Show me your outdoor lighting set up- not studio

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

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.jasoncolephotograp​hy.com.au ) hoping to glean the same info.

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?

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.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/markwphoto/2327​931872

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/markwphoto/2327​932044

Nice shots.
Thanks for the info.

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

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

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.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/markwphoto/1804​991008

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.

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.blogsp​ot.com …-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.

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.

markhyo wrote in post #5230111
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

Mark and Dan,

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

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

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