Archive for the ‘Video Lights’ Category

MIXING DAYLIGHT AND TUNGSTEN FOR DRAMATIC EFFECT

Friday, August 13th, 2010

I’ve gotten lots of inquiries about this image that was posted on my blog earlier this week so I’ve decided to talk a little about it on this forum.  The lighting for this photograph is just a simple twist on my “Twilight Blues” effect discussed in an earlier post.  If you haven’t already read that post you should do so now by clicking here.

This image uses the same exact technique…only indoors.  As you can see this particular church has large stained glass windows running down both sides of the building.  There is also a large expanse of stained glass behind me.  Therefore the predominant ambient light in the venue is daylight.  I used a Lowel iD light, held by my assistant, 45 degrees to the left of my camera position.  My assistant focused the light in a tight spot pattern illuminating the bride’s face and the bodice of her gown.  The light was set at an intensity approx. 2 stops brighter than the ambient light.  The camera’s white balance was set to tungsten.  The exposure was 1/80 sec @ f8 @ ISO 2000 (handheld) and everything outside the area of the Lowel Light’s illumination naturally turns darker and blue.  Only a little edge burning was done in Photoshop.

Once again I can’t say enough about the high ISO, low noise capabilities of my Nikon D3 cameras.  This image is virtually noise free at ISO 2000 and I haven’t used a tripod once since I started using these cameras.  I’ll be reporting to you very soon about the expanded ISO capabilities of the Nikon D3s camera.

Posted in Camera Techniques, Lighting Techniques, Nikon, Photoshop, Video Lights | No Comments »

BRIDAL REFLECTIONS

Friday, May 28th, 2010

A week ago I posted this image on Facebook along with an announcement that Elizabeth & Michael’s wedding images could be seen on my blog.  Over the next few days emails poured in from other photographers asking many different questions regarding how I made this image.  I’ve decided to share, here on The Pro Spot, the techniques I used creating this image.

I want to start by saying I saw this image in my mind’s eye before I ever placed this beautiful bride into position.  When I entered the magnificent Garden City Hotel on Long Island my eye immediately went across the lobby to where I saw a wedding gown on display in one of the windows of the myriad boutiques in this world class hotel.  I knew right away that I would be posing my bride there for this fashion style image.  I wanted to isolate the bridal gown display from the other displays adjacent to it and eliminate, as much as possible, the handrail on the right side of the frame.  I chose a Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 lens for my Nikon D3 camera and positioned myself at a relatively long distance to my subject.  The narrow angle of view enabled me to crop the image tight and the long focal length made it easier to keep the vertical lines in the picture straight.  When shooting straight into vertical lines (like the ornate frame around this window display) make sure that your camera height is as close to bisecting the vertical plane of the image as possible.  This will keep the vertical lines in the picture straight with no skewing inward or outward.

A quick meter reading gave me the proper exposure for the illuminated background of this image.  Then a single Lowel iD video light was used to illuminate my subject.  There are many different video lights on the market but the Lowel iD light is the most diverse of the offerings giving me three distinct ways to adjust light output to match the ambient light in the scene.  For starters the light has an infinitely adjustable dimmer to dial in the right amount of light to match the ambient exposure.  The light also has the ability to focus from a wide flood pattern to a more intense concentrated spot.  Finally the light output can be adjusted by increasing or decreasing the distance of the light to the subject.  True, there are LED based lights on the market that offer a more compact, convenient solution but none of those lights can match the quality, consistency and flexibility of the Lowel iD light.

My assistant positioned herself 90 degrees off camera to the right, focusing the light in a tight spot illuminating the bride’s face and the top half of her gown.  I had her dial the light output up to where it was just the right intensity.  The bride’s face was turned towards the light to avoid any unsightly shadows on her face.  Keeping the bride’s dress perpendicular to the light source insured that all of the detail of her gown would come out.  The manual exposure was 1/50th second at  f3.2 with my ISO set at 800.  The vibration reduction feature in the lens enabled me to confidently hand hold this shot with this long, heavy telephoto zoom lens at a relatively slow shutter speed.  Only some minor editing was done in Photoshop to remove a few distracting reflections in the glass and to burn down the lower left corner of the image.

Posted in Camera Techniques, Fundamentals, Lighting Techniques, Nikon, Photoshop, Posing, Video Lights | 1 Comment »

TWILIGHT BLUES

Saturday, January 2nd, 2010

Here’s a very simple lighting technique that produces quite dramatic results.  I call it the “Twilight Blues”.

I try to stage these shots shortly after sunset, when the sun is gone but there is still a little bit of light left in the darkening sky.  I switch the color balance setting on my Nikon D3 camera to the tungsten setting and illuminate my subjects with a tungsten light source.  I personally use the Lowel ID light.  This light allows me to adjust the light pattern from a flood pattern to a tight spotlight pattern and also has a dimmer by which the intensity of the light can be varied.  My assistant directs the light on my subjects in a tight spotlight pattern and dims the light to a level where it overpowers the ambient light.  Exposure is correctly made for the lighted subjects and everything not being lit by the video light turns a deep blue shade due to your use of a tungsten white balance setting in an environment that is essentially still lit by daylight.

I find that the color temperature of the Lowel ID light drops as you dim it.  This actually works to your advantage when creating a “Twilight Blues” shot.  With the camera set in the standard tungsten white balance mode and the video light dimmed, the images will be much warmer toned than they should be.  No problem.  Simply make the appropriate color temperature adjustment when you process your RAW images.  The flesh tones will come back to where they should be and the blues will get even deeper.  I can’t imagine that there are any photographers out there that don’t shoot RAW, but if you don’t you can still employ this technique.  You will just have to set up a custom white balance for the dimmed video light to keep the flesh tones looking natural.

Posted in Lighting Techniques, Nikon, Video Lights | 36 Comments »

LITTLE LIGHTS • BIG RESULTS

Sunday, December 27th, 2009

For my first instructional post on this forum I have chosen to share a lighting technique I’m often asked about…How do I achieve that beautiful light painting effect on my detail shots?  This one is so simple you’ll go out and get great results the very first time you try it.  My assistant carries a Sunpak Readylite 20 in her pocket all day long and we pull it out throughout the wedding day for detail shots of wedding invitations, jewelry, flowers, shoes, menus…almost every little detail we wish to photograph.

Today’s high performance digital SLRs like my Nikon D3 cameras deliver outstanding high ISO/low noise performance.  You don’t need a lot of light for these shots.  The Sunpak is a twenty watt unit, but I’ve seen photographers get amazing results from small pocket-sized flashlights that you can buy at your local hardware store for 99 cents!

In the image below the Sunpak light is placed flat on the surface, to the right, next to the wedding invitation.  It is pointed almost directly at the bride’s engagement ring as evidenced by the direction of the shadow being cast off of the ring.  The light, being very close to the setup, simply streams across the invitation creating a swath of light that fades off very quickly on both sides of the beam.  No burning or dodging in Photoshop required.  This is how it looks right out of the camera.

In the following image my assistant held the Sunpak Readylite above and slightly to the right of the wedding rings.  I used a 105mm f2.8 Micro-Nikkor lens on my Nikon D3 camera leveraging the camera’s high ISO/low noise capabilities and the VR (Vibration Reduction) feature in the lens.  Shooting at ISO 1600 I was able to make this exposure handheld at 1/1000 second at f32!  A little edge burning was done in Photoshop along with a bit of extra sharpening on the wedding rings.

In the next image the Readylite was held far to the left, slightly above the shoes creating deep shadows in the image of the bride’s shoes hanging on the back of her gown.  I try to create deep shadows when I make this photograph to keep the designer’s label (inside the shoes) from becoming a focal point in the image.  Once again, this image is right out of the camera with no Photoshop enhancement.

In this final image I used the daylight coming through a window above and behind to illuminate the bride’s shoes.  I used a daylight white balance and had my assistant point the Readylite at the shoes creating a warm tone on the jeweled heels and casting an interesting shadow on the wall behind the shoes.

So there you have it.  Some food for thought on getting big results from little lights.  Go out and give it a try.  E-mail me pictures and a description of your techniques and I’ll publish some of the best ones on this forum.

Posted in Details, Lighting Techniques, Nikon, Photoshop, Video Lights | 27 Comments »