Wedding Photography workshops (Aug 09) Part 1

Over the past five days I have been running my wedding photography courses both for the RPS and mine, with a great bunch of delegates producing some fantastic images. The primary element they all wanted to learn was how to use their flashguns both correctly and creatively, and the general comments after the course were “ well I never thought I could do that – that has really opened my eyes”.

The first 2 day course was for the RPS with 15 delegates, however this course does not include the shots inside the Church, as well as only being 3 shoots and not 4 as on my 2 day portfolio course.

After an initial introduction, and a what’s in the bag session, we started getting to grips with the flashgun. I provided instruction on how to control the flash output either through ETTL (canon) and flash compensation or working with the flashgun on the manual settings. I went on to demonstrate how you can control the ambient light with the shutter.

After a very brief demonstration we went outside to start creating some bridal shots with delightful Katie (she is my daughter so I am biased). However I will not be able to use her shortly as she told us the other week that she was pregnant, I am not sure how Mark her Husband will feel about using Katie for a shotgun wedding shoot!

This first image was shot with just 1 speedlite un-modified and you can see the hard shadow it has created. The ambient lighting was rather flat and so I wanted to use the flash as the main light.

This first set up was against an old barn type door that was more than likely used by Henry Fox Talbot, the inventor of the negative positive process, as he lived in the adjacent Abbey in Lacock at the time. The first shot I set up was using a single speed-light, and at the same time demonstrated the use of a light meter. It never ceases to amaze me how creative you can be with just 1one light, despite all the electronic triggers suddenly stopped working all at once. Henry was upset I think so after a few kind words to him they all started again.

I used the speed-light unmodified (no soft box or umbrella) to demonstrate the edgy light that I personally like, however we did move on to using a shoot through umbrella to produce a much softer light. The use of an umbrella is brilliant on location it is light and easy to carry, however does need either a “voice activated light stand” or a sandbag to hold in down in the lightest of winds.

Here I went for a much softer feel to the image and shot this one with a shoot through umbrella.

The general rule is the smaller the light source the harder the light will be, a larger light source will be softer.

This is the RPS course, with 15 delegates and 15 wellington boots.

When shooting outside, with off-camera flash, I first need to take an ambient light reading, as that is what I will be balancing my flash to. The reading is an incident reading, unlike the reflected reading through the camera which I often use when shooting a wedding, however care is needed when taking “in camera” meter readings, say at a wedding, due to the fact that they are reflected light readings, so I tend to take an evaluative reading as opposed to spot readings to prevent either under exposure if the reading was taken from the dress or overexposure if the reading is form the suit.

The advantage of getting into the ford was the ability to get images like this, with Mark the groom in the background.

This again was a shot from the ford but with the flash zoomed to 105mm to vignette the light.

Once I have my ambient reading I then make the creative choice for the flash, do I want it as a fill or the main light. Once I have made this decision I will then set the flash manually to the desired output.

Here is a shot of the 6 delegates on my wedding course, showing the light activated light stand.

This is the image with just 1 flash plus shoot through umbrella

Shimples.

enjoy

www.photographyworkshops.co.uk

terry@terryhewlett.com

Creative lighting Aug 09 Part 2

Creative lighting Aug 09 Part 2

This is the second part of the 1-day creative lighting workshop help the other week. Initially we shot in the grounds of Bowood and then moved on to the Brunel Bridge in Chippenham (post: Monday, 10 August 2009) to get a little more creative.

After the railings we moved under the arches to create some close up contemporary portraits with a single Elinchrom Quadra. Sarah needed to change from the wedding dress into jeans and tops, primarily because we now wanted to move away from the wedding theme and also the dress had become dirty with the climbing antics of Sarah.

The first image shows the simple set up using a reflector and grid to produce the shaped lighting. We wanted to bring out the stone texture and so placed the light tight to the wall. I would love to have found a location that has a great deal more graffiti, maybe even Banksy, however my council tax has been used by the town council to clean up all the graffiti around the town so it is becoming more difficult to find these kind of locations locally, maybe I need to travel further.

Incidentally if anyone knows of any locations I am prepared to travel for these 1-day workshops providing enough delegates attend (maximum 5),

After the bridges we moved to a more exposed location to demonstrate flash control in full sun, so we travelled to Avebury the site of the Neolithic standing stones.

The exercise here was to balance the ambient with flash to retain the detail in the sky and initially with only one flash. Under these circumstances the little speedlights are sometimes just not man enough, unless you use a bank of then.

The process here is to take the ambient reading and then a flash meter reading, balancing them to create the sort of image you are looking for. The first shot here shows the set up with the Quadra, using the sun as the hair light and at the same time retaining the sky detail. The second shot is the final image.

If Quadra’s are not available the same can be created with a conventional flashgun, provided there is enough output from the unit being used. I have shown a set-up I often use at weddings using my speedlight with the Elinchrom Skyport Universal received and radio transmitter.

The Elinchrom Quadra and Skyport triggers and hot shoe adaptors can all be purchased from the Flash Centre

If any one is interested in a 1-day creative lighting workshop then please get in touch.

terry@terryhewlett.com

www.photographyworkshops.co.uk

Taking miniaturisation to new heights,

The Quadra lighting system.

www.photographyworkshops.co.uk

Before I move on to the next part of the shoot, to be continued in the next couple of days, I just want to provide some technical information for the Elinchrom Ranger Quadra units we were using on the day, which incidentally performed faultlessly.

The Quadra offers advanced features in a compact and lightweight unit; this new flash system represents one of the most significant advances in professional lighting in many years. The AS stands for ‘asymmetrical', which means one flash-head can fire at 66% power and the second head at 33%, for a true 2:1 lighting ratio when needed.

Other significant features include an in-built Elinchrom Skyport radio remote receiver for wireless triggering and control over power settings. The new Ranger Quadra AS with head. (Source: Elinchrom.)


At 400Ws output, the Ranger Quadra AS is less powerful than Elinchrom's Ranger RX at 1100Ws, but is significantly lighter and packs enough punch for location portraiture. Two lightweight heads are available, the standard RQS and high-speed RQA which freezes action with a 1/6000s strobe burst. The 12-volt 3.2 Ah lead-gel battery charges in only 1.5 hours and delivers up to 150 flashes at maximum power or 2,000 flashes at minimum power. The modeling light is a low-energy 20W LED array delivering the equivalent of a 50W Halogen lamp with a colour temperature of 5500K.

• The singe head pack that includes a
• Quadra Pack
• Battery
• Q Head
• 2.5m cable
• and a charger

With a web price of £1121.25 Inc Vat with the ‘S’ head and an extra charge of £27.60 for the ‘A’ head that has a faster recycle time - (price correct 12^th August 2009).

The twin head packs cost £1493.85 inv Vat for the ‘S’head and an extra £28.75 for the ‘A’head (price correct 12^th August 2009).

The kit includes

“The full works”

• 1 x ranger Quadra Pack
• 2 x Ranger Quadra Batteries,
• 2 x Ranger Quadra Heads (A or S)
• 1 x Charger
• 1 x Skyport Transmitter
• 1 x Strap
• 1 x Fitted Case
• As an extra (£67.85 – 12^th August 2009) you can get the Elinchrom Quadra to EL Mount Adapter that will take all the Elinchrom soft boxes etc.

Ultra compact power unit: 1.4 kg

• Battery: 1.6 kg
• EL-Skyport Integrated
• Led daylight modeling bulb
• Intelligent eye-cell

INTELLIGENT BATTERY POWER OPTIMISATION

• Auto Power-Off.
• Programmable Pilot Light duration.
• Super efficient LED Pilot Light.

INTELLIGENT SLAVE CELL

• Red eye pre-flash auto-detect.
• Programmable and pre-set effect modes.

INTELLIGENT FLASH POWER OPTIONS

• Two outlets – Asymmetric 2 : 1 ratio.
• Single high power channel.
• Single superfast flash channel.
• EL-Skyport Radio remote control of power settings and Flash trigger.

RANGER Q HEAD

• Compact, lightweight.
• Interchangeable cables.

Read what the British Journal of Photography said about Ranger Quadra. PDF

Read what the Professional Photographer Magazine said about Ranger Quadra. PDF

Download the Elinchrom Photokina News, which includes details of the Ranger Quadra. PDF

Full Specifications:

• Weight: Power Unit 1.4 kg / Battery 1.6 kg / Total 3.0 kg
• Pack size: 15 x 8.5 x 21 cm
• Head size: 9 x 8 x 11 cm / 250 g
• Cables: 1.5 m, 2.5 m (standard) and 3.5 m
• Flashes: 110 Fast, 150 Slow recycle
• Battery recharge: 2 hours
• Power: 6.6 f-stop range: 8.2 – 400 Ws
• Recycle tIme : 2.2 seconds, full power, fast
• Flash duratIon (at full power, t 0.5):
• Q head
• High power channel A - 1/1300 s
• Superfast channel B - 1/3200 s
• Both channels – 1/1800 s
• Ranger A head
• High power channel A – 1/3000 s
• Superfast channel B – 1/6000 s
• Both channels – 1/4000 s
• Colour temperature: 5560 K
• System optIons:
• Customised compact accessory range :
• Elinchrom bayonet adaptor : Ranger Quanta to Ranger S and A head adaptors.

The Quadra Units can be purchased from the Flash Center:

Now watch the video

Contact Brian on 0121 327 9220

Brought to you by Photography Workshops

terry hewlett photography lswpp lbipp

www.forevervisual.com

Terry

Creative Lighting August 09 - Part 1

Wow what another great day, great weather, delegates and a model, what more could I ask for. This course had been postponed twice because of the terrible weather over the past few weeks however this past weekend was scheduled to be great, no rain, snow or tornadoes.

We all met at the Bowood Golf and Country club Brazierie for a coffee before venturing out into the grounds for the initial shoot. I usually start with Sarah in a bridal dress, however the course is designed around what the delegates want and Sarah arrives with a whole wardrobe to change into should she need to.

The initial shot was set up with the Elinchrom Ranger Quadra, small, compact AND lightweight 400 w/s portable flash unit, available as a single and double head pack. The unit comes complete with Quadra Pack, Battery, Q head,2.5M cable, charger and an Elinchrom Skyport trigger (the Quadra comes with the receiver built in).

My first set up was with just one light and the Ranger Quadra 40cm soft-box front right. I took an ambient reading and balanced the flash output to complement the ambient. I also used the small amount of ambient as hair light. If this had not been available I would have set another Quadra rear left to provide one.

I took several shots however the one I preferred was this one taken with my 15mm fish-eye. I just love the light falling on the ferns in the background, which I think adds depth to the image. I have not worked this image as yet but may well consider adding a little computer magic with smoke and flare, however I have done that before so may well try for something different but have no ideas as yet, so if anyone can suggest a treatment then I will consider it and have a go.

Sarah brought with her some props and so we thought we would have a go with the mask, which I think works very well. There was a problem however lighting the eyes properly, in our first shots one eye was not lit properly with a shadow being cast by the mask, and personally I did not like it, so moving the light and using a California Micro Mini Sunbounce to provide fill I was able to get both eyes lit correctly.

After about 2 hours shooting we retired to the Brazierie for lunch and discuss what we had achieved so far.

Our net location was to be in the middle of the market town of Chippenham, using ISAMBARD KINGDOM BRUNEL’s (1806 – 1859) viaduct, built in 1841, a nine arch viaduct to carry Brunel's Great Western Railway over the town.

I have used these arches in the past, both day and night and they provide a striking backdrop, particularly at night when they are lit with up-lighters.

Again using just 1 Ranger Quadra, Sarah started climbing, great images but unfortunately made the dress dirty and so was not available for the rest of the day. Not to worry, we moved on to tee shirt tops and dress's, Sarah that is, not us.

The 2 shots here were representative of what was achieved with just 1 light and I have included a set up shot to illustrate the position of the Quadra.

After helping Sarah down - photographers perks - we moved from the railings to another location just under the bridge but those images are for the next post, as well as additional shots at a neolithic location.

These creative lighting courses are limited to 5 delegates, however will run with only 2. I am flexible on dates and therefore you will not find any on my photography workshop site, so if you are interested then please either call or email and I can discuss suitable dates and times etc.

Terry

www.photographyworkshops.co.uk

Sun - Sniper from California Sunbounce

Look at what has just landed on my desk, or shoulder should I say.

Since early 2007 I have been unable to carry a camera around my neck due to a cervical spine operation and with disc C3 still touching my spinal chord, any strap around my neck was a no-no.

Up until now I have been using the Canon hand strap which I found excellent and provided me with instant access to the camera when shooting weddings.

The problem however was that the strain on wrist and elbow was taking its toll, particularly when I was using the 70-200 f 2.8 lens. California Sun-bounce have now come up with a great solution, the Sun Sniper strap.

There are 6 very good reasons why this particular strap wins out over the conventional neck strap.

Reason 1: Quick action

....... because the camera is hanging upside down, in the perfect position.

Reason 2: Easy on your back

....... thanks to the integrated shock absorber.

Reason 3: Comfortable ( no pressure on my neck)

......... because weight is distributed diagonally.

Reason 4: Sturdy

......... because it is made of high quality ballistic nylon.

Reason 5: Glides smoothly

......... along the innovative RAIL-WAY strap.

Reason 6: Safe

......... because you wear it on your back.

So to reinforce the points above:

• The SHOCK ABSORBER is integrated in the strap and makes carrying the camera even more comfortable.
• The camera hangs over your butt and can be hoisted quickly, safely and ready to shoot. It allows the photographer to intuitively find the handle and the shutter button without losing sight of the subject. He can effortlessly move the camera to his face and capture images that would previously have been lost.
• With the innovative RAIL-WAY strap, the carabiner glides along the strap to your eye as if it were on tracks - without great frictional resistance.
• The strap is worn diagonally over your chest and shoulder, so it is never in the way - not even when you turn the camera for portrait-style shots.
• You can carry your telephoto lens through crowds and narrow alleys without bumping into anything.
• The SUN-SNIPER-STRAP is fastened to the tripod socket of the camera body or lens.

I have now found a superb alternative which reduces the strain on my body, make life so much easier for me and ensures that I do not miss that all important shot.

Both the Canon Hand Strap and the Sun Sniper are available from the Flash Center:

TFC Birmingham 2 Mount St Business Centre Mount St Birmingham B7 5RD

Hours:

Mon-Fri 0900 - 1700

Telephone: 0121 327 9220

Please ask for Brian (mirrorcarpboy).

Terry

www.photographyworkshops.co.uk