Once we were done we moved down the path about 100ft to a small bridge with a cool metal fence over it. We took a few shots here but were somewhat hampered by the high volume of pedestrian traffic. This shot was one we planned earlier in the afternoon when we scouted the location. In hindsight I think we should have done this first as there was some very nice golden light hitting the fence roof that was gone when we came to shoot for real.

Just 20 steps down the hill we came to a tree on a rather steep embankment. Below us was the railway line and a guy sleeping rough. It was easy enough to block out the guy sleeping rough with Christina but I was certain at least one of us was going to fall down the embankment! We spent about 5 minutes at this location before heading up the hill to catch the sunset.

This was the reason we chose to shoot at this park; a clean view of the city. I think most of the shots here were taken with the 70-200L, I love that lens…it produces great looking shots and the long focal length compressed the background really nicely. As the light fell I ran into the usual Canon 5D MKII AF issues which I “solved” by putting my 580EX II on the hot shoe, using the AF beam from it to get focus then switching to manual focus, trading out the flash for a Pocket Wizard and taking the shot! I’m going to buy the ST-E2 and have Michael Bass add a hot shoe to it. All because Canon AF sucks!

This was a really fun shoot, it was fast though. We only had about 1.5 hours to shoot and I’m pretty happy with the results. Everything was shot with one light, a Canon 580EX into a 60″ reflective umbrella. It was great to work with two such fun & relaxed clients. Thanks ladies, you made it seem so effortless!

Finally I want to thank Jake Reinig for the referral, I owe you one!

If you would like your photo taken for free, get in touch. Soon!

Here’s a simple headshot I took about an hour ago. I took it in the basement car park of our apartment complex using a Canon 580EX and a 43″ reflective Westcott Umbrella. I quite like the 43″ but it just doesn’t give out light as soft as I want so I ordered a 60″ (as recommended).

I took shots like the one above where I completely killed the ambient (overhead fluorescents) and a bunch of other shots where we used a second light and blew the rear wall to pure white. I’m enjoying this new found versatility!

I’d love to pick up some more techniques using just one light and an umbrella, if you have any little pointers, tips or gems then please share them in the comments section.

Updated (18th of October, 2009): Kate suggested sticking a second light behind the subject, so I did!

If you are in the San Francisco area and want your photograph taken for free then please get in touch.

Today is the first opportunity I have had to shoot any photographs since I went to the OneLight Workshop last week. Of course I have no real models or clients so I have to endure the torture that is shooting my son. I took five frames before he lost interest. I suppose if I ever have a real shoot that is time limited I’ll be well prepared for it!

I’m starting to get an idea of the style of photographs I want to make. I don’t know what it’s called but it falls somewhere in the middle of these three amazing photographers:

1) John Keatley
2) Troy Stains
3) Dustin Snipes

I realise I have a long way to go. I also don’t want to shoot kids, but you take what you can get while you are learning!

This was shot using a single Canon 580EX, 1/8th power into a reflective 43″ umbrella. The background is a pure white wall. I deliberately wanted a shallow DOF and as there was daylight streaming into the room I had to kill the ambient, therefore my camera settings were pretty much limited to f/2.8 and 1/200th of a second. I just adjusted flash power until it looked right to me. I don’t have the luxury of a really wide room so I couldn’t make the white wall go black (the room is at most 5″ wide). I did use a technique we learned at the workshop, those of you that have been to a OneLight or watched the DVD will know what it is just by looking at the catchlights!

As always I’m looking for constructive criticism. I took a shot similar to this a while ago and I really believe that the workshop helped, compare the two and see what you think.

I’m still looking for people to photograph so please volunteer if you are in the San Francisco Bay area.

On Saturday I attended the OneLight Workshop by Zack Arias. I’m sure most people are familiar with Zack by now so I won’t go into details of his past, how he got to where he is now or what he shoots on a day to day basis. All you need to know is that he’s a very talented photographer and photography teacher.

The night before the workshop there was a ‘mixer’ at Chase Jarvis‘ studio, yep…THE Chase Jarvis! Chase was there and he was a really nice guy, very open to answering questions or discussing his work. The photographs from the mixer are on Gabe & Boone’s blog Update (9th of October, 2009): They just added a video too!

The workshop started around 10:00am and kicked off with a good few hours of talk about equipment, exposure, the inverse square law (fairy dust I believe!), grown men that take photographs of squirrels in their parents garden, and a nice amount of info from Zack on his previous mistakes and what he’s learned from them.

Following this we did some headshots in the studio to reinforce the theory that we had just run through, I think this was an essential step for many and it really helped to set us up for the shots we were to take later in the day. One thing I took from this part (well, actually the whole workshop) was that the 43″ umbrella I bought is just a wee bit too small to give the really nice soft light I’m looking for, I’ll need to upgrade to the 60″ that Zack is such a big advocate of.

We then headed down to Gasworks Park in Seattle which is an amazing location with a great view out over the city. We stopped just outside the park gates and saw how easy it is to replicate the same sort of light over and over again, this part was an eye opener for me as I have generally struggled to produce consistent exposures over and over again. As you can see from the shot below we were using the 60″ umbrella, a piece of equipment that I rapidly grew to love.

Next up was a trip to the waterfront part of the park where we took shots with the ambient changing rapidly, I think this was the location I liked the most and it produced the shot that heads up this post. There were a lot of people in the park and they watched with interest/bemusement as our poor models stood freezing in the cold Seattle air.

We rounded off the evening with some more practical examples in the studio, another nice chat from Zack and a great Q&A session. Even when just watching Zack work I learned new stuff, I had a discussion about something similar to this with a surgeon at my work last week. We were discussing how sometimes he’ll just step back and watch the more senior surgeons work and even though he’s not doing anything he’s learning because these guys are just that good. That’s the exact scenario I was in watching Zack interact with the models, direct Erik with the light, adjust his settings etc. I could pick up little things here and there just from watching him, he’s that good!

The night ended around 00:30. At that point I was pretty tired but left happy and stuffed full of new knowledge and ideas.

The whole OneLight experience was a blast, I got to meet some great people and get a glimpse of a life I’d love to live. Unfortunately I have a day job, a boring day job, but it pays too well to just abandon it and head off down some other risky career path. That’s the part that sucks but I have no idea what to do. I can’t spend the rest of my days in a job I’m bored with just because it’s a risk, right? Right now I feel like the guy in the song “Clocked In” by the mighty Black Flag! I guess for now I’ll practice and practice (if anyone wants their photo taken for free) and try and work out some sort of plan.

There are two areas needing work though:
1) Zack, your choice of beer is terrible! Newcastle Brown Ale is the work of the Devil.
2) Lose the smokes, you’ll be thankful for it in years to come.

Finally, a big thanks to Zack, Erik, Ashley, Lorna, Meg, Kara, Sherri, Gabe, Boone, Chase, Norton and everyone else involved in this event or that I met. I had a great time and I can wholeheartedly recommend this workshop to anyone who wants to improve their skills.

If you were at the workshop (or even if you weren’t) please follow me on Twitter.

Rob was our model for the night, I think he only took two or three shots as he is far more model like than Jorge or myself! I took a lot of shots, as usual some worked and a lot didn’t. I like quite a few of the shots I took, we mixed hard and soft light together a fair bit and the results were pretty cool. I took a few shots where I purposely included the lights and I like them, so here you go….a shot with the lights in it!

Maybe, just maybe someone will get the obscure reference to a classic TV show from the title of this post…maybe….

As ever I’m looking for people who want their photograph taken for free.

Lighting Info:
Canon 580 EX, bare, 1/16th power, zoom at 28mm to camera left & right behind subject. Canon 580EX II, 28″ Westcott Apollo Softbox, 1/2 power, zoom at 24mm, 1/4 CTO to left of camera.

I’m going to post a few shots from this session as we got quite a few that I’m happy with. Big thanks to Michelle and Joe for volunteering and their patience!

Lighting Info:
Canon 580 EX, 1/8 Honl Speed Grid, 1/8th power, zoom at 50mm to camera left. Canon 580EX II, 1/16th power, zoom at 24mm, full CTO pointing at wall behind subject.

In the shade we had a much easier time, we took a lot of shots using soft light, hard light and a mixture of both. This shot is all hard light; a bare 580 EX for Mel & John and a gridded 580 EXII with 1/4 CTO gel onto the foliage behind them.

We tried a lot of different things, some worked and some failed miserably. I definitely learned a lot and I was very thankful that Mel was directing the poses so I could concentrate on the technical aspects of lighting that continue to kick my arse!

As ever I’m looking for people who want their photograph taken for free.

Lighting Info:
Canon 580 EX, bare, 1/16th power, zoom at 50mm to camera left. Canon 580EX II, 1/8 Honl Speed Grid, 1/16th power, zoom at 50mm, 1/4 CTO to front and right of camera.

I like the grid spot a lot and would love to fire a couple of them at some more people, please volunteer!

Update (17th of May 2009): Manuel has posted the shots he liked from this evening on his website.

This session was a real learning experience for me, trying to balance the flash and the still bright ambient, shooting a small group, dealing with glasses, thinking about other locations etc. I think I took a lot away from this shoot and I’m very grateful to Jorge and his family for being so patient and just going along with my ideas.

As always, I’m looking for more people to participate in my time for prints project!

Lighting Info:
Alien Bees ABR800 ring flash (rented from Borrow Lenses) with 30″ Moon Unit, 1/16th power, powered by Alien Bees Vagabond II, sun to camera right.

This shot of Manuel was taken using a single 580 EX II with a Honl Photo 1/4″ speed grid at 90 degrees to camera left, zoom at 50mm, 1/4 power.

In the out-takes I found a shot that was part way to being very cool and I plan to work on making it a reality very soon.

So, to summarise; shooting with lights is tiring, help is nice, beer is also nice. Thanks Manuel!

If you want to take part in my time for prints/cd project please let me know!

Update (17th of May 2009): Manuel has posted the shots he liked from this evening on his website.