cancel, I took it as an opportunity to change up the workshop to a totally location focused day. It was a good decision. Our model was the lovely and talented Briana, and she was an amazing trooper, shooting the whole day can be exhausting, but she never showed any sign of slowing down.

We met a little earlier than usual and headed out to Globe, Arizona. This old mining town is really becoming a cool place to visit. Great restaurants, art galleries and little shops are turning up at every corner. We stopped and shot in Miami, AZ on the way there. That old town is quickly becoming an artsy place as well.

We decided to shoot our first shot in an old doorway in Miami. The weather was very nice and the doorway was totally in the shade. Across the street was a huge white building and it was totally lit by the sun. Here was an opportunity to show various lighting schemes and how they are defined by the image.

We started by sweeping out the doorway and cleaning the cobwebs off the tiles. This gave us a little better shooting environment and removed the vestiges of a 'we just found it and shot' doorway. NOTE: a broom is a great little tool to keep in your shoot vehicle.

Links below will bring up large images for viewing. PHOTOSHOP movies at the bottom of the page.
Starting out with natural light, we found that the light coming from the building across the way was amazing and beautiful. We utilized it for side, front and 3/4, using the white paper in the glass showcase as natural fill.

Next up was the addition of a beauty dish with a 580EX, and an SB600 kicker light (pocket wizards). The kicker was placed behind Briana about 8 feet and dialed to 1/8 power, while the beauty dish with the 580 was set at 1/2 power. We used a bi-legged, carbon-based light stand (me) for the beauty dish so we could direct its placement when the posing was changing. This light softly blended the strobe and the daylight into a well balanced beauty light. Using the beauty dish as a main light and the natural light bouncing off the building as a fill, the images were different enough to prove the concept of balancing the natural light without blowing it out. There is a Photoshop movie of this image at the bottom of the page.

We then created a strobe lighting setup in the same area. Two strobes, backlight and frontlight in a cross light config. Now we were exposing at a stop and half over the ambient and creating our own light in the same location we had started with natural light. This was a really exciting lesson, as we were able to create a situation where all the light that we used created excellent images. Next time the photographers go to make an image, they will have a well rounded arsenal of lighting tools to choose from. The image dictates the tools, not the other way around.

We packed and went around to a staircase that was in total sun. There are images to be made with this light, but you have to choose wisely with the posing. Using the prop of the hat, some interesting images were made. Ready for something to drink, we found a little restaurant and had a cheese crisp and several gallons of water. Our next area was a shady tree with dappled light, and a facade in the shade. A discussion of how to watch out for under-light (Bela Lugosi lighting) coming from a very bright sidewalk or street and lighting from an upward angle was followed by a demonstration of using a bounce card, bright card for adding a little fill under the dappled light. Sometimes you can achieve wonderful light without making it a big production.

Heading to Globe we found a great alleyway to shoot in. At the time we arrived we had full, bright sun in a clear sky. We were in mid-day and were looking for some shade. This alley had multi-story buildings on each side and had a delightful breeze. This was a perfect place to experiment with creating our own light.

We instantly zeroed in on a very interesting doorway with angled wood (example). Starting with the beauty dish, we then added an additional kicker strobe for just a little hint of side light for separation. This was a very interesting shoot and I had the photographers try angles they hadn't thought of before. We decided to do a studio lit beauty shot with the beauty dish and a fill card right there in the alley. This setup proved to be a hit as well.

Deciding to create our own light, we moved Briana into an area that gave us the sun for the left side at f16, added an SB600 on the right at f16, and then used the 580 for main light off-camera on the front. We also added another light, way back of Briana to open the wall up a little bit. It was looking too much like a dark tunnel. Using shutter speed and proximity of the main light, we created a wonderful, sexy lighting with a darkened ambient light and sky background. The light changed a bit and we went with a two light setup... see the image on the left. This was a variation of the first setup. Click Here for light setup. Below you will see me shoot the photo that is used for the cover shot for this page.

Then came the clouds... big, beautiful and soft. Hard, difficult sunlight gave way to soft, manageable light. We moved to a street that had been too sunny before and used the blue doorway for our set. Here we used the SB600 to open up the shadow a little - aiming it high and adding diffusion to 'sprinkle' the left side of the image with a little fill. We used the beauty dish at this point to just open the shadow under the hat, and give a little 'pop' to the color. This was a really interesting shot showing that you don't have to over-light, when a little punch is all that is needed. The result is an image that looks like natural light, but has the punch and openness of a strobe.

Up the street came three guys, looking straight at us and moving fast. Wondering if we had done something wrong, we started to head back down the alley. They caught up with us and introduced themselves as guys from the local paper and wondered if they could interview us and find out what the heck we were doing. That was fun, and we set up another shot there in the alley to demonstrate what we were doing. This shot used three point lights... two in back for rim light and one in front for main. This setup proved to be very powerful with Briana's wardrobe and we had her jumping in the air and being frozen by the strobes. We even had the newspaper guy hook up to a Pocket Wizard and shoot a few. He was amazed.

On the way out of town we stopped in Miami for the lightpole shot. Dark, blustery clouds meant we made our own light. Using the 580 as a main, we stuck the SB600 on an extended light stand and held it out over the ravine and behind Briana. Here is a shot without flash so you can see the flat light under the darkening clouds. That shot was a lot of fun and a very quick setup for the guys who were becoming more comfortable with the strobe lights.

We hiked in to an old bridge that I had remembered, but was disappointed to find that floods had severely damaged the trees around it, and left it looking more like junk than the incredible old bridge that had stood there for decades. We did manage to put Briana in a tree and shoot her with total strobe... one in back and one in front, due to a totally dark cloudy sky. There is a difference between overcast and dark overcast... the images were good, but not the best made that day. You can see some of Gerries and Dennis's shots from this location on the left side above.

Arriving back at the studio 11 hours after leaving it, we were tired and hungry, but also excited by the images and knowledge that was shared. I may incorporate this type of shoot into the seminar series. It seems to me that the hands on approach is the best way to teach, and the experimentation, learning and genuine photography that happened all day was amazing.

Two Photoshop movies of images taken at the workshop. PShop Video 1 / PShop Video 2

Hope to see you in a seminar some day.