Big Flash in the Country 1 ~ Pictures and Technique
May 6th, 2009
Wuthering heights at Clevedon on sea. A wind swept Charlotte coped well with tide coming in and being blown about. I lit this shot with a couple of Broncolor Mobil heads.
A positive mental attitude and four delegates with a determination to have fun were what was needed for a thoroughly great day of picture making. It was my first ever Big Flash in the Country workshop and I’d lined up a selection of locations to provide us with a diverse variety of picture making opportunities.
We started the day in some secret woods where an old quarry rock face provided us with a unique and colourful background. I used a Bowens Wafer softbox on my Broncolor Mobil head as the key light. I then rigged a second Mobil head as a kick light before rigging a TTL Speedlight on a lighting stand to add a splash of light on the rocks.
From the quarry we moved onto a meadow. It is worth noting that is was dull and grey all day but the rain thankfully stayed away.
Marko gave this picture a punchy look in post production. I lit what was a flat dull scene in order to bring it alive. 2 Mobil heads did the trick.
After hand made Pizzas and Lasagna at Bottelinos for lunch we went to the bluebell woods for a handful of picture set ups.
We had to make our own sunlight all day. That was the easy bit. I explained the process of setting the exposure, the flash location, direction, and power. There is plenty of room to develop your own lighting style when using this kit. We had total control of how punchy we made the pictures.
I explained how easy it would be to leave the lights rigged in the woods and invite clients to join you for photoshoots throughout a day. We took a lot of pictures at this fab location.
These woods are one of my favourite locations. Another Lovegrove key and kick lighting technique was used here. This degree of lighting intervention is right on the threshold where shots start to look lit rather than natural. 2/3rd a stop less key light and a 1/3rd bost in exposure would be all that is needed to make this shot look sunlit.
Full on back light and a dappled key gave this spot a look of its own. Just various shades of green made up this background on the edge of the woods. A serious wollop of flash brought the picture to life.
Next it was time for afternoon tea at the Lord Nelson pub and then we were off to the beach. We had the place to ourselves, it was nearly high tide and the scene was dramatic.
Charlotte loved the relative calm being out of the wind at ground level. The waves crashing on the rocks a few feet away provided a powerful soundtrack.
This shot was lit with an on camera Speedlight, zoomed in to 85mm
With a Mobil flash head on a stand the shot takes on a much more natural appearance.
We all had great fun capturing these last pictures of the day. I kept 28 of my shots and considering they were all lit without compromise I was very pleased indeed.
Please feel free to comment on these pictures or the day itself. We have places left on 2 more dates coming up in the next few weeks. If you want to learn how to use big flash, be it Elinchrom, Bowens, ProPhoto or Broncolor, take a look at the workshop details here.
4 Comments Add your own
1. Nick | May 6th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
Wow they look amazing Damien, Charlotte is going to be well happy with those and it was a pleasure to help you with this.
Nick
2. Chris | May 6th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
you’ve done it again……new workshop, new pictures and the world sees another masterclass in creativity.
well done Damien…..inspiring.
3. jean Dawkins | May 7th, 2009 at 10:41 pm
fantastic photography it proves you can still create very stunning pictures on a dull day very good use of lights excellent location nice touch
4. damien | May 10th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
Thanks Nick, Chris and Jean.
I felt it was important not to make the sky too heavy and threatening because it can look like a horror movie or make the picture look depressing. I wanted to convey an interesting and beautiful rendition so I kept white sky highlights in post production.
Regards, Damien.
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