Canon 60D Users, Unite!

Was out lastnight photographing lightning. Was fun, but only got one shot with a bolt in frame. I can't wait for a storm a little closer, but it's only April, early in our season.

Got a tornado watch come over the radio while I was out in the middle of no where in the pitch black. Was quite the creepy feeling.

Can't wait to do it again

Memory_Junction wrote in post #12195550
C&C:

Fill flash is supposed to soften harsh shadows. Instead it is being used here to create them. You seem, instead, to be trying to use the flash as a kicker, to create bright highlights.

Some basic observations:

1) The closer a fill light is to the axis of the photo, the better. This is why glam photographers love ring lights. Why even take it off the camera? If you are taking the flash off the camera and placing it in strange places, then it is not fill you are trying to achieve. It becomes a key light or a kicker.

2) For natural lighting, you wnat one dominant light source. In your pictures there are several. It confuses the eye a bit.

3) We are accustomed to light sources coming from above. Shadows appear below noses, etc. In several of these pictures, the flash is placed below the axis of the camera. It creates ghoulish shadows.

4) Try backing off the exposure of your flash a bit. It is overpowering ambient light, and if your intent is fill then it needs to be a couple stops darker.

There's some great portrait primers on the Internet, and even some videos on YouTube (although I've also seen some dross). Keep it up, and you'll get there!

Thanks for all the comments. I was a bit limited in the tools I had to work with. I had a beauty dish and stand in the trunk of the car, but I didn't want to drag that around through the hotel and restaurant. I just had to sit the bare flash where I could find a place to balance it - which was below the lens axis for #1, 2, and 5.

For the first pose, I took many without any flash, but her eyes were very shadowed regardless of which way she faced. I suppose I should have used the ambient (shaded sunlight) as the key light, and left the Speedlite on the camera, and dialed it way down to fill the eyes? I was afraid that would flatten everything too much.

I'll keep experimenting. Thanks again for the tips.

-Strike- wrote in post #12199043
Was out lastnight photographing lightning. Was fun, but only got one shot with a bolt in frame. I can't wait for a storm a little closer, but it's only April, early in our season.

Got a tornado watch come over the radio while I was out in the middle of no where in the pitch black. Was quite the creepy feeling.

Can't wait to do it again

You missed a photo shot of the tornado

Hi SuicidnS13

It seams the model Ashley Malia have been seen again.
https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1024593

CanonEOS wrote in post #12199581
Hi SuicidnS13

It seams the model Ashley Malia have been seen again.
https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1024593

hmmm... same outfits, seemingly some of the same shots...
hmm...

CanonEOS wrote in post #12199581
Hi SuicidnS13

It seams the model Ashley Malia have been seen again.
https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1024593

he is my shooting/business partner LOL. The best results come from having an excellent team to work with. We actually met on POTN before we got started.

Had a storm here the other day and caught my first lightning pic. Looking forward to the next one so I can get a better shot.

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SuicidnS13 wrote in post #12199826
he is my shooting/business partner LOL. The best results come from having an excellent team to work with. We actually met on POTN before we got started.

You got me wrong I wasn't causing any trouble when I post the link I just said (It seams the model Ashley Malia have been seen again), my meaning was she must been a poplar model

Oh no... I know... I just wanted to clarify I dont work alone. I always have my MUA (my wife), hairstylist and a second shooter at most my shoots.

Anyway vegasbryc have the same Location: Las Vegas, NV as you, You are lucky your wife understands your work, my wife will never agree for me to do it.

LOL... Yea funny story behind my work. Ive photographed automobiles for years and been published in years passed. My wife was the model that superstreet magazine was using for one of my personal car builds that they wanted to feature in their magazine. One thing led to another and now were married with 2 kids. A few years ago she decided that she wanted to quit modeling and start working on the other side of the industry. So she put herself through makeup artist school and during this time she pushed me and pushed me to start shooting people instead of just cars. Well here we are today, she is my main makeup artists(mua) and BryC is my shooting/business partner. He has been shooting Import Model Glamour for years so I figured why not team up with an experienced shooter. My connections and marketing along with our Team of Eyes is what built BeXposed Photography. We all have alot to offer together especially having a wife with over 10 years of modelling experience, its what makes our shoots and client meetings that much more effective at closing the deal.

So I guess having a model for a wife is a big help in her comfort of what we do for a living. But dont get me wrong, we shoot weddings and family portraits too.

I have the money finally for the body, another two weeks and I'll be buying the body with a lens.
I want to get a all around good lens that could be my everyday shooting lens that's under $500.
Anyone have good suggestions? I've been tossing a turning on just the kit lens, but I think I'm going to spend the little extra money for a better lens.
I love landscape, and just your walking on hike photography. Plus want to try portraits, and some video.

Here's the only lightning shot I caught last night. Wasn't too bad, was having a hard time manual focusing the lens in the pitch black (18-135 doesn't have the distance scale to infinity). Auto focus is useless. I tried to focus on the little red lights in the distance. I'm sure perfect practice shall make perfect. But not bad for my first attempt.

A bit of PP was done to change up the color temperature to make the lightning a little hotter and crop. Was taken in 'B', 14sec exposure, f/6.3, ISO 200 at 28mm.

tmartin2347@gmail.com wrote in post #12200532
I have the money finally for the body, another two weeks and I'll be buying the body with a lens.
I want to get a all around good lens that could be my everyday shooting lens that's under $500.
Anyone have good suggestions? I've been tossing a turning on just the kit lens, but I think I'm going to spend the little extra money for a better lens.
I love landscape, and just your walking on hike photography. Plus want to try portraits, and some video.

sounds like the 15-85mm could be a candidate. Great image quality, wide, great zoom range for walkaround, fast AF

But no constant 2.8 kinda kills it for some... Also alot more than 500.00...