Tag Archive for: ambient light

A step by step workshop with Nadine and using Geekoto strobes outside

Workshop outside with Geekoto strobes

What do you teach?

Probably one of the first questions people ask when they want to know more about my workshops.
And let’s immediately take the bull by the horns. It sometimes seems everyone is teaching workshops and the quality is often not what people expect. A guided photo shoot is NOT a workshop. I’ll teach you lighting with Geekoto strobes (but any brand will do). Continue reading more about using Geekoto strobes in a workshop outside.

For me, there are a few things important during the workshop.

  1. A small group
    I love to work with groups varying from 3-12 attendees. This way I can give a 1:1 experience to all the attendees and we all have enough time to shoot portfolio material.
  2. Theory
    Knowing how the light works is essential and will immensely help you understand what happens during a shoot. How to place the lighting quickly and solve problems. In essence, lighting isn’t that hard (no really), it’s the creativity and getting the right shot that’s an everlasting journey of learning.
  3. Creativity
    The theory is essential, but after that, it’s all about creativity, how to style a set, how to find the right angles, how to coach the model, etc., etc. this is in essence what makes or breaks the shot
  4. How to work with the model
    You can’t take a perfect shot (if that’s even possible) if the model doesn’t feel at ease, so during the workshop, there is always attention to coaching the model and also how to prepare for the shoots.
  5. Workflow
    Understanding your gear and software takes away so much stress and means you can focus 100% on the session and your subject.
  6. Q&A
    Believe it or not, I hardly prepare my workshops, but I’ve taught a lot of them over the years, and at the moment I start all the workshops with a Q&A. In this part, the attendees can ask whatever they want. I will answer the questions immediately for the theory part and create a set (or make it part of the set) during the workshop. Do you have a problem with a white background? Then we create one set with a white background. This way attendees always get what they want and expect.

Themes of our workshops

All the workshops do have a theme.
For example, Cosplay, Classical Masters, Glamour, Gels, etc. but the content will be different every single time due to the Q&A which keeps it fresh and challenging for me but also for the attendees that visit several workshops a year.

One of the themes a lot of photographers struggle with is using strobes on location effectively.
So let’s take a look at the workshop “On location in Emmeloord” with Nadine.

All shots were done during the workshop outside with Geekoto strobes

During the workshop, we worked with the Geekoto GT200 and a large metal reflector for most shots.
These reflectors add some extra light output to the strobe which helps a lot outside when it is really bright.
On the second Geekoto GT200 I used the Rogue magnetic system for some added color or a grid with the reflector for color.

The Geekoto strobes support ETTL and HSS but for the workshops, I have to limit the strobes to full manual mode.
The reason for this is that all cameras operate via a different radio system. This means that if you use a camera that is not supported you cannot shoot which of course is not the idea of a workshop. So we are using so-called “dumb” triggers that work on all cameras. The only limitation is that I have to shoot at a max shutter speed of 1/125 which means we shoot with rather small apertures. When I shoot commercially or for myself I’m using HSS for a much shallower depth of field. As you can see in some images.

Outside with Geekoto Strobes, set 1

After the Q&A it was time to go outside.
The idea of this workshop is that the attendees have to find interesting locations around our studio. In other words, you don’t have to travel far to find awesome locations. And always remember, seeing it through the lens and with strobes it’s a totally different scene.

The first set was right next to our studio.
Our neighbors use a closed fence. The clothing Nadine was wearing worked flawlessly with the fence.
I started using the reflector straight on the model but to create a more interesting look I added a blue gel from the side.
By experimenting with angles and the balance between the strobes you can quickly change looks on location. Even without the client noticing.

outside with Geekoto Strobes. with on the left a blue magnetic gel

Outside with Geekoto strobes, set 2

For the second set, we found a few large onion boxes that were stacked up and Nadine had the perfect outfit for this.
I started out with just the reflector on Nadine. But soon we switched this over for a Rogue grid as the main light on Nadine’s face and the reflector with a blue gel top opened up the shadows with a blue tint for a totally different look. And of course, as you can see you can change the output of the blue strobe to create totally different looks without losing the focus on the face of your subject.

outside with the geekoto strobes

Outside, set 3

You probably will notice it with these shots but….
Nadine is pregnant. So for the next set I wanted to shoot her pregnancy shots. Well some of them at least, because I think we will do some more at a later stage.

For this set I wanted something a bit more bright and airy.
In front of our studio there was an old building. Great for photography (one of my signature series backgrounds is actually from that wall) but they recently demolished it. And now there is a large field right in front of the studio… not a disaster 😀

I used the Geekoto GT200 with the large reflector for a harsher quality of light.
This is the set I also shot on HSS as you can see 😀
The part of this shoot was to not only find the location but also find the right angles. And how you can change the look of a scene and shot by changing your perspective, using material in front of the lens and of course maybe angling the camera slightly or…. Well let’s take a look at the different options I chose from this set.

Oustide with Geekoto strobes, creating a lens flare with a second strobe Workshop outside with Geekoto Strobes, shooting from a very low angle Workshop outside with Geekoto Strobes, photographing from a higher angle

Outisde, set 4

This location was at the edge of Set 3. and the last one in the workshop outside with Geekoto Strobes
I used the Geekoto GT200 as main light and the reflector with a blue gel in the back.
Choosing a lower angle gave me a cool triangle in the back which I feel gives the image a nice flow.
And of course a more close up shot is part of the setup. This was the time we changed batteries on Geekoto Strobes.

Workshop outside with Geekoto Strobes and making day to night images

Also want to visit a workshop?

Today I showed you the results and different sets we did during the workshop outside with Geekoto strobes “on location in Emmeloord” with Nadine.
During the workshops I always try to use 3-4 different setups explaining different techniques and of course it’s a great way to get a good addition to your portfolio.

If you think “that’s for me”
Than visit photography-workshops.eu for the Dutch workshops.
But if you are not living in the Netherlands or don’t speak Dutch we also have other options.
If you let is know 2 weeks in advance I can teach the workshop you want to visit in English.
Or if you can’t travel to our studio we also now offer the option to get a full 1:1 experience with 5 different camera angles, lightroom/Photoshop view and a talkback channel, you also get all the raw files and retouched results from the workshop. Visit our online workshops page for more info.

Mixing light sources in the studio flash vs continuous lighting

Mixing lights can be awesome

And something we sometimes have to do! Because the location we are shooting in has some very strong lights, or maybe lights that cannot be taken out, or that just look interesting to include. There can be many reasons why to include lights that are in your set/location. So continue reading about mixing light sources.

Video about mixing light sources

In today’s video, I talk about how I included the studio lights in a photo with Claudia during one of the workshops.
I also explain the main lighting setup and show the results from that set.

If you have any questions feel free to drop us an email and who knows you will see your question answered in one of our next posts/videos.

Want to visit a workshop?
visit www.photography-workshops.eu for our Dutch workshops, but also for all our workshops abroad like the UK and Belgium.

 

Check out this blog about Claudia and the white background with just 3 umbrellas

 

How to mix light sources flash and continious

There is a lot to say for powerful strobes.
But always remember that now a days cameras have no problem at all with ISO200-400-800 or even 1600. Alle are perfectly usable in a studio setting. So although a 1000W strobe with spotlight sounds awesome in the studio it’s unusable because even on the lowest setting you will break the X-sync which prevents most studio strobes to shoot above 1/125 of a second.

Mostly in modern studios you can get away with 100-200-400w strobes, and in most situations you don’t even have to raise your ISO above 100, a little bit depending on the light shaper of course because every light shaper will take away or add light output depending on the material.

A fresnel for example will give you a tremendous light output compared to a striplight with narrow grid.

So when we start to combine light sources we have to realise that we are mixing an often very faint light source, for example tungsten lightbulbs or Christmas lights with a very high powered light source like a strobe.

As you can probably guess the problem is not in the output, it’s actually in the lack of output.
This is why when you buy new strobes it’s very important to not only focus on output, but mostly on the amount of stops you have available. A 200W strobe with 3 stops of range is much less usable than a 400W strobe with 7 stops of range. So one might think to get the 200W strobe when mixing in very faint light sources, but in this case the 400W actually works better because you can put it a lot lower in output.

Also the modifier you chose will have a huge impact.
I love using my own Frank Doorhof flashbender for these kind of shots, I will use it in the striplight with grid setting for this. It will still spread enough for a 3/4 body shot from relatively close, but it’s also very narrow on the sides preventing spill light. It’s really perfect for these setups. But I also often use strip lights or even an umbrella feathered to the extreme edges for these kind of shots. During the workshops I always vary so it’s clear it can be done with almost everything, but the flashbender is the best solution in this case 😀

What I normally do is setup the mainlight source (strobe).
I will set the strobe on the lowest setting and meter the light. At that moment I don’t care if it’s f2.8 ISO3200.
When I know the strobe output I know that when shooting on f2.8 ISO3200 I will get a properly lit model on every shutter speed as long as it’s below 1/125 (x-sync)

Now I will turn on all the extra lights and take the first shot on 1/125.
In most cases it will be nice but a little but too dull for the continuous light.
The trick is now that by lowering your shutter speed you can let in more of the continuous light and “build” the perfect exposure.
As long as you don’t change the ISO or aperture your strobe will be constant and with the shutter speed you control the continuous lighting to the effect you like.

For me personally this is one of the things I love to do with the Geekoto strobes.
Seeing they have their heritage in the speedlight family they have a huge range going from 1/128 to 1/1 which is a huge range and often means that if you choose your lightshaper with some grids you probably not even have to shoot on the lowest setting 😀

I hope the next time you have to combine light sources you remember that the ISO/Aperture determine the strobe and the shutter speed the continuous light.

PS.
Remember that in most cases light sources can/will vary in colortemperature.
You can chose to do nothing and just mix them, which can be great.
Or (much better) make sure you have a so called color correction kit with gels you can place in front of your strobes to mimic the color temperature of the light source you mix with the strobes. A calibrite colorchecker, or white balance card is essential to get it all in sync.

Here you can find our color correction kits
For round strobes, speedlights and magnetic systems.

Small flash outside with Sigma 35mm 1.4 and Sharon

During a small flash workshop with Sharon it was the first time I tried out the Sigma 35mm 1.4 Art lens.
I was looking for a wider angle lens that was fast for some time now and finally ended up with the Sigma 35mm 1.4 due to it’s many many positive reviews. And I have to say WOW I’m not easily impressed by lenses but this lens is something else, even on 1.4 (wide open) it’s pin sharp and the whole lens just feels very solid and professional, well done Sigma (I will post more about this lens in the coming weeks).

 

Back to the pictures.
One of the things I really love about small flash is the option to use HSS *high speed sync, which makes it possible to shoot a lens wide open and still cut off the ambient light. When you use the zoom of your strobe and let someone hold it really close to the model you can create some really nice “flagging” effects which I always find very interesting.

Sharon Mei 31 2014  (46 of 101)-Edit

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