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Multiple Flash Techniques

Let's go back a little bit and talk about some difficulties with flash and why we might not like it, um, and why people might stay away from it. And the thing is, is that flash comes from a very small source, and when light comes from a very, very small source, it's gonna create harsh life or create very hard shadows. Okay, and that's not very pleasing light. Sometimes it's when it's hard, and when you get into a situation where you're in a soft light situation, like we're in here, right, if we happen to look around, we're going to see that there's the shadows on the ground are very, very soft. They're not very well defined. That means that we're in a soft light situation. So if I'm in a soft light situation and I'm creating hard light on my subject, it's not gonna look believable. And so like, Ooh, that looks ugly because the light doesn't match right. So if you're in a soft light situation, you want to create soft light, and the way to do that is to diffuse the light and make that li...

ght source larger. Now what I like using a lot of times is a simple shoot through in Barilla. And if you notice this as you can see the picture when that flash fires on that umbrella, that entire umbrella becomes the light source. So now I've just went from this small to buy three size to this large circle area created by this 33 inch umbrella. And so there's gonna be a huge difference in the quality of light coming out of this case. If I fire this, let me fire this flash, and you're going to see this entire, um, flash light of this entire umbrella light up. See that? And so now this becomes the light source. Now there's a there's a cost, and that cost is is not. We are getting softer light or a higher quality of light. But we're losing power. And how much power we losing? We're losing two stops in general, okay? I mean, I think they say sometimes 1.5 stops, but just think of it as two stops, Okay, so we're losing four times the power, but we're gaining higher quality. And the reasons why I like using the shoot through umbrella one is very inexpensive. Like 20 bucks or less or wherever. And if you lose it, no big deal. Ah, you have to worry about it. The set up is extremely fast. Like I said most the that when you set up a soft box off boxes are great, but they usually, uh, take five minutes to set up. Whereas if I got this umbrella down, ready to go assistant can hold the flash right here, right? Instantaneous, diffused light. That's why everybody should have one of these in their bag or whatever. If they're just, you know, not sure if they're going to use it. Throw it in anyways. It's small, it's light. It packs very well. Fast set up. Okay, Light goes is reflected both ways. As you can see here, it is reflected through the umbrella as I'm pointing at the umbrella here, and it's going towards the subject, and also it's being reflected the other way, too. So there's there's differences in the like quality. When you shoot through the umbrella, the light is being diffused faster, as you can see that this is a dome, right? So when we fire through this dome, the light is going straight, then it's going off to the sides, and it's wrapping around this way. Right? So you've kind of Now, if you are, take the flash and you were to fire it back into the umbrella and let it reflect back. What it would do is it would come back as a wall of light at you, and so you would get probably a bit more wraparound light. Um, and what that could do is create less shadow for you. For example, Let's, um Neil, you want to come up, for example, and I just demonstrate a little bit, right? So if I'm shooting this way Okay, let's say the cameras here. Can you turn your nose this way? Okay, right. Let's say the cameras here, okay? And so let's say I'm shooting it this way. What's happening is I'm getting a small quantity of light at Neil through here, but the other light is being reflected out this way. Is that not correct? And so I'm actually going to get a harsher shadow here, as if I were to do this, because if I reflect fire the light back this way, then it's coming back as an entire wall of light at him, and it's wrapping around his face, and it's creating less shadow on that short side. Thanks, Neil. I'm not sure if that makes sense to people, but go out and just practice it. You see the difference? It's very minor. I'd like to use personally. My method is just shooting through. Nikki, come back up your Sorry. Because I can get closer to my subject this way versus if I have to fire it this way looking, I'm losing two feet of distance this way. So I just like it this way because I can get it closer to my subject. So let's go to Paris now. Anybody up for going to Paris? Okay, so let's go to Paris, and we're gonna shoot this photo and see what was going through my mind. How I accomplished this. This was all done. Um, with one. A shoot through an umbrella and this small flash, that's it. Doesn't this look like it's studio quality lighting here? All it was was $ flash and a shoot through umbrellas. That's it to create this. So let's go through and see how he did this. The first step is what does anybody know? You meet her for the background. How you want that toe look, is that correct? So I meet a ring for the Eiffel Tower. I want to make sure that the Eiffel Tower is in my picture and I don't blow it out. Okay, So I'm meat Oring for how I want the Eiffel Tower and those clouds to look. So I did term because Mike Flash cannot fire five miles away and light up the Eiffel Tower, right? Is that correct? So if I'm going to see that, I got to see it in my camera first. So that may make my subjects a little bit darker or depending on what the situation is. But that's OK, because I'll get this the subject exposure from my flash. So the one exposure in my camera is the background, and then I'll get the exposure for my subjects with my flash. I don't have to worry about it. So what happens? What did I determine was the perfect background for my vision. F four I s 0 at 1/50 of a second. Is that not correct? Okay, So what did I do? I took my chart and I look at and I see. Guess what? At F four s 0 200 It tells me that I'm at 1 32nd power. Does everybody understand that? But how many stops? If I wanted to use an umbrella, how many stops am I gonna lose too? So if I was at six feet at the same diff since I would put it At what power? What's two more stops on 1 32nd power? Just double it twice. So 1 60 This is the math part that some people kind of freak out about, but we kind of have to learn this. Uh okay, so we, uh, 1 32nd power. Right? So if we double that power, it becomes one stop would be 1/ powers that not correct, but okay. And then But I'm losing two stops, so I've got to make it two stops higher. So if you look at the chart here and ah, so 1 32nd power. 1/16 Powers, one stop. Another stop would be 1/8 power. You get that? Three stops would be 1/4 power. So that's when you state take stops. Is just actually the next number on the grid. Okay, Does that make sense to everybody? So if I were at six feet, okay, and I put an umbrella on, I'm losing two stops, so I would have to increase my flash power toe 1/8 power. OK, but I got an easier way in a better way. That what I would do this. What I would do is okay. Don't freak out, but I would use the inverse square law. Okay, did that. I'll just relax. Eso What the inverse square law says is if you have the distance, Okay, instead of shooting at six feet, I shoot at three feet. I gain two stops. Okay? How many stops did I lose when I used an umbrella? Okay, so I'm at six V and I How many stops did I lose if I go to three feet? How many stops did I gain? It's a wash, right? And not only that, the closer you get the source to the subject, the higher the quality of light because the source size becomes larger in relationship to the subject. And you're going to get big, beautiful light. The closer you get this sucker to your subject. And that's why this what you get like this, cause this is three feet away from my subject. So therefore from a from ah ah, come technical aspect and determining your flash power when you use an umbrella, just find out what it is at six feet, put the umbrella on and move to three feet. It's the same. You know what to think. It's easier than you think it is. OK, okay. So these are umbrella shots, just with umbrella. So I got the main. Okay, I got the main light on her with an umbrella, and I used the flash in the backward. This is at 10 o'clock a night in the Santa Monica Pier, but I wanted it. My vision was I wanted to look like sunset there, so I just fired a flashback there. I don't remember what power put it on. Probably put it on 16 power or something like that. And that's the taste back there. But the main light was with the umbrella. Okay, here's another one. I am doing photos at a reception. I really love that window light. Feel I didn't have a window is like being in here. There's no window. So what I did was I took ah, an umbrella off to the side to give me that big soft light coming as if a window light was coming through. Here's another one group shots. Okay, group shots. But I want that studio quality. All that is is one flash through an umbrella. Okay? And what I did waas I changed my I s 0 to 1600 making my flash 16 times more powerful. Okay, so that's how I could compensate for the extra distance that I need. So I'm not shooting at six feet anymore. I'm shooting at 12 feet. So the inverse square law tells me I'm gonna lose four times as much power. I'm gonna lose two stops when I double the distance back. So when you have the distance, you're gonna gain two stops. But when you double it back, then you're gonna lose to stop. So I'm losing two stops that way. Then I'm putting an umbrella on top of that. How many stops am I gonna lose? Are using four stops at that point. That's why I put it at eso 1600 so I can make up for those stops And so how it turns out to be, um, in general is put your foot. This is a little This is hit tip. Go about 12 feet back if you're going to shoot it. eso 1600 at 1/60 of a second. Just stick your your darn flash on 1/4 power and you should be close. And that and that will give you that type of shot there. Okay, so that's a formula that you can use 1/4 power, okay. And the reason why I want to keep it at 1/4 power. And I don't want it at full, because I want it to recycle real fast. And I want to use less power as possible. Okay, cause I'm managing my flash throughout the day, okay? And brew L. A is a must for outdoors at night. Okay, Great for outdoor. Anybody do weddings at night time outside. That is probably a bad situation because you can't reflect the light anywhere if you're using non camera flash, and so you're gonna get very harsh light all the time because you're just firing at your subject. So what I like to do is an umbrella So this is a situation here. Where In Los Angeles, we always have these kind of, uh, culturally mixed weddings. Okay, So this gentleman here, the groom was of Armenian descent. And though his bride, his wife was of Mexican descent, so he comes up to me. This is like a 10 oclock at night. Scott, I got this really important shot. I'm gonna sing to my wife in Spanish. I hired this mariachi band. They're coming. So in five minutes, we're going to do this. You tell me where to set up and we're going to the shop. Okay, so it's 10 o'clock at night and I got five minutes. This shots very important to him. I got a nail. This shot, What am I going to do? So what I do is I find the best background possible. I survey the situation. I go. You know what I really like That tower coming out of there are really like those those lights going across that makes a great scene. I am going to shoot my background first. And what does it tell me to set it at? I am at I s o 3200. Doesn't that tell you that was very dark at night. Plus, I'm at 1/6 of a second at F five so that, you know, it was very dark. But that's what give me that background. That's what would give me those clouds. OK, so I set that up and I got my assistant holding that flash up like that. I fired it and bang, that's the shot I got. And I guarantee you that my shot looks way better than this guy shot right here with his little point shoot camera. I guarantee you, um and that's why we get paid. The big bucks is that within a few minutes we can negotiate things like this and get beautiful shots right on the fly because we understand light and we know how to manipulate it. Okay, so we got to get really get going through here. These are some multiple flashes. I mean, the chat rooms gonna take this because we gotta fly through here. But maybe we could give you a little bit multiple flash ups. This is my signature lighting. Get your pans ready because I'm gonna tell you how I do this. This is my signature lighting style. at a reception, and this is what I do. I put two flashes by usually by the deejay speakers. I fire them towards the middle of the dance floor at 1/16 Power. Why 1/16 power? Because it recycles real fast and I'm not burning up. I mean, I could go 1000 photos over 1000 photos at 1 16 power on one set of batteries. And I'm not going to shoot 1000 dance shots, that's for sure. Okay. And then I set my camera to ah high. I s O either 800 or 1600 I have my f stop it either. 2.8 of four, depending on what lens I have on, I put my shutter speed at 100 and then get a load of this. I put on camera flash in t TL on Oops, I put, but I put that light at minus one and 2/3 stops, meaning I just want that flash toe kiss that subject with light. And I want most that light to wrap around like the sun shining to give me that glowy romantic feel, and that's my set up there. And so you get shots like this. Okay? Where you're kissing a life there and then you get that light. It looks like it's a nightclub, But I can create that nightclub. Feel any wedding I do. And it became my signature style lighting style. Here's other shots. What? I did hear that those two flash set up on this particular I didn't use t TL flash. What I did was I stuck a flash on the ground, and all I did was I threw an umbrella like this under it, giving me some beautiful up light. That's why it looks like stage lighting doesn't look like that up light coming through. Because that's what I did there. Okay. Ah, here's other examples of using this type of lighting the effects that you can get. Ah, here's a quick tip. When you see three. When you see three hot chicks dancing together, take a picture of them. Always looks good on the website. Okay. That romantic feel there with those two flashes back. Ah, that kind of feel there with that back light coming through. Um, this is a particular ah, photo. I did anybody see the movie? Clueless. Okay, I did her wedding. Ah, the girl that the whatever girl, the redhead, right, s. So she got married. It was a big thing. So after doing her wedding, all these people, all these magazines wanted her picture, right, cause he's the clueless girl. So anyways, what I do had a wedding is I do this one particular shot where I have the bride's maids interact with each other, and I put them behind a nice big window. So I get that romantic feeling with that light wrapping around them. I always do that shot. Well, I was in China doing a workshop, and I wanted to simulate this type of field, but I didn't have a window. Okay, so what I did was I did this shot, but I used four flashes around them acting as my window. Okay, There was no window there. This is like a 2 a.m. in the morning. There's no window. There's no light. But I wanted that feel. So what I did was I wrapped four flashes around them, as you can see there. Okay, a rep Give me that big wall of light behind them, and I got that shot that So That's how I did. That shot was actually kind of like I do weddings. But I translated that into something that I could perfect Morris. Like a masterpiece. Okay, now, in weddings, brides love details. Anybody here just get married? Is that not true? Facilities got married. They love the I mean, they spend a whole year picking out that freakin favor. Whatever. Right? That I mean, it's ridiculous. The amount of time, you know, color coordinating that. And I don't know all this stuff, right? Picking out what? Our shoes and all that stuff. They love it. They absolutely love it. And so I kind of treat those little details as little, many subjects that are very important to that bright cause. She could have spent a long time figuring out, you know, just how that program looks or whatever, or the rings or whatever. And one is the cake. And sometimes when you go into the kind of higher end upscale venues, uh, everything is lit well for you. But there's other times where ah, you're just walking into the Elks Lounge and you know there's the cake and you got to do something with it, and you don't know what the lighting is gonna be. But if I create my own light, I can get that look no matter what, and this is what it is. So what I like doing is using two sidelights. Um, I used to flashes and I put it on the lowest, uh, power possible. And I set them on the side to give me the side lighting. And then what I do is I fire another flash on the back of the wall and I put a color gel on it. Ah, whatever color I feel matches the wedding or matches the cake. Ah, in the background. And so I can create any color I want back there. Um And so it gives me this type of look every single time because I'm in control things. So there's two sidelights here is I point to these flashes on the side. Then there's another flash in the back. Ah, and I just gel that and I shine it against the wall, and that wall picks up any color, um, that I wanted to and here's my typical settings on this particular situation. I shot this at I s 0 800 f nine at 1/ so you can kind of start there and go from there and tweak it. And now that you know how to adjust your power and your light, you can that will give you a reference point, and then you can kind of do your own thing from there.