Show me your outdoor lighting set up- not studio

[akhoopes]

I rarely shoot in studio and all i can find on here or any other site is in studio set ups, and how lighting is set up indoors. I would like to see on scene pictures of how people shoot out doors, lighting set ups, camera settings, and all the other stuff involved.

I have an ab1600, ab800, abr800 and a vagabond II system and all the softboxes i need, but i would like to see how others use there set ups, i am having a problem with light up subjects but very dark backrounds, even during the day, i am thinking my shutter speed is to high and my lights are set to high which may be causeing this, but i see location pictures all the time, soooo

can you please show your set up, give the settings, and the result picture. It would be much appriciated. Thank you

[Freff]

It may be a good idea to post some images of what you are getting. Outdoor lighting involves two lighting scenario's. One for ambient and one for the subject (fill ). I'm relatively new to outdoor location shoots with lighting other than on camera flash. I have just invested in Jason Coles video ( www.jasoncolephotography.com.au ) hoping to glean the same info.

[akhoopes]

well no tso much what i am getting i am just trying to get insight on what others are getting and how they are getting there results, I to have purchased jason coles DVd which is what brought me to this topic, while i am most positivly sure he is an expert, i want others insight and techniques as well to see how i can improve my own ..... come on anybody?

[markhyo]

Hey Bill you're in my area! I don't have pics of the setup but here are two example of what I've done outside. The first shot was done with a bare 285HV set at 45 degrees to the camera. Note the shadow.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3025/2327931872_46b38c5e92.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/markwphoto/2327931872)

The second used 2 Vivitars bare bulb. One was at 45 degrees camera left and the second was on the same axis as the camera.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2219/2327932044_067605b980_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/markwphoto/2327932044)

Whether indoors our outdoors I pretty much use the same lighting setup.

When I meter outside first I meter the ambient light (background). Then I typically underexpose the background by 1 or 2 stops. Then it's a matter of adjusting your flash output to match what you metered for the ambient. Having a light meter helps tremendously when working outside. I use the L358. Another great feature of this meter is it will actually tell you the percentage of the flash used in the exposure compared to the ambient light. I like to keep it around 60 to 70%. Hope this helps.

[tmcman]

Nice shots.
Thanks for the info.

[akhoopes]

just what i am looking for keep them coming people, this was good input. Thanks

[QX56]

Ok I got this one here : all these shot with 430EX .

http://www.vietdetroit.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=6481&g2_serialNumber=2

http://www.vietdetroit.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=6469&g2_serialNumber=2

And the design

http://www.vietdetroit.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=6616&g2_serialNumber=2

http://www.vietdetroit.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=6598&g2_serialNumber=2

[markhyo]

Here's another example of a wedding I shot using the same technique as my above post. The only difference is I used a shoot through umbrella as the main light (but still 45 degrees left of the camera) and I used a diffuser with an on-camera flash for fill. This example has a softer shadow on the ground.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2018/1804991008_a7c254a785.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/markwphoto/1804991008)

[akhoopes]

Thank you all, please remember we are trying to learn from this post, remember to explain what you did, settings, not just posting pictures i can see those any where i am looking for steps as well as results, thanks guys, great pics, great info.

[markhyo]

Bill if you haven't read this yet you may want to check this out. I didn't quite understand balancing light until I read this on Strobist. http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101-balancing-flash-and.html. Continue to part 2 when you're done. There are several other articles on balance and cross lighting outside on the site as well. I think this may also help you get to direction you're looking to go.

One other thing.. I look at a lot of images and I have found instead of trying to find out the exact settings or devices someone used to get their image, I reverse engineer what I see. I pay attention to shadow direction, Dof, time of day, how much the background is under or over exposed, catchlight patterns and size, grain, etc. Then I try to recreate that myself. I've found by studying the images I'm better able to understand lighting, photography, and how they were created without of know what their setup was.

[akhoopes]

yeah i am not a big strobist fan but i will definatly read the article, i get good shots out doors, just looking for others insight, thanks for your help.

[johnnywalker]

When I meter outside first I meter the ambient light (background). Then I typically underexpose the background by 1 or 2 stops. Then it's a matter of adjusting your flash output to match what you metered for the ambient. Having a light meter helps tremendously when working outside. I use the L358. Another great feature of this meter is it will actually tell you the percentage of the flash used in the exposure compared to the ambient light. I like to keep it around 60 to 70%. Hope this helps.

Mark,
Thank you.
jw

[TMR Design]

Mark and Dan,

VERY nice work guys. I really like the images from both of you.

[akhoopes]

this is great but we need more examples, please keep them coming, i know you all are out there.

[Hatch1921]

Good thread... BUMP.... keep it going.
Hatch

[Faolan]

Whilst not lighting rig shots, I do describe what I use for each shot when uploading to my account:

My Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/csd_images/)

I don't normally shoot lighting set ups as a) I don't usually have time and b) The set up varies to the lighting conditions (sun appearing/disappearing). All location shots are done using the Canon IR system.

[TMR Design]

What I bring and how I set up will revolve around the type of shoot I'm doing, but as an example of a simple and really effective setup, I've posted a snap I just happened to take of the setup, and a sample image from that day.

Since the OP is asking for outdoor lighting setups, here you go:

I'm using a 42" white bounce umbrella with a Nikon SB-800 as the main light source with a 52" white round reflector as a fill source. It's a standard 2 light source setup and very effective. Triggering is done with Pocket Wizards. The flash and umbrella are mounted to a 7' Norman light stand with a sandbag on one of its legs and the reflector is being held by a Photoflex LiteDisc holder mounted to an 8.5' Impact light stand with a sandbag on one of its legs.

[Walczak Photo]

My outdoor lighting setup? Go outside on a day when there aren't any clouds and look up in the sky anywhere between early morning and late evening....there's this really bright thing up there...that's my outdoor lighting setup! LOL!!!!! Sorry....just kidding...sort of.

Peace,
Jim

[Double Negative]

Very interesting thread, I'll be keeping an eye on this one... I picked up two AB800s with the intent of getting a Vag II at some point to move it outdoors. I don't do much inside, so it'll be interesting to see what people are using - and how.