Some fun with lighting

The other day Josh Mize (Phofab) came over with his stands and flashes. Using three flashes, we shot the following images with my camera as a commander. I have radio controls for my two flashes but it is always good to learn a new technique. I have a sb600 and an old Vivitar. Josh brought his sb800 and 600 (I think). We used three umbrellas too. The first two was use for the key light and the fill light. The third umbrella was used for back/hair light.

I went first.

Well, the lighting is good except you can see the light stand. Though, the image can be crop or the light stand removed. We didn’t take the time to use backgrounds but the love seat worked out. The fill light and the back light was set to TTL. The key light was set to half power (Josh correct me if I am wrong) and we narrowed the beam. The other two flashes the beam was set to wider setting.

In the picture above, you can see more of shadow on Josh than the picture of me. I actually like a little shadow. It gives it some depth. Also, we move the back light out of the way but it was still on. It isn’t as strong on Josh since the light is further from the subject. We didn’t change the power or the beam. But I do wonder if we did change the beam if it would have lit the back him better.

The pictures above are auto white balance. Josh uses a 18% gray card where I use what I call is a digital card (black, gray, white stripes. see below). You can purchase them here but I was all about DIY. I wanted to show Josh my workflow when it came to doing the exposure and white balance.

Here is Josh again with using the digital card (below). Notice that he is a little warmer than the previous pictures (I did not change any the images except for reducing them for the blog.). The image is suppose to be a little warmer but I also believe that my middle stripe is not 18% gray. The lighting for the taking the image has not changed at all. Since I did the exposure with the digital card, the exposure looks even. Before, we took a picture of each other, look at the histogram and adjusted for the correct exposure. The first image of Josh is still a good image.

In the next image, I turned off the back light and then put the other two lights on either side of Josh. I like the way that tuned out. Both lights still wrap around Josh so that you get some back lit.

On this next image, we took it down to just one light. We also widen the beam of the light. You can tell I didn’t adjust the WB. Each time you change the light, you need to reset your exposure and WB.

Ok, it is my turn again. Here I am facing the light but from the camera’s view, there is no light on my left side. If you look close, you can see the light source in my right eye.

One more image just for the heck of it. Still using one light but since the object is small the light wraps around it pretty good. Remember, the flash bean was widen earlier.

What did I learn from this fun practice (Granted these are items I knew but never got my hands dirty):

1. When using more than one light, it is good practice to narrow the beam of the key light.
2. Setting the camera to commander is great way to control multiple lights from one place.
3. The back light is nice to have but it isn’t always necessary. One or Two lights might be all that is needed.
4. Keep it simple.

Josh, thanks for comeing over and given me some great pointers. I can’t wait to use them again.

So, what do you think? What would you have done different (ie diffusers instead of umbrellas)? What are lighting techniques you like to use? Leave a comment and share it with us.

I am currently booking Fall 2009 & Spring 2010 Weddings, Seniors, Events and Family portraits. Keep an eye out, you never know when a special will come up.

Jul 08, 2009 | Categories: Information, personal | Tags: flashes, Lighting, Phofab, reflections, umbrellas | Comments