Today, I went to an all-day strobist photography class. The first two hours (approx.) was spent going over terminology, light theory, set up, equipment, and the like. And then we split into two teams and got down to shooting. We used an umbrella and, when necessary, a reflector. Oh, and we also had to be each other's models, which sort of sucked - I hate having my photo taken - but at some point during our many hours of shooting, we became ultra comfortable with being in front of the camera. We were also a little goofy. There is a lot my brain is still working through so I won't post specifics right now. What I can say is that post-editing was a breeze. When you can control your camera through your settings (e.g., aperture, ISO, shutter speed), it is awesome. When you can control your camera
and the lighting, it is FAB-U-LOUS.
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| Janice and the Beauty lighting - The lighting is overhead but slightly forward (so as not to cause weird shadows to fall on her face) and to the right. Since she is set against a black backdrop, you don't have to spend any time worrying about what to do with the background. |
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| Janice & the City - I'm about 95% there with this picture. I need to know how to lessen the reflection in the window - my theory to get rid of the reflection in the window is that you would 1. bounce the umbrella's light off a reflector to illuminate her face or 2. move the umbrella slightly more to the side - but other than that, this is actually a really cool shot. Want to know why? I'll tell you. I had to get a base reading by metering off one of the buildings in the back, go three (four?) stops past that to underexpose the shot, position Janice, bring the light close in, and fire away. |
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| Ah, Lee. The light is coming in from the right. We have catchlights in both eyes, there are no shadows on the wall because our subject is far enough away from it and, well, that's pretty much about it. |
UPDATE: Notes on my hand from tonight's review - Flash-SB700 (or above); for gritty sports shot, use two lights (one umbrella and one
snoot) and set aperture to f/5.6, shutter to 1/250, and place second light on the opposite side of the umbrella so it illuminates the jawline.
2 comments:
While all three pictures are great, I absolutely love the last one. That is the kind of picture I'd love to have of myself. She should totally make that her FB picture. :)
Why thank you, my dear. You'll be the first person I call to practice when I get my umbrella and flash and stand and reflectors and ... (This ain't a cheap hobby.)
Also, it is one of my favorites, too. I have a whole series with Lee in front of that brick wall. I much prefer the softened but still visible background to the one in front of the black sheet. I could add more visual appeal to the latter, though, by adding an additional light behind the subject to create a cool glow around the hairline. (Theoretically, I could do this. It's an advanced move to be taught in the next class.)
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