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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!
Posted on May 26, 2010
I’ve added a couple of pictures below all taken in the last few days with off-camera flash. I was asked by is flash used on a sunny day? Well, with the group shots and the shots of the guy with the football, flash allows us to use the sun to back-light, control the lighting levels and keep contrast. When the sun is where we don’t want it, we either have to over power it with flash or move our subject somewhere else. I had to get the group away from the sun hitting their faces – so it became a powerful backlight with flash filling at the front. I could have relied on reflected light – but it can wash out the colours a bit. Off-camera flash on a sunny day can also add a bit of drama. If you’d like to learn more about lighting techniques why not come on one of my photography and camera skills training courses?
Posted on April 5, 2010
I was reading a story last week about an expose that the BBC had conducted on dishonest talent scouts, bogus model agencies and photographer scams. This sort of thing still gets me cross. I’ve already a written a guide about this which you can read in full on my website www.timstubbings.co.uk (under the model portfolio section) or by clicking here. The main point of it is that to approach a reputable model agency you do not need a full blown portfolio. I’ll say that again – a good agency will not require a portfolio from you and you shouldn’t need to pay money up front for this. There’s nothing wrong with arranging test shoots and expanding your own portfolio of images, but agencies will assess you as you are, both from your own snaps and from seeing you face to face. It’s the natural no make-up / no posing / no hair styles that will help them evaluate you early on. For more tips for aspiring models in Kent, please see the guide!
Posted on March 26, 2010
If you would like information about studio or location test shoots for models please do get in touch at photo@timstubbings.co.uk
Posted on January 25, 2010
I ran a short residential course recently in Canterbury, Kent for owners of compact or basic function cameras that wanted to improve their camera skills in composition and technical understanding. I had to limit myself to both an old Canon S70 point and shoot and an equally old Canon 20D with a Tokina 28-70 lens (the point being that for under £100.00 you could be up and running). I will always find the restrictions of the point and shoot cameras frustrating – the lag between the focus time and the problems with image quality -but I was determined to get what I could out of the under £100 DSLR combination. The images below were mainly ISO 800 in very low light, aperture at 2.8 and a shutter speed of between 1/50 and 1/60. Low light can create beautiful, soft cushioning to the human face. The final picture of Canterbury Cathedral was taken on the point-and-shoot S70, a timed exposure at F8.
If you would like to know more about camera courses and digital photography training do take a look at either www.timstubbings.co.uk or timstubbingsphotography.com
Posted on October 31, 2009
You can actually see the rain frozen in the pictures like fine snow – but kids don’t care about that and the children in this shoot had a wonderful time (actually I did too). Location – the beach between the East Quay and the Continental Hotel, Whitstable, Kent. Although based as a portrait photographer in Kent I also cover weddings and commercial photography across the UK. If you would like to know more do take a look at either www.timstubbings.co.uk or timstubbingsphotography.com
Posted on October 29, 2009
Monday was perfect shooting weather for running an urban portrait workshop on behalf of Canon UK for one of their competition winners. We were near to London Bridge and has the cover of railway arches, the reflective surfaces or nearby office buildings and even a small amount of greenery! With 3 models, a hair stylist, make up artists and an assistant we created a number of location portrait setups to allow the winner to put his Canon 1000D to good use.
We started off with natural light and then moving onto off-camera flash (Canon 580EX II plus ST-E2 trigger). Do get in touch if you would like to know more about coming on a workshop or buying a voucher for friends and family. Although based as a photographer in Kent I cover weddings, portrait and commercial photography across the UK (please see www.timstubbings.co.uk or timstubbingsphotography.com).
Posted on October 19, 2009
I’ve uploaded some images taken today at one of the photography workshops at Canterbury Christchurch (Jason Dodd and I are guest lecturers on the degree course there). Today we spent some time with the students on natural light shots. The images below are straight out of my 1D2n, 400 ISO mainly F4 or 5.6 at 1/200 or 1/250th. The indoor pictures are 800 iso F4 1/15 or 1/20.
The conditions were grey and overcast and the background “busy” – benches, people, architecture and I wanted to show how you can get a variety of pictures quickly from one location by changing your viewpoint.
F4 is a great working aperture for shallow depth of field and getting both of a subject’s eyes in focus. By looking for plain backgrounds and shooting a little into the light, you can seek out opportunities where you know that a back-lit subject with 1-2 stops difference between it and the model’s face means that when we expose for the face, the background will be vibrant.
For a couple of images I was able to place the model deliberately under a doorway canopy so that the dominant light source is forced into the face, not down from above (which causes what I call “panda” eyes).
The indoor pictures – in absence of a monopod – were on a tripod with the legs closed up, again seeking out a backlit area where the back light was stronger than the side light. This made for a great place – a potentially boring stairwell – to take some shots.
Do get in touch if you’d like to come on a portrait or wedding photography course.
