Lessons
Introduction to Rick's Work
14:53 2Rick's Gear Bag
27:02 3On Camera Flash Tips & Tricks
25:07 4On Camera Flash Q&A
09:13 5Off Camera Flash
42:50 6Off Camera Flash Examples
17:54 7Multiple Lights Tips & Techniques Part 1
25:43 8Multiple Lights Tips & Techniques Part 2
38:01Lesson Info
On Camera Flash Q&A
A number of different questions our way you know what? We're going to ease you into it okay? All right let's start with marion from bucharest, romania who asked you ever bounce your flash sideways on a wall if you're shooting multiple people because that tends to make the exposure uneven across the group do you ever worry about that boy bounce it off the wall with a large group? I probably am not likely to bounce it sideways in a large group for the exact reason that she said so I am if I you know, I might want to take that white wall and have it behind me and do this or, you know, go with one of these is really nice and fill it and we did it's not here but we did a group shot off all the rock n roll is at once on they turned to me and they said rick let's have a group picture and before I could respond twelve people were lined up perfectly because they know how to do this. Why? And I have two thoughts go through my mind I'm standing there with the camera with a flash bender on I have ...
two thoughts going through my mind the first thought is I wish I had more lying the second thought is don't mess this up these people are never going to be together again and we ended up lighting a group that large with this flash better? Probably this exact one. So is it your first choice? No. Can you do it? Absolutely. You can. And I literally fired three frames, and they all just walked away. There was no putting him back together. That was the moment. So all right, I have a question from misty coco who says with doing handheld photos? How do you manage to keep the subject in such clarity and sharpness? Tell him to stand still. My subjects actually can't understand still most of the time. So how do I do? Well, we're over part. If we're overpowering the ambient light, then the only time the image is being properly exposed. The subject is being exposed is when the strobe fires so the strobe is firing at roughly a ten thousandth of a second and that's raising the motion. You run into problems when you bring your shut us down to low and now your ambient light you're available. Light begins to creep into the picture. So if you think back to the president pouring beer ok in that image, there was movement there's no doubt that his camera shake in that picture, but he was only illuminated when the strobe fired that was it is about a ten thousand that was second and that's how we frozen great a follow up question from darryl s how do you focus meter dial in your camera settings recompose etcetera all in just those few seconds for that when that shot is available what is the secret seeing how long I stand still it's really a matter of one make sure that your focus boxes in the ray place analyzing your light very quickly on you know in the case of a shot like that if the windows up there quickly meter reading locking in and coming right back and after a while it just becomes a fluid motion so that tends to be how we do it so there's no magic answer on doing it I wish I had one but they don't that's great eso you're actually we were just talking about this I think you're the first full time photojournalist that we've had on creative lives so do you mind if we ask a couple questions about that are absolutely and I apologised if I'm missing anyone any instructors that we've had who were but I just photojournalist I don't think I don't know that we have self kept the faith and cayenne have questions are news shooters only able to submit unaltered j pegs or can you adjust a roth photo and with reference to no messing with pictures does everything you do come straight out of camera no exposure, adjustments sharpening or anything at all simple like that the rule tends to be if for those of us who actually member in large er's that if you could do it in the camera the enlarger than you can do it so I can you know I can adjust exposure in the cameras so if it's awful little bit I can do it okay, I cannot mess up on exposure so badly that you're properly exposed the backgrounds blown out and I want to go to another frame and clone it you absolutely cannot do that. So it's really basic adjustments you canoe lighten dark and I mean these cameras a design that they needed a little bit of sharpening um that's pretty much what we call a corrections which we could talk more about but, you know, there are a number of cases and there was one quite recently were a photojournalist for some unknown reason decided that we'll frame a is really good, but I need five percent of friend b and cloned them together. That is a career ender on we cannot do that and you know, those of us who make our living his photo journalists I mean, we need to be able to defend that photograph if an editor calls and says defend the photograph would defend the caption which fortunately never happened, but there happened to me I mean, it certainly happened to people you have to be able to do that on dh touch on this this term kind of drives me nuts off citizen photojournalist that made you have a camera you don't answer to anybody you create an image you throw it out there and people pick it up on dh there is a tv network who has done this a couple of times we won't really mention who they are you know and it becomes made up journalists for those of us who make our living as journalists we have a responsibility and you can't alter images in any way, shape or form I referenced it to the point of if there's a telephone line coming out of somebody said well, you should have moved before you made the picture because you can't take the telephone line out so there have to be truth in our so what that means said if you can't alter the photos and you're shooting on the fly like you are if you don't mind me asking what percentage of photos our successful do you have isn't nine ninety percent would not be that they're not in focus I e no having him over shooting everything so I mean I think it's a you know, a fairly high percentage I don't have a number I mean high percentage that you get high percentage that you know could make the car okay you know, depending I mean I'll go on a news story in all of editors that will say file five pictures and it's like I can't get this down to five pictures you know it's so I tend to have that fortunately this would I don't come back without the picture you know there are times that you think why didn't I well because at that moment you didn't think what you couldn't your mind was going somewhere else and you you know you were concentrating on it but I think in terms of actually succeeding and hitting the picture with we do a pretty good job of it don't we all ask that question of ourselves? Yeah a website why didn't I yeah absolutely so shutter dog notice that you are using your lens hood do you use that all the time always always was a better chance of doing that? Ok, well, there are a couple of reasons why I do it one is because it cuts down the flare on the lens and to thes leds into plastic and they will absorb shock which actually kind of brings me to something I want to show you which I hadn't really thought of but I want to actually show you something is simple is how I carry my cameras okay, so I'm gonna grab two cameras normally I'm not tethered so I hope you won't do that and I will carry this is my technique the long lens always goes on this side the wide land goes on this see if you notice the way I'm actually carrying the cameras, they hang into my body, okay? And I can go fairly quickly, as long as they're not tethered from one to the other with a little confusing with a wire that on the other reason is this protects the gear. Look, my flashes hanging in, okay, so if I start walking around with my gear like this, okay, okay, this lens and that door frame can become intimate friends as five photographers try to get through the door frame at once, which, you know, we've been known to do there'll be this horrid of people and it's like, wait, we've got to get through the door and you never to be the big guys win. So anyway, good habit to get into just heavy cameras hug your body, you'll beat them up less and with zoom lenses, you know, you wack him a few times and you know they're going to start getting out of alignment. That's a great suggestion I love I'm thinking about like, our wedding photographers who same thing you know are running like that and that's great tip.
Ratings and Reviews
a Creativelive Student
Rick is great fun and I liked this course (he had the 2'x3' too low as it was uplighting the model quite a bit). I love his personality and the way he explains what you can do with minimal gear. it is a shame, however, that he seems to have such an aversion to umbrellas. I don't think he's ever used a deep umbrella as they produce much more focused light than the regular, shallow ones. All in all, though, I liked it. Great presenter. I liked Keiko, too!
Patrick
Of all the Creative Live classes I've watched this was the most fun and the most motivating. Rick's easy, unflappable style and humour makes it easy to take in what he is saying and doing. Highly recommended.
Sean
Rick Friedman does an excellent job in this course. He is a true professional who really knows his craft. He is an entertaining and excellent presenter.
Student Work
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Lighting