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Posted on December 12, 2011
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One light – from the front it’s flat, but from the side and back it creates shadow which means you can alter how something looks. You can create form and shape by adding shadow or adding highlights. I like to backlight where I can (on location, the sun does this) but try where possible to add reflected light before a second light, where it’s appropriate. Here’s a few examples from the gallery below, reading from left to right:
Row 1 – Image 1 – single light to the side, soft but no separation; Image 2 harder light with shadows which model the chin; Image 3 – backlight to hair create separation.
Row 2 – Image 1- Backlight is more from above with reflected light (tri-flector) pushing from below and flattening shadows; Image 2- softbox and backlight; Image 3, same but more like sandwich lighting.
Row 3 – Image 1 – single light camera right and high key set means that ration of 2:1 achieved by reflected light alone; Image 2 and 3 – Canon speedlite to the the rear and off camera left.
Posted on November 28, 2011
After a cold start, rain and some strong winds, I spent some time on Sunday morning on the beach at Whitstable for 1-2-1 training on shooting in variable light. My client had brought some of her family as willing subjects and one of things that came up from a different photography course provider was the idea of manual mode being redundant because of AV. I hadn’t heard this before as for me manual mode is simply brilliant. If the lighting conditions are constant, or you keep your position to the subject and light fairly constant then manual exposures won’t change. They’re locked in, unlikely to fluctuate the way Av can when it gets confused by elements of light and dark being picked up as you move around, zoom in and out etc. With rapidly changing conditions Av has many benefits but it still requires a degree of exposure compensation. Manual of course is my preferred mode for working with off-camera flash.
The pictures below highlight a couple of things and they were taken against very string directional light one minute and then cloudy skies the next. Here’s a couple of observations.
- Back-lighting - great for portraits with reflected light to front
- You can shoot into the sun but the risk is lens flare and a washing out, low contrast etc. You can put contrast back in afterwards. Into the sun can also give a retro feel.
- Shadows can be fun as long as they are not from you!
- The subject doesn’t always have to face the camera
- Neutral and unchanging backgrounds mean that you can shoot in manual mode without too much trouble
- Meter, set your exposure, frame it, shoot it!
Posted on August 29, 2011
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Here are some examples below of how to get different pictures by modifying your lighting (the portraits are on Whitstable beach and seafront). Natural light can produce vibrant colours and long shadows (depending on the time of day) but makes for a harsh direction light. You can place your subject into the shadows but think about what you’re doing next. Is it to fill in with some reflected light or to fake the sunlight and build the picture up from scratch? Both are valid in different situations. Do you want a kicker light that is the sun itself or fake it with off camera flash? You’ll decide what’s best for you depending on the look you’re trying to achieve.
Posted on August 5, 2011
This was a quick one hour retro shoot using just one off-camera flash. Speedlites when used with a softbox can produce a less harsh and directional look, but you do lose power. I had left the shooting time until later in the afternoon so that the sun would be a bit lower in the sky, and just got away with the speedlite on full power, close in, with the softbox. It’s expecting a lot of it to fill in the shadows of a very powerful sun. If you would like to know more about training in lighting or other aspects of photography please do get in touch.
Posted on June 6, 2011
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I was asked to re-shoot something for a customer that had visited a certain high street studio chain recently and so the studio session for this Kent family from Canterbury was high key. A high key effect is two things really. It’s a white background lit separately, stronger than your key or main light by 1-2 stops. The stronger the background lights the greater then potential for light spill (this can be a good or bad thing depending on what you’re trying to achieve). The second part to high key is in adding some additional contrast (at the time or in post production) combined with additional colour saturation – the technique applied by that high street studio chain I mentioned but without the same price tag! To learn more about family portrait studio photography in Kent why not get in touch about booking a session or some some training – in Whitstable, Faversham or Canterbury.
Posted on April 17, 2011
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We had an excellent Camera Skills Workshop on Saturday at Charlton Place, Bishopsbourne near Canterbury. After a morning of getting the theory out of the way we had an afternoon of shooting – natural light, reflected light and some artificial light. The weather changed from bright and sunny to dark and brooding – so we were able to shoot at both low and high ISO settings. If you would like to get more from your camera and would like some help doing so, then a training course or 1-2-1 session might be for you.
Posted on April 10, 2011
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Great to spend an hour this morning with one of this year’s wedding couples for their pre-wedding photo shoot in Faversham, Kent. For technical info please see further down the post and if you’d like to come to the next Camera Skills Workshop on April 16th in Canterbury, you need to book now! http://cameraskills.eventbrite.com/
Shooting after 10am, the sun was climbing steadily and so the shadows were escaping fast. The first scene by the large warehouse doors near Creek Creative off Abbey Street required making our own shadows because the sun was behind the building. Light stands, radio triggers, both lights at full power and using their distance to set the ratios (it’s faster when you’re dodging the traffic because one of your stands is in the road!). ISO 100-200 and F4-F5.6 at at least 1/125th for the 24-105L, 1/250th for the 70-200L lens. UV filters off because I was shooting partially into the sun. The remaining scenes were without flash, looking for backlighting where possible and at 90 degrees to the prevailing light. If you’re interested in shooting urban street-based portraiture, please do get in touch for a training session.
Posted on January 11, 2011
If you’re interested in booking me for a location family photography session in Faversham, Canterbury or Whitstable please go to timstubbings.co.uk, or for technical comment, please read on! Winter equals low light and shorter hours of available light. It does however create opportunities to continue shooting outdoors. A break in the weather for an hour (ok, there was a bit of drizzle) allowed me to take these family shots of children. The nice people at Canon UK had provided loan kit as my 1D2n was having a new circuit board and mirror assembly fitted, whilst the 70-200L was having a new motor fitted! Outside was about ISO 500 whereas under cover it was cranked higher with a monopod when using the zoom, slightly wider apertures than I would normally like (I like F4). I loved the quality of the light inside the shed – very low but the diffused window acting as a giant softbox. Cloudy skies means great skin tones but absence of direction light – so towards the end of the hour we used off-camera flash, high shutter speeds to kill the ambient and mixing white balance with gels.
Posted on November 15, 2010
Here are some shots from a location lighting workshop in London over the weekend. The technical notes are further below…make up by the wonderful Nikki Milina.
- the objective was to use studio lights but then see whether speedlites could do the job too (in order to see what can be achieved travelling light and setting up quickly).
- Manual meeting rather than TTL as we were using the speedlites as mini studio lights (plus TTL flash can be a little inconsistent).
- natural light – then reflected – then flash was the order because that’s what you might do when having to shoot quickly or with a subject that needed some warm up time.
- tungsten can be used in hotel rooms to some useful effect – we cheated and used modelling bulbs.
- we interchanged using a parabolic reflector, barn doors and grid with some studio lights and then replaced them with the equivalent speedlites and modifiers (I used the pack from Viewfinder Photographic that includes a small beauty dish, grids and a snoot).
- ambient was about ISO 800 1/60 @ F4 but I chose to kill it off by shooting at 100 ISO and most of the time between 1/80 – 1/160 and f4-F5
- directional light, no softboxes – sandwich (cross-over) lighting with both the speedlite and studio flash heads. Pushed one light as far as possible before introducing a second light.
- general consensus was that speedlites in a small space could match the studio lights – but the absence of a modelling light meant that it took longer to set up each shot.
Posted on May 28, 2010
Emma Slade is a yoga instructor in Whitstable and we had half an hour to get some shots near to Whitstable Castle. In was nearly midday with the sun overhead and harsh or it was dodging behind the clouds. I’ve left in the gallery below what tends to happen with this – a blown out sky. By using two off camera flashes to add definition to Emma, we took control underexposing the background and then deciding where we wanted to pump in the light!
