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Shoot: Outdoor - What Not to Do

Lesson 18 from: Speedlight Photography Basics

Mike Fulton

Shoot: Outdoor - What Not to Do

Lesson 18 from: Speedlight Photography Basics

Mike Fulton

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Lesson Info

18. Shoot: Outdoor - What Not to Do

Lesson Info

Shoot: Outdoor - What Not to Do

Let me get this going to put my power pack in if you have any questions, feel free to ask why get this going? Wait what? We go back to a radio popper on one of them. A lot of side on the other side. Alright, easy is that set when I close the flash the one thing about kanan if you just do that I have to reset everything so I need to reset it on slave anytime you reset a flash like that, make sure it works. Make sure you have a trigger. Alright, so I'm gonna start over real quick. Oh, lacey, even exposure from a flash off even exposure it's actually not bad for natural light but that's natural life I'm gonna go one stop under going to go to stops under so that's how I just my background I'm going to probably go between one and two stops as I did earlier, which I know that now, but I'm going to step you through the steps again. Actually, I like to better, so we'll see if we can get away with two once I'd like to. Then I'll put my light where I wanted to be and I'm getting down low to show...

you the sky guys or normally I wouldn't shoot this way because I got telephone poles and everything else behind me didn't even expose our little because I'm too far under exposed barely a little like this is the problem with high speed sync when I'm shooting at one eight thousands of a second remember what I talked about when we're doing the high speed see at one eight thousands of a second the first of second carton is so slow showing that light through there that I literally have to have this flash right here yo even have light on her face sorry, but there you could see a lot of it it's also makes a difference if I put it here and I zoom all the way out you'll see the flash so one eight thousands honey sorry one eight thousands of a second I have to have the flash here because back here it's not gonna have enough light so if you don't have the ability to move the flash for where it will be in the image you're on ly option as I said earlier instead of being the two stops under that I want toe on ly b the one stop under it one stop under I have plenty of light so with one little flash you can on lee do so much and this is the other big problem that I've seen photographers have when they're trying to get the background in their images with the strobe I could easily pull out that background and easily have enough light on her face but with this I can't so you have to find a happy balance or you bring in a second flash I'm trying to stay away from the second flash because I want to make sure you guys know with a little equipment you can do a lot so I wanted to I couldn't do too I'm going I did won so now I'm gonna go back down and see if I can actually do one and a quarter one of the quarter looks great so now I got where I want and I can get artistic I could do what I want I can get creative I can do whatever I want turn your face and look off that way perfect love it now what I want you to also understand by shooting down she's got great legs she's she's not short but by getting down and shooting up they've been over it your waist towards me look down yeah I love it it's gonna give you'll never notice the bending her waist and it's going to give them nice long legs so if you have a model that's got a little shorter legs by getting down and shooting up it's gonna extend her torso I mean it kind of extend her legs make her torso shorter which is actually appealing to humans if you shorten her torso and make her legs look really tiny down here to it, it doesn't look good, so don't shoot down and up extreme but you can shoot up, but if you do that, if you notice my image is a wide angle, you do not want to do this, you don't want to shoot really close up unless you have a professional model because if you do that you see up in their nose in their eyeballs and it doesn't look good, I got really buggy eyes and my eyes would be bugged out it's not a good angle, so there we go. We're five thousands of a second one five thousand second two point eight a stopping a third under and we're getting all the background of seattle you're seeing the clouds in the background, I actually could probably under expose a little bit more we'll push it a little bit more that's a little too much so I come down because I'm trying to extreme, but that is about as extreme as it gets one eight thousands of a second and we're getting lied in her eyes. We're getting anywhere from two point eight f twenty two in the background and anything else we want to do that some questions, okay? Um I'm mike mike um hey, so we're getting a lot of questions about how you would modify this set up for formals and group shots do you need to add more speed lights can you do it with a couple for four five six people how far can you go that is probably the most ultimate question I always get um again the bigger the light source the easier it is when it comes to that I've shot bare bulb in a church not outside twenty to twenty five people with a couple flashes before I don't like to do that though that's not that's not the proper equipment in my mind to do that shot however it is what it is and you have to do it especially the wedding situation as I said earlier you wanted I have them in this case not so high up but ah higher than them and try to shoot down on them so the angle the light will go behind them never cross the streams like the ghostbuster statement and it works well but I still try to put those little lumet quicks um soft boxes on there and it will spread out the light outside you're never going to do it like in this lighting with two lights you just you just can't do it um and I think that's a problem that a lot of people have they want they bite off more than they can chew they only have a couple flashes and they get in a family portrait and you know, they think maybe it's four people, but then the extended family comes and they got a photograph. The mom, the dad, the grand parents and and the mom and this one family, kids and the brothers kids. And it turns into a twenty man our family session. And you're just not gonna do it with this. So if that's the case exactly kind of what I've been trying to explain here, you would have to raise your exposure, almost shoot natural light on them, and then just use these flashes. Just give a little live in the rise to take the to take the raccoon eyes out would be my suggestion if you try to underexposed and get the sky it's just not gonna happen. Great. So, here in seattle, you know, we got our ultimate our own soft box. We get all sorts of natural idea. We exposed for that. And really, I could bring in those flashes for some nice I light some nice reflections, that kind of thing absolutely great also bringing reflectors, which you hadn't even talked about in this class because this speed light. But I actually can use reflectors, and I lay him on the ground in front, I actually optically set the flash to hit the reflector. Toe actually act like a big giant reflection. Soft box which will kick the light up. Similar what we were talking about with the butterfly lining, but I'm gonna have a reflector on both sides instead of one little flash hitting my client, I can bounce into the reflector and come back and it will spread it over the front. All all the family. Great. Great. Thank you. Like one of the questions from our chat rooms here. Cannon girl mike asked, can you get high speed sync with six hundred and the s t e three rt in a v mode? Or do you need a flash on the camera? No, jess, you can. You do not need flash that c d mote in the wireless, because that is the sea three and the two that I have but the the threes made for the six hundred it's the new next generation it is a flash on the camera, according incense for wireless it's seeing that signal that it needs so it does do what you need to do. And, yes, you can get the high speed sync with six hundred. You cannot get the high speed think there is some work arounds, but generally you won't get the high speed sync with the p three and the older flashes of canada. And the way it works there again, they're forcing you to move up into the next generation. But if you have a six hundred and sixty three, you just put the sd three on your flat on your camera body and the six hundred off and you'll get complete control up and down power, high speed sink, anything you want? Fantastic. Thank you. Okay, so when you're shooting seniors your own business, you're going out. You're going on a day like today, you can only schedule during this time of day. Maybe that doesn't have doesn't have it right now. What's your time with that situation what's your time a day, I like either in the morning and afternoon if we have to shoot in the afternoon, I'm not going to be on the roof like this. I know with our limitations and I get it that's what we are, but I would actually walk this this downtown area where we have businesses and overhangs and I'm gonna hide from the light. I'm gonna use that overhang and the seam it the concrete down below toe bounce that light up and act like a reflector, giving me that soft light and then all the stuff that we talked about with the flashes I'm gonna put in controlled the life a hair light feel like main light whatever the light's giving me from the sun I'm gonna use the artificial to incorporate to make the image so I'm still going to use that are the real light sunlight I'm just not going to use it direct and hard right? And there you're going to incorporate your speed lights as well no, no, absolutely yeah, and what's your magic number. How many will you bring on a shoot? One two? Yes, your your speed lights on a senior surely like three one of my camera and two off. So I like to have three flashes with me most of time I'm only going to use to flashes one off camera went on camera and I'll have my actual um the sun is the third is the second light in a sense because I can also turn as we talked about it with some of the students if I'm shooting macy and it's on ly this light and I had the sunlight that's two lights but then I can turn this flash onto exposes well and the distance the subject because this is farther away this will be my feel like automatically, so that would be a three lights set up if I choose it to be okay so you sometimes do use that as a straight on a little bit for you in horrible situations like this where it's the worst of worst light conditions yes idea but generally otherwise because the light is so soft I confess the light just with the natural sunlight or with one light around their face and I using like maybe a half or a third power on that front light or you adjusting they're all the same power they all the same power yeah and that that's the beauty of itself I'm if if my cameras here at the flash where that is and I'm photographing her this is gonna be the brightest light because it's the closest this is gonna be feel like cause it's the farthest away so but again I make this light happy I'll make sure I meet her this like correctly right to fall on her and then this one just feels it all right that way there's no mathematics involved it's all the distance the subject it's much much easier to get something done great want one more yeah all right I know it's tough I'm just kind of really showing how we actually can control the light and photographing this son but if you can get the image from natural light you don't see any background where you can lower it see the background of student live in their eyes again this isn't gonna be an award winning image but you're gonna make money yeah okay so one of our regulars and new dubai, um wanted to know if you were had this set up and you wanted to create a spectacularly dramatic shot, how would you go about how would that work flow look like? It'll be easy instead of the problem is you would under exposed as much as possible, right? Because the more you take away than ambient light, the more flash you're going to see, you would need more than one speed. Light is your main light. I would have to attach my light side by side, okay? Because I'm gonna take out so much light that these little guys, which is the problem I've been having, I can't see any light coming from them. So what? Underexposed three, four, five stops and then I would put the light beside her two or three to expose their properly. So even on a sunny day like this, which is what we're gonna lead into in the next segment, I can take away all this ambient light or any ambient light inside make it his dark, making his light making as romantic as I want to and then pin place my light's exactly where I wanted to be, and it would be extremely dramatic.

Class Materials

bonus material with purchase

TriCoasts Wireless Flash Challenges
Speedlight Basics 1
Speedlight Basics 2
Fill-in Canon Speedlight Diagram
Fill-In Nikon Speedlight Diagram
Syllabus and Resources

Ratings and Reviews

cmc
 

Someone should tell this nice guy, Mike that he should restrain his comments and do his homework and structure the course and sticks to it. Of 100s of pictures he took not even one was inspiring or great shot. Yes, he did say that "I am not going to make good image", why not I ask? I do believe he is not only a nice individual but knows the tech side, not sure if he can make artistic images.

Barbara 756d43
 

I am in the midst of watching this class through the videos I purchased and am very impressed by how in depth the information is. VERY happy with this purchase. I like Mike’s ability to make concepts easy to understand and also that he shows you by example what he means. As a direct result of watching this class, while visiting family yesterday I found myself looking at my grandson’s face as light was shining on him through a window and thinking to myself, “Oh, that is short lighting and when he turns his face it becomes broad lighting.” Thanks, Mike. Can’t wait to see what other gems of understanding I have in store for me in the rest of the class videos.

user-457531
 

Excellent course, especially when I learnt something within the first 5 mins of watching it. I have found Creative Live courses to be very thorough in detail and equally practical in application. 10 out of 10 Creative Live support has also been 💯 % helpful Thanks guys..

Student Work

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