Tag Archive for: workshop

How to create depth in a scenic backdrop set

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Today it’s about depth

Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against creatively using AI. But for me using it to replace backdrops in all your shots, or even worse creating something from text to image and calling it art. Well, it’s not my thing. Today I’ll show you how to create depth in a scenic backdrop set.

When I shoot or teach the workshops I always try to use materials and backdrops in the studio. This means my images are 99% shot on set.
I always leave some marking, because I also use generative fill to extend a backdrop. Take out some things I didn’t see on set. Or just extend a set. But the whole idea, setup, etc. was done as much as possible in camera.

So why is that so important to me?

When I look at a picture I want to see depth.
And this is the one thing often lacking in AI-replaced backdrops, yes it looks great for an SF set, or Cosplay (use it a lot in those setups) but when you try to create something real, at least for me, it mostly fails because the backdrop and the model don’t “connect” in a natural way.

But what is different from using a scenic backdrop you might ask?

With a scenic backdrop, we use a backdrop that literally has a scene printed on it.
Using this as a backdrop can give you a great sense of depth even if it’s just a flat print. The reason is that if you place your lighting on your subject correctly and match the angles on the backdrops (very important to read the shadows), your light, model, shadows, etc. will all interact with the backdrop. Thus creating a much more believable setup.

But that’s not all.
It’s still just a model in front of a backdrop. This is why the least you can do is for example use a chair that is similar to the backdrop in style/color. Or maybe just the opposite (be creative). By angling the chair and your subject, and matching the light mood/color and angles you already have something really nice looking.

How to create depth in a scenic backdrop set How to create depth in a scenic backdrop set

But of course, we want more

One part of the workshop is set building.
And the scenic backdrop is great for this. this backdrop can help enormously by creating depth.
By adding props to the set you can not only create more depth in your image but it also looks a lot more realistic. Our mind seems to have less trouble with the “flat” background if it sees a lot of things in front of it.

During the workshops, I, of course, love a challenge. So in this case I added several continuous lights in the setup.
I’m using a nice focussed beam of light on my model via a small softbox on the lowest setting. And use the shutter speed to let in the amount of light from the continuous light I like.

How to create depth in a scenic backdrop set

So far so good, I really like this shot.
But when you want the sense of depth to be a bit more exaggerated it can be nice to also take some shots closer by with a wider angle.
This really draws the viewer more into the shot.

I also always tell the attendees of the workshops to shoot from different angles.
By changing the angle you can change the mood of a shot almost completely.

In the first image, I’m shooting from an elevated position down. It’s not my favourite shot to be honest but it does give you a different view.

When I shoot from a lower angle the whole look changes. Of course, I also asked our model Felisa to take a different pose, for the simple reason it gave the shot much more depth by the leading lines. But also much more power which was more fitting for the whole angle. But of course, opinions differ and that’s why it’s always smart to shoot from all angles 😀

The workshops

How to create depth in a (scenic backdrop) set is one of the questions I get a lot in the workshop

When I teach a workshop I always start with a Q&A
During the Q&A the attendees can ask whatever they want and during that period I actually “build” the workshop. This means all the questions are incorporated into the sets we shoot that day. This way I can always challenge myself, but also have different kinds of images for the attendees and myself. Every single workshop is unique.

If you also want to visit a workshop, check out photography-workshops.eu
All workshops are in Dutch, but if you let us know in advance we can change them to English.

If you can’t travel to our studio, we now also offer full-day 1:1 online workshops.
In our studio, with a model, 4-5 cameras, and a direct line for questions, plus you get all the RAW files to play with.
For more info: see here

 

 

Using the foreground to add dimension to your images

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Sometimes we need something extra

We all know that when we want to show scale it’s handy to include something to show the scale.
In the case of a mountain we can of course place some people in front but today we are doing something else.

During the workshop “on location in Emmeloord” the challenge is to find locations that look not so interesting but still create some cool images.
If you ever visited our studio you know there always was an old building just in front of our studio, it didn’t look nice but it had some great walls to shoot against 😀 one of them actually made it into my signature ClickBackDrop backgrounds.

Recently they demolished the building and we ended up with a large empty building area.
Of course a great option for this workshop.

The lighting setup was pretty simple, one Geekoto with a large reflector shooting on manual mode.
During the workshops we have to shoot with so called universal triggers due to the different camera brands that are used during a workshop, this means we can’t use extra options like HSS and ETTL.  

The setup itself was ok.

But I wanted something more. Something to give the image more dimension and framing.
Because I’m shooting from a very low angel I decided to include a few of the flowers in the frame.

This already made a huge impact.
But because Nadine is pregnant we also needed a slightly different pose, and I slightly tilted the camera for a nice effect and include the sun.

I also shot on extra image from a slightly higher angle to experiment with.
I ended up with a darker look which to my surprise became the favourite image for Nadine 😀
So always shoot something different, you never know what hits the spot.

Now that we talked about the setups and the framing of the shot, let’s take a look at the video from this setup.

Also want to visit a workshop?

Today I showed you one of the  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.

Working on location with strobes and making something boring interesting

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From the workshop on location in Emmeloord

During the workshop “on location in Emmeloord” we scout for locations that look not so interesting but the challenge is to create some cool images anyway. This is a great training exercise because let’s be honest in most cases working on location is not as superb as often hoped for, but we are still expected to deliver awesome images.

For me there are a few different things I use to make a location look more interesting.

The first is of course the location itself, I try to find angles or other details (small or large) that I can use, or that I don’t want in the shot.
In this location we loved the onion crates, they blocked off the sunlight for a large part, which is always handy when working in the bright sun. The less direct sunlight on the model the better in this case.

After I have something in my mind for the general location I’m going to use in the set it’s of course time for the lighting.
In this case I’m using the Geekoto strobes aimed at our model Nadine from the side to create a nice light patten on the crates. Although this was nice we wanted something more, so I added a blue gel to the set. But as you can see in the video and images we started with a more flat lighting setup.

Of course we can talk about, but often a video is much better, so here we go 😀

And also lets take a look at the images separately

Also want to visit a workshop?

Today I showed you the results from one of the 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.

Working with strobes on location and how to kill the ambient light part II

/in /by

Day2Night photography can give you great results

One of the techniques I love to use on location is Day2Night.
With Day2Night we mimic a night or evening scene during day time.
As you can imagine you need some powerful lights to achieve this, or some cool tricks.

In the previous blogpost you saw me using HSS, and I got some questions about HSS and other techniques that I will try to answer in this blogpost.

X-Sync

When we look at a how a camera works the X-sync is easy to understand.
Let’s take a look at the older cameras and for the newer cameras just forget the mirror part.

When we take the photo, the mirror locks up and the first shuttercurtain opens, at one point followed by the second curtain closing the film/sensor again for light.
The faster you set the shutter the faster the second shuttercurtain will follow the first.
Now you have to understand that when you use a strobe/flash all its power is emitted at once, so it’s just a pulse. And that pulse is REALLY fast, they can for example easily be between 1/2000-1/50.000. As a rule of thumb, the more advanced the strobes the faster the flashduration.

Now that we know that the strobe is just a pulse it’s also easy to understand that the X-sync is the maximum shutterspeed in which the whole sensor is open for the light hitting it. Anything faster and the second shuttercurtain will follow. And we probably all saw that problem at least a few times, the black bar on top of your image where you probably wondered where it came from, but it disappeared when you lowered your shutterspeed. That’s the X-sync.

The X-sync will vary a bit per camera, but as a rule of thumb we can say that with normal strobes you can shoot up to 1/125 on 99% of the systems, sometimes with speed lights you can get up to 1/250 but that’s about it. This means that we often end up with smaller apertures and a less shallow depth of field than you might want, so what to use when you want that nice shallow depth of field?

Geekoto GT200 Portable Off-Camera Flash

HSS

With High Speed Sync we can overcome the X-sync problem by using the strobe not as one pulse but by using the stroboscopic effect and this way the strobe acts almost like a super powerful continuous lightsource. The disadvantages are of course that you will burn through your batteries faster and the strobes are more prone to overheating, so my advise when using HSS is to take it a little bit easier and let the strobes cool down between series and shoot slightly slower.

Also when shooting HSS remember that the power-output is a lot lower than on manual.
But thanks to HSS it is possible to shoot on a very high shutterspeed and wide open aperture to create great images with a shallow depth of field, something that was not possible without HSS.

For outside sessions I’m mostly using the Geekoto GT200 and GT250. Both support HSS and have more than enough power to use even during bright sunlight.

There are also some other options at the moment like the Sony Global shutter sensors which makes it possible to shoot up to insane shutterspeeds with strobes. There are some limitations you need to know, but this is one of the biggest steps forward for flash photography in decades.

Manual mode

Todays images are part of the workshop “on location in Emmeloord” we did with our Model Nadine.
In this workshop we look for uninteresting locations and the challenge is to make it interesting with the use of strobes.
This wall is next to our studio and we loved the combination of Nadine’s outfit and the color of the Fence.

In the video I explain the lighting setups and how to incorporate a gel and the sun in the final shots.

And of course here are the images from the video.
As explained in the video these were shot on manual mode.
The reason we use manual mode during the workshops is because HSS is camera dependent, if you use your strobes yourself that’s no problem but during workshops we have attendees with different camera brands, so we have opted for a so called universal system that will just trigger the strobes on manual mode. Because I use my strobes on Manual mode in 99% of the cases this is not a real problem, the only limitation is of course the X-Sync. But as you can see we have plenty of power in the Geekoto’s 😀

Also want to visit a workshop?

Today I showed you the results and of the  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.