How I made this image

To my surprise, the image below is now my most popular image on flickr. It has the most views (over 5000), the most comments (26), been marked as a favorite the most times (141) and has been featured in flickr Explore.



I used a Canon EOS 7D paired with the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L
(f/8, 1/160, ISO100)

I lit it with an Einstein 640 inside of a gridded stripbox on each side and a White Lightning X3200 inside of a gridded beauty dish from above, camera right.


Only minor color and contrast corrections were made in post processing.

3rd Installment of the Outdoor Lighting Workshop

In the 1st Installment of the Outdoor Lighting Workshop , I discussed how to balance the available light with flash. In the 2nd Installment of the Outdoor Lighting Workshop , I discussed how to make some dramatic images when the balance between available light and flash is....well, not so balanced. This 3rd Installment of the Outdoor Lighting Workshop will feature images that were taken with just available light or with a simple reflector.

This image was taken with EOS 5D Mark II with a 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens. Exposure settings were (f/5, 1/250, ISO100)
We used a Lastolite 48" Trigrip Reflector Soft Silver/Sunfire with the Sunfire side on the model.



For this shot, we used the same gear, EOS 5D Mark II with a 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens. Exposure settings were (f/4, 1/400, ISO100)This time we used the Lastolite Tripgrip to block the harsh sun. There was enough light bouncing off of the sand to illuminate her face.



This last image was taken yet again with the EOS 5D Mark II with a 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens combo. Exposure settings were (f/3.5, 1/250, ISO100)
It was taken using just available light. No flash and no reflectors.


Here are some behind the scenes shots courtesy of Eric Carlson:

2nd Installment of the Outdoor Lighting Workshop 8-7-10

In the the first installment, I wrote about how to balance the ambient exposure and flash exposure. This time I wanted to show images using a technique often referred to as overpowering the sun.

In most cases when using flash outdoors, you're dealing with 2 exposures: Ambient and Flash. A good balance between the two exposures is normally the goal, however, you can do some dramatic things when the balance is severely shifted.

In the image below, I used a Canon EOS 7D paired with the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L. I underexposed the ambient light by at least 2 stops and to be honest, I would have underexposed it even more if I could have. My camera settings were f/22, 1/250, ISO100. f/22 was the smallest aperture I could go to and 1/250 is the fastest shutter speed the 7D can sync with flash. I used two strobes to light this. One on each side.



Here's another example. Canon EOS 7D paired with the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L f/18, 1/250, ISO100. Two strobes.

Outdoor Lighting Workshop 8-7-10

My Outdoor Lightning Workshops have been a great success these past few weeks. Last Saturday we held the workshop at Virginia Beach bright dark and early. We started shooting and lighting before the sun came up. The goal for the day was to create different looks and from the results we achieved, I'd say we accomplished our goal.

I'm going to be breaking this into 3 different blog entries. This first entry will showcase balancing the ambient exposure with flash exposure. For our first series of shots, we wanted to capture all the dynamic colors of the sunrise and be able to light the subject using off camera flash.

My first shot of the morning was a quick exposure check. We had a gorgeous sunrise and my goal was to capture the bold and vibrant colors. I started with my Canon EOS 7D paired with the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L . (f/4, 1/80, ISO100)

Once I established my base ambient exposure, I had one of our models get in place for another quick exposure check. Same settings.

Now we're ready to add light. Since we were working at sunrise, the light was changing fast. I adjusted my shutter speed to 1/125 to ensure I still retained the same boldness of the sky. I used a White Lightning X3200 gelled with a 1/2 CTO inside Photek 60" Softlighter II camera right. When using large modifiers outdoors, it's a good idea to have your lights on sturdy support. For this setup, we used the Impact Turtle Base Century C StandNow we're ready to add light. Since we were working at sunrise, the light was changing fast. I adjusted my shutter speed to 1/125 to ensure I still retained the same boldness of the sky. I used a White Lightning X3200 gelled with a 1/2 CTO inside Photek 60" Softlighter II camera right. When using large modifiers outdoors, it's a good idea to have your lights on sturdy support. For this setup, we used the Impact Turtle Base Century C Stand
Here is the result.

This is what the setup looked like.

Come back on Friday to see some more shots with a totally different look.
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