Here is a new slideshow of the featured pictures plus all you need to know about the equipment we used during the making of the Using Flash on Location DVD now available from our main site.
Damien’s Lighting kit:
2x Broncolor Mobil 1200Ws Mk1 flash packs (The shoot could have been done with one pack and two extension leads)
2x Broncolor Mobil flash heads
1x 36″ silver umbrella
1x Broncolor Fresnel adapter
1x Broncolor Ringflash unit
1x Lowell lighting stand with a ‘lazy leg’
1x Manfrotto 050 lighting stand (Arri branded)
2x Pocket Wizard transceivers
1x Broncolor red sync lead
1x Canon 580EX ll Speedlight
1x Canon STE2 infra red transmitter
————————————–
Damien’s Camera kit:
Canon 5D mk1 camera
Canon 24mm – 70mm f/2.8 lens
Canon 70mm – 200mm f/2.8 IS lens
7DayShop.com unbranded batteries
Manfrotto 684b monopod. No longer available – replaced with a far clumsier, heavier version with unnecessary safety catches and foot plates etc.
Manfrotto 486RC2 ball head
Billingham 445 camera bag
Info:
Damien used auto white balance for all the pictures on this disc and fine tweaked the colour balance/ white point for all the frames under controlled conditions using Lightroom. It’s rare that the Canon 5D is far from close to the right color on Auto WB. No reflectors were used in the making of this DVD.
All the pictures were shot in RAW and processed in Adobe Lightroom® They were then further post produced using the extensive Lovegrove advanced action set in Adobe Photoshop®.
——————————————
The trailer for the this DVD is here.
Below is a slideshow of the pictures featured in this DVD production.
[kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.lovegroveconsulting.com/portals/0/flash/flashlightslides.swf” height=”500″ width=”500″ /]
You might like to read a review of this DVD by Peter Bargh of Ephotozine fame.
Hi Dirk,
The full address of our stockist in Singapore is:
Riceball Photography Bookstore
Funan DigitaLife Mall
#01-24, 109 North Bridge Road
Singapore 179097
Hi Dirk,
The principles of lighting for Nikon and Canon are the same. Both use the infra red technology for remote TTL control of Speedlights. If you have a pop up flash on a D200, D300 or D700 you can use the CLS system to trigger remote Speedlights. If not, you can use an SU-800 to do the same. The use of Speedlights on the DVD is very simple with just one unit being triggered remotely. My next DVDs will use both Canon and Nikon kit. I have a Nikon D700, an SU-800 and a couple of SB-800 Speedlights myself that I use for training purposes. I would say that 50% of the using flash on location DVD incorporates big flash kits. This may be less relevant depending on what equipment you have access to.
My lighting DVD’s are available from Riceball bookstore in Singapore. They do not stock the wedding ones yet but if you ask for them they will order from us :)
Damien.
Hi Damien,
I use Nikon, not Canon. Will your DVD “Using Flash on Location” be of equal interest to me as for a Canon user?
Furthermore, are your DVDs also sold in Singapore or just via your website?
Thanks & regards,
Dirk
Thank you Damien and Luke for making this available.
Best wishes,
John
Hi Damien,
Thanks for picking this up so quickly. If you send me the zip, I’ll have a crack at a pdf myself – if it’s of use to other members/DVD owners then they’d be welcome to it.
Looking forward to 22 and 23 June.
Best wishes,
John
Hi John,
I can probably put a set of small, say 250 pixel, files up on the FTP in a zip folder. People can then see the exif data themselves and make up PDF’s if they wish. I’m out shooting, teaching and writing for the next few weeks but I’ll ad it to my list of to do’s.
Regards, Damien.
Hi Damien,
I notice that a new section for the DVD Collections is WIP at – http://www.lovegroveconsulting.com/members_gallery.aspx
Would it be possible for this section to include a downloadable pdf of the final images together with their exif settings and the notes which appear on the DVDs? It would be particularly helpful if any exposure override was included and the amount of the override.
A few blank lines between each image would enable DVD viewers to add any notes of their own.
Thanks,
John
An even cheaper way is to work at locations (like farms) that have mains power and get a couple of 20mtr extension leads. If you only ever need remote power for test shoots then you can either rent a genny – c. £40 per day – or rent a full on portable kit from calumet or similair.
Having said that, you cannot beat the convenience and horse power of quality professional systems. £4k purchase with (say) 8 year life span = £500 pa. 20 high end portrait shoots pa = £25 per job…
Another point, while Im on a roll, is that you can use a mobile kit in a studio just as easily as on location but not the other way around. I only thought of this after buying 2 x bowens lighting kits.
Mike
PS, many thanks Damien for all the very useful information you are sharing on this blog.
Another way to get out on the road with your studio flash is to buy a petrol powered generator from Costco or B&Q. Get a wheel barrow at the same time to transport it around your location. I’m being serious, for under £200 you can have 2KW of mains power on location.
Damien.
A cheaper, but less convenient, way of getting mobile studio flash can be had from profilmgear.com. look under studio flash lighting – portable lighting power where they are selling Explorer XT battery generators for around £380 which will power up to a 1200 w/s monobloc head. they claim up to 2000 flashes for a 375w/s head.(the lower power one (Explorer 1200) is less use.) The unit has 2 standard 3 pin mains sockets.
I purchsed one about a year ago and although i haven’t used it that much my test gave over 300 flashes from an elinchrom 500 at full power before the ‘battery full’ indicator started to go down to ‘half power’.
The downside is that it is less portable that the Bron kit when the monobloc heads are added, but you can use all your standard system flash accessories. bowens make a ringflash adaptor to go with some of their monoblocs although elinchrom i don,t think do.
Fergus
Hi Stuart, The video’s will be shot in high definition and will be available as downloads. There may well be a ‘best of’ DVD produced at some point but the cost of replication, packaging and posting is one I’d rather not have to pass on to customers. Over 500 people have downloaded our in-house produced ‘head swap’ movie taster with only one failure to succeed. So the delivery system testing is over and when the weather warms up a bit we’ll be shooting out on location with the professional crews.
Damien.
There are not many bits of kit that when used well lift photography to another level. A 1200Ws battery powered flash kit is one such system. If you are a D3 user considering an upgrade to a D3x the resulting spend would barely see any significant change in your pictures. If you spent the same on a Broncolor Mobil kit, a few soft boxes, stands, a Fresnel adapter and a days training, your photography would be elevated to another level.
I understand the issues regarding price of high end flash kit but when you shoot for a living, the rewards of delighted and returning clients soon repay the investment. I chose to miss out on a holiday in order to buy my first big flash kit and it has repaid me with many holidays since. When investing in photographic kit I always put lenses first, then lighting kit, then cameras. After all, the camera just records the shot and my old Fuji S2’s at just 6Mp worked just fine doing that job before they wore out. That’s why I’ve avoided upgrading our Nikon D200 to a D300 and then a D700 and in doing so I’ve saved the cost of my Broncolor kit. The D200 is just as good today as the day it was made. I expect I will go for a D800 when my D200 eventually gives up the ghost. (It’s currently done just 78,000 frames). My 5D is going to be replaced with a 5D mk2 (I’m 18th on the Warehouse Express waiting list) because at the moment we have no spare camera at all.
In summary, if your business demands you innovate and shoot remarkable pictures, then the Mobil kit is a no brainer. I’ve a long way to go at developing my skills with my big flash kit and during tomorrows shoot I intend to push my boundaries way beyond my comfort zone. I’ll post the pictures in due course.
Light and it’s control is like the holy grail of photography. – Damien.
You can hire these cheap sure, however the deposit isn’t.
This is a great DVD and I am very pleased the BronColor kit was demonstrated. I learnt tons to use with the standard flash heads I have, but seeing the Bron in action pushed me more. At first I was thinking never goig to able to do this, but you can hire these kits cheap enough and I am now on the verge of actually buying one, just think of the possibilities…
Will these be released as a dvd or watchable via web tutorials you mentioned a while ago?
Hi Guys, For those of you who have yet to buy the DVD Here is a link to a new video trailer taken from the DVD of one of the shots that the Broncolor flash system was used for. And here is another. It would have been remiss of me to do a DVD on using flash on location and to have left out the pro tools.
I hear what you are saying so I’ll be shooting some all new Speedlight only productions this year with the new TTL Pocket Wizard kit and multi Speedlight set ups. I aim to shoot both Canon and Nikon versions:-)
That for me was the most dissapointing bit, when the speedlight was put in the bag and some really expensive equipment was used in it’s place :(. Bascially this meant watching and then not really being able to try it out. Don’t get me wrong it was useful to see and get my head round, but ultimately useless as I would need to add £3,193.55 Broncolor Mobil flash kit + Broncolor – Ringflash Price £1,608.85 to the price of the dvd.
Having seen this DVD I was very inspired. The information gained from the DVD is great but it is lacking in some areas on the shooting mode used. Whether shooting on Full Manual/Av/Tv/ or Program.
Ideas for locations and camera settings in general is very very good. The one drawback is not everyone can afford the Broncolor Mobil flash kit and as this is the main kit Damien uses it is a little off putting. The information gained from the settings on the Canon 580 EX II is good but the use of this was limited.
All in all this is one of the best training DVD’s on the current market and I do hope to meet Damien on a lighting course in the near future. I have only been shooting for 2 years and I know Damien has so much to learn from so I fully intend to do one of his courses.
If I were to put a label on who I thought was the best UK portrait photographer for natrual & flash lighting, I would say Damien Lovegrove as I have never seen anyone produce images like these anywhere else.
John Doran