Critique Melissa [Stranger 201] OCF

[blakester]

As some may be familiar, I recently completed what was my second round of 100 strangers. Well today, I started round 3 but this time I intend to do things a little differently than before.
Rather than more of the same, I have decided to put myself on something of a learning curve and shoot this series of portraits using off camera flash (OCF) for every portrait.

Today was something of an exploratory mission to take some OCF gear out to try and streamline the process as these portraits are all street based.

Its obviously early days and I could foresee a few obstacles.
Today I had a boom arm, a small(ish) softbox (20" square) and a yongnuo 560 flash.
The main obstacle was that I required someone to hold the OCF assembly. I am used to making these portraits in natural light enhanced by a reflector. I could manage to hold the reflector in one hand shooting with the other.
The boom arm is an entirely different prospect, which I could see that if I wished to shoot a stranger who was unaccompanied I would struggle. I feel perhaps a light weight light stand may be the way forward.

I was lucky today in that respect, Melissa was accompanied by Natalie who so kindly held the boom arm but that may not always be the case.

Onto Melissa's portrait, technical aspect was said softbox and boom arm held more or less on axis, above my head. Flash at 1/2 power manual mode on camera, ISO 100, 1/160 and f6.3.
My artistic intention was to kill the ambient and light Melissa.

Comments and critique are most welcome. Please be as candid as possible, I am here to learn.

#201 Melissa by Iain Blake, on Flickr


I noticed Melissa and in particular her fantastic hair and obvious style walking along Bishopsgate London with her friend Natalie.

As mentioned below, this round of 100 strangers I will be using off camera flash so I was keen to explain to Melissa and Natalie what would be involved. Also, I required Natalie's help in holding the boom arm with the flash. Natalie was ever so helpful, thank you!

Portrait complete, I asked Melissa what made her happy?

"Living life in general makes me happy, spending time with good friends too. Natalie and I are on our way to have lunch, well a late lunch as its 3 o'clock in the afternoon!"

Whats the best thing thats happened to you today? I asked Melissa.

"Going swimming with my little cousin this morning, its the simple things which makes me happy!"

Thank you Melissa and Natalie!

 

[Sir SR]

Hi

Brilliant start mate[emoji106]

Love that you're taking the tricky route of using OCF for this round! I loved the engagement you got from strangers in your last few rounds.

I don't know how I'd tackle this - find the location, test the lighting set up and call the person over?

I love how you've got the background on the RHS and got the glorious hair.

How close did you manage to get the soft box?

In the spirit of constructive crit, I wonder whether you could have got the soft box closer and in turn maybe dropped the power down?
Potentially stepping back and getting her higher in the frame - hard to do given the OCF and trying to get the hair in frame too. Tempted to dial down the bright areas camera left.

The above is all my humble opinion and may be well off the mark. I really like it and am picking nits!!

Can't wait to see the next lot!

 

[blakester]

Melissa by Iain Blake, on Flickr

A B&W conversion of a different pose from Melissa.
Thought I would keep it in this thread. C&C welcome as always.

 

[blakester]

Hi

Brilliant start mate[emoji106]

Love that you're taking the tricky route of using OCF for this round! I loved the engagement you got from strangers in your last few rounds.

I don't know how I'd tackle this - find the location, test the lighting set up and call the person over?

I love how you've got the background on the RHS and got the glorious hair.

How close did you manage to get the soft box?

In the spirit of constructive crit, I wonder whether you could have got the soft box closer and in turn maybe dropped the power down?
Potentially stepping back and getting her higher in the frame - hard to do given the OCF and trying to get the hair in frame too. Tempted to dial down the bright areas camera left.

The above is all my humble opinion and may be well off the mark. I really like it and am picking nits!!

Can't wait to see the next lot!

Thanks Shaheed
With regards to the set-up, as mentioned I was using a boom arm with softbox but i wasn't sure about having it pre-prepared in case it would put off any potential subjects so this was entirely 'on the fly'
I had set-up the flash onto the cold shoe and fitted the flash ring as that can be a bit fiddly. All I had to do was fit that to the end of the boom before popping up the softbox and fitting that to the ring.
Location wise, I thought this less important as I hoped to kill the ambient almost to the point of complete darkness. I bottled it a little on this aspect hence the light areas showing through in the background. I thought I'd need to use full power on the flash to light Melissa.

I don't think you are nit picking at all Shaheed, this is exactly what I need/want to hear.

Going forward on this, I can foresee that I will use a lightstand for the softbox or perhaps next time try a shoot through brolly.
Testing the lighting set up could be problematic too in respect of i work alone. If I can get near enough settings initially and when I get a bit more competent I could probably test the lighting on the subject before they get fed up and walk off haha.

Thanks again for your input Shaheed, it is most welcomed and appreciated.

 

[Bobsyeruncle]

Looking forward to these shots. Off to a great start

 

[blakester]

Looking forward to these shots. Off to a great start

Thanks Robert

 

[Iiyama]

What a wonderful idea. I also like the portrait. Well done.

 

[blakester]

What a wonderful idea. I also like the portrait. Well done.

Thank you.
I am pleased to have made a start on this my 3rd round of 100 strangers with Melissa's portrait.

 

[reheat module]

Loved viewing your earlier work, such high standards.
Looking forward to the next 99 too

 

[blakester]

Loved viewing your earlier work, such high standards.
Looking forward to the next 99 too

Thanks Paul, very kind of you to say.
I mustn't compare the earlier rounds with this round as it's an entirely different look I'm after but it'll take me some time to work it out.
Patience and practice is key I feel.

 

[cowboy]

Good start.
I think you've got the lighting just right as I feel the slightly lit background works for Melissa.

My set up for shooting people at events is an extendable boom arm with an ad360 in a 14" octobox (the godox one for the 360) and I usually shoot at 135mm.
A lot of the time I am shooting on my own and I have everything set up to go before I start.
I know it's different shooting the general public as they aren't expected to be photographed.

 

[Deleted member 41401]

Excellent start to your new project. Looking forward to seeing more in the series.

 

[blakester]

Good start.
I think you've got the lighting just right as I feel the slightly lit background works for Melissa.

My set up for shooting people at events is an extendable boom arm with an ad360 in a 14" octobox (the godox one for the 360) and I usually shoot at 135mm.
A lot of the time I am shooting on my own and I have everything set up to go before I start.
I know it's different shooting the general public as they aren't expected to be photographed.

Thanks Mark.
I take it you shoot with the camera in one hand and the boom arm in the other?

Excellent start to your new project. Looking forward to seeing more in the series.

Thank you Dec!

 

[cowboy]

Thanks Mark.
I take it you shoot with the camera in one hand and the boom arm in the other?
!

Yep, I usually lean it against my leg if its extended a bit.
With a bit of practice I can have it off to the side or above the camera depending on the look.

 

[Deleted member 21335]

And so it begins again! As you know, I loved your last two centuries so looking forward to the third. This is a good start for sure. Personally I think I prefer the style of the natural light ones but still very much look forward to watching this develop.

 

[Harlequin565]

Another interesting project Iain. Hope it goes well!

Why are you going OCF for this? Is there a reason, or is it "just because"? Just wondering if there's something you want to achieve from your images - which will give you something to aim for. When I saw the OP, I immediately thought of Bruce Gilden who shoves the hand held flash into people's faces as they're walking along getting dramatic expressions, as well as quite harsh light (he seems to hold it out to the left, on the same level as the camera). He's trying to go for some sort of dramatic-street-vibe - which I'd probably call 'rude'. This project doesn't go down that route from the single shot so far but I am curious as to how it will develop.

I guess matching the backgrounds is going to be tougher now, as most of them will be in shadow?
Subbbed!

 

[blakester]

Yep, I usually lean it against my leg if its extended a bit.
With a bit of practice I can have it off to the side or above the camera depending on the look.

Thanks Mark.
It will no doubt take a bit of time for me to fine tune how I will work this.
I may go down the route of a light stand.

And so it begins again! As you know, I loved your last two centuries so looking forward to the third. This is a good start for sure. Personally I think I prefer the style of the natural light ones but still very much look forward to watching this develop.

Thanks Gareth, I do still love the natural light look but I wish to become more of an all rounder in portraits so felt the need to try with OCF.

Another interesting project Iain. Hope it goes well!

Why are you going OCF for this? Is there a reason, or is it "just because"? Just wondering if there's something you want to achieve from your images - which will give you something to aim for. When I saw the OP, I immediately thought of Bruce Gilden who shoves the hand held flash into people's faces as they're walking along getting dramatic expressions, as well as quite harsh light (he seems to hold it out to the left, on the same level as the camera). He's trying to go for some sort of dramatic-street-vibe - which I'd probably call 'rude'. This project doesn't go down that route from the single shot so far but I am curious as to how it will develop.

I guess matching the backgrounds is going to be tougher now, as most of them will be in shadow?
Subbbed!

Thanks Ian.
As mentioned to Gareth above, I wish to learn how to use flash so it becomes second nature and for consistencies sake wanted to shoot the whole project with OCF.
I hope as time goes on the use of flash will become more subtle for me. I have put myself on something of a learning curve with this, just want to push myself out of the comfort zone of my previous 100 stranger rounds.

Yes, the backgrounds will be less important if I continue with the killing the ambient type settings. The project is organic in that sense, I will continue to mix things up hopefully with different uses of the flash.

 

[cowboy]

Thanks Mark.
It will no doubt take a bit of time for me to fine tune how I will work this.
I may go down the route of a light stand.

When I've shot models on location I've used a lightstand and so far had no problems. People tend to stop and watch a bit before going past, a few have asked what we're up to and why, a couple have asked to have their photos taken.

I don't know how you'll work it into your workflow but its all about peoples confidence and you seem to have a knack of getting that

 

[blakester]

When I've shot models on location I've used a lightstand and so far had no problems. People tend to stop and watch a bit before going past, a few have asked what we're up to and why, a couple have asked to have their photos taken.

I don't know how you'll work it into your workflow but its all about peoples confidence and you seem to have a knack of getting that

Thanks again Mark.
I can see a light stand working 'better' in that i can manoeuvre it into position quickly.
I will try a shoot through brolly next, then that can be put up and down quickly. Setting up prior to finding a suitable stranger may put some people off and I can foresee quite a lot of people giving me a body swerve if they think they're walking into a photo shoot.
At least if I try and make the equipment as unobtrusive as possible, approach the person to ask if I could make their portrait and once I have the affirmative then lay the rest on them haha.

Thanks, I must admit I do find approaching people quite easy now and am in quite a comfort zone with the project. Hence why I want to step out of that zone with OCF.

 

[sirch]

More inspirational stuff Iain, I'm sure you will iron out the wrinkles and I'm looking forward to seeing the results, I wish you all the best with it.

 

[Livin The Dream]

Really good start Iain and super idea to add a little spice to what you have been doing. I reckon one of the Manfrotto 5001 stands would do the job just fine and fold up into next to nothing to easily carry. You should be able to keep a foot on a leg if there's a little wind about. Look forward to seeing how this progresses.

 

[blakester]

More inspirational stuff Iain, I'm sure you will iron out the wrinkles and I'm looking forward to seeing the results, I wish you all the best with it.

Thanks Chris, this round will have a slow burn rate I fancy but I'm ok with that. I am not in any rush.

Really good start Iain and super idea to add a little spice to what you have been doing. I reckon one of the Manfrotto 5001 stands would do the job just fine and fold up into next to nothing to easily carry. You should be able to keep a foot on a leg if there's a little wind about. Look forward to seeing how this progresses.

Thanks Kris.
I have a couple of manfrotto stands, I think from that range. Not those model though, the ones I have fold flat and stack together but they fold to around the height of a tripod(ish). I shall sling a strap onto one of them and can carry it over my shoulder.

 

[Livin The Dream]

Thanks Chris, this round will have a slow burn rate I fancy but I'm ok with that. I am not in any rush.



Thanks Kris.
I have a couple of manfrotto stands, I think from that range. Not those model though, the ones I have fold flat and stack together but they fold to around the height of a tripod(ish). I shall sling a strap onto one of them and can carry it over my shoulder.

I'd be interested to know whether you find having OCF upon you being a little more daunting for the general public, my initial thought was that it could well put a few off?

 

[blakester]

I'd be interested to know whether you find having OCF upon you being a little more daunting for the general public, my initial thought was that it could well put a few off?

I wonder that myself Kris. Hence why I had the flash and soft box in my bag when I approached Melissa.

Only when she agreed to my making her portrait did I introduce my intention. Her friend Natalie kindly agreed to hold the boom arm.

If I had it all set up it may well have resulted in a decline. Some of my past strangers have been a little surprised when I used a reflector. The 'problem' I feel is that some people can become a little embarrassed as it can draw attention to them. The reality I feel is that certainly in London, no one bats an eyelid at something which could be a little out of the ordinary elsewhere.

These have all been a consideration in starting this project. I need to become slicker at the setting up, taking minimal time, settings dialled in good to go. I'm nearly there, just needs a little refining.

 

[G.K.Jnr.]

This is a great start to a new project Iain, with two very nice shots.

"I admire you very much for just having the bottle to attempt this project and power to your elbow my friend. If your last 100 strangers set is anything to go by then here's one that is certainly looking forward to the continuation of this project". "GREAT STUFF"

George.

 

[blakester]

This is a great start to a new project Iain, with two very nice shots.

"I admire you very much for just having the bottle to attempt this project and power to your elbow my friend. If your last 100 strangers set is anything to go by then here's one that is certainly looking forward to the continuation of this project". "GREAT STUFF"

George.

George, thank you for such kind words and comments.
The act of going up to a stranger to ask to make their portrait has become relatively easy for me.
I have my delivery down and it has worked successfully obviously over my previous rounds so I felt I had to push myself somewhat out of a comfort zone.
The delivery is still the same(ish) there's just an extra bit to it by way of introducing more equipment.

I'm enthusiastic for the coming months to be making portraits for my project.

Kind regards George!

 

[juggler]

As mentioned to Gareth above, I wish to learn how to use flash so it becomes second nature and for consistencies sake wanted to shoot the whole project with OCF.I hope as time goes on the use of flash will become more subtle for me. I have put myself on something of a learning curve with this, just want to push myself out of the comfort zone of my previous 100 stranger rounds.

I understand why you're using flash but I can't help but wonder what it's actually going to bring to the portraits that you weren't achieving with a reflector?

It'll allow you to kill the ambient, sure, but at the moment I can't quite see how that'll work over a series.
I suppose you could attempt to balance with ambient to make the subject pop and flatter the sitter, the same way you do with a reflector but with more precision.
If it were me I'd have a hard time stopping myself getting experimental and would end up playing with the light, e.g. backlight, or lighting from the side and shooting profile shots, or from directly above. All of which would be in danger of losing the engagement you manage so well.

Anyway.. I shall be very interested to see how it unfolds.

 

[blakester]

I understand why you're using flash but I can't help but wonder what it's actually going to bring to the portraits that you weren't achieving with a reflector?

It'll allow you to kill the ambient, sure, but at the moment I can't quite see how that'll work over a series.
I suppose you could attempt to balance with ambient to make the subject pop and flatter the sitter, the same way you do with a reflector but with more precision.
If it were me I'd have a hard time stopping myself getting experimental and would end up playing with the light, e.g. backlight, or lighting from the side and shooting profile shots, or from directly above. All of which would be in danger of losing the engagement you manage so well.

Anyway.. I shall be very interested to see how it unfolds.

Thanks Simon, you've given me food for thought. I hadn't intended to kill the ambient in every portrait, this is just an idea I had to start the project.

I have various light modifiers which I intend to use. Soft box, shoot through and reflective umbrellas, I also have a ring flash modifier. The Orbis one which will give another look to the portraits.

I don't really have an end result in mind, I will just see where it takes me.

Interesting point about possibly losing the engagement with the subject if experimenting with lighting styles, again food for thought.

Thanks again for your comments, most welcome and much appreciated.

 

[juggler]

Thanks Simon, you've given me food for thought. I hadn't intended to kill the ambient in every portrait, this is just an idea I had to start the project.

I have various light modifiers which I intend to use. Soft box, shoot through and reflective umbrellas, I also have a ring flash modifier. The Orbis one which will give another look to the portraits.

I don't really have an end result in mind, I will just see where it takes me.

Interesting point about possibly losing the engagement with the subject if experimenting with lighting styles, again food for thought.

Thanks again for your comments, most welcome and much appreciated.

I know I said I'd probably get experimental but that isn't exactly what I meant. Perhaps inventive might be a better word?

I don't know how much experience you have of OCF. If you're experimenting to find out how the various modifiers can be used & tweaked then I reckon you might be a lot better off working under studio conditions with a dummy or patient model.

I've found that a couple of centimetres can make sometimes a vast difference to the result, and I've spent a goodly while with some modifiers taking hundreds of shots with tiny movements from one to the next. Yet those small movements can sometimes result in large changes. It's rather hard to summarise the results but the experience all sinks in eventually. It would take an awful long time to acquire that experience working with strangers.

If you're experimenting specifically to find out how you can quickly use different modifiers with random strangers then a studio setting obviously makes no sense.

 

[juggler]

I'm going to add a bit of an aside by way of example 'cos I've just thought of it though it's not really relevant if you're continuing to make 'traditional' portraits...

If Melissa's hair was what drew you to her then lighting her in such a way as to emphasise it might have been fun. What you could do is light her from high above and slightly behind with a shoot through umbrella, but aimed so that hot spot of the umbrella passes above her head - then bounced that light back in to her face with a reflector. It'd take time to get right, it'd be easy to end up blowing the hair highlights and flare might be a problem but I doubt either would matter much.

But as I said.. that kind of thing is probably best tried first with a patient victim.

 

[blakester]

I know I said I'd probably get experimental but that isn't exactly what I meant. Perhaps inventive might be a better word?

I don't know how much experience you have of OCF. If you're experimenting to find out how the various modifiers can be used & tweaked then I reckon you might be a lot better off working under studio conditions with a dummy or patient model.

I've found that a couple of centimetres can make sometimes a vast difference to the result, and I've spent a goodly while with some modifiers taking hundreds of shots with tiny movements from one to the next. Yet those small movements can sometimes result in large changes. It's rather hard to summarise the results but the experience all sinks in eventually. It would take an awful long time to acquire that experience working with strangers.

If you're experimenting specifically to find out how you can quickly use different modifiers with random strangers then a studio setting obviously makes no sense.

I don't have much (any) experience with OCF to be honest.
This is very much putting about putting myself out of my comfort zone of shooting strangers with my reflector.
It may well end up not as 'good' as previous rounds but its an idea I've got in my head, an itch I've got to scratch so to speak. There'd be no harm in practising in a studio of course, it would certainly help but Ive sort of got the idea in my head to be shooting real time if you like. Challenge myself.

I'm going to add a bit of an aside by way of example 'cos I've just thought of it though it's not really relevant if you're continuing to make 'traditional' portraits...

If Melissa's hair was what drew you to her then lighting her in such a way as to emphasise it might have been fun. What you could do is light her from high above and slightly behind with a shoot through umbrella, but aimed so that hot spot of the umbrella passes above her head - then bounced that light back in to her face with a reflector. It'd take time to get right, it'd be easy to end up blowing the hair highlights and flare might be a problem but I doubt either would matter much.

But as I said.. that kind of thing is probably best tried first with a patient victim.

Thanks for the ideas/suggestions Simon, perhaps when i have a little more experience of OCF i shall venture further and get creative.

 

[antc]

Iain, so pleased that you are undertaking a new project and also adding a new dimension with the use of OCF. I have subscribed to watch the thread as I enjoyed the others so much! Keep up the good work.

 

[blakester]

Iain, so pleased that you are undertaking a new project and also adding a new dimension with the use of OCF. I have subscribed to watch the thread as I enjoyed the others so much! Keep up the good work.

Thanks Anthony, I couldn't help myself on starting another round, it's become a bit of an obsession haha.
I'm not sure if I will put them all in this particular thread though. I had thought that I'd put them up individually in separate threads. I wasn't intending to start another thread in the projects section as I feel people would get fed up/disinterested in yet another 100 strangers project.