01. I lit Katie Green with a pair of Speedlights. The direction and motivation of the lighting is so very important when creating natural looking shots.
Here are a selection of my pictures from day one of this lavish two day workshop. I’ve added some lighting and style notes for good measure too.
02. Shot 01 is a portrait and this is a fashion shot. The dress is the star here.
Model: Katie Green
Make up: Sophie Page
Location: Pipewell Hall
Camera: Fujifilm X-Pro1, 18mm, 35mm and 60mm lenses
Lighting kit: Canon and Nikon Speedlights, RF 601 triggers from Ebay, Lovegrove Gemini bracket with umbrellas, Lastolite Ezybox with grid.
03. Figure in interior shots like this tell the viewer more about the location and I use these at weddings. One Speedlight was enough to make this shot look real. Balancing interior and exterior lighting levels is subjective and is driven by personal style. This shot was taken in the library at Pipewell Hall.
04. Lit with a single modified Speedlight. The balance of flash and ambient and the control of contrast is important to show the sheen in fabrics as well as the detail.
05. Lit with a single barefaced Speedlight.
06. I love mixing light sources and I showed the delegates just how far the exposure can be taken. If the exposure was held back for the highlights the shot would look flat and uninteresting.
07. Sheen, life and vitality.
08. Lit with a single barefaced Speedlight.
09. Lighting as above.
10. Using Speedlights for interior portraits opens up opportunities that can’t be realised with larger flash heads.
11. Lit with a pair of Speedlights with simple modifiers.
12. Lighting as above but I added a diffusion filter to the front of my 60mm lens.
13. Lit with a single modified Speedlight.
15. We captured the last rays of daylight for these natural light contra jour portraits.
16. By 16:30hs it was dark and on both days we switched to tungsten continuous lighting. I used a Lowel id light and an Arri 300 for this shot.
17. Lighting as above.
18. This is the classic Lovegrove Hollywood siren lighting look.
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I’ll be back at Pipewell Hall in February to recreate these and more shots for my Interior Speedlight Portraits workshop. These pictures make up the set we shot on day one of the two day workshop. The Passion Photography Experience workshops that I run are characterised by new friendships and creative fusion. We discuss life and art over dinner and generally have fun from the moment we meet to the moment we part. Our next Passion workshop is in Fuerteventura in March. We are now taking deposits to secure places in the sun.
Please feel free to comment on these pictures or your experience on this workshop.
I have taken your correction. Thank you.
Great Work Damien- really love the opening image! :)
Nice to see you at the photo vision road show today and at your best as usual. I learnt a lot from your workshop and I took some notes too. (flash set below the eye line and making the furtherest room the brightest). I really admire the quality of the speed light in your photographs. Thank you Damien, you inspire me.
Ayo
Hi Ayo,
Thanks for your kind words. Let me just correct you by saying the flash is never set below the eyeline however the camera is. ;) Stay inspired.
Best regards, Damien.
A gorgeous set Damien!
Thanks Ian :)
They are gorgeous Damien! I especially love the last set. 17 and 20 are best!!!! ;)
Hi Sona,
You love the Hollywood look. You know what that means. I hope Chloe Jasmine and I see you soon :)) Thanks for your kind words, Best regards, Damien.
What do you want me to tell you.. it’s so beautiful, and I’m sure I can’t do same things. May I say , in my taste, just the picture number 13, maybe i don’t understand why , but the lights and the shadows are so strange on the bust and on the door beside .?
I’m not saying it’s bad, just a little surpris and with no doubt I’m not an expert.
Regards,
Chris
Hi Chris,
Thank you for the compliments. I totally understand what you are saying about the lighting on number 13. It is so bad it’s good again perhaps. The shadow of Katie’s figure on the right could have been avoided by me masking off the Speedlight. The blotches are meant to be there but it’s a matter of taste. Look at how I dapple the light on the door and wall to the right of shot 16. It’s calmer there but really does add to the picture. I love subtlety in photography and there is no subtlety in shot 13. The big win in shot 13 is Katie’s look. Her eyes are so strong they would not let me leave this shot out of the set. Katie just looks fab in that shot hence it being in the set.
Stay inspired and love your photography.
Kind regards,
Damien.
Gorgeous – and the lighting’s not too shabby either.
Thanks Haddon :)
Love.Love.Love.
They are all great but I particularly love the Hollywood glamour style shots, I’m a big fan of that type of shot.
Thanks Howard,
The Holywood glamour is my favourite style too :)
Cheers, Damien.
A very fine set of images Damien.
Thank you for fantastic two days of hard work and good fun.
Thanks Konrad,
Work hard, play hard. What a session it was. So much ground to cover and radical ideas to get across. Thank you for having an open mind and a creative soul.
See you soon,
Damien :)