Lessons

Lesson Info

3:15 pm - Shoot: Adding Multiple Flashes

But I want you to kind of lean back you can put your feet up here and again just kind of kind of only counts b one yeah, perfect hurry then listen well strove of one light and they will increase too give me a one main light mike from over here I think I want to hear good and if you look I don't know that shows up on camera but if you look he has this nice brown and red hair and you have that natural light coming right and this is very similar what we were doing well we said our optical set up is more outside we always want the back of her hair the hair light it could be natural with possible we want that son to hit the back of her hair so you could do multiple things here if you underexposed too much though the black outfit and a black fellow right here it's going to blend in and so you have to worry about that as well because if you blend all that in together you're going to take a nice skinny woman you're going to make her look really, really large but making all that color blend tog...

ether so you have to find tune it but I would definitely is something we would really do with a bride even a high school senior they wants a like a vintage session use this natural light coming through this windows is nice and diffuse and then balance everything out with her artificial all right I'm gonna take another sequence of shots start off nice and slow and make sure you understand exactly what I'm doing with each step so the first shot him intake is no flash zero conversation in the body so this is what the camera says hey I think this a proper exposure feed your good mike so since I've got this nice backlit behind her and I'm using of active meeting this what the camera thinks his proper exposure so she is dark because she's backlit so if I were natural light shooter I would up my camera compensation to bring more light into her but since I'm not amusing flash and I want her to be dark and the back kind of dark then I'm ok with that so what I'm gonna do I'm going to make that even more dramatic by decreasing camera compensation even more something gold mine and that was zero conversation in the body so now I'm going to go minus three in the body okay some minus three your flashing so minus three you can see it's a whole lot darker than the first image which it was great just want in fact if you can you can see through the window start to bring in a nice blue sky in the window as opposed to the first shot where the light coming through the window was kind of blown out, but in the second, when the subject is totally lost, I mean she is totally dark. So let's introduce flash again, my compensation in the body is still in minus three turn to flash on. I've got zero compensation start out with see what that does ready great that's actually kind of nice and again this this is different than the other shots I have my the other shot I needed minus two just get normal last conversation but with this again since I'm using a value of meeting is looking at the entire scene, it sees a window so zero compensation for this works I think that's great! I don't need to do anything and just to remind you again, he's a zero flash compensation. Yes, the back of my flash has negative one third, but remember, this is in slave modes. This led really doesn't matter what it says. It's what he controls over here that's actually out putting this flash still output it zero flash compensation, so start a third stop brighter than what it says. So when this is in slow mo, don't get too upset about what it says or try to change it, because really, when you get in slave mode, most of the functions here or no avoid so let's add another light I get out I'm getting a little light coming in from background but not enough to really give me any hair lighter and you really good separation that I'm looking for so we're going to put that maine on a light stand and then we get and I believe it told us exactly where my cattle before basically and then we get mike to hold this secondary light as my hair light stand right here and pull it over yet get directly over her kind of back behind and you may have to go about the top of that clock about their hold up very close to the window yeah good all right so again both these lights are on the same channel same group so they're both going to give out the same amount of power the hair light is a little bit having yeah hold on wait so the hairline should use just shooting just all this explanation the hair light is going to be a bit brighter because it's a bit closer than the main line so let's just go with that shot and all we did again this detail cameras doing most of workforce we're just gonna find tune it so let's take a shot so you how simple it is and boom now that is perfect I don't have anything to it if you can I don't know if you can toggle back and forth on it's stalking of you're talking, I could tell you know, he says, no, I didn't, but this gives me a lot of separation, giving a nice hair light really lights up that red hair of hers, and it adds, it adds a lot to the image. Now, I want to warn people when you start adding multiple flash is be careful about light contamination with the one light it's fairly easy to receive hey, this lights gonna hit here and I may get some spill of them, but when you start adding multiple flashes, sometimes sometimes people start off by adding too many flashes and everything is kind of blown out because of everywhere, the lights bouncing around the throw light everywhere, and so they can't figure out what the heck's going on. I don't know what the problem is, because they got, like, coming in from every direction, so I can I'm talking back and forth between these two images, the secondary image is a lot brighter than the first one because I'm getting a lot of spill from that hair, like the headline is pretty high it's not always a hidden her hair, but it's also falling on the couch, lighting up the couch, lighting up more of the clock and this chair, so I got a lot more light, so the images look totally different because of that second airline, not only is it give me hair light, but it's also lighting up more in this area. Typically if you don't want your hair like to have that much of effect, I wouldn't put it directly above it like that. I would put it more behind her shooting towards the camera, so you won't get all that spill on the couch and things of that nature. Now, the other thing, if you wanted to with cannon, you can do with nikon as well and other ones, you just have to know how to use the flash that's a button thing, and so wait each flash works, but within cannon with these older flashes, you can actually in slave mode hold down this mode button and this mode button. What I've done now is I've changed just this flash into manual mode that flash is going to be tt eleanor face this flashes just in manual now, so now we're blending manual in tl together. The only problem is I have to physically adjust the power to this flash. Now I can't go over there and adjust when I turned the pot power up and down on this master flash it's on lee going to adjust this power on this flash so I can go and he says it's in one to one I could actually lower it all the way let's do one sixty four and we'll take that exact same shot, and it should probably depending on how much output it to be less light. You're the barrel far? Yes, and I see things through the hairline, the racist one. I don't see much, helen, and then give me a little more. What? What was that? One sixty four go give me a little more. Give me do one thirty two, three stops I can see a little bit on her arm, her hair's little dark. Give me a little more power. So this way, if you're in tight quarters as we are right here, this is a way yes, you have to go over to just the light, which I don't like to do, but in this situation, I can't use that distance the subject, because I'm already up against the wall and this is an easy way, and you can adjust that hair light to get the fine tune that you want, and you're mixing manual tl together that I may sixteenth okay, I'm still not saying you don't have to go into it, I just want to show I could see a little bit, but again again, this is that this is an issue that I said I didn't want people getting into we just dismiss it, don't do small steps, go ahead and say ok, I'm going to make a big adjustment give me a one to one r one half power, a quarter power and then fine tune it in there don't don't waste your time doing small increments each each step of the way, mikey, what she saw just you can use the chair used any of these chairs through whatever you just set it up, you tell me how you want to do it and we'll help you have to remember here is that we could do it somewhere else. One question kind of stepping back a little bit a few people were asking about the lcd screen. Do you recommend making it turned down the brightness on your lcd screen or definitely can help? I mean again, it really depends on your monitor. Your color corrected monitor you have at your computer because that's that's the ultimate thing that's your actual final product, but yeah, actually could definitely help turn it up and down again. Some people use the hist a gram. We don't like to use the hist a gram um, but that's a personal preference so that could help some people. Even if it's an under exposed his two gram of long used to that pattern, it could actually help but for us, we just like the monitor I know goodman makes some great little eyepieces. If you're outside, you can actually look in there and actually kind of see your lcd better, but we do generally try to keep it right around the middle range kind of like an iphone or anything else. We try to keep it right around the middle range, and that way, as long as we keep it the same setting. We know the difference between that and our computer. We're fine. If your images are consistently darker than they are on your computers, they involve means bump him up on your lcd so that they match what's your final images because that's really what you want that to be a representation of the final image and not not just no, I know it's dark here in the dark, light on, like you know what, I'm trying to make it the exact same is that's that's difficult for a lot of people that are manual shooters and and live meters that have to have everything precise and and I get it so it's that's, a difficult step for some people inside were not really having issues with the with the external life with the sun and all that, but mike touched on them the goodmans there's, lots of different devices that you can put over your screen that kind of block out the life someone even magnify a little bit those we have those that we use in our teaching scenarios because if it's if you're not used to seeing the light or where it's coming from when you're out outdoors a lot of times it's very bright it's hard to see your lcd and you're trying to find a shade and looking around if one of those devices does block out all the light and you can really see the light coming in, I think those help a lot for new people trying this for the first time we're learning the technique, mike and I don't typically use that, um just because we know we're looking for, we could just see a little bit light we understand what we're getting in our final image, but but by all means, if you have one of those, they make a great right because we pride ourselves on really packing light and portable and easy to go, and I bought these things and coated like, what are you doing? This thing is stupid, I'm not gonna wear this, I don't want to keep it just goes against everything we preach good kids, everything we teach, yeah, well, the finding was mike likes to buy gadgets sometimes we bought singing like a single and I'm a gadget guy, so you normally when you think I'm all right? What about this? And I was crap you want to know what you're doing by that we don't need that stupid, so it just around me like a good brother would do any time we go anywhere for the next week I have it around my neck dinner lunch, showing up a breakfast that has good men around just the team off, and then so we're finally went out of chute, he forgot way don't need anything whatsoever, but then when we wait actually taught a class and I used one and now I can't you can't get away from that that's the one thing that disappears a lot in our workshops, unfortunately, well, too, because the students find out how great they are they they seem to not return them, but it it seems expensive, but it's a very handy product, especially when you want to find tune manual tio whatever any light outside it's a really great product, so sounds like a great souvenir whenever somebody takes your workshops unfortunately way we're ready to give up. But yes, it is also I'm do have time for one more quick question before continuing on with shooting a p w photo ass are you using a first curtain flash think second curtain flash think or doesn't really matter great question and we use first curve second curtain does not work with off camera lighting in this method. So you're gonna have some issues there so it's his first curtain, and when you have the camera on flash or whatever else you could, you could do a lot of more when it's coming off camera because of all that timing and stuff, the second carton doesn't work really well. That's a great question. That's. That's really understanding the concept. So kudos. That got good. Mike where you want me? Uh, different. Okay, uh, like this lamp. So would it be possible if you put the lamp? Maybe stick a light right here to make it look like it's on your great friend then? Uh, kika let's. See what we have you sit like, right here. Um, and then let's see, and then kind of lounge in the back. Perfect here's the only issue with this. How am I gonna balances where you actually see this to make it look like it's on? Are you gonna get me in it? Do you want me to just put it here and cut off half the lamp? I was thinking maybe going from the top, okay, but I don't know. I mean, the great thing about one advantage of a radio transmitting device you can actually use take that bad boy in there all right, but with this you have to make sure this is visible to your master flash so we'll be able to do like this like I'm thinking um like this kind of bounces around it goes down and then kind of hold it like this because then I could just cut off absolutely ashamed top part yeah, okay let's see let's just have this one right here stands or nice I love I love these because I usually work solo I'll help you out with your line a side issue I'm gonna make sure you have good okay oh yeah thanks someone it more dramatic so I think I'm going to turn it down lips so we'll turn it down all the way to three turn off flash see that looks like and this is keep shooting like this is a perfect example of what I was talking about earlier in the program. It doesn't matter where we're shooting or what camera this is these action camera and probably only mike would have come up with this in our classroom this scenario and that's why you shouldn't have to worry about sharing and helping other photographers because there's still an art to this and that's you so I'll love the creativity you're coming up with mike turn turn a flash sounded it's good to why is why you're starting off at minus two because I wanted a little bit I don't want any more dramatic a little more right? Okay, I'm sure anything here sorry that wasn't doctors would you just said and what you did was actually back we're going to be one of more bright but you turned down your flash compensation oh, I see you're saying okay for your first after this leave your flash compensation zero ok then then once you see with light then you can turn up it it's always easy like this it's always easier to believe that flash conversation zero because in our brain zeros a lot easier to understand if you're in the middle I'm in the middle and you look you can easily say, oh, I need to last you can easily go down it just makes more sense it's a lot easier in a fast pace situation if you don't know, we always had just starting off zero and then going from there okay, so that's zero so I want a little and I think it worked pretty cool to the lamp lit up man get up I just wish it was a leg lamp so I'm going to turn down the flash a little bit because it's still too bright I don't like the light bleed on the window because I wanted to look a little bit darker now would you turn down the light compensation for the flash mohr and in raised the zoom a little bit to kind of like a spotty absolutely you could but here's the thing I wouldn't turn yeah when you turn when you turn in the far when you make it more zoom it doesn't give any more flash output because you're going from here to here is going to be a brighter, more defined life focused more focused very much like the old mag light you have when you have it right why did you concern and he gets but it's almost the same thing so yeah like you said you're right on so if you go from twenty four which it's probably set onto fifty seventy one o five like we showed you in the in the previous segment you're probably gonna have to turn down the power some because it might actually just be too hot on her or do you want the light here you can actually move it farther back okay? So basically you didn't like all the light here although I spill so we're going to focus this okay? Okay, I'm gonna turn to zoom on and I'm gonna zoom this in I'm going to start out at I'm gonna go and go all the way to one of five, which is probably focused and we're going to see what that looks like with this is the nine hundred you could do two hundred if you wanted to all right so yeah that's way too bright in her face because again that focus that folks that like him but you could see it is not as much light on the on the wall so what I would try to do I was since I have the room I find its easier especially if you like the lamp lit up the way or I would just move that farther back, okay? All right let's go and try to move back about right about there I guess but the only the only problem with pulling back is its focus would you pull them back and so it's going to be almost wider again? Okay, so you're almost losing some of the benefits of focusing I don't mind keeping it keeping a little closer and then if you really want to keep the light just on her I would probably turn my flash conversation down rather than pulling back ok? And then if this gets too weak, then you could go to the manual life we did a while ago up this power. Okay, also for when you zoom in he's at one o five if cody would move that flash just a little bit one side or the other you're going completely miss the target you're trying to aim on because it is really, really defined and a little tipping trick and I usually mention it when we talked about our slide but I didn't that we always used to carrying our camera bags is you can go to any home office supply store and you buy like it a little three dollars laser pin and you actually with tape it right to the top of that that flash and wherever that laser hits on top of your client that's exactly where that line is going to actually hit her so it's a very simple way to figure out if this is right or this is right could literally that much of a turn you're gonna miss your target when you have exhumed in one o five wait here so you like your exposure leave their supposed conversation alone and they just lower your flash conference said I lowered a flash compensation and the two parted lannister okay, ready and that's a lot better it's still a little bit too bright for me okay, go down in history we have a few questions from the chat room thank you all for listening so closely on hopping in their life started growing in like the enquiring minds of the internet what they wanted that's going this's just the beginning I mean tomorrow we're really going to get down and dirty with this and really be inside and outside and so I can't wait so if the questions are coming in now tomorrow it's really going to be exciting well, one this on topic to what we're actually shooting right now from the carthay one they ask do you have any tricks to avoid the flash reflections on the windows it stopped his lightest life and it's going to bounce? The best thing is to know your camera angles do exactly what he's doing maybe zoom in if you have that's new little beer cuzzi snooze you can always tighten it up you can actually add a piece of cardboard on one side to keep it from bouncing off, but my point is all these things are very light, very portable and very easy to come up with lots of times would be an area I mean you could pick up I don't want touching the because it is very nice but in lots of unusual you easily would have paper easily would have cardboard you can maybe a pillow from from the bed or something of that nature to block it that's what we kind of you for very again in our community or you know area we'll just grab it and use it. But I like to see newt anything or the paper because the paper could block that one side because the reality is we wanted the light it was just the light on the back so you don't wanna block everything, so that was the problem was having with the snooty when you block everything it really blocked the light over here, and maybe he wanted a lot over here where the paper would just block it for that one side, but reflection on windows can be very tricky again. That's a case when you may need to turn one of your lights into manual mode and adjust it so that that he to deal isn't stopping it down. S d I y of the day beer, cozy course, newt some whatever you do and leboeuf asked if you're using pocket wizards to control your flash and you just your flash compensation on your camera, does it affect both flashes the same? And if so, how do you adjust for this? Teo leave one on t t l and the other a just manually well depends on which pocket wizards she has. Old school traditional. What made pocket wizard the great company there's no treaty on the high speed think it's all manual so they would actually have to physically adjust each flash themselves. Anyway, they couldn't adjust or controlling everything from their camera, the newer system, the flex, they basically can do that. It just depends, but for us, we like to adjust everything together, keep everything on the same channel, everything on the same group, so we just wanted it. Upper dan it controls all the lights of the same and then just the distance the subject if we get a situation like we're in a tight corner then we would physically just that one like maybe with the group a b and c which you could do with the new pocket wizard system with cannon or night kind of built right into it so I know when that came out a lot of people were excited already built into your flash and you could actually do that as well and save you some money quite a few people are wondering if you ever turn the flash vertically when you shoot yeah absolutely like this yes absolutely can and that was probably this is apple could have been easily used to turn this flash vertical so you would actually shoot long ways instead of what's a little bit wouldn't hit that lot of the windows so absolutely we do that in fact we even have a amount at our studio the holds four flashes and one has a ball and that we can actually rotate anywhere we want and so that's a nice one flash will be this way that will drop this one sideways and weaken angling down tour feed or up towards your head or any of that nature and I know everyone will be asking what brand of that ball is? You know it's just really a homemade is actually I'll be honest, it's just a simple really again we're all about going cheap if we can and be ineffective and it's just a simple it just screws onto the regular mouth and it's just a simple ball head that has a hot shell on it so it's like nothing fancy almost just about any camera store would have one so we're gonna let you take it away from here in mike keep shooting you're almost there with that final shot. All right, cool. So now you're turning your flash compensation down to minus three? Hopefully that will be right about where you needed all right, ok want to and three okay that's always too much here you get one more on the bump one more yeah, maybe uh to thirty two and three and I like being a little like stick boy haven't done that area that's what I want right? Right there some things you see that's very dramatic I mean, we got the lightest pinpoint on just her her upper portion of her body face basically don't have any spill on the wall is that the yeah, I can see the lamp lit up a little bit yeah and I've got the lamp lit so yeah, but again that that maine is extremely bright because we have focused in on him so that's why you're not seeing the lamp is much in this image as you know what wanted the lamp lighter, I probably switching to manual on switzerland. Just this. Yeah, and and we can do that really quick. Okay, you hold out for the canon five eighties, you just hold on the mode button and you give a one to one just that's doing try this actually looks really cool. Yeah. So now you're just doing t tail up here and it's a meter and just for you, you don't worry about it, and then you can actually, since this is kind of a unique thing, you really want to blast us out like a lamb. We just turned this emanuel so there's none of that pretty flash of one thirty second none of the communications it's just saying fire, fire, fire! And it leaves it up to you to set up the power. All the people that love manual you can do it this way as well to me. I find this is the best advantage because this is a great tl experience and this is a great where details not the best solution. So you go to manual, it worked perfect. I'm happy with what it thinks. Well, more time come in and set up something force here and you can use any of these chairs you could do whatever you want and they will help you kind of complete it want to see if we can get her in a chair with the windmill in the background okay trying to that windmills outside the windows if you can't see online yeah, so I think what sees this chair see this is comfortable in a free can you can I have you sit sideways with your legs hanging over the side street that does that's not comfortable let me know uh, no, I don't oh, thank you. Okay. All right. So first up what do you was that what you could do first I'm looking for the outside exposure. Do you have your flash on or not? Now when you when you get mohr secure with this like I said you could do it all in one slip one one shot but I really feel that it's better to take that extra understanding that flash out of the equation and just were about your exposure compensation first okay, this halfway bouncing off okay? And you don't have to shoot that way. You can shoot the other way if you feel more comfortable or other verticals should work. Either way however you want to get this is easier it's a heavy camera no seven and three first and just take some shots you don't know just take a few shots and see your first shot and what were your camera competition in negative three minus three so she's completely black and you can see stuff through the windows that is that what you're looking for are you want I want I want more focus out the window so on here when you're I don't know what your camera what do you want to do what I want larger after smaller f stop till you're on internist out right here for us to start you comes with sixteen thirty five you're still gonna have pretty good depth of field if we had a seven, two hundred on there really would blur that background out so this is a perfect example what we ask you to do when you're trying to figure out the problem especially when you first jump into this scenario tl we keep stressing don't tackle too much at one time like some of our classmates when shooting awaiting this weekend you were like we tried it and it failed you probably just tried to go for the gusto way too much. I know when we have our students they want to go out and get the sun right in the middle of the image like one of the hardest shots to get progressively work up to it. I know you want to go for the guest of a progressively workout and it makes your job so much easier because when you fail and it's going to happen you will understand why you're able to correct it one step at a time that's better better so now she's a full four stops in her camera underexposed and so she has the windmill right explosion where you take the flash now where do you want the flash? Where do you want it already once your main it now that you've got your exposure you don't touch a camera team or so now you're brain goes to where I want my lights um I think I would like one of from over here and maybe a slight hairline oh don't play with two flashes but I do uh yeah it's in here like so here I'm gonna hold your please when you have to always do a strong hairline telling that's going to make a huge difference okay it's on so you know that fire and I don't think I fired e I'm sorry and one hundred tech companies did not fire you didn't go and try again yeah who? Ok this one's way too bright you know I'm still zoom tio help that makes a difference but before you even do that if you know that once too bright what you could do your even exposure so go ahead and lower your flash captain safe in trying to get big change is good girl okay, go it anymore so you went to four down? Yep now we raise it up that's perfect now you understand yeah, well, the batter's getting to that we've been playing with them all day another reason why we need battery packs on the way we don't have him today you go that's better, I think. Is that that's the hairline? Not the clock that cody you're actually picking up the flash actually in the image. Ok? And so if you like it cool, which sometimes you can for the fact it's not just going to raise it up a little bit can you get it out or you end up cropping it out? If you know you're gonna crop to an eight by ten format or something out of the image now yes, your thank you that's better yeah, through the hair light see the separation? I think that same shot without a hairline I think that exact same shot without cody's like, ok, yeah, I know you see how she just kind of just kind of fades off over here there's not much. I don't know they can't go back and forth on love and see how to add so much more. Yeah, it really pulls that hair, pulls the whole body out of the back drop, so winning down just add that you said you didn't know what to do with second life there you go, always add a hairline gives her much more definition unless you're outside, like, will be tomorrow afternoon in full sun, which that sun will be that hair light. I try to always add some former rim or hair light on all our clients because it really adds a lot of detail. That's, great shots as a cool pop up a little bit of cheering up. I think I know what you're doing so much. I'm gonna move it. This is the other vantage. Cody and I works along together when I see his brain. I already pretty much know what he's thinking it's saying we're talking about exactly right. I'm on my microphone. We'll take this last off just to make it easier. Uh, I'm not going to do a most will step this time. I would start out pre close what I want. I'm gonna leave my flesh off see, but chandeliers how I like it, this shot comes around and we use this all the time when we have there's a beautiful hotel it has a beautiful blown glass chandelier in the houston area that we use a lot and it's a product kind of what you guys were talking about with your wedding you tried gto and you kind of failed she went back to what you know, every time we shot a session is this hotel we tried this shot and one way or another would come back and we study it and we'd say this this is bad this is good and then it slowly developed over the years and that's almost a train where every time we go we do this type of shot great. So the shot basically um I just start taking a couple images to get the chandelier in the background the color that I wanted it's got a nice warm glow think one more shot just to make sure I like it I'll just get a nice warm glow I like that and so now been introduced my subject so let me get you to step into slow baird good I want you to bend over bend at the waist and neck like you can blow me a kiss great, perfect and mike yeah that if I work the flash of a term of flesh on this one I'm go zero compensation we're much too great it's the way he has a lit she's a little flat but not horrible chandeliers not turn your flash onto exposed to do the two flashes. Why don't you turn that on really see a difference if I'm to move over no big deal you know you mean to turn its non plant not I don't want I wanted more dramatic look so let's do the same shot one more time and yeah good like I mean, it's, a it's, a pretty simple, easy shot like michael sand. We have, ah there's, a hotel in houston that has a very ornate handblown glass chandelier. It's it's, kind of a cooler back, dropped in this little kind of ask anyone it's not really fancy, but I don't know it's a quick, easy shot you could do and again, you just kind of exposed to your background. The background is a chandelier. I get it the color of the warmth, the texture that want, and then introduce your flashing her subject and it's neat when you do shots of this nature, because lots of times as a photographer or is the client's, they're not going to really think this would be a backdrop. And so, you know, behind, you know, I just can't see it behind you. We have some great, normal michael the chandeliers think outside the box when you're shooting, because shots like this can really end up making you a lot of money, and I want to make a lot of money like that better.