Lighting Strobist...

After learning some strobist techniques... I think I've finally got it down. I hate my poverty wizards though. I'd get one flash to fire, then the other, then the other... but never both at the same time. I need POCKET WIZARDS!!!!


1/40 F/8 ISO100 580EX fired through umbrella subject left and Gobo'd 430EX bare fired at subject right. The umbrella was out in front facing back to him, and the gobo'd 430 was slightly behind him facing toward him. Both flashes were facing each other more or less... and I shot from about 40-45 degrees off axis to the flashes.

very nice. settings? setup?

craiglee wrote in post #6289238
very nice. settings? setup?

Added it above the picture so others who wondered wouldn't have to search through the thread to find it.

Subject looks good to me. BG is a little dark. Should you have metered for the ambient a little more maybe?

troypiggo wrote in post #6289306
Subject looks good to me. BG is a little dark. Should you have metered for the ambient a little more maybe?

The background being dark was intended. Let me expand on that...

I wanted a really dark background because the focus of this experiment was to be on the subject lighting with two strobes in a cross lit pattern. I metered off of the sky so the exposure for the background was exactly where I wanted it for this shot. I'm planning to use this set up at the lake where I'll be using the sunset sky as a background and it will encompass much more of the background area than this example here... and the exposure will be pretty much at this level.

pretty sweet forkball... i like it.. i gotta go play in the cross lite, i have been meaning too for awhile but am just that lazy...lol

what about taking the same pic but cutting the power down on the flash on the pictures left, thus eliminating the white sheen on his arms and side of face? Or moving it further away?

To me on the right side of the picture, the colors and brightness look great, but on the left side the bright white reflection of the flash keeps distracting me.

I like it.

I would suggest that there's soething funky going on around his head, on the right-hand side... where his head meets the BG.

I could also suggest gobo'ing the (camera) left side flash to focus on his head, as it's quite a nice little 'kicker' light going on.

sando wrote in post #6292408
I like it.

I would suggest that there's soething funky going on around his head, on the right-hand side... where his head meets the BG.

I could also suggest gobo'ing the (camera) left side flash to focus on his head, as it's quite a nice little 'kicker' light going on.

Ohhh yeah, I see it. that dark area just behind his head. I'm not sure what that was...

I actually DID Gobo the lef side flash... do you mean snoot it so it ONLY lights his head?

forkball wrote in post #6292476
Ohhh yeah, I see it. that dark area just behind his head. I'm not sure what that was...

I actually DID Gobo the lef side flash... do you mean snoot it so it ONLY lights his head?

Yeah, sorry, snoot or grid instead! Light just his face, to keep the kicker but get rid of the light hitting his arm. My bad.

Great shot. can't believe he stood still enough for it at 1/40 did you shoot on tripod I assume? try upping ISO & Shutter Speed might make it easier. but still great shot!

His shirt looks like he got mauled by a shedding beast though! haha I own 2 beagles and wear black mostly so I am always looking like that!

drewpigpen wrote in post #6294127
Great shot. can't believe he stood still enough for it at 1/40 did you shoot on tripod I assume? try upping ISO & Shutter Speed might make it easier. but still great shot!

His shirt looks like he got mauled by a shedding beast though! haha I own 2 beagles and wear black mostly so I am always looking like that!

The subject was lit primarily by flash, so shutter speed shouldn't be much of an issue

drewpigpen wrote in post #6294127
Great shot. can't believe he stood still enough for it at 1/40 did you shoot on tripod I assume? try upping ISO & Shutter Speed might make it easier. but still great shot!

His shirt looks like he got mauled by a shedding beast though! haha I own 2 beagles and wear black mostly so I am always looking like that!

hahah... yeah, we have two cats, and 2 girls who are shedding like crazy... hahaha.

As for the shot, this was done after the sun had gone down so it was DARK outside. I intentially was going for that look. I DID use a tripod, but since the subject was lit by flash only (no abmient light whatsoever), shutter speed isn't even coming into play.

bieber wrote in post #6294147
The subject was lit primarily by flash, so shutter speed shouldn't be much of an issue

Bingo...

Nicely done forkball.

Do I see a little Dave Hill esque post here?

mattograph wrote in post #6296499
Nicely done forkball.

Do I see a little Dave Hill esque post here?

I'm flattered that you would make that leap to Mr. Hill's work, but I'm nowhere close to his league. That said, there is a mixture of styles in this picture, and Dave Hill is one of them. There is also some David Hobby, and of course John Hilman... that guy is AMAZING!!! ;0) haha. (I'm TOTALLY joking, before someone thinks I'm full of myself.)