Jordan gets flashed.

sonny_c

Jordan and I met for lunch last Friday. During our fantastic feast we both noticed the sky and all the gorgeous clouds. It was a prefect day to test flash photography and capture some beautiful skies. About an hour into the shoot the sun was beating down and we decided to search for some shade. About this time we noticed the weather changed and the sky was now filled with ominous looking clouds. WHAT FUN!

My goal during the shoot was to create mood lighting instead of be so technical and then post process accordingly. hope you enjoy. Thanks to Jordan for being a good subject and a better teacher.

***No LucisArt was used in the making of these pics.

1.)


2.)


3.)


4.)


5.)

photobanks

I love that first image... great background sky and brilliant pose by Jordan!!

System

You overdid it with the dodging, especially in the second picture, but other than that, a great idea. Work on the execution, it's good, but not perfect yet.
The pictures are not my cup of tea (now if Jordan was a girl ... ), but they are very well done.

Cuties02q

I like #1 very interesting shot and the sky looks really cool

sonny_c

I'm a sucker for a cloudy day. That's one of the reason I take my camera with me every I go.:D


Juze - I did not use any burn/dodge tool. It's all standard Photoshop Filters, but they are the seldomly used ones.

saurora

I think you're on to something here! These are great. Very over-the-top, but in an interesting way. I especially like #1. The clouds were great.

dmmattix

saurora wrote:

I think you're on to something here! These are great. Very over-the-top, but in an interesting way. I especially like #1. The clouds were great.

Ditto on #1. Nice balance between the guy and and the sky. The PP seems to be just right due to the power of the sky.

Regards,

Mike

pathfinder

Nice balancing of your naturally illuminated sky and flashed foreground.

Would you care to explain how you did this. How you triggered your flash, and arranged the light balance so carefully?

Debboggy

Yes, PLEASE share your secrets! I'd love to be able to create dramatic pictures like this. Especially like the 1st shot.

sonny_c

By request I'll share my set-up.


Gear:

• 1DIIn with Sigma 20mm f/1.8
• Speedlite Transmitter ST-E2 on camera
• 580ex on tripod
• 420ex on tripod

I tried a few different techniques:

1. I kept the sun to back of the subject for rim lighting effect. Then used one or two flashes for fill lighting.
2. With the sun on the left or right side of the subject I'd use one flash on the opposite of the subject for fill.

Settings for photos diplayed above:

1. Select Manual shooting mode and Auto WB.
2. Set flashes to slave and high speed sync.
3. iso 200, aperture f/4.0, shutter speeds 1/1600 - 1/5000, and spot metering.
4. manually expose on the whitest cloud in the sky or expose for blue in the sky. Select to your own personal taste.
5. Next place the AF point on the darkest part of the subject's face, press shutter button half way to focus, then fully depress shutter button to capture image. TTL will automatically compensate for the dark part of the face and fire flash(es) accordingly.
6. You will have to make many adjustments. The distance of the flash(es) to subject, flash compensation (sometimes 1-3 stops up or down depending on your lighting style), and cloud coverage will almost certainly be different by the minute...so you'll have to move fast. This is where an assisant comes in handy. Also try to vary the height of the flashes. A flash placed on a tripod and held high above the subject can simulate the sun.

This was my first attempt ever at this type of lighting set-up. So I may have left out a step or two, but it is the basic idea. Also keep in mind, I shot with these setting specifically with a certain post-processing in mind. I was going for a dark mood type of effect. You'll have to experiment on your own and adjust your technique to fit your post-processing workflow.

I would really be interested to see what effect y'all come up with and please feel free to post your photos in this thread.

Hope this helps,
-Sonny

wxwax

Great info, Sonny.

And distinctive, super dramatic images.

Nappalonia

sonny_c wrote:

It's all standard Photoshop Filters, but they are the seldomly used ones.

Nice work, I like most of them. Which filters did you use?

ShepsMom

These are pretty neat 1 and 3 are my vavorite in terms of composition, i do too love the dramatic effect. Good going