JRN 420: Location Lighting with Remote Strobes

Subject one: Nick Cash


This is the lighting set up for Nick Cash's portrait shoot. This photograph was taken on the recreational basketball court at Northwest Apartments, Central Michigan University, Mt.Pleasant, MI.  Lighting Nick's right side is a gold reflector umbrella and a Nikon SB-900 taped to a light stand because there were no stands with flash mounts adapters.  Lighting Nick's left is an Nikon SB-800 with a hand made snoot. I love the way this is lit and the expression on his face. The one thing that is disappointing is that he dropped below the snoot's light and does not have a successful rim light for better separation from the background. Because I had no mounts for the flashes and they were taped to the stands tilting them downwards wasn't happening successfully.

camera: Pentax K10D

Focal length: 55 mm

ISO: 400

aperture: f8

shutter speed: 1/180

Nick Cash loves basketball. While attending Fenton High School, in Fenton, Michigan, Nick played point guard. During his junior year he set the school record for most points scored in a season, then beat that record his senior year. His record still stands.  Although offered scholarships to play at three other colleges, Nick wanted to attend Central Michigan. He hopes to have the opportunity to play for CMU in the future. An interesting side note: In the more than two hours I had Nick shooting, he never missed a shot AND he had such good control of the ball that neither he or the ball ever hit the lighting equipment.

Below is the lighting for Nick's photograph.

Subject two: Harry Dent

The lighting for Harry's shot was a real challenge. The beautiful clean trucks reflect the mirror image of the lighting equipment. The wind was not good and even with weights and wood blocks from the back of the rescue truck the umbrella stand didn't last very long. Fortunately, a class mate let me borrow one of their stands so I could get the lights a little higher. Unfortunately there was no one around to help hold the lights up really high.

When one of the transmitters stopped working I attempted to use the slave. It didn't want to work if it couldn't see the flash. When I finally remembered that the flash heads would turn all the way around so that the slave could still see the flash with the transceiver I was able to do a little more with the flashes. The lighting for this is a flash slightly behind him to his left side, angled up at the wall creating a huge soft box out of the wall. The second flash is bouncing its light off the hug garage doors to his front and slightly to his right.

Camera: Pentax K10D
focal length: 50 mm
ISO 800
aperture: f5.6
shutter speed: 1/180


Harry Dent is a volunteer fireman and first responder for the Barryton/ Fork Township Fire Department. He also plays the role of Sparky in parades and for educational fire safety programs. Before he retired from General Motors, Harry was a volunteer fireman in Lansing, Michigan. He has been a volunteer fireman since he was old enough to be accepted, following in the footsteps of three of his uncles. Both of Harry's sons are also volunteer firemen in the Lansing, Michigan area as is his twenty year old granddaughter.

Below is the lighting for Harry's photograph.

 

The following images are some of my other favorites from the shoot, the out-takes.

This picture was done with a single flash with a snoot. The other flash was taking a break to cool down.

This pictures was lit with a single flash with a snoot this time held and pointed by a helper. Again the other flash was cooling down.

This picture was lit with a flash with a snoot  to his front right side and  the flash with the umbrella to his right side side.

This picture was lit to his back left with a snoot over a flash and to his front right with a flash with a silver umbrella reflector.

This picture and the one below it were lit the same way as the one I selected for this assignment. One flash is off to his left bouncing light off the wall turning it into a huge soft box.  The other flash is to his front slightly  to his left and bouncing the light off the huge garage door.

This picture was taken with a flash aimed at a white diffuser/reflector umbrella to his right. The other flash was suppose to be bouncing off the ceiling but did not trigger.

For this picture the light is being reflected off the wall to his front left and bounced off the ceiling to his front right. 

This picture was lit by my holding a white board to reflect the light of the flash and act as a gobo between the flash and my camera. There is also a flash with a snoot pointing down on him from above to his left.

This picture was lit with a white umbrella diffuser/reflector to his left and a flash aimed at a white board propped up on a chair to his front left.