Category: Strobist

Everything specific to off camera flash and remote triggering speedlights

How to set up 3-Light Pure White Lighting

 Gavin   Strobist, Studio, Techniques, Tips

Pure white backgrounds are very much in fashion at the moment. Why? Because…

  1. …it’s easy to set up and gives a clean image
  2. …it lends itself very well to most websites
  3. …you don’t need an expensive set, a white-ish wall will do in many cases
  4. …if done properly it gives an automatic cut-out in the camera, saving time in post later
  5. …the white background doesn’t distract from the subject

In particular, photographers love it because it is so simple to set up. When perfected it gives a beautifully, clean image like the one below.

20130906-121615.jpg
Alana – Pure white headshot using 3 lights

Pure white is a core skill that every photographer needs to master.

Continue reading How to set up 3-Light Pure White Lighting »

Announcing theLightMatters Photography Training and Workshops

 Gavin   Back to Basics, Courses, Journey, Strobist, Studio, Techniques, theLightMatters, Tips

I’m really excited to announce the launch of my new photography training, photography workshops photo-shoot experience days through theLightMatters Workshops.

It’s not just a photography workshop though. It’s the foundation of a local photography community, centred around Guildford, Surrey. My vision is to create a lively and exciting group with a varied repertoire of subject matter. We’ll be shooting in the studio and on location. We’ll be using many different kinds of light from pure, natural light to speedlites to studio flash and mixing them up a bit too. Oh yes, and we’ll be making some great images along the way.

My goal is to run a mixture of group shoots and workshops, Continue reading Announcing theLightMatters Photography Training and Workshops »

Technique: How it was done… Battery Shot

 Gavin   Behind the scenes, Equipment, Strobist, Techniques, Tips
Setup for the Battery Shot
Setup for the Battery Shot

I have a couple of questions about how I did the battey shot in this post so thought I’d post the lighting setup in the form of the sketch above. It’s a very simple technique and took about 5 minutes to do.

The foundation for the set was a sheet of black corrugated plastic upon which I sat my camera bag to act as a black background. I then roughly positioned two 580EX II speedlites, the one to camera left standing up on its penguin feet and the one to camera right laying down on its side. Both were fitted with Pocket Wizard triggers. I’d originally planned to use the window light to light the set with the speedlites just adding a cool effect to represent the concept of power. In the end I elected to use the ambient just as fill with the main illumination coming from the speedlites bouncing into a silver reflector.

I’ve repeated the final image after the jump for those that are interested. Continue reading Technique: How it was done… Battery Shot »

Quick Tip: Packing Some Power

 Gavin   Equipment, Strobist, Techniques, Tips
Packing Some Power - 24 AA Batteries
Packing Some Power - Spare AA Batteries

I do a lot of strobist work out on location and really enjoy it. One thing that is a real bind is battery management and how to pack them in your kit bag so you know which ones are which when it comes to using them. This quick tip explains how I go about it.

The image above is, for me, part of the solution. I simply use an old, plastic business card box with dividers made from some of the old cards. It’ll comfortably hold 24 AA batterie, enough for 2 spare sets with 3 speedlites  or 3 spare sets with 2 speedlites. This is more than enough for me as I’ve never depleted more than two sets per flash gun and only then because I was in a dark nighclub.

The dividers keep them together in their sets of 4 and depending on which way up I put them I can immediately tell if they’re charged (positive end up) or depleted (negative end up). They’re only used in my speedlites so its really easy to maintain the grouping – they’re either in the box, in the speedlite or in the charger but just in case I do also number them as I mentioned in this post on Battery Management I wrote a while back.

There are commercial solutions to keep batteries together but I like this quick tip. It’ a nil cost solution made from something I already had lying around the house.

The Drones, Band Promo Artwork

 Gavin   Band, Strobist, Techniques
The Drones

It’s always great to see the final image at work. None more so than this one which I shot for the Drones towards the end of last year. Very cold day, just before that huge dump of snow we had. We were fortunate enough to be working inside for this one. Thankfully.

The band did a great job of turning the original image into this poster. If you’ve not come across them before, it’s well worth checking them out here: http://www.myspace.com/dronesuk

This was another outing for Big Mamma (aka the Westcott Apollo 50″ softbox). Did a great job of lighting the interior of the building too. Absolutely cannot get enough of this modifier. More shots from this shoot here: https://theLightMatters.com/?p=906