In the construction industry there’s a saying: “Use the right tool for the job.” While it makes sense, haven’t we all ignored the advice because we didn’t have the right tool or didn’t want to take the time to go get it? Instead, we improvised. (Ever used the flat edge of a crowbar or large pair of pliers instead of a hammer to pound something?) In the world of flash photography, we’d be equally well advised to use the right flash for the job—and I guarantee you, this is a prudent recommendation that is ignored every single day, too.
IMAGES 5-1, 5-2, AND 5-3. This is a big light for a small shoot—relatively speaking. How many of you would haul the 6-foot Elinchrom Octabank with the battery pack out into the woods to photograph a guy’s toes? Matthew Staver did. This editorial assignment was to illustrate ultra marathoner’s toes—because they have the nails permanently removed to help their running. The image below is a self-portrait Matthew shot to test the lighting and background. The other images are the ones sent to the publication. Photographs © Matthew Staver.
The following two sets of photographs illustrate using big strobes and modifiers in the studio (images 5-4 through 5-6) as opposed to using smaller, battery-powered lights on location (images 5-7 through 5-16). The ultimate goal, based on our discussion in chapters 1 and 2, is to capture the images we’ve visualized in our head, by “seeing photographically” and using photographic tools to bring the vision home. Using the best lighting on each assignment will help ensure that our goals are met. In my opinion, both of these shoots were successful. The images I had in mind are well represented.
Big Flash. Images 5-4 through 5-6 were taken after I noticed part of Beth’s tattoo during an earlier shoot and asked her to come back so I could photograph it. I used two Dynalite strobes in softboxes placed on either side of her to create the highlights along her body. The light on the right was slightly forward, spilling some light directly onto her back. The light on the left side was slightly behind her, creating the shadowing on the left side of her back. A third Dynalite strobe (with a black gobo) was used to light the backdrop. It was powered down so the background wouldn’t be too bright. My friends at SilverLake Photo made this Iron Oxide muslin for me.
IMAGE 5-4. The setup for photographing Beth’s beautiful butterfly tattoo.
IMAGES 5-5 AND 5-6 Beth’s butterfly tattoo, photographed using three studio strobes.
Medium Flash. I needed a different location and set of lights for Vanessa’s cigar-smoking session (images 5-7 through 5-16), and what better place than a pool room? Her outfit, the table, and cigar combined for a fabulous photo session. However, my studio strobes with modifiers wouldn’t fit in this room. Instead, I created this image using my Quantum flashes.
In image 5-7, we see the room without any flash added. From this angle, we see a fireplace in the background and the very bright LED light over the table.
While Vanessa took a few practice shots at the table and began smoking a cigar to get a long ash formed on the end, I set up my Quantum QFlashes. I know that cigar smoke shows up very well when it’s lit from the side with straight flash (not softened by modifiers). In this case, two were used. They were placed on each side of her. Since they’re compact and battery powered, it was very easy to move them as the photo session progressed and Vanessa moved to different locations at the table. Image 5-8 was taken with only the left flash firing, but you can see the other flash reflected in the mirror (another obstacle to avoid during our shoot). Image 5-9 was a test shot made with both flashes firing, wirelessly controlled at the camera by the Quantum Pilot.
IMAGE 5-7. the room without any flash added.
IMAGE 5-8. only the left flash fired, but you can see the other one in the mirror.
IMAGE 5-9. A test shot with both flashes firing.
Images 5-10 though 5-14 (pages 74 and 75) include the table and Vanessa with varying degrees of smoke in the air. The smoke isn’t totally predictable and working without modeling lamps was a challenge. Notice the shadow on her face in image 5-11 (page 74, top right). I would have seen that shadow with the help of modeling lights; her hand or face could have been moved a fraction of an inch to eliminate it. Image 5-13 (page 75) is my favorite from this series. There’s just enough smoke at the end of the cigar and coming from her mouth, and the pool balls have nice strong shadows on them. This image has a vintage pool-room feel to it.
Images 5-15 and 5-16 (page 76) are tighter portraits still showing the cigar smoke. The lighting in image 5-15 (top) is wonderful. The main light is falling across her face from the right, highlighting her lips and skin, along with the cigar and smoke. Image 5-16 (bottom) is a straight-on shot with more smoke, but the extreme side-lighting necessary to showcase the smoke left her eyes in shadow.
IMAGES 5-10, 5-11, 5-12, 5-13, AND 5-14. The table and Vanessa with varying degrees of smoke in the air.
IMAGES 5-15 AND 5-16. Closer portraits showing the cigar smoke.
Two Weddings, Two Choices. For the two weddings seen in images 5-17 and 5-18, two different lighting systems were needed. Jackie and Sim’s reception (image 5-17) was photographed with Canon Speedlites; Tinne and Tim’s portraits in the church (image 5-18) were photographed with Quantum QFlash. Yes, either could have been done with the other system—but the reception was fast-paced with a live band, lots of dancing, and many guests in a small room. It cried out for speed, portability, and photographer mobility. Speedlights were chosen for their reception because, having used them to cover events like this for dozens of years, I feel comfortable with them and know how to bounce the light from walls and ceilings. All of the family portraits, on the other hand, were taken in a big church with plenty of time before the reception, so the QFlash system made sense to me for the higher output of flash.
IMAGE 5-17. Jackie and Sim’s reaction was photographed with Canon Speedlites.
IMAGE 5-18. Tinne and Tim’s portraits in the church were photographed with Quantum QFlash.
Which lights to take is one of the first things I decide when planning and packing for a location shoot. I can’t stress enough the need for planning, more planning—and then, when that’s finished, keep at it. New clients are usually surprised at the questions I ask during planning conversations, especially if I can’t scout the site beforehand. I ask them about the ceiling height, the room size, the available outlets, whether there is big furniture in the middle of the room, parking, and the security checkin, to name a few things. The answers to these questions help me decide on what gear to bring. Many times, I’ve taken more than was needed to be on the safe side. It’s better to arrive with extra lights that won’t be used than to come up short and botch the job.
Baby Bears. Speedlights are lightweight and use small batteries that fit into the speedlight itself, making them extremely portable. With speedlights, you don’t need to carry a power cord or find an electric outlet to power them up—and it’s not necessary to carry a separate battery pack. You can also set up in a tight space. The drawbacks? Speedlights can overheat under rapid fire and batteries lose power, requiring replacement or recharging. Additionally, they only put out a small amount of light compared to studio flashes.
I can easily fill one backpack with a four-unit speedlight kit, including the flashes themselves, external battery packs, remote trigger and receivers, light stand adaptors, and some modifiers. I can strap two or three light stands to the side or bottom of the backpack. Larger light stands, softboxes, or umbrellas can be added to this setup in a small sling bag.
Mama Bears. Medium-sized units offer a balance between big and small. You’ll get more power output than with speedlights, but you’ll also have to deal with a separate battery pack and somewhat heavier/larger units. When I go on location with the Mama Bears, I need either one or two backpacks. Anticipating a one-light or two-light shot, I can again fill one backpack with this gear. An assignment needing three or more flash sources requires that I move up to a two-backpack kit—one for the flash units themselves and some accessories, plus a second pack for the batteries, clamps, and more accessories. Again, an additional small sling bag is needed for longer items.
Papa Bears. Studio strobes are obviously not a good choice for photojournalists on the move or event shooters working a crowded ballroom or conference session. However, for less hectic location shoots, they can be a good option. Studio strobes need longer recycle times between firings and generally have longer flash durations. Make sure power will be available before arriving, though.
IMAGE 5-19. The equipment needed for a location portrait shoot using the Dynalite studio strobes.
When taking studio lights on location, I need at least two large cases or duffle bags to accommodate my “small” Dynalite studio strobes, power pack, modifiers, stands, and accessories. This travel setup requires a two-wheel utility cart for ease in transporting. With Baby Bear or Mama Bear travel kits, it’s easy to go through doorways en route to a shoot; the Papa Bear rig invariably gets hung up in a doorway or elevator. On more than one occasion, I’ve disrupted foot traffic in lobbies and elevators when a bag jammed in the doorway or slipped sideways off the cart.
Flash size and placement matters for the group photograph seen in image 5-21. I was hired to shoot a conference, but they used another guy to take the big group shot because he specializes in that—plus, he’d shot for them many times before. I documented his setup.
IMAGES 5-20 AND 5-21. A large group portrait shot against the sun requires serious flash power.
These photographs show the size of the group, the lift used to get the photographer above them, and the extra-tall light stands needed to raise the flash high enough to evenly light up the entire scene.
The group is facing away from the sun which is the best way to avoid squinting or closed eyes. That means the flash had to do all of the work in lighting up everyone.
IMAGE 5-22. Everything is in place for a portrait session on location.
IMAGES 5-23. Another setup for a portrait session on location, but with the same result: well-lit business portraits.
In image 5-22, everything is in place for a portrait session on location. This unused section of a large corporate office gave me enough space to set up a backdrop using lighting stands and my conduit pole system (explained in chapter 7). The main and fill flash units were the Pho-tex Illuminata octagonal box and Chimera box. The camera was placed on a tripod. I also used a foam-core reflector board and a posing stool.
Image 5-23 shows another portrait location—this time, in the sitting room of an historic mansion. Using extreme care not to damage any of the antiques in the room, I set up the backdrop on a pole supported by two light stands, placed a large softbox as the main light, and added a grid spot off to the side (background of photograph) to illuminate the background. A reflector was used to fill in the shadow sides of the faces. This is a totally different room size and environment than that seen in the previous example, but the photographs all came out the same: well-lit, professional business portraits.
On Beth’s web site for her wellness studio, the designer wanted to feature a slide show of images playing across the home page. Each photograph of Beth has a quote or proverb superimposed. To do this, the designer needed wide panoramic images that were not very tall. As we shot yoga poses in the studio, it was clear to me that many would not fit this usage. Standing postures or ones with any vertical extension would take her out of the frame; wide stretches wouldn’t leave room for the quotes. We settled on some seated, meditative positions and twists (image 5-24). I shot with a wider lens than normal for studio work, leaving all of the background across the width of the images. Her designer then cloned the background to get the look she wanted for the final web version of the photographs (images 5-25 and 5-26). These photographs were lit with one Photek Illuminata II octagonal light bank as the main light. A small Chimera Maxi Softbox to camera right added fill on the background.
IMAGE 5-24. Basic meditative poses were shot with just two lights.
IMAGES 5-25 AND 5-26. Two examples of the images in use.
Matthew Staver was commissioned by the New York Times to photograph Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn before the games began (images 5-27 through 5-30). Her time was extremely short as she was scheduled for multiple interviews and photo shoots with the media and advertising agencies—not to mention her training schedule. Matthew always arrives at shoots early; it helps avert Murphy’s Law disasters and often gains him more shooting time. In this case, he was able to scout out several different locations for Vonn’s portraits. He set up completely separate lights at each place—maxing out every light he brought. By doing this, he could take her directly from one place to the next. This maximized his shooting time because he wasn’t wasting time moving and re-setting the lights.
Let’s not overlook the fact that size matters in the studio, too. My camera room is only 8 feet tall, 12 feet wide, and 18 feet long. That’s cramped, in my opinion—but it’s all I have and I make it work.
IMAGES 5-27, 5-28, 5-29, AND 5-30. Matthew staver made the most of his shooting time with olympian Lindsey //onn by setting up three separate scenes, then taking her through them in quick sequence. Photographs © Matthew Staver.
IMAGES 5-31 AND 5-32. Photographing seated yoga poses was easy, even in my small studio.
This photo session (images 5-31 through 5-35) with my friend Nancy accomplished two things for her. First, she needed a business portrait. Second, she needed several yoga photographs.
The seated yoga poses (images 5-31 and 5-32) were easy, given my shooting space. The hair light on the boom at top left can easily be aimed at her. The main light was in a 3x4-foot Plume Wafer softbox. The background flash was in the Chimera Mini Softbox. A 3x4-foot piece of foam-core board was used as a reflector to camera right.
Successfully shooting standing yoga poses in my studio is another matter. As you can see in image 5-33 (facing page, bottom left), her outstretched hand is almost above the backdrop. Dancer’s Pose, seen in image 5-34 (facing page, bottom right), was a bit easier—but it still pushed the studio size limit to the max. Her front hand is almost in line with the softbox, now placed slightly behind her on the right for nice rim lighting. The final shot (image 5-35; facing page, top) was cropped to eliminate both lights.
IMAGES 5-33 AND 5-34. Photographing standing yoga poses is challenging in a small space.
IMAGE 5-35. The final image.
IMAGE 6-1. Two Quantum QFlash units were fitted with strip lights for this portrait of Danielle.
