Tag Archive for: tip

A new model in our studio for a very special session and she rocked it

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Trial by fire

For the workshops we are always looking for new models.
Before I use a model in a group I always invite them for a test session. A test session is a great way to get to know each other, explain how the workshops work and take some photos for her portfolio and for me the see how she/he is in front of the camera.

For Jannaika it was a bit different 😀
If you have been following my work for a few years you probably remember Sanne. A few years ago we worked a lot with Sanne and also did some sessions for the Miss competitions  Sanne organises.

Jannaika is Miss Photogenic 2024 and Sanne was convinced she would be a perfect model for me.
And you never guessed it… we needed a model for the Digital Classroom.
So the images you see here were shot during a live stream, and we literally met 5 minutes before we went live. It doesn’t happen a lot but I was impressed.

I think we will see more of Jannaika in the future.

 

A very cool lighting technique with just one strobe and softbox

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A tip on lighting

Today in the blog a video about a very powerful lighting setup for ultimate moody shots.

In the short digital classroom videos I explain the lighting of one of my photos I took during the workshops. You see the results, the behind the scenes video and an in depth explanation about the technique.

If you have any questions feel free to ask and maybe you see your question answered in a video.
Want to visit one of our workshops?
Visit fotografie-workshops.nl for more info on the Dutch and English workshops.

I’m using Geekoto strobes and softboxes in the video.

Sometimes 15 minutes is enough for a commercial photo shoot

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Planning is everything in a photo shoot

Sometimes it doesn’t go as planned. Our planning for this commercial photo shoot was good, but it ended in only 15 minutes shooting.
Recently we did a photoshoot for the new Sparks sunglasses collection.
The idea was to shoot the series in Amsterdam, but due to the weather, we decided at the last minute to change the location to Emmeloord so we would have the studio as a backup. and once again we found out that planning a for commercial photoshoot can go differently than you thought.

Rescheduling was impossible because the tickets were already bought from the UK to the Netherlands and back. So we decided to go for it.

Oops… planning for a shoot can go wrong

When the client arrived we started by planning the whole shoot, and to our horror, we found out they had to be back in Amsterdam in….. 2 hours.
This meant we had to drive to the location (Urk), do the photo shoot, and drive the client back to Lelystad, and from there to Amsterdam. In the car to Urk I, actually for the first time, realized I had exactly 15 minutes to do the whole shoot.

Seeing our client was here all the way from the UK I wanted to give them more than they asked for, but 15 minutes… would be a new record 😀

Flash and natural light, ETTL rocks

I’m not a big fan of ETTL but luckily our Geekoto strobes support both HSS and ETTL. So I decided to shoot almost everything in 3 fold. One time natural light, immediately after that with strobes as a fill-in light, and then the final shot with a more day-to-night look.

When you set this up correctly it’s possible to shoot 3 different looks in one setup. Just move your body a little bit or change positions. And it almost looks like you did a lot, while in essence, it was a short session.

For the location, I chose the harbor of Urk. Because we only had 15 minutes I knew that from a low angle, I could get a nice sky. But with just changing my own position I can shoot Urk in the background or all the boats in the harbor. And when walking back the killer-whale and some other nice locations where you can just stand and shoot.

Annewiek was functioning as my VAL *(Voice Activated Lightstand) and held the GT200 with the S26 softbox under different angles during the shoot, again to maximize the amount of different “looks”.

In this case, I shot the whole series with ETTL and HSS. This meant I could work very fast on location. But the downside is that all photos needed slight adjustments in Lightroom. Not a big deal but personally I’m a lightmeter guy 😀

Anyway, enough talk. Although our planning for this commercial photo shoot was different, we got great results, and the client is satisfied.

Here are some images from the session. It’s not everything I shot, but it is a nice overview.

Planning for a commercial photo shoot Planning for a commercial photo shoot Planning for a commercial photo shoot Planning for a commercial photo shoot Planning for a commercial photo shoot

 

Sparks Sunglasses Website 

See the video of the workshop outside, where we also used the Geekoto.

check this post of the shoot with Nadine with Sparks Sunglasses 

Same background, totally different results

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Maximize your results with this simple technique

When you shoot for a client, delivering different options is always interesting and smart.
But different options take time, right? In this blog the same background and totally different results

Well not exactly.

Be smart with your setups.

For this example, I’m using a white background.
In the front, I’m using the Rogue black umbrella with a sleeve aimed straight at our model.
The backdrop is white seamless.

You probably already know about the inverse square law, meaning light falls off over the distance.
A great way to use this is to control your background.

I’m using the white background for my first shot in this setup.
This one was shot with one Rogue umbrella in the background and one Rogue umbrella on the front.

white background but different results You can already see a very slight light fall-off in the background, which can be solved by using a second umbrella on the other side of course as explained in the previous blog posts.

But what if you just take away the umbrella(s)

again the same white background but different result

As you can see the background now turns grey and you can add some extreme vignetting in Lightroom or Photoshop (or your favorite editor) for a completely different look.

Change the distance for total control (different results)

Using the inverse square law you can change the luminance of the background very easily.
You actually have 2 options.

  1. you can change the distance from the main light to your model.
    Move it closer to the model and the background will become darker.
    Move it further away from your model and the background will become lighter.
  2. Move your model forward to get the background darker
    Move your model towards the background and the background will become lighter.

Of course, you have to re-meter the light when you change the distance between your model and your background.

Explained wrong

I just wanted to add an extra note to this blog post.
I’ve seen several videos and articles that claim that the light halves when doubling the distance, this is however wrong.
The name already gives you the answer in fact.

“The intensity of the light is inversely proportional to the square of the distance”
meaning in simple turns that for every doubling you lose about 75% of your light.

In usable terms.
Place your light really close to your model and the light will fall off incredibly fast. Place it further away from your model and more of the set and model will be lit and the light fall-off will be smoother.

 

Conclusion using the same background and getting different results

When you have to shoot with certain setups always check if you can also get usable results by turning off/on certain strobes.
You might surprise yourself when you start testing this, it can be done in much more situations than you might think.

Read the post about poses and the white background 

Read more about making the background and floor totally white 

see more pictures Frank made with the Umbrella on the RogueFlash website 

check out the Digital Classroom about Umbrellas