Marianne pushed Jorge and i out of our comfort zone and made us think, which is a good thing! We started shooting in an old cargo container. Not the most interesting location but we made it work using a cross lighting setup. Marianne told us she was a little nervous, it certainly didn’t appear that way in the first shot of the day!

We hung around in the container shooting for about 40 minutes and then packed up our gear and headed over to 7th & Harrison and shot using the Mac Dre Memorial Mural as our background. This right here was my favourite shot of the day! It’s shot above the sync speed of my camera so the black bar caused by doing this occluded the road at the bottom of the shot…no need for Photoshop that way. There’s a lighting diagram for this shot. I’ll go as far to say that this was the most difficult shot we have had to work out how to light so far.

Here’s another one from this location featuring the boom box bag Marianne purchased specially for this location!

I’ll end with a shot taken at the same location we shot Sheila & Walt at last week. We used a small alley that we haven’t used at that location before. Setup was simple, 2 lights behind Marianne at full power and a softbox up front.

We really had a lot of fun on this shoot. Marianne was an incredible subject (thanks Marianne!) with a clear idea of the style of photos she wanted. I think we came pretty close to that idea.

Marianne is pretty much the last free shoot we had on our books. We are officially ending our TFP project now…unless you are a model!

For this first shot we used a 28″ softbox as the main light and we put an SB800 behind the couple, 2 and 1/3 stops higher than the main light. The wall was a light grey colour, basically very old concrete but I love how the flash and the wall blend together so well.

For the next two shots we walked about 50 feet from the bunker to a wood. I of course, stepped in poison oak and have a wee rash on my leg again! Anyway, we setup up two 28″ softboxes, one either side of the couple just outside the frame and told them to just hang out as we shot. It seemed to work well and we got some lovely natural shots. I played with the ambient in these so the shots don’t look overly lit. I really think balance is the key.

I have posted a lighting diagram for the above shots on my lighting diagram page, please have a look…tell your friends too!

This final shot was taken on Treasure Island as the non-existent sunset was giving up. This was taken using our home made boom, basically a light stand with a studio clamp on top which grips another lightstand horizontally. We stuck a 28″ softbox on the end of it. Cheap and easy!

We had a few technical issues on this shoot, most annoying was the issues we always seem to run into with Pocket Wizards not firing the flash. I don’t think these things are worth the money at all!

Technical issues aside we had a great time. Sheila and Walt were so cool and open to our ideas that they made the shoot a breeze. Thanks guys!

We started the day shooting at noon with no lights at all, just a single reflector. I was a little skeptical about this technique but boy was I proved wrong. I haven’t been using my reflector much at all. Maybe I’ll bounce a flash off it now and then but from now on it’s going to see a lot more action on it’s own. I even muttered to Jorge that “I hate natural light”, quite ironic from a guy that used to shoot landscapes! I now love the look a single reflector gives. I think it gives the shot a nice airy, light feel.

Here is another shot using the same set up but a slightly different location. really simple, fast and importantly…lightweight!

After this we shot using an Alien Bee B1600 with a beauty dish and grid. What a glorious light. I loved it. It’s now on my wishlist. Well, actually the new Einstein is on my list! We took this shot in an abandoned petrol station on Treasure Island. The light was overhead on a boom.

These final shots were taken using the same setup. I enjoyed using it and would love to be able to use it for an extended period of time to get a feel for it.

Here’s the last shot.

This workshop was a good event, not too expensive (actually less than a quarter of the cost of the current OneLight Workshop) and I took a few new pieces of knowledge away from it. It’s touring the country so if you get the chance to go I do recommend it. The hosts are super talented and really friendly guys.

As usual I have posted a lighting diagram for one of the shots taken at this shoot.

Credits for this shoot

Fashion/Editorial
2010 Fusion Workshop
Treasure Island. San Francisco, CA.

Model: Taelin
Model: Leia
MUA: Shaikh Beela
Hairstylist: Sui “Mike” Crusset
Fashion Designer: Jen Summers

Ninety Percent of the shoots I do these days come via Twitter requests, this shoot with Gem was one of them.

We shot these photos at 3pm on a sunny day with very little cloud coverage. We used open shade to help us out as we were using Canon 580EX’s as our lights. Usually I wouldn’t be brave enough to try and use these tiny lights in these conditions but the day before the shoot I went to a workshop taught by David Honl and he was pretty clear in stating that small hotshoe flashes are his main on location lights and that they are plenty powerful if you use them in the right way.

This first shot, as always is a simple headshot. A single 580EX in a 60″ reflective umbrella. I always start with a few headshots, I find it eases me into the other shots I want to try without much stress on me or the subject.

Next up we did a simple 3/4 pose using the 60″ umbrella as the main light but this time we put a 580EX with a full cut of CTO on it behind and to the left of Gem to give us a little extra colour.

Finally I want to show two very similar shots, in this first shot we used a single light in pretty much the same way as we did for the headshot.

In this next shot we kept the main light in exactly the same position but we added a second light with a full cut of CTO behind the tree/bushes to mimic early evening light at 3:30pm. The lighting diagram for this shot can be found on my Lighting Diagrams page.

So that’s it. Lessons learned:

1) It’s not too hard to shoot in the middle of the day with small hotshoe flashes.
2) CTO helps you mimic late afternoon light.
3) Get on Twitter.
4) Follow me on Twitter.
5) Follow John on Twitter.

Finally, thanks to John for helping me and Gem for being such a good sport. We only had an hour to shoot and she was willing to climb over a small river and up the other side to take these shots. If you are looking for a constant source of entertainment be sure to follow her on Twitter!

This next shot is essentially the same setup but with an additional light added for a touch of rim light down Robs arm. This sort of lighting works well on subjects that are muscular and well defined as it really brings out all the contours in their figure.

Next up is a little Rembrandt lighting, quick, dirty and easy! I do shoot the dark side a little darker than some people, but I like it that way.

Here’s another view, same setup.

This final shot was a single light setup with a large reflector opposite the light. The main light was a Canon 580 EX in a 28″ Westcott Apollo softbox, which is rapidly becoming my favourite light modifier. It gives nice soft light and is easy to control as the spill is limited. I’ve added the lighting diagram for this shot to my Lighting Diagrams page, please check it out.

Thanks for stopping by and reading, I’ll get another post up in the new year. While you are here, why not subscribe to my RSS Feed or follow me on Twitter?

Here’s a video of Jorge shooting in an alley in The Mission District. Again, not a great video but it does let you see the location.

I found this location to be a tough environment to shoot in, coupled with the fact that I still get caught up in the technicalities of the lighting I don’t feel I am getting the best out of my subjects. This is a delicate balance, it’s difficult to learn and it’s the main reason I shoot for free at this point. I want to be comfortable I can deliver before I ask for money! Luckily Howard & Esther were easy going but still, I need to work on that!

Once were done in the alley we drove over to Pier 1 in The Embarcadero. A great spot but bloody cold! Esther was a real trooper and braved the low temperature for about 2 hours! I liked this location better than the alley and we had a lot of fun here. At one point a yoga class arrived, 50 people strong and asked if we could take a group shot of them. Umm, we have 3 small flashes with us, not gonna happen!

For this shot I was shooting directly into the sun using my modified Gary Fongdom which I mentioned in my previous post. Once again the flash was at full power.

The sun dropped below the horizon before we were ready for it to, so we pulled out a second flash with a full cut of CTO on it and used it to cross light Howard & Esther. I think I saw this technique in the Strobist DVD’s, anyway I like it. It’s fast and easy.

As the light & temperature fell we had to really work fast and try and get some shots we were happy with before it was pitch black & before Esther froze to death. We continued to cross light, without the lens hood on and it gave me one of my favourite shots of the shoot.

The light fell very quickly and just before the last bit of orange disappeared from the sky I grabbed this shot using only the 580 EX in the 28″ softbox.

I’ll end with a shot I ended up liking a lot more than I thought I would when I first saw it. I love the way Esther is looking at Howard in this and that one side of her face is the only part of any face we see in the shot.

So, that’s the first couple shoot I have done. Would I do another? Yeah, maybe. I still haven’t quite worked out what I want to be shooting. I have a good idea of the style I like, of course achieving that style is the hard part!

Many thanks to Howard & Esther for allowing us to shoot you…and for buying us coffee!

The person in the photographs is Jay, a friend of my shooting buddy Jorge. Jay is kind of new to photography and wanted to take some photos and be in some photos. Me, I just want to take them. I do not look good in front of the camera!

This next shot was taken using a 28″ softbox, we did put a backlight in place but didn’t like the effect it was giving. Instead we turned it upwards to light the ceiling.

I’ll finish up with a small video of Jorge shooting Jay, just because I want to test adding video to posts. It’s brief and not informative at all but it gives you an idea of the location we were shooting in.

Something I took away from this shoot was the importance of location scouting. We had a great location in mind. I had visited it before and loved it but when we turned up today it had been sealed up. Check, check and check again I guess.

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!

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!

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.