In last week's Photographing People Part 3 class we had a lot of fun playing with a bunch of different light sources. When we come to part 3 it's time to put into practice what the students have learned in Part 1&2. They work 2 and 2 together spending 45 minutes at different workstations with different kind of lights. They trade off shooting and assisting. This is a great way for them to experience how an assistant can help improve their work. MaryLyn and I go from group to group giving input. Class by The International School of Photography.

The workstation in this image is window light with several great tools to help them. Reflectors including a black reflector for subtractive lighting, daylight bulbs with or without a silver umbrella and a diffusion screen if the sun comes and hits the window directly. We also have a metal halide lamp for daylight at a different work station.

In this image the window light was not strong enough and we wanted it to wrap the light more around the face so she could look more straight towards the camera without getting a dark side of the face. This was achieved when we added the 4 daylight bulbs Lisa is holding right inside the window, increasing and extending width to the light. The bulbs are very reasonable if bought in the right place. I love getting great light and results with simple and inexpensive methods. It's also fun for the students to come home with new great ideas that don't take thousands of dollars to put to work.

PS. So I added a "finished" image as requested. My Photoshop expert is busy with a magazine deadline, so I ran a file through our workflow action "ColorPerfect" so it's  a one click file. What is the biggest difference with our actions is that they are made for normal workflow not effects, except a couple of them. The set is called: Linge's Action Packed PS 1 v.1.03 Price US$ 175. It might add some sleep to your life :-)

 PSS. Here is a link to the holder etc .

Tuesday this week I photographed 22 Wedding dresses for a 13 page editorial in a magazine. I only had about 15 min pr. dress so I had to think how can I light well and change it fast without adjusting to much power etc. I came up with this 5 light set up (see overview) after lot's of thinking the night before. From left lamp #1 a 74inch Elinchrom Octa Bank working as an even backlight for the whole body. Lamp #2 a square pan reflector with grid in the middle above the thunder grey Superior seamless paper background. Then lamp #3 a 2nd octa (this one medium) on the right side of the bride, is in this overview pulled more forward then in the sample shots (more back like the large octa on the left). The next light #4 is essential for this shots, it's a spot with a grid pointed to the brides face, trying to avoid the dress. Last lamp #5 is a fill about 2 f stops under the spot and octa's sent into my neutral grey wall and ceiling for a large fill in a high angle. The whole thinking is to light the dresses best possible which leave the face dark in the middle (see image underneath), then punch the face with the spot in a flattering way for the model (image number 2 underneath text). I almost always, inside and outside light the dress and face separately, simply because they look their best in different light :-) Last image shows a variation with profile, we can work so fast when assistant here quickly follow the models face with the spot. All lamps Elinchrom , camera Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III, lens Canon 70-200mm. f2.8 

PS. I am generally against many images in a blog, but felt this one needed it to illustrate the light well.

I promised a few weeks ago to post some images from my super fun shoot with Kurt Bestor. The shoot was done at the Covey Center for the Arts. When Kurt came in, I introduced myself and Kurt said, "I know you, you photographed me back in the mid-eighties! I still have the picture; I like it, but not the clothes I was wearing in it :-)))" We both connected back to the Osmond Studios and the eighties. The Osmond Studios was my first work place in the USA. Kurt has done more then 40 film scores, won an Emmy etc., but what he is most known for is his Christmas Concerts and albums for the last 21 years. I learned something cool from him: He is forty-eleven years old, so now I'm forty-fourteen :-) For more on Kurt Bestor here is a link to his website. and to the article.

On to the photographic part. First the back lighting. What gives both this images a performance feeling is the 650w Fresnel spot on the cover placed straight behind him many rows up. See how it spreads down the seat rows in the wider shot underneath the cover. It's sitting on a very high tripod to create more even distance to the rows and get some of the top of his head. In the image underneath the fresnel spot is more to the right as you can see in the overview .The tungsten fresnel spot gives a nice and warm backlight, to separate him well. Compared to the strobes ( 5500K), the Fresnel is about 3400K. 

Cover shot: Main light and fill light in this shot is Elinchrom strobes. Main light is an the 53" Junior Octa 45 degrees from the right, as close as possible to him with out being in the image, placed right in front of row 1. The fill light is a silver umbrella right behind me up on the stage. Camera Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III 70-200mm 2.8 at 115mm and f 5.6. ISO 400.

In the image underneath it is NO strobes, just the fresnel from behind him to the right, existing light from bulbs, room, etc, then a Vector 3 mill candlelight spot with a diffusion screen slightly from the right of me. Camera Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III. Lens 50mm 1.4 @ 2.8. 1/160sec. handheld to be more free and faster for angles etc. ISO 400.

PS. To learn more about use of Fresnel spot and how it looks see this blog entry.

The Photographing People Part 2 class last Saturday was a blast. We went through so many different light sources and ways to use them. The craziest moment was photographing a wedding couple a few feet from a train passing by full speed ( Image 1). You can also see in image 2 the same technique under more normal circumstances. This lamp is a Lowel 650 watts Fresnel spot, one of many great things about fresnel spots is that they can be focused. It's so excellent to use in cloudy weather to replace a nice evening sun. The color temperature on the lamp is 3200 Kelvin. Sometimes we clip on different blue foils if we want colder light, but real sunsets are very warm. The lamp gives a VERY even light and being powered from the car it last almost forever. We hook it up to a car battery with the car running using a power inverter( image 3) this you get for under $100 from a car parts store like Checkers. Sadly enough Lowel discontinued this lamp due to high production cost, but Arri have one just as good.I used Arri for years in Europe. Have fun playing with the huge amount of different light sources out there. The International School of Photography site is now up www.intsop.com not all the way done, but worth a visit.

Midday sun solutions. This image is from a wedding I did in The Canary Islands. The sun is high and it's hard to light them without interfering with what's between them and me. Too bright for my spots etc. A mirror would have  been the best "try". My personal rule photographing people outside is: If you can't get good light on them, don't have them look in the camera! Dark eyes looking at you is like an autofocus hitting a white wall, you just keep searching and searching without getting contact.

If I had wanted an image with eye contact, I would have kept the camera frame, but moved them close to me on the right and added some nice light on them, maybe also a diffusion screen over their heads (a California Sunbounce Sun Swatter would been the ideal one, since you can keep it so high and out of your shot). If you know me, you know I love photographing in midday sun, and it is one of the main things I teach.

A second thing about this image: I got low to get more lines, but mostly to get their heads clear of the ocean line to keep it peaceful between them.