Christmas shoot

sega62 wrote in post #16428502
When you talk bout strobist and tangent, any place in particular.

http://strobist.blogsp​ot.ca/2006/03/lighting​-101.html

http://neilvn.com/tang​ents/

amirg wrote in post #16428831
http://strobist.blogsp​ot.ca/2006/03/lighting​-101.html

http://neilvn.com/tang​ents/

Ok, thanks,
I know there is also some youtube videos tutorial, I really like Mark from Adorama, and B&H videos also are well informative, just need more 'on the set" videos.

Some thoughts.

Tim's estimate of 2 hours setup sounds about right. With a couple years of experience doing this, and if I hurried, I could probably set up in 45 minutes including background or 10-15 minutes without background - but I know my lights, equipment & grip gear inside and out. I know what power & zoom settings to put on each Speedlight, how far to place each light from the subject, what lens to put on and what exposure settings to put in the camera, and I know where every piece of gear is in my bag. Those low time estimates leave zero margin of error, though.

1. Practice in advance. Practice setting up lights & umbrella quickly. Practice changing the power on your Speedlight. Practice moving the light around the subject and see how it looks - higher, lower, off to one side or the other. Don't go into the shoot with 5 minutes to set up and expect to learn how to put everything together on the fly - you're setting yourself up for embarrassing failure.

2. On lighting:
You don't need dramatic shadows or "interesting" lighting. You just need proper exposure and relatively flat lighting, so that the subjects and Santa are nicely lit and easy to see.
If you only have one umbrella, my style would be to use one main light, on a stand near your shooting position, a little bit above your head. I wouldn't go the full 45 degrees offset. I would use the other light for a one kicker/rim/background light.
If you have two umbrellas, use them both: one main and one fill, OR both set to equal power and distance from the subject for even and full lighting.

Get everything set up in advance off to the side, do some test shots with the light approximately the same distance to a test subject, as it will be to Santa's chair. If everything is ON, and functioning, then 5 minutes should be enough to move the lights into position, take a couple test shots, and make small power adjustments as necessary. 5 minutes is not enough to set up everything from scratch.

3. On accessories and such:
I would use some sort of non-ETTL triggers, and dial in all the power manually. Since you're not moving and your subjects aren't moving, you don't need ETTL. Figure out the right power settings, and leave them be. ETTL is useful when every shot has a different subject, a different flash-to-subject distance, and different ambient. Manual power is when you need every shot to be precise and consistent - and that's the case here.

I've got a LOT of on-location Speedlight usage under my belt, and I've never had the need for external battery packs. A couple fistfuls of fully-charged Eneloops will be more than enough for 70 portraits - 16 AAs, four in each light and eight fully-charged spares. You might have to change out batteries once if you're running the flashes on high power - but you'll have time. It's gonna take a minute or two for each new kid to be on Santa's lap and in position for the photo.

If you can get a second umbrella & stand, then do so.

3. On backdrop. I've got a couple of different fabric backdrops that I use for things like this, and I can put them up in about 15-20 minutes, but if you need to set up FAST then a full backdrop is out of the question. I do like the idea of stringing up Christmas lights in the background.
- Put up a lot of lights, maybe string them between two tall lightstands with spring clamps
- Don't put them right on the face of the concrete wall if you can help it
- Put several yards of space between the chair and the lights
- Let the background fall to a couple stops' underexposure
- Use a relatively shallow DOF, but make sure you have enough to keep the subjects in full focus.
This will give lots of little "bokeh balls" in the background, and the concrete won't be objectionable. (I hate that term but I think it'll be a cool effect for this photo)

4. On timing and logistics.
70 shots is a lot. Kids are unpredictable and fickle. They aren't gonna just stand patiently in line, hop up on Santa's, smile perfectly the first time for a single beautiful photo, then hop right off again and get out of the way for the next kid. How long does a kid want to sit on Santa's lap? One minute? Two minutes? They gotta get up there, get composed, rattle off their whole wishlist of what they want this year, get composed for the photo, then get down and out of the way to make room for the next kid.

You're not going to run 70 kids through this deal in 10 minutes between bands. 70 kids is going to take 2 hours at a minimum, maybe 3 hours, NOT including setting up.

nathancarter wrote in post #16429270
Some thoughts.

Tim's estimate of 2 hours setup sounds about right. With a couple years of experience doing this, and if I hurried, I could probably set up in 45 minutes including background or 10-15 minutes without background - but I know my lights, equipment & grip gear inside and out. I know what power & zoom settings to put on each Speedlight, how far to place each light from the subject, what lens to put on and what exposure settings to put in the camera, and I know where every piece of gear is in my bag. Those low time estimates leave zero margin of error, though.

1. Practice in advance. Practice setting up lights & umbrella quickly. Practice changing the power on your Speedlight. Practice moving the light around the subject and see how it looks - higher, lower, off to one side or the other. Don't go into the shoot with 5 minutes to set up and expect to learn how to put everything together on the fly - you're setting yourself up for embarrassing failure.

2. On lighting:
You don't need dramatic shadows or "interesting" lighting. You just need proper exposure and relatively flat lighting, so that the subjects and Santa are nicely lit and easy to see.
If you only have one umbrella, my style would be to use one main light, on a stand near your shooting position, a little bit above your head. I wouldn't go the full 45 degrees offset. I would use the other light for a one kicker/rim/background light.
If you have two umbrellas, use them both: one main and one fill, OR both set to equal power and distance from the subject for even and full lighting.

Get everything set up in advance off to the side, do some test shots with the light approximately the same distance to a test subject, as it will be to Santa's chair. If everything is ON, and functioning, then 5 minutes should be enough to move the lights into position, take a couple test shots, and make small power adjustments as necessary. 5 minutes is not enough to set up everything from scratch.

3. On accessories and such:
I would use some sort of non-ETTL triggers, and dial in all the power manually. Since you're not moving and your subjects aren't moving, you don't need ETTL. Figure out the right power settings, and leave them be. ETTL is useful when every shot has a different subject, a different flash-to-subject distance, and different ambient. Manual power is when you need every shot to be precise and consistent - and that's the case here.

I've got a LOT of on-location Speedlight usage under my belt, and I've never had the need for external battery packs. A couple fistfuls of fully-charged Eneloops will be more than enough for 70 portraits - 16 AAs, four in each light and eight fully-charged spares. You might have to change out batteries once if you're running the flashes on high power - but you'll have time. It's gonna take a minute or two for each new kid to be on Santa's lap and in position for the photo.

If you can get a second umbrella & stand, then do so.

3. On backdrop. I've got a couple of different fabric backdrops that I use for things like this, and I can put them up in about 15-20 minutes, but if you need to set up FAST then a full backdrop is out of the question. I do like the idea of stringing up Christmas lights in the background.
- Put up a lot of lights, maybe string them between two tall lightstands with spring clamps
- Don't put them right on the face of the concrete wall if you can help it
- Put several yards of space between the chair and the lights
- Let the background fall to a couple stops' underexposure
- Use a relatively shallow DOF, but make sure you have enough to keep the subjects in full focus.
This will give lots of little "bokeh balls" in the background, and the concrete won't be objectionable. (I hate that term but I think it'll be a cool effect for this photo)

4. On timing and logistics.
70 shots is a lot. Kids are unpredictable and fickle. They aren't gonna just stand patiently in line, hop up on Santa's, smile perfectly the first time for a single beautiful photo, then hop right off again and get out of the way for the next kid. How long does a kid want to sit on Santa's lap? One minute? Two minutes? They gotta get up there, get composed, rattle off their whole wishlist of what they want this year, get composed for the photo, then get down and out of the way to make room for the next kid.

You're not going to run 70 kids through this deal in 10 minutes between bands. 70 kids is going to take 2 hours at a minimum, maybe 3 hours, NOT including setting up.

Thanks for the infos.
I forgot to tell you, well I mentioned it a little, they are not picky at all, I'm doing a deeper shoot compared to what they usually do, what they got by the other photograph who used to work in that ice, is straight forward pics, flash and bingo.Looks terrible.
But I want to do better, and I'm used to shoot flash in clubs.....
I will certainly set up, and practice before on the spot.

thanks for the great infos

Strobist.
Tangents.

tim wrote in post #16430235
Strobist.
Tangents.

Got a question Tim about the transmitter.
Could i buy only one transmitter and one receiver, that i would use on the canon 580exii and from the canon 580 exii trigger my other flash the 430 exii wireless, or I need another transmitter.
Since im not familiar with the ttl concept, i,m asking, i know the answer will be No, but like to get the infos.....how it works


Thanks

I think it's possible to do, but you're introducing more potential problems. You'd have to have the main flash as wireless master, the other flash as wireless slave. It's much better just to buy another receiver - simpler and more reliable.

While you can sit flashes directly onto the receiver I've always used these cables. That puts less stress on the receiver unit. They're not necessary though.

nathancarter wrote in post #16429270
Some thoughts.

Tim's estimate of 2 hours setup sounds about right. With a couple years of experience doing this, and if I hurried, I could probably set up in 45 minutes including background or 10-15 minutes without background - but I know my lights, equipment & grip gear inside and out. I know what power & zoom settings to put on each Speedlight, how far to place each light from the subject, what lens to put on and what exposure settings to put in the camera, and I know where every piece of gear is in my bag. Those low time estimates leave zero margin of error, though.

1. Practice in advance. Practice setting up lights & umbrella quickly. Practice changing the power on your Speedlight. Practice moving the light around the subject and see how it looks - higher, lower, off to one side or the other. Don't go into the shoot with 5 minutes to set up and expect to learn how to put everything together on the fly - you're setting yourself up for embarrassing failure.

2. On lighting:
You don't need dramatic shadows or "interesting" lighting. You just need proper exposure and relatively flat lighting, so that the subjects and Santa are nicely lit and easy to see.
If you only have one umbrella, my style would be to use one main light, on a stand near your shooting position, a little bit above your head. I wouldn't go the full 45 degrees offset. I would use the other light for a one kicker/rim/background light.
If you have two umbrellas, use them both: one main and one fill, OR both set to equal power and distance from the subject for even and full lighting.

Get everything set up in advance off to the side, do some test shots with the light approximately the same distance to a test subject, as it will be to Santa's chair. If everything is ON, and functioning, then 5 minutes should be enough to move the lights into position, take a couple test shots, and make small power adjustments as necessary. 5 minutes is not enough to set up everything from scratch.

3. On accessories and such:
I would use some sort of non-ETTL triggers, and dial in all the power manually. Since you're not moving and your subjects aren't moving, you don't need ETTL. Figure out the right power settings, and leave them be. ETTL is useful when every shot has a different subject, a different flash-to-subject distance, and different ambient. Manual power is when you need every shot to be precise and consistent - and that's the case here.

I've got a LOT of on-location Speedlight usage under my belt, and I've never had the need for external battery packs. A couple fistfuls of fully-charged Eneloops will be more than enough for 70 portraits - 16 AAs, four in each light and eight fully-charged spares. You might have to change out batteries once if you're running the flashes on high power - but you'll have time. It's gonna take a minute or two for each new kid to be on Santa's lap and in position for the photo.

If you can get a second umbrella & stand, then do so.

3. On backdrop. I've got a couple of different fabric backdrops that I use for things like this, and I can put them up in about 15-20 minutes, but if you need to set up FAST then a full backdrop is out of the question. I do like the idea of stringing up Christmas lights in the background.
- Put up a lot of lights, maybe string them between two tall lightstands with spring clamps
- Don't put them right on the face of the concrete wall if you can help it
- Put several yards of space between the chair and the lights
- Let the background fall to a couple stops' underexposure
- Use a relatively shallow DOF, but make sure you have enough to keep the subjects in full focus.
This will give lots of little "bokeh balls" in the background, and the concrete won't be objectionable. (I hate that term but I think it'll be a cool effect for this photo)

4. On timing and logistics.
70 shots is a lot. Kids are unpredictable and fickle. They aren't gonna just stand patiently in line, hop up on Santa's, smile perfectly the first time for a single beautiful photo, then hop right off again and get out of the way for the next kid. How long does a kid want to sit on Santa's lap? One minute? Two minutes? They gotta get up there, get composed, rattle off their whole wishlist of what they want this year, get composed for the photo, then get down and out of the way to make room for the next kid.

You're not going to run 70 kids through this deal in 10 minutes between bands. 70 kids is going to take 2 hours at a minimum, maybe 3 hours, NOT including setting up.

As you can see , I can't be worst than this photographer, artistically!
I will take the time to do the set-up on the side, and shoot as it comes, they don't expect it to be PRO , I'm just there fill in as the other guy is sick.
So I'll make it a little better, cause I can't stand how this looks, this picture was about a couple, but it will be the santa and a kid, most of the time!

Had another thought:
Use the 580exii as the main light to light the subjects.

Put a red or green or blue gel on the 430EXII, and clamp it to the back of the chair (or just set it on the floor), pointing at the concrete wall behind the chair. As long as you have enough separation between the chair and the wall, that'll give a nice colored "halo" on the wall behind the chair.

That'll add a lot of visual interest with only minimal additional setup time.

nathancarter wrote in post #16432056
Had another thought:
Use the 580exii as the main light to light the subjects.

Put a red or green or blue gel on the 430EXII, and clamp it to the back of the chair (or just set it on the floor), pointing at the concrete wall behind the chair. As long as you have enough separation between the chair and the wall, that'll give a nice colored "halo" on the wall behind the chair.

That'll add a lot of visual interest with only minimal additional setup time.

cool. thx

nathancarter wrote in post #16432056
Had another thought:
Use the 580exii as the main light to light the subjects.

Put a red or green or blue gel on the 430EXII, and clamp it to the back of the chair (or just set it on the floor), pointing at the concrete wall behind the chair. As long as you have enough separation between the chair and the wall, that'll give a nice colored "halo" on the wall behind the chair.

That'll add a lot of visual interest with only minimal additional setup time.

What a cool idea.