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Long Exposure Overview

Lesson 14 from: Lighting with Gels

Clay Patrick McBride

Long Exposure Overview

Lesson 14 from: Lighting with Gels

Clay Patrick McBride

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Lesson Info

14. Long Exposure Overview

Lesson Info

Long Exposure Overview

This is the technique we're working at, yours truly demonstrating it, right? Flash and long exposure. I think that many people probably use this technique even shooting a wedding, you have the bride and groom dancing, you get a good flash, a little bit of trails from it, right? We're gonna use the - there's a couple ways to do this. We'll talk about it we're gonna use - So, I'm gonna demonstrate this in this section. I'm gonna show you how to do the long exposure, you know. And mixing the continuous light and the strobe light together. We're gonna learn front curtain/ rear curtain sync which is key, you know for this technique, I think in order to really do it in a way that goes with the motion. We wanna be using the rear curtain sync. We're gonna explore motion blur and again just continue to experiment, and I can't encourage you enough to experiment with light. I think it's so important like you'll notice over the past couple days I'm coming in here, I have a little bit of an idea of...

what I'm doing but it ends up looking the way it does, you know? We get to it, and we get to it through trial and error. You know, I think many people don't push through the error part, they just try, it doesn't work out, they don't continue to push through. So, again it's a lot of people's help, Chris's help, you guys contributions to me that keep me pushing through this so, you know, develop an art posse. Get some people around you, get into the studio, support each other's artistry and vision. Push each other, be each other's like cheerleaders and you know, just - like a mafia, right? Like a mafia, it's like a mafia. Form your own secret photo mafia, right? (audience member comments) Right, so this is your typical curtain how it works, right? It's a couple blades coming through, right? And in order to get a normal flash explosure - explosure (laughter) They have to be all the way open, right, for the flash to kind of come in the middle of them and then they're closing. Right, that's just how it works, you know. This is normal front curtain sync so you're curtains are opening, flash is going, curtains are closing, right? And the technique we're gonna use and I'm sure you guys have probably checked this out on your speed lights, many speed lights have rear curtain sync, right, have we checked it out? Anybody, show of hands, yes, OK, right? I love those great, awesome grunge pictures of you know, Nirvana crowd surfing with the long blur exposure on them, you know they inspire this technique by me and it just looks great. It's a great way to put energy in your shots. We'll be working with Godfrey again. But the rear curtain sync it's gonna be your curtain opens, the motion happens, and then the flash is at the end of your sync. So, instead of here being in the middle right, it's coming at the end so we have front curtain sync and rear curtain sync. So, what does that mean? That means the motion's gonna happen, we're gonna get all those trails from the continuous light and then at the very end of it we're gonna get the flash. And why is that helpful? Because the motion works towards, the trials and everything work towards where the motion's going, other way we get flash and then we get this motion and they're not in sync, they're not working together, right? So, that's the experiment, that's the trial and error. And we're gonna get right into it.

Class Materials

Bonus Materials with Purchase

Lighting with Gels Keynote

Ratings and Reviews

Vitamin Dee
 

Great class if you're wanting to learn how to work with gels! This class will take you through the process step by step as you build your shooting playbook. I enjoyed Clay's honest and simple approach. Clay and his assistant, Chris, make a great team as they show how gels work and show you what not to do. They make learning fun!

Magda Mazur
 

I really enjoyed the course and have learned a few new techniques. Every photographer is a different artist, and I do not try to judge them by the way they proceed, but by the knowledge they have, use, and are able to teach. Clay and Chris have great teamwork and a lot of fun with this.

Doug Richardson
 

I found Clay's classes and teaching style worked very well for me. For example, Clay's method of first testing one light in a multiple light set-up and the adding the other lights one-by-one was great. I recommend this class for anyone working to add different lighting styles to their work.

Student Work

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