From Last Week's Portrait Shoot
I took this shot last week of Debbie (our seminar tour team leader), and her adorable daughter Jenna. It was taken in the living room of their home, using a combination of natural northern night (coming through a front window), one softbox, and one reflector. The background behind them looks like a backdrop, but it's actually the lid of their baby grand piano, and the flowers were on an end table next to the chair they were sitting on. Here are the details behind the shot:
I metered the natual ambient light in the room (using a Sekonic L-358 Flash Meter), but it was fairly dark inside the house, so I added a Photogenic Studio Strobe, with a pretty large Chimera 3'x4'softbox (with the internal diffusion panel attached inside to soften the light even more), mounted on a Bogen/Monfrotto light stand. I to pick up some what little Ambient light there was, so in Manual mode I chose a shutter speed of 1/15 of a second. I also powered down the intensity of the strobe so it didn't overpower the natural light already in the room.
I moved the softbox as close to the subject's as I could without letting it be seen in the frame (the closer you get that softbox, the softer and more wrapping the light will be). I used a PocketWizard II Plus to wireless trigger the strobe.
I then positioned a silver reflector on the other side to fill in the shadows on the opposite side of their faces. Once again, I positioned this reflector as close to them as possible without seeing it in the frame (I normally use the gold side of the reflector to add warmth, but Debbie has such tan skin that I was afraid I would make her skin look too dark). The ISO was set at 200, and I set the Aperture at f/11 because I needed enough depth of field to make certain they would both be in focus, even though they were posing one behind the other. The photo was taken with a Nikon D200, using a Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 VR lens, set at 90mm.
posted by Scott Kelby at 10:25 AM
8 Comments:
Scott,
I think I'm on pretty safe ground in making these conclusions:
1. You do beautiful work.
2. You have more equipment than anyone has a right to.
3. You love the Nikon 70-200mm lens.
Is it possible to use a SB800 instead of the strobe? What would you recommend to a budget conscious photographer (non pro) interested in a basic portrait setup?
Hi William:
Thanks for your very kind comments. I was lucky enough to have my wife get ahold of my B&H Photo Wishlist this Christmas, and she bought me that Strobe, the Chimera Softbox, plus one of the two Pocket Wizards I needed to fire the Strobe (one on camera, one attached to the Strobe itself--my best friend bought me the 2nd Pocket Wizard), and the Sekonic light meter.
The Chimera Softbox runs about $285. The Bogen/Monfrotto 3361 light stand was around $49.95, and the Photogenic studio strobe was $587. I used a second 3361 lightstand ($49.95) for the reflector, but with a Bogen Justin Clamp on top to hold the reflector ($49.95). The reflector was only $39.95.
The two Pocket Wizard IIs, where around $180 each, and the Sekonic Light meter was $259. All together that's $1,681. Not bad for all that nice gear (and right around what just my 70-200mm Nikon VR f/2.8 cost alone.
That lens cost a ton, but I love it, and I use it more than all my other lenses combined.
Again, thanks for your comments (and thanks to my wife for buying me all that cool stuff. She rocks!).
-Scott
Hi Anonymous:
Can you use an SB800 instead of the strobe? Absolutely!!! In fact, I almost used my SB-800 instead, but I would have to diffuse it quite a bit (using the dome diffuser the SB-800 comes with, and then I would shoot it through a Lastolite 33" 1-stop Tri-grip diffuser, which are only $59.50 from B&H, but you'll really need a lightstand and a Justin clamp to hold it, and I'd be another lightstand and Justin clamp to hold the wireless SB-800). Lastly, you'll need a reflector for sure, and a stand to hold that as well--so in all you'll need: three stands, three clamps, one diffuser and one reflector.
So, you're talking around $400 for the whole ball of wax, which is less than 1/4 of the price of the on location studio set-up I mentioned earlier. Plus, it takes up virutally no space, whereas the Chimera softbox is fairly big.
Hope that helps. :)
-Scott
Scott,
How do you get such beautiful images for the web? What is your conversion technique from PSD to JPEG?
Beautiful images.
I saw your demo at MacWorld using the wireless SB800 and tried it myself with some product shots. The images came out really nice. Although I noticed with the D70 the camera flash was still firing at a pretty good intensity, so I diffused it with a white cloth.
Thanks for your wonderful style.
I've learned a ton from your videos and books over the years.
Scot
You have to do a small book that makes the flash thing more accessible. I have much of the same hardware you have - but the flash thing is a great mystery. "We" need some guidance on flash set ups, use of diffusers and reflectors - and why.
How and when to choose between an SB800 and a Strobe - and why! Not too complex. Just like the Digital Photo book - this is how I did it.
I'll take three copies please.
I agree with the anonymous person.
I am always on the lookout for detailed explanations of lighting situations.
One thing I don't find often enough is why was a piece of equipment used. It's easy to say i used this equipment. But why did you use it?
Good shots and thanks for the explanation of how you took them.
Hello Scott,
when comes "The Digital Lightning Book" out?
The second I'm waiting for is the "Design with Type" book. What's in the masters pipeline yet? Please give us all a tiny tip and thanks for all you're doing.
Take care!
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