It was great to see you and Charlotte in the big Apple. It was hot hot hot! Lets get together soon.

Damien.

Just wanted to drop a note on here to say that the day was a superb experience and I’m just getting around to tweaking the images now.

Just looking at the images now and re-thinking through the techniques we used.

For anyone thinking whether they should invest in one of Damien’s workshop then simply get on with it and get your technique muscles flexing.

Thanks again Damien. I think I’ve just stopped sweating!

I agree with your comments about NY.

As it happens, I am coming to one of your workshops in Bristol in September. I hope to be able to learn enough about the off camera flash techniques so that I can use this style of shooting wherever I happen to be. That could be in my own back yard (so to speak) or when I am travelling abroad.

It’s not the fact the workshop is in Bristol, which actually, is quite a distance away for me, but the techniques being taught. Having seen you in action at Focus, and read your blog for quite a while I am confident that I am going to really benefit from your tuition.

Nice to hear Alex was dedicated to come out for a second full day at short notice too, good on her.

You raise an interesting point and one I always spend time thinking about before selecting locations. The events were not tourist shoots, they were my Urban Portraits workshops that happened to have taken place in New York.

If you see my other Urban Portraits workshops from Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, Dublin, Edinburgh, Bristol, Cork and Manchester to name a few you will see no ‘landmarks’ in the pictures. All the shots are taken in locations that could be found in any of the cities where the delegates live.

My New York delegates would not be interested to shoot a model under the Brooklyn Bridge for instance as everyone already does that. And anyway it’s not my style. What I taught were universal techniques for the delegates to use in their own towns and nearby cities that might not have a Brooklyn Bridge.

The devil is in the detail. All the small elements that make up my backgrounds like water hydrants and adverts etc give clues to the locations without the locations themselves becoming the subject.

On your other point about models. I always shoot just one model on a workshop like this because adding another model increases the delegate costs considerably and after all it is a training exercise and not a commercial shoot. The delegates are encouraged and free to revisit the locations in their own time with different models to build their unique portfolios using the techniques they have learned.

I had a different model booked for day 2 but she was ill and couldn’t make it, and as Alex was my standby for the second day she stood in. Otherwise you would have been looking at more variety.

I hope this makes sense.

Damien.

Dave, I have found the TTL output bang on every time with no consistency issues. Using the Speedlights on manual is not an option if you shoot the way I shoot. I select my flash ambient balance using the lens aperture and I work very fast. I do use manual flash control with my Bron kit but I’m then shooting at 1/4 of the speed that I can with Speedlights.

You need to wait until the Speedlights are flashing at you after each frame to ensure they have fully recycled. They can be set up to deliver a reduced flash if they are not recycled fully and this may be your problem. Also make sure you are using matrix metering with the centre zone only selected.

I hope this helps. Damien.

I love these shots. I really like the mixture of gelled CTO with tungsten WB . Inspirational stuff.

When using the STE2- I know you can use ratio settings to control the key and kicklight. But if you left ithe STE2 at 1:1 could you set the flashes to manual and alter the power on the individual units.?

I was wondering if that would give more consistent expousre bewtween shots but allow the flashes to triggered with the STE2.

Oh, and thank you for the information you posted about the insurance and permit issue; very useful.

Dave

That blue using the orange gel is a bit special!!

Love these Damien.