Maybe Shay does know what he's talking about :D

Scott_Quier

Just to set the record straight right from the beginning, I've never had any doubt about Shay and Jennifer knowing what they are talking about. :bow :bow But, I got your attention, didn't I?

I attended his Wedding Photography Boot Camp in Denver a month ago. I got back and order up some off-camera lighting, using his "shopping list".

Not only does Shay know what he's talking about, but he's also able to communicate/teach.

While the following are not nearly to the same level as Shay's, they are at least in the same category (I think). I just wanted to show here, that the magic that Shay has can be learned.

1. This particular venue would have been difficult or impossible to shoot without some off-camera lighting. Take a look at the ceremony location. Big window providing lots of light - behind the official, bride, and groom. Because of the cramped quarters, I would never have been able to get on-camera flash close enough to shoot this and and light was needed to keep the background (the trees) from completely blowing


2. Low wood ceilings. Could have bounced the light off of these as they were highly polished. WB correction in ACR or Lightroom would have been trivial. But look at the dynamic light! Can't get that with on-camera flash. In addition, would never have been able to get this sort of context shot!


3. Cross lighting, one strobe on the other side of the B&G, the other behind me. Try doing that with just one light!


4. The cake was located at the far end of the hall (refer back to #2 - that end). To get this lighting, I just rotated the strobe and decreased the power. I had metered for the required light earlier in the day. Adjustment took about 20 seconds. Easy stuff.


5. After the cake cutting and the toasts, etc, re-adjust the power on the strobe, and point it back where it belonged for the rest of the night. This was at the far end of the hall from where the cake was stationed. Main light was never moved, the re-oriented light is providing fill.


6. You want to warm things up a little bit, just slow down the shutter to let some ambient in. This also had the added benefit of providing some action/blur to the shot.


7. The bouquet toss. Here is something that I have, until now, found to be difficult to capture. The 580 has power, but to expend that power requires that there be allowances made for recycle times. With the lighting here, set to 1/16 power, there was no recycle time. I could fire off a string 8 or 10 shots and never have to worry about a mis-fire. For the toss, I fired off about 6 shots, but I got the entire trajectory from hand to hand and am able to pick the one I like best.


For those who may be interested, the lighting consisted of two of each of the following:

• Impact Umbrella Bracket - B&H# IMBSM
• PocketWizard Plus II Tranceiver - B&H # WIPWP2T
• PocketWizard miniphone to household cable - B&H# WICHHM16
• Sunpak 622 flash with zoom head - B&H# SU622SZFH
• Sunpak power plug converter - B&H# SUCP
• Sunpak TR-2000 Battery Pack - B&H# SUTR2000

You also need another PocketWizard Plus II Tranceiver for each camera you want to trigger the flashes.

Also helpful is:

• Sekonic L-358 flash meter - B&H# SEL358
• Sekonic Pocketwizard module - B&H# SERTM

Camera settings:

• ISO 800
• f/2.8 - usually, I varied this as I needed for DOF and took the hit on exposure; didn't always as sometimes the action was close enough to the main light to be strong enough for the decreased aperture, but you had to pay attention. In larger venues, this would not have work (refer to the inverse square law).
• SS: varied between 1/125 and 1/8, depending on the desired affect.

DavidTO

Great post! Maybe Shay should patent this process!

I love the energy of #6.

ChatKat

Nice work!
Great story - beautifully told! Beautiful lighting job!

Editing to add that I just ordered my lighting from B&H; and yes, Shay really does know his stuff. All that said, I went to a lighting seminar and then went to the WPPI show earlier this year. From my experience with that, I bought some very high end Profoto lighting for formals and reception light at the recommendation of 4 different professional photographers. While I love that lighting and I am not sorry that I bought it at all, it's just not near as practical as the lighting that Shay showed to us.

Yes, - Shay is totally awesome!

secretagnt_gal

Beautiful job. This gives me hope that all of us "boot camp survivors" will have great success. I really like the warmth of the photos.

Elaine

Scott,

I really enjoy your write-ups! You have a very clear and organized way of putting to keyboard what you have learned and your shots are great demonstrations of that. Keep it up! I'm readin' and learnin'!

ian408

I think the thing Shay does best is hide the fact the photographer or lighting
was there in the first place. That he's shared his tips and you've picked up on
them is a great compliment to his talent as a teacher and photographer.

jeffreaux2

I think maybe Scott knows what he is doing. Nice shots, thanks for the post and the shopping list. Very nice piece of work you did there.

Scott_Quier

Thanks all for the very kind words. I'm just trying to "pay it back" as it were and all this is a combination of a lot of learnings I have received from folks on DGrin.

DavidTO wrote:

Great post! Maybe Shay should patent this process!

I love the energy of #6.

Thanks - there were a couple of ladies doing this with their kids. This is one of the better shots.

ChatKat wrote:

Great story - beautifully told! Beautiful lighting job!

Editing to add that I just ordered my lighting from B&H; and yes, Shay really does know his stuff. All that said, I went to a lighting seminar and then went to the WPPI show earlier this year. From my experience with that, I bought some very high end Profoto lighting for formals and reception light at the recommendation of 4 different professional photographers. While I love that lighting and I am not sorry that I bought it at all, it's just not near as practical as the lighting that Shay showed to us.

Yes, - Shay is totally awesome!

At the risk of sounding like a sycophant, one of the very most awesome qualities about Shay and Jennifer is their willingness to share. I don't know if it was in response to a question or if Jennifer brought is up on her own, but they expressed an outlook about sharing. No matter how much one might try, they will never duplicate the offerings of another proffessional. There are more then enough clients for each professional to go around. Cool!

secretagnt_gal wrote:

Beautiful job. This gives me hope that all of us "boot camp survivors" will have great success. I really like the warmth of the photos.

The warmth was the result of slowing down the shutter to allow more ambient light into the mix. It was entirely possible to shoot at 1/250, but that would have eliminated almost all of the ambient.

Elaine wrote:

Scott,

I really enjoy your write-ups! You have a very clear and organized way of putting to keyboard what you have learned and your shots are great demonstrations of that. Keep it up! I'm readin' and learnin'!

Thank you so much. This is very high praise, indeed. Like many others here, I feel an obligation to give back as I have received so much from the unselfish postings of others. Be said to do it well is icing on the cake!

ian408 wrote:

I think the thing Shay does best is hide the fact the photographer or lighting
was there in the first place. That he's shared his tips and you've picked up on
them is a great compliment to his talent as a teacher and photographer.

I couldn't more! Well said.

jeffreaux2 wrote:

I think maybe Scott knows what he is doing. Nice shots, thanks for the post and the shopping list. Very nice piece of work you did there.

Not really, I just have a number of people fooled. Actually, anything I might know I have learned from others on DGrin. However, thanks for the very kind words. It's feedback like that which encourages me to continue with this.

Nikolai

Nice work Scott! Gald you were able to put this knowledge to a good use!

urbanaries

W

O

W

!!!!

what a great series, Scott! You must be totally pumped. And with good reason! These are fantastic. I love the warmth in 2, unbelieveable shot! And #3 is just a stunner, the cross lighting is perfect. I keep looking at this shot, there is so much there. The warm background/context is just beautiful. I might do some cropping out of the lady in the bg in #5, but the light is amazing. Overall, the warmth in these photos is fantastic, especially in #6 WOW. A huge difference, for sure!!!

thanks for the narration of your thoughts/settings on different shots, it REALLY helps to see your thought process and what slight changes can result.

The cake shot, for some reason, is not doing it for me. The light seems too hard/bright, for lack of more accurate terms. It probably doesn't help that they seem uh, less than enthusiastic. But still very helpful illustration as to how you dealt with different scenes within the room using just the two lights.

Awesome work Scott and now I'm off to peek at your other thread!!!

Shay Stephens

Sweet! The bouquet toss is a great example of the lighting helping you to do better work by being able to pick and choose the peak moments.

Great coverage! The B&G will no doubt be thrilled with your work. Bravo!

Scott_Quier

urbanaries wrote:

W

O

W

!!!!

what a great series, Scott! You must be totally pumped. And with good reason! These are fantastic. I love the warmth in 2, unbelieveable shot! And #3 is just a stunner, the cross lighting is perfect. I keep looking at this shot, there is so much there. The warm background/context is just beautiful. I might do some cropping out of the lady in the bg in #5, but the light is amazing. Overall, the warmth in these photos is fantastic, especially in #6 WOW. A huge difference, for sure!!!

thanks for the narration of your thoughts/settings on different shots, it REALLY helps to see your thought process and what slight changes can result.

The cake shot, for some reason, is not doing it for me. The light seems too hard/bright, for lack of more accurate terms. It probably doesn't help that they seem uh, less than enthusiastic. But still very helpful illustration as to how you dealt with different scenes within the room using just the two lights.

Awesome work Scott and now I'm off to peek at your other thread!!!

Yes, I really like the results here. You are right about the cropping on #3. These shots are not finished, I just wanted to put some up to get back into the "Praise Shay" trend.

As for the narration - well, it's all part of my wanting to give back. This is what I can do now. I'm no expert, all I can do is tell what I did to give others a starting point to either copy me (God forbid that they have to stupe that low) or provide feedback on how to improve the lighting.

The cake shot is, well, poor. It's the best I could do at the time. I have learned some things that will improve my chances of making it better the next time. The bright light is, I think the result of the contrast between them and the dark exterior (windows behind them). In post, I'm going to do what I can to fix this up a little better.

Scott_Quier

Shay Stephens wrote:

Sweet! The bouquet toss is a great example of the lighting helping you to do better work by being able to pick and choose the peak moments.

Great coverage! The B&G will no doubt be thrilled with your work. Bravo!

OK, now I'll have problems getting my, now, swelled head through the door. Thanks for the kind words and, even more, for putting on the WPBC. It's had huge impacts on lots of people's work, not just mine!

bham

Scott I have a Sunpak 622 and 4 Sunpak 544. Could you take a picture of the rig setup, I am trying to visualize this setup.

Also what setting did you put the 622 on.

Thanks for sharing.

Scott_Quier

bham wrote:

Scott I have a Sunpak 622 and 4 Sunpak 544. Could you take a picture of the rig setup, I am trying to visualize this setup.

Also what setting did you put the 622 on.

Thanks for sharing.

The 622 setting is/was whatever was required for the desired f-stop. I think I was shooting f/2.8, but I'm not sure at this moment. Light meters are a wonderful thing that way!:D

I'll try to get around to taking a shot and then posting it. It probably won't happen tonight as I have a shoot and a later interview (I'll be lucky if I get home by 9:00PM), but I'll be sure to post one in the next couple of days.

Scott_Quier

OK, I lied - sue me!
I actually did find the time to get this done. I was waiting for the client to show up and and I had the light set up anyway, so I snapped off a couple. So, there you go...

First, a close-up, showing you the guts of the matter


Here, showing you the battery pack as well.

mike_k

Thanks for the thread, Scott - it's great to see some awesome examples and have a complete shopping list! And of course thanks to Shay for sharing to begin with!

I've read a little about this technique in a few threads and have a few questions - thought the answers might help add to this thread.

I believe the idea is to place the two flash rigs in opposite corners of the room? Is this right? How high were the flash heads?

Thanks!

bham

So it looks like you have 3 pocket wizards at that wedding (one on camera, one on one 622, the second on the other 622) is that correct?

Scott_Quier

bham wrote:

So it looks like you have 3 pocket wizards at that wedding (one on camera, one on one 622, the second on the other 622) is that correct?

Almost: I had 5 actually. One on each of two cameras ('cause I shoot with two cameras to save time swapping lenses), one on each of two Sunpak 622 flashes, and a final one just in case one of the above didn't work. I always have backups!

mike_k

I think there's something missing from the shopping list:

Sunpak 3-Pin High-Voltage Connector Cord for TR-2000 - B&H# SU3PCFS

The battery pack doesn't come with a cable.

ChatKat

Yes, that's true

mike_k wrote:

I think there's something missing from the shopping list:

Sunpak 3-Pin High-Voltage Connector Cord for TR-2000 - B&H# SU3PCFS

The battery pack doesn't come with a cable.

Shay's list was originally for the 522; Yes, for the 622's the cable isn't included so you DO have to add it to the list.

mike_k

ChatKat wrote:

Shay's list was originally for the 522; Yes, for the 622's the cable isn't included so you DO have to add it to the list.

Makes sense - thanks!