365 Challenge #234 - creating light with flash

What a day! The grand finale - the Advanced Flash Workshop with Shelton Muller and Glynn Lavender, from Creative Photo Workshops.

Despite having had a l-o-n-g week of teaching, the boys greeted us with their usual energy and enthusiasm this morning. You only need to hang round them for just a few minutes to see how much they love photography. They're passionate about it, and it's infectious.

They outlined the principals of flash photography and built on the material from the Creative Flash Workshop, which I'd attended earlier in the year. Then we were launched into action, observing as they set up shots using a simple formula using guide numbers, aperture and distance. Going forward, my challenge will be to get out there and create these setups myself  - but I now get what has to happen. Flash is no longer the scary beast it once was. It's powerful, and I want to nail how to use it in my photography.

We played with everything from simple one-flash setups to more complex setups with multiple flashes. I could see the photographic wish list growing by the second. What amazed me was how simple it was to create some pretty spectacular effects. Can't find light to pose people in? Then create it with a single flash, backdrop and coloured gels. Looking to separate someone from a dark background? Throw some rim light around them, and voila - they pop!

As with the natural light and wedding workshops earlier in the week, we were shown how to create awesome shots by posing people for the light. Our fabulous models patiently held their poses while Brisbane's paparazzi snapped around them. We laughed a lot too - so much so at some points in proceedings, that we couldn't hold our cameras steady.

My head is full of ideas I've gleaned from the last five days. I can't wait to start practicing and seeing where the next part of this photographic path takes me.

To Shelton and Glynn, a huge thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge in a funny, patient and inspiring way. You made this week awesome!

365 Challenge #233 - show me the light!

Sunday, the day of rest - not! It was time for the Creative Photo Workshops natural light/portrait workshop.

Assembling once again in the training room of Photo Continental, Shelton and Glynn taught us some awesome ways to make the most of natural light, both indoors and outdoor - posing our gorgeous model Nicole everywhere from in front of a window, in a door, in the car park and against the wall of the local library.

Location really has little to do with awesome portraits. That was rather a large a-ha! moment for me this week. I loved that they demonstrated how to pose a person to make the most of what can be Queensland's pretty horrifically glary light.

Here's a couple of shots of the lovely Nicole. And not a flash in site! You can see a few more on my Flickr photostream.

365 Challenge #232 - rockin' the studio!

Yesterday was another huge day in at Photo Continental - all indoors for the Creative Photo Workshops Studio Essentials workshop.

We arrived to find all manner of backdrops, reflectors, tents, soft boxes, umbrellas and grids set up for 6.5 intensive hours of LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!

It was also my first real road test of the Tamron SP AF90mm F/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 lens, which became my favourite portrait lens in about the first 10 minutes of shooting. It's SO crisp. Was that an a-ha moment about the benefits of prime lenses over zooms?? Methinks yes. I deliberately shot with the Tamron lens all day to see what this little baby was capable of. I was absolutely delighted with the results. You can see more of the images from the day in my Flickr Photostream.

We kicked off with a portrait of the beautiful Eve, in a simple one-light setup against a black mottled background. A soft box provided lovely soft light around Eve and gorgeous catchlights in her eyes. The second setup evolved easily from there, where we introduced a second light to highlight Eve's hair. Seems so simple! Could I replicate this if I had the gear? I think so.

We moved through various lighting situations, with Glynn and Shelton explaining the different qualities of light that soft boxes, beauty dishes and the various other bits and pieces (this is clearly a technical term) created. All the while, my credit card was haemorraging while I pondered how to create space in my very small one bedroom apartment, for a studio.

Just as we built up light, we built up scenes, where we had one person, then introduced a second - really helpful principles for virtually any kind of shoot.

There were also seamless white backdrops and tents, which gave us the opportunity to shoot photos of products. This is yet another area of interest for me in terms of where I want to take my photography, so it was great to be able to experiment with various lighting setups.

Like any of these workshops, the day was really all about light - highlights and shadows, angles and quality of light. We learnt how to soften the light to create flattering portraits of ladies, and how to harden it to carve out the features of our male model, Gavin.

It was another inspiring day of photography. It blows me away to think how many different ways there are to light a subject - natural light, available light, on and off camera flash, studio lighting etc. It makes me realise how little I know about all this stuff, but how much I want to keep learning and practicing!

365 Challenge #230 - the awesome wedding photography workshop

Yesterday, I attended the Creative Photo Workshops Wedding Workshop with Shelton Muller and Glynn Lavender! And what an awesome day it was.

The morning's theory session provided a great overview of the principles of wedding photography, what sort of skills were required (and it's A LOT! There are SO many roles that a photographer actually plays on the big day), how to build rapport with everyone during the day, and a useful discussion about lens choice.

We then trouped out to Brisbane's iconic Breakfast Creek Hotel for the practical part of the day. I'm sure the patrons weren't expecting to see a stunning bride and groom, and a gaggle of photographers learning how to take portraits in doorways!

What I loved about the day was how we were shown how to create pretty amazing images in a fairly ordinary setting. We posed Eve, the gorgeous bride, in a doorway while she was sitting on a grubby plastic chair - and yet from this pic you would never know. It reinforced to me that great portraits are not about location - it's about clearing the shot of all distractions and focusing on the light on the subject's face.

 

We were also shown how to set up poses from which you could then shoot 6-10 images - it seems obvious now, but this was certainly not something that went through my mind when I shot my first wedding a few weekends ago. I felt like I needed to re-compose and re-meter for every shot, and realistically, you don't have that sort of time a wedding. No wonder I felt flustered!

The afternoon continued on, and we were given instructions on how to pose people for the light and how to walk them into scenes once you've set them up.  In true Creative Photo Workshop form, the afternoon finished with some off camera flash work, which these guys are just passionate about. Their enthusiasm for great creative photography and the way in which they share it with aspiring photographers like moi, makes me want to get out and shootin', and practicing this stuff even more!