DINFOS Pt. 2: Flash in the Pan

Peer pressure can a dangerous thing.

Normally, I am a manual flash kind of guy. But you hang out long enough with McNally and a bunch of CLS'ing DINFOS shooters, you start to feel the itch to experiment a little...

So, here we were earlier this month in the woods learning all this lighting stuff from McNally. All of the DINFOS folks are firing away like Joe with their lights on full CLS auto, and I am sticking with my manual techniques.

The time seemed as good as any to experiment, so I grabbed one of the Combat Camera folks who was dressed for he occasion, and asked if I could do a shot while moving through the woods.

CLS takes a lot of the head-scratching out of this kind of shot and really makes it pretty easy. All you really need to remember is to choose your shutter speed based on the amount of pan you want while walking through the woods.

For this look, I chose 1/15th of a second simply because it looked best on the chimp screen after a few quick test shots. Set at ISO 200, that shutter speed gave me an aperture of f/16 for saturated color in the woods.

I set the on-camera flash (an SB-800) to act as a Master, and pointed it towards the remote flash. That flash would be moving along with Robert, my subject, as it was being held by a voice-activated light stand named Matt.

The flash's exposure worked fine on straight TTL, but it would also have been very easy to do on manual. You just choose a flash-to-subject distance, and dial in a power setting that gives you f/16 at ISO 200. As long as you do not vary that distance too much, you'll be fine.


The trick to positioning is to move that flash around a little past a straight profile shot -- slightly rim-lit. Looks a lot better that way. I have exaggerated the diagram a bit to make the point.

Everything moves together -- subject, photographer and light. You just follow along and shoot, with the strobe helping to add both light and a sharp anchor to your pan. I chose this one because a tree trunk was behind his head which made him pop even more. You do not even have to look through the camera with a wide-angle lens. Just zone focus, and aim from the hip. That way, you can keep yourself form running into a tree.

Here is a setup shot -- basically a one-light studio on wheels:


The cool thing this is is just how quick and easy it was to set up. We did just one trip down and one trip back. Just 30 yards or so each way. Soup to nuts, it was about two minutes -- and we had several good shots to choose from.


Honestly, it's so much easier than it might look at first that it is almost criminal. This is a technique I have been tumbling around in my mind for quite a while now. As you can see at left, there's no reason your VAL would have to actually hold a flash, either.

This way their concentration could lay elsewhere. Like not running into a tree.


You could even work up a two-light setup for road bikers or runners, too. If you were shooting manual, you'd just want to keep those distances relatively constant.

Using the added light helps to shape and define your subject in a moving situation. And as you can see, it will also make the critical parts of your pan shot are tack sharp.

Just remember your flash balancing basics: Shooting into the brightest part of the ambient helps to avoid ghosting, and gives the most control over your range of ambient-to-flash ratios.

Announcing: Shoot! The Day, New York Lighting Seminar and Strobist Stone Soup

Lotta stuff in this one, but it is all tied together. You'll especially wanna make the jump if you live near NYC. But there is also lots for the other folks, as well.
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Shoot! The Day and School of Stock

The PhotoShelter guys have been whipping up something really cool, and I am very happy to be involved with it.

Basically, they have spent the last several months researching what, exactly, photo buyers are looking for right now. Then they have distilled this info (and much more) down into an online resource called School of Stock.

If you are even remotely interested in shooting for stock (RF, RM or micro) this is fantastic stuff. There are tutorials both from the perspectives of buyers and successful shooters. I read through them all last night, and it's really good info.

Having identified under-served areas in the stock libraries ('cause, you know, that's where the money is) and created a how-to-shoot-better-stock school, they are orchestrating a mass, one-day shooting event. It's called Shoot! The Day, and it is happening on July 20th.

In S!TD, people from around the world will be shooting in teams to create exactly the types and genres of photos that thousands of buyers are looking for. No one has ever done anything like this before on such a scale. And for those of you looking to get into shooting stock there could not be a better opportunity.

Groups are forming up based in various cities around the world. All you have to do is register for the PhotoShelter Collection (free) and the Ning-powered forums (fora? - also free) where the groups are organizing. There will already be geographically-based groups signed up. If you see one form your area, join up. If not, start one.

There are prizes involved for the really kickin' groups, too. And I would suspect you guys will be well-represented.

If you are local to NYC, there are some cool events happening there, too. I will be teaching, along with several other photogs. You have to apply to be selected (by portfolio) to participate in one of the free classes, which are structured around various themes. I am teaching a still life class, likely because Grover has seen my craptastic follow-focusing skilz.


New York Strobist Lighting Seminar: Sat, July 19th

Seeing as I will be in NYC for the S!TD, time for another lighting seminar.

We'll be at ShootDigital on Saturday July 19th. It will be a similar format as the previous seminars (although hopefully not as hot as in Dubai).

Registration will open on this site at 10:00 a.m. (Eastern Time) on Sunday, June 22nd. Please do not call Shoot Digital for more info - it will all be right here. This one will probably sell out pretty quickly, so I'd be on it ASAP if you want to attend. Dress is ridiculously casual.


School of Rock: Strobist Stone Soup

I am almost mad at myself that I did not think of this idea sooner. I am heading up to NYC on the 17th, in advance of the seminar and S!TD. Therefore, I have one free day in NYC. (Don't tell Missus Strobist, please...)

Stone Soup is a play on the old folk tale, wherein someone comes to town and facilitates something of value happening by cobbling together something from nothing.

I am looking to shoot something while in NYC on Friday, July 18th. And reading this post, I presume, are some people with some cool connections in NYC.

Hmm... what could we do?

Here is what I offer: A one-on-one shoot in which you assist, and we make some cool photos in an environment in which you have access. I provide the shoot, you provide the idea/access, and your contact/connection/etc., provides the subject matter.

Are you a firefighter? Are you in an acting troupe? Is your roommate a mime? Or have a pet albino tiger? I dunno -- you tell me.

Let see what comes in, and I will choose a shoot for Friday, July 18th - time is variable. Figure a couple of hours at the most appropriate time for all involved. We get to shoot and learn, and the subject gets use of the hi-res photos for whatever means they wish, except for third party commercial use.

Use it for the wall? Fine. Publicity? No prob. Website? Cool. Annual report? Yep. Give to Nike for an ad campaign? Um, have them call me on that one.

Who knows - we might get something interesting. Only way to tell is to try. And I hope that this will be a model for others doing this kind of thing, ad hoc, as a way to bring photographers and subjects together.

If it works, I will be doing a write-up on it and putting days aside for repeating this idea on future trips. If not, we'll just pretend it never happened. If you have an idea to throw out, do it here.

Let's see what comes in.

And please, don't stick the stone soup suggestions in the comments of this post. Using Flickr makes it open, and gives me a way to contact you. It is fast (and free) to sign up.

Coming Soon: New AlienBees Wireless Triggers

This snuck up on me from left field: Paul C. Buff is about to cut the cord.

He is redesigning his wireless remotes with some added features, including a receiver that is battery powered. The current version has a batt-powered xmitter and an AC receiver. He's calling it the CyberSync.

Lotsa cool features, for notta lotta dough. Specs, links and another photo, after the jump.
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Shown at top is the transmitter, with the receiver shown at left. At first glance, these look like a very good mid-range entry to sit between the Pocket Wizards and the Ebay remotes.

They do not have the range of the industry-standard Pocket Wizards, but they only cost about a third as much for the set. And yes, they are more expensive than the Ebay remotes. But you also have to take into account the cost of ammo in the event they fail you on an important shoot and make you want to eat a gun...



Highlights From the Specs Page

• 2.4 GHz band, with a "high degree of error security" for more reliable tripping.

• One year(!) battery life for the transmitter.

• Usable range of up to 400 feet, depending on terrain.

• Receiver operates on AA's, with 200-hour battery life, which is further extended by an "auto shutoff" function.

• Receivers ship with the following cords: 3.5mm-to-3.5mm, 3.5mm-to-1/4" adapter and 3.5MM to PC (which will connect it directly to an Nikon SB speedlight with a PC jack.)

• Best yet, the price: $59.95 for the transmitter and $69.95 for the receiver.

Paul Buff has a decades-long reputation for building quality gear at very good prices. I imagine the CyberSyncs will be no exception. Transmitters and AC receivers are shipping now, with battery-powered receivers anticipated later this month.

More info is available at the AlienBees website.

(Thanks to the anonymous tipster in the comments!)

A Father's Day Reminder: Shoot Your Kids

Long-time viewers of this site will likely be familiar with San Francisco-based reader Jason Lee's long-term project photographing his two daughters, Kristin and Kayla.

If you're not, you are in for a treat. Hit the jump for some of his work, links to more and some thoughts on his project.
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One of the best things about running this site is seeing all of the wonderfully creative family photos that come upstream. But I'd be hard pressed to find an example better than Jason's. He is embracing the concept of fatherhood with his camera, and I admire him for it.

He has spent the last few years documenting his kids with photos that are beautiful, funny, whimsical and poignant. Dinnertime, sick days, water fights, Christmas -- anything is fair game for one of Jason's photos. Or a little after-the-fact fun with Photoshop to whip up an illustration.


He shoots them, throws them up onto Flickr, and frequently adds a pithy title. (At left: "Kay-Wi").

Having a long-term project is the best possible engine for an endless series of ideas and opportunities to make photos and grow as a photographer. And what better project than your kids?

Forgetting for a moment that they are always around and are supposed to do whatever you order them to do, how valuable would a shoe box full of these kinds of photos be to you in twenty years?

And a few years later, how cool for their kids to curl up on the couch and look at photos of mom we she was little?

But the benefits don't stop there. As a shooter, the experience you gain from shooting regularly just makes you that much better. Little secret: Much of what separates the pro photos from those of amateurs is simply the built-in advantage we have from getting to shoot nearly every day.

Not only does Jason get to play with his cameras and lights all the time, but he doesn't even catch (too much) flack from mom for it. How could she, with a family album like this?

Jason shoots for other people, too. The photos on his portfolio site are beautiful. But he also points people to his two blogs -- one devoted to his work and the other to photographs of his daughters.

My guess is, the personal blog gets him as many wedding gigs as the wedding shots do. I'd sure hire him.

I caught up with Jason via an email Q and A this week and he was good enough to share some thoughts on his photo project.

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Have you always been a small-flash lighting photographer, or is this something you have moved into more recently?

I guess I've always been a small flash photographer. It started with seeing the amazing work coming from Dave Black and what he was able to achieve with his SB's. I picked up my first speedlite (Canon 550EX) and an off camera shoe cord in 2003 and I've never looked at flash the same way again. My bank account never looked the same again as well.

I've experimented with mono-lights in the past but I always found myself coming back to small and portable speedlites. I haven't had the requirement for the big lights yet, so I'm still sticking with the speedlites for now. OK, who am I kidding.........my wife won't let me spend money on profoto equipment and my kids need to eat so the big lights have been put on the back burner. 


When did you get the idea to make your daughters an ongoing, themed project, and what is your goal with the photos?

I started the project of documenting my children for a very special person in my life, my mother. She was diagnosed with non Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2006 and I wanted her to be able to 'see' the kids without the risk of the little germ buckets getting her sick. If I can get her to smile or laugh at one of my images, I've reached my goal. If I can get a smile or laugh from some random viewer, that's just icing on the cake. This project has also made me re-evaluate my photography goals, and I'm hoping in the near future I can bring a smile or some laughter to other peoples lives through photos of their children. 


How do they react to being photographed in such a sophisticated way?

Well, it really depends on the shoot. I try to set up everything beforehand so the actual shooting only takes a few minutes. At their ages, that's all you can really hold their attention for. Also, I try to incorporate something that they find fun or interesting, so they are always involved in the shoot. Cheerios and Goldfish crackers help too. 


You shoot weddings -- and very well, I might add. Has the experience of shooting your daughters on an ongoing basis changed the way you shoot your other assignments?

Most definitely. This project has really taught me to look at light, both natural and artificial in a whole new 'light'. Although my current wedding work is not exactly flash intensive, I am starting to incorporate more and more off camera lighting.

Also, seeing folks like Ed Pingol and Matt Adcock rocking the small lights at weddings has really changed my perspective.


How does their mom feel about the photos? What do their friends' parents think? Do you get requests to do those kinds of photos for other people?

My wife looks at some of my images and shakes her head and says, "Did you really do that? I hope that was Photoshop!" In all seriousness, she has been really supportive of my project and even helps out sometimes, but Cheerios and Goldfish don't work as well with her. So far, I've received very positive feedback on my work and I believe there is a definite market out there for this niche. 

I've had requests for these types of stylized shots in the past but turned them down for various reasons. In the recent months, more requests have been coming through and I've been revisiting this as something I'd like to offer, so we'll see. 


What advice would you offer photographers who want to start long-term projects of their kids?

Start shooting them as young as possible. Get them involved in the whole photography process. Make it fun for them as well as for you. Stay fresh, and have an open mind for ideas.

Oh, and stock up on Cheerios and Goldfish. 

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Related Links:

:: Jason's Website ::
:: Jason's Flick Stream ::
:: Photo Set: Kristin ::
:: Photo Set: Kayla ::
:: Photo Set: Sisters ::
:: Dave Black: Workshop at The Ranch ::

Golf Digest: Behind the Scenes Shoot

Thanks to a tip in the Flickr threads I was able to catch this behind-the-scenes video done by Golf Digest during a recent shoot of Annika Sorenstam. I love these kinds of things, as there are always tidbits to be learned from watching other photographers work.

A little Googling (with a helpful assist from Golf Digest DoP Christian Iooss) hooked me up with one of the shooters, who was kind enough to expand a little on the lighting techniques. Links (heh) and details after the jump.
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The movie is not coded for embedding, so click here (or on any thumbnail image) to pull it up in a separate window.

The shooters are Stephen Szurlej and J.D. Cuban, and they have their work cut out for them. Here's the deal: You only get access to people like Sorenstam for brief amounts of time. And the magazine runs tips from her on a regular basis, so they need photos for each of those installments.

"Quick and simple is what we're trying to achieve," Stephen told me in a recent email. "When you've got Tiger or Annika for a couple of hours and the goal is to shoot every instruction tip or story for a years worth of issues, you've got to be fast.  If you can get it done in a bit less than the allotted, time the players are pleased, and it goes that much easier the next time."

Eighteen shoots in 2 hours. Do the math: That's an average of six minutes and forty seconds per shoot, including lighting setup and moving to the next location. And you thought Annie and The Queen had it rough. (Annie got an average of 7.5 minutes...)


Looking at the tape, the second thing you might notice after the torrid pace is that they are using two battery powered studio-level strobes - one in a soft box and one with a large, gridded reflector. The soft box is feathered way up, which gets soft light to the subject without blowing out the grass in the foreground.

For most of the shoots, the soft box is at camera right, with the other light at back camera left as a separation light. And the sun is coming from directly behind the shooter, making it essentially and on-camera light. But that does not tell us what the photos will look like, merely because you can get drastically different looks from the same lighting setups by varying the ratios between the lights and the ambient.


One Setup, Several Looks

Take a moment to visualize a couple of different looks that would be possible from this lighting scheme. Say you are exposing for the ambient light. In that case you might drop the flashes down in intensity and use them as a crosslighting/fill setup. This would lessen your shadows and bring the tonal range of the scene into the range the camera's chip can easily handle.

Or, you might drop that ambient a stop or two to bring it down to the level of fill light. Then pump the scene back up with the feathered soft box and create a stark rim light with the gridded reflector. Two very different looks, just by altering power levels (and/or aperture and shutter speed.)

So, which did Stephen and J.D. do? Neither, as it turns out.

"We're using the main light as a fill to eliminate the shadows, trying for a pretty flat lighting," Stephen says. "If anything, we do underexpose the ambient -- just a bit, 1/3 to 1/2 of a stop. But the flash/daylight is pretty balanced."

What? All this setup just to make flat lighting? Why go to all of the trouble?

Simple. For a series like this, the most important thing is to make sure you get easily readable detail everywhere. This is not the cover, where you would want to create drama and a look to sell magazines on the racks. This is teaching. And more important than the feel of the photos is that they be extremely legible for those would actually like to learn what Ms. Sorenstam is trying to teach them.

Besides, when you are working so quickly, you are only gonna take a few frames of each setup. You need legibility on every frame, to further ensure that all 18 shoots will work.

"We have two lighting setups in the ready position," Stephen continues. "So as I finish, Annika walks over to JD's set up and the shooting is nearly continuous. Meanwhile, I relocate to the next location and set up while JD is shooting his tip or instruction story. I'm ready to go again when he finishes. Kind of aerobic leap frogging photography."

About a third of the way into the video, Stephen nails a bunker shot on the first attempt. He credits this kind of thing to a mixture of luck and experience. But then, he's been shooting golf since back when they made the balls out of wood.

So he's got that going for him, which is nice.

"Timing with digital cameras is still harder than film cameras," Stephen said. "I look back at images I shot on film, no chimping, and the ball is on the club more often with fewer takes. I definitely have a lower percentage on the club with digital. Of course, the fact that I'm shooting at 1/320th of a sec hurts maybe even more than the digital shutter lag. Back in the film days we most often used reflectors, not strobe."


Cover: Same Lights, Different Look

On less hectic days, they are able to work the light to get more of a look. "If we're doing just one location," Stephen says, "we have the luxury of using a 12X12 silk for a better look. But we just can't do that in this type of shoot. For a cover, yes."

Having enough watt seconds to own full daylight gives you options, no doubt about it.

This week, Stephen is busy humping long glass at Torrey Pines in San Diego, the site of this year's U.S. Open. So while you get to sit in the living room watching Tiger pick up his trophy on Sunday, you can feel sorry for Stephen -- all that walking around, inside the ropes...
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Further reading:

Golf Digest cover shoot: Slideshow

More Bounce to the Ounce

Pop Quiz: Where is lighting control gear manufacturer California Sunbounce located?

Germany, of course.

Geographic inconsistencies aside, please join me in welcoming them as a new sponsor. (NOTE: Some of the videos on their site might not be work safe for many.)

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Speedlinks, June 11, 2008

It's been forever since we did one of these, and I had a bunch of cool stuff pop up this week. So here goes:


• What? You haven't pimped your McNally yet? Me, neither. But I think I'm gonna. (Note to Annie: Please actually read the post before jumping to any naughty conclusions...)

• Live near Denver? Now you can get your small-flash learn on in person with Dave Tejada.

• Scott Kelby takes you on a tour of photo permit purgatory.

• Lighten up, Frances: Check out Zack "OneLight" Arias' excellent series of white background tutorials. Dude gets the Apple reflection look with a $10.97 Home Depot panel -- gotta love that. Great series, Zack.

• Is your dad hideous? Give him a Father's Day makeover with lighting tricks...

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