A while ago I got the chance to test out the Westcott Ice Light.
For me it’s a wonderful teaching tool to really show what light does, but combined with the barndoors it’s also an amazing light source.
In this episode of “Quite Frankly” I show you some technique for using constant light during a photoshoot.
One of the things that I love to do is including the sun in the frame.
Often photographers are afraid to do this, for…. well I don’t know.
During the small flash workshop we always try to do one set outside to create something that a lot of people think is not possible with the small flash system, a day to night scene.
The nice thing about small flash is that there is an option where you can use something called “HSS” High Speed Sync.
With this option you can shoot on higher shutter speeds than with studio strobes (which are almost always limited to 1/125), meaning it gets easier to “push away” the ambient light.
By adding two strobes together you get 1 stop more of power plus recycling etc. is much faster.
The following shots were done with this technique during the small flash workshop.
Light from the side can be incredibly powerful.
Here, during the small flash workshop, I used a bare strobe to light Nadine, by using the zoom function you can tailor the light beam hitting the model just the way you like it.
Today a quick tip on lighting
Often people ask me what they should use to show patterns on the wall from blinds, racks, chairs etc.
You have to understand that to show patterns you will need a light that is pretty hard, meaning if you place a softbox very close to blinds you will not get the effect you want (see the first example)
This is of course pretty logical because the light is literally spreading around the structure of the item you place in between the model and the light source, meaning you will hardly see any patterns.
when you change the softbox for a reflector or even a bare-bulb strobe you will start to see the effect (see second shot).
Now the fun part comes into the angle of the strobe and… the distance, with all these elements you can control the outcome of the shot.
Good luck.
For much more tips on lighting get my book “Mastering the modelshoot” or download one of my instructional videos via : https://frankdoorhof.com/web/shop-videos-etc/direct-video-downloads/
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