When Al had suggested we consider doing a shooting challenge, one that would help us understand and improve our photography skills, it was a good opportunity to try my hand at single flash photography since the parameters we were allowed to work with for the shoot was a maximum of one camera flash.
Seeing that I had only been exposed to umbrella shooting thus far, I stuck to what I knew and did two shots, one safe shot and one a bit more adventurous.
The safe shot was a single hand choke release & punch. I like two shots I took but the one I prefer is the one below where Al leans in for the strike.
The more adventurous one was a perspective down up shot where I wanted to capture a bit of the sky.
Unfortunately darkness came pretty quick and by the time I got what I wanted, the sky was gone.
I had initially tried a reverse bounce that I saw in Zack's one light video. It was great but then I tried shoot through and the main different I noticed is given that I did want to light up a bit of the background, a reverse bounce wasn't strong enough. The shoot through allowed light to spill onto the walls giving a bit of faux ambient lighting which I needed for the shot.
Too bad the sky was gone, but I was glad the angle I was looking for was pretty decent. A wider lens would have been better for what I was trying to achieve but I got no complaints with what I got so far.
Notes:
- Bring down ISO, bring up flash power. I was shooting at iso 800 & 1,250 in that order, not a good idea, my photos could be less noisy but that's just me being picky.
- If allowed two lights, a fill from where Calvin's right foot is in the second shot would be a position to consider putting to help add in the dark areas around calvin's left thigh and Al's leg & face.
Overall a fun experience, completed both shots below 1hr 30min. I was considering to do my third one but gave it a miss.
Thanks a lot to the guys for assisting with the shoot!
9 comments:
I wouldn't recommend using a shoot through in reflective mode, that is wasting flash power but you can get by at night cos you don't need to overpower ambient light.
There is the reflective umbrella if you want to shoot in reflective mode.
Great shots and well done.
I tried the shoot through reflective mode cause it was something I saw off Zack's one light video and it produced pretty good results (link below)
I did note it was at night too but perhaps what I was trying to take wasn't effective for such a shot. For his, he was using it to shoot a full frontal like my shot of you and Al, I was using it for the perspective shot with Al and Calvin.
Think when I get to learn how to use reflective I will move on to test on that as well.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/727ho45ajcolwt2/Screenshot%202014-03-31%2000.50.44.png?m=
https://www.dropbox.com/s/58qitcej3sbgdqy/Screenshot%202014-03-31%2000.51.12.png
I am quite sure if he shot that scene in shoot through, the quality of light will be the same. My guess on why he shot it that way was due to convenience as it was easier for him to adjust the flash power. If not, he needs to keep walking behind to adjust and walk back. Also, flash power isn't a concern in his case because he was using alien bee and not speedlight.
No right or wrong here, if there is enough flash power, why not.
Ah, I see ur point. I haven't played with a shoot through fully to understand using it completely, but today was a good learning experience!
Sorry, the first shot doesn't work for me - the pose and composition just looks out of place.
On the other hand, I like the second shot a lot. It's a great perspective and Calvin's right leg works well as a leading line to his attacking arm. As for lighting, i would prefer the part of my face facing Calvin to be lighted up since that's the focus of Calvin's attention. The small patch of lighted trees in the background is also slightly distracting, maybe can remove or burn it in PP.
Thx for the feedback!
Agree with you on the pose, I keep coming back to that picture and find that there was something odd, it has all the movements but they don't fit somewhat.
Yeah I too wished I had more light to fill your face, I should have moved the light nearer to where I was shooting.
My other idea which I would have loved to try was to include more of the background wall, have the light to my right shot from down up without an umbrella, casting both shadows on the wall, maybe I'll think of something similar for the next photoshoot.
Yeah, it should help by moving the light to nearer to the camera such it is just slightly off your right shoulder. You can also shoot through the umbrella cos it allows you to bring the umbrella closer to the subjects and get a better quality of light.
Agree with Al, the second pic is stronger then the first. Technically it looks ok with both of them lit up nicely.
Great planning on the 2nd shot!
Location is good; Isolated cold industrial looking area, higher chances of finding bad guys here.
Strong side lit possibly from the headlights from a getaway car or motorcycle. Hints of more accomplices nearby, outnumbering the victim.
Great perspective! Could be from the view of a fallen victim on the ground, possibly from a previous attack. Gives Al a towering feel too, providing a sense of threat. Being closer to calvin means I will rather identify with him then with Al.
Good direction on the poses. KM do not encourage cocking back of the arm for punches, but its a good call to deviate from it in this shot to emphasise the line of action.
Calvin's fist is lit up, tho I think it can be a little stronger to match his face. Calvin's left hand and Al's fist is in the shadows, a little hard to make out the interaction there.
From a layman's point of view, it is a little hard to tell who is the attacker. We can only see half of their faces, so that kinda sets them on equal footing in trying to identify with them. We cannot really see Al's fist too, so it may feel a little like calvin is the aggressor.
U should be an art critique!
Agree, the first shot is going through the motion but missing the ompf.
I didn't think that far for the second shot sia, headlights and all. I did decide to cock back the arm for the sake of the shoot.
Now that you mention it, you're right, it looks like a fight but a bit hard to make out the aggressor.
Hope to learn more as the challenges come along!
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