Tag Archive for: Geekoto

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.

Geekoto softboxes compared: results from the Digital Classroom with Jannaika

Geekoto Softboxes

 

In today’s blog the results from the Digital classroom episode with Jannaike in which I explained the differences between Geekoto softboxes.

Remember that these were shot during a live broadcast with loads of ambient light so it’s a bit harder to set the light perfectly.
But I’m very happy with the results.

Geekoto softboxes compared, ditigal classroom with model Janaika Geekoto softboxes compared: Quicky20 Geekoto Softboxes compared, this is whit a striplight (SQ36) Geekoto softboxes compared, result of the Digital Classroom with Janaika

 

If you missed the episode, here it is in full.

the Geekoto Softboxes

Living in the US? and interested in Geekoto? check this Frank Doorhof Geekoto link

Read this post about our first shoot with Janaika 

In the Previous Digital Classroom, we shot Claudia with a Harley Davidson 

Sometimes 15 minutes is enough for a commercial photoshoot. Because our Geekoto flashes have a pistol grip, Annewiek can hold them easily (this is with the S26, if we should do it again, we probably take the even smaller Quicky20)

 

 

The difference between modifiers

Want to know how to predict your light?

And of course how to use the different modifiers to create some images with impact?
Than this is the digital classroom for you.

In almost 2 hours I show you the difference between a lantern, normal softbox, striplights and our new Geekoto Quicky softbox.

You see the setups from 3 different angles, plus all the images I shoot.
And of course there is a boatload with information in there as usual.

So enjoy the brand new Digital Classroom.
With our stunning model Jannaika.

Never the black screen again when using strobes

Black Screen on your camera when using strobes?

Oh, the black screen!

“This camera is unusable for studio use, that’s insane for such an expensive camera…. etc”
Countless of these kinds of bashing cameras can be found online, especially when the EVF in a camera was not as widely used as now. But why is the screen black when you are using strobes?

So what’s going on here?

In the older cameras, we used the sensor only as a replacement for film.
The image was still split into a part where you see the image, focus is done, etc., and a part where it’s hitting the sensor.
With the mirrorless cameras, everything changed.
First of all, we could get super accurate focus (well not at first, it was terrible at times) because you literally focus on the sensor, but we could now also use the viewfinder in a completely new way.

It started with the Sony A99

One day I got a call from Sony if I wanted to test a brand new camera that was “soon” to be released and do the press release in Dubai.
At the moment I wasn’t really into Sony. I was working with Canon cameras and absolutely loved the camera and the people at Canon (I still do :D)

But testing out new gear and getting carte blanche for my review, ……send it in.
Now there is a really funny story about batteries and Sony the Netherlands hanging up several times because they thought I was not serious seeing they didn’t know the camera yet. When it got solved I was literally stunned when looking through the viewfinder… this looks like fricking Topgun 😀
Yeah well, it was a huge improvement over the standard OVF (now I feel old).

The only problem with the A99 was the speed of the EVF. You probably remember the videos of people running through parking garages with their cameras and falling down because the EVF was too slow. In all honesty, when you do stuff like that it’s probably not just the EVF that has a … well ok it was funny 😀

Nowadays EVFs have greatly improved and yes you can now run around with them, although I would not recommend it.

Black Screen when using strobes.

But one problem remains; the black screen when using strobes

When you use the camera in the studio, the image you see through the viewfinder is totally black, and maybe when you press the shutter you can see a little bit of light. So what’s going on here?

The EVF actually does exactly what it’s supposed to do, it emulates the exposure….. ok let’s rewind.
Remember that A99?

Another thing that I found out with the EVF was that taking pictures outside was awesome, even the most difficult situations like backlighting were no problem anymore. Just change the exposure compensation till you see what you like and press the shutter. I called it the WYSIWYG display (What You See Is What You Get).

And this is the problem in the studio.
In a dark studio with the settings 1/125, F11, and ISO100 it should be 100% black in the viewfinder.
And of course, this also happened to me. And remember this was my first EVF. There was no manual and I had no contact person I could reach on the weekend. So, there was one solution, because this couldn’t be how it worked. I went through every single setting in the menu looking for something like LCD or EVF off. I couldn’t find it. Maybe it really was like this… no… ok now let’s try out all the settings. Finally I found a setting with the “not so clear for me” name “setting effect”. Because there was an option ON and OFF, I decided to go from ON to OFF… and like magic, there was my whole studio 😀

Black Screen when using strobes . A funny picture of a model with a camera

So the solution is actually pretty simple

In most cameras with an EVF, you can switch the EVF to roughly two modes.
One is an emulation of what you will get when you press the shutter with those settings.
and the other one is an emulation of what an OVF would show (optical view finder).

This means that in the studio we use the EVF on OFF and outside it’s in most cases best to leave it on ON.

On all cameras, the wording is a bit different but look for settings like “Emulation mode”, “Lighting emulation”, “Setting effect” etc.

To show it on my Sony A7RV I made a small video about the black screen when using strobes and how to solve it.
For this one, we made 2.
The first one is in English the second one is in Dutch.

If you have any questions feel free to ask.
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For the gear I use visit frankdoorhof.com/shop