Tag: Pocket Wizard

What equipment do I need to photograph weddings?

 Gavin   Tips
What equipment do you need to photograph weddings?

 

What equipment do I need to photograph weddings?

Photographing weddings is easy. Don’t be put off by the illusion of stress on the wedding day because it’s just that, an illusion. The secret is having a plan and having the right equipment to do the job. In this post, we’re going to talk about equipment. (If you’d like to talk about planning the day to make it stress-free, leave a comment and let me know).

OK, so what do you need?

This list is what I believe to be the absolute minimum. Can you do it with less? Of course you can, Continue reading What equipment do I need to photograph weddings? »

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 »

Omar Mansoor Fashion Show at Runway Club

 Gavin   Behind the scenes, Equipment, Event, Fashion, Strobist, Techniques, Tips

This was the last show in the Fashion Meets Music tour and the one that yielded the best images although the evening wasn’t withot a few technical hitches. Thanks are very definitely due to Ande from the Dilema Agency for all her hard work and efforts, not only thoughout the tour but especially for this event.

As one might ecpect with night clubs, the environment is dark and Runway was especially so as the next sequence of images show

Continue reading Omar Mansoor Fashion Show at Runway Club »

Finest Fashion at Embassy Club

 Gavin   Event, Fashion, Strobist, Techniques, Tips
Fashion meets music tour, Embassy Club
Bianca Bast at the Fashion meets music tour, Embassy Club

Hot on the heels (sorry for the pun :-)) of the fashion show at the Funky Buddha club came the second leg (not sorry for that on :-)) of the tour. This time at the Embassy Club and featuring two different designers, Cushh Clothing and Bianca Bast.

This time I was significantly better prepared and I was working on the assumption that come the time of the show, the club would turn off all their lights again. Sure enough, they did. One of the lessons I’d learned at the previous show was a single speedlite was definitely not going to do the job for me whether on camera or off. I’m really glad I made that assumption too because this place was like a cave. A very trendy, fashionable and up market cave, but a cave nevertheless.

This time I was determined not to be beaten and only walk away with a handful of images. The goal was at least one image, suitable for submission of each outfit.

So, what did I do differently?

Continue reading Finest Fashion at Embassy Club »

SpeedGrid – A little spot of light

 Gavin   Equipment, Fashion, Photoshoot, Strobist, Techniques
Shapes and Shadows

I wrote a few posts a little while ago, On the grid… and On the grid… Part 2 about the SpeedGrid grid spots, what they are and what they do. I’ve used them from time to time on my shoots, and the more I do, the more I am starting to relish in the incredible qualities of ths pencil thin beam of light from a speedlight.

They’re brilliant at adding drama and edginess to a shot as in the one at the top of this post or Continue reading SpeedGrid – A little spot of light »