Strobist Crosslighting

ben g

ben g

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Hello all, this is the first time I have posted anything in this section, and doing portraits is pretty new for me, so any hints or tips would be very welcome.
I have been following the lighting 102 course on the strobist blogsite, and this weeks assignment is to practice crosslighting (ie to balance an off camera strobe with the sun behind and to one side of the subject).
My wife and daughter (also known as light stands 1 & 2!) were kind enough to pose whilst out at the beach the other day.
1.
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2. Attitude!:)
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3.
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4.
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5.
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Thanks for looking, ben:)
 
Very nicely done Ben. I've been doing this myself recently, makes for some really dramatic images.
Have you been diffusing your flashes as I'd recommend softening your lighting just a tad (or using another lower powered off shoe flash to work into the sunlight & counter the shadows a bit) - just my opinion though (y)
Excellent images though, very nicely done. Looking forward to more (y)
 
cjlawton said:
I love No.1 it could easily be from a magazine

Chris
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Thanks Chris:)

moomike said:
Have you been diffusing your flashes as I'd recommend softening your lighting just a tad (or using another lower powered off shoe flash to work into the sunlight & counter the shadows a bit)
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Thanks Mike. I did try to soften it a bit using the wide angle diffuser on the sb800. Ideally it probably would have been better to use an umbrella or something but I didn't want to take too much gear out with me (must admit i would feel a bit self conscious setting up gear like that in public!). I would love to be able to experiment with more than one flash but only have the one at the moment (i guess it would have to be at quite a low power so as not to make the image flat.)

Keltic Ice Man said:
excellent pics Ben.

Do you mind explaining how you set the pics up? 1 light source, 2? where positioned.

PS - my dumb question - What is a strobe? Does it mean a flash?
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Thanks Keltic Ice Man. Strobe=Flash (sorry been reading too many american websites!)

I used a single sb800 held at about 45degrees to camera right. sun is behind and to the left. the flash was fired using some cheap radio triggers i got off ebay. I set the camera to manual and adjusted the exposure to suit the sky/backgroud. Then fired the flash on manual and adjusted the output power to try and get the balance i wanted. There's loads of useful info on the strobist blogsite,highly recommend it.

ben:)
 
Preety spectacular results from that technique. Well done! (y) For me, #1 has the edge
 
They are all very impressive mate (y)
 
That first shot is very impressive, youve nailed the lighting with that one... Composition, pose and everything seem natural and great.

2nd and 4th seem a bit OTT with the lighting, the hair covering the ladies face in the 3rd and 5th somehow make the image appear a little soft...
 
Got to be #1 If I'd seen this in a tourist information leaflet it would definitely catch my attention.

Liking the b+w one too.
 
#1 for me also, thanks for the link to the tutorial as well, it's just going to increase my wish-list however!


(y) x 2
 
I've been studying the blog ben g and I think these are excellent and so glad you posted. The lighting seems very good on all to me, even though the hair in your daughter's face makes it hard to judge. There are no seriously blown out areas, just a couple of harsh spots on #4. I have been wondering about the cheap transmitters, think I might give them a go as the price of Pocket Wizards is pretty steep. I have also been reading about 1 light workshops by this guy
http://www.onelightworkshop.com/OneLight/Welcome.html, shame I live in Italy lol.
 
Cobra said:
Preety spectacular results from that technique. Well done! (y) For me, #1 has the edge
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Thanks, its a great technique to try:)

macker said:
They are all very impressive mate
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thanks(y)

DreederUK said:
That first shot is very impressive, youve nailed the lighting with that one... Composition, pose and everything seem natural and great.

2nd and 4th seem a bit OTT with the lighting, the hair covering the ladies face in the 3rd and 5th somehow make the image appear a little soft...
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Thanks Dreeder, number1 is my favourite too:). Number 2&4 aren't as subtle, just experimenting with different looks i could get. Unfortunately there was quite a strong wind so the hair couldn't be controlled! They are a bit soft, i think i will try some more using my 70-300 rather than the kit lens to get better quality.

richmond said:
Got to be #1 If I'd seen this in a tourist information leaflet it would definitely catch my attention.

Liking the b+w one too.
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thanks:)

zeroeseight said:
No. 1 as well (y) Makes we wanna try my strobist gear I acquired some weeks back :)
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get out there and try it, i really enjoyed using this technique(y)

Susane said:
Looks like we'll be wanting hints and tips from you Ben!

Very well done, I like them all.
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Thanks Susanne :)

scampiuk said:
#1 for me also, thanks for the link to the tutorial as well, it's just going to increase my wish-list however!
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any cheap flash that you can ideally use on manual and some cheap radio triggers would get you going(y)
 
Roger said:
I've been studying the blog ben g and I think these are excellent and so glad you posted. The lighting seems very good on all to me, even though the hair in your daughter's face makes it hard to judge. There are no seriously blown out areas, just a couple of harsh spots on #4. I have been wondering about the cheap transmitters, think I might give them a go as the price of Pocket Wizards is pretty steep. I have also been reading about 1 light workshops by this guy
http://www.onelightworkshop.com/OneLight/Welcome.html, shame I live in Italy lol.
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Hello Roger, thanks for the link, some excellent shots on that site(y) i got my remote triggers from here
 
ben g said:
Hello Roger, thanks for the link, some excellent shots on that site(y) i got my remote triggers from here
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Wow, they're pretty affordable - are they any good? I've read through Strobist a few times but always been put off by the price of the pocket wizards. but for less than £20 I'd give it a go.
 
I have used these cheap slaves for a few months now and find them pretty reliable. PWs obviously are more industrial standard and are on my list of wants but for cheapness, portability, etc the ebay slaves are hard to beat!

Nice shots BTW Ben. (y)
 
very well done. lighting in all is great but you really did nail it in no. 1 (y)
 
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