On location lighting is often an exercise in letting the room do most of the work, light-wise.  Speedlites (off-camera flash) are particularly well-suited for location work; they are light, portable, and are self-contained.  Many speedlites can be controlled from the camera, via a transmitter – meaning that we do not have to climb up a ladder to adjust power levels on each flash.

Recently, I brought a group of photographers on location as part of my five-week lighting workshop.   For this class, three models showed up to have fun with us as we explored lighting at a great local restaurant: Pizzaza  We were on the 2nd floor and had it mostly to ourselves.  The few patrons that were upstairs actually knew one of the photographers in our group, and that added to the fun.

The magic in this type of lighting scenario is blending the speedlite with the room’s ambient lighting conditions.  Flash and continuous light sources operate in two separate realities.  The flash is in fact not affected by shutter speed, allowing it to be controlled independently from ambient sources.   We can dial in as much, or as little, room light (or flash) into a scene as wished for.  Magic.

We began by creating a Base Exposure.  This is a series of over and under-exposures that reveal the room’s character.  Once the base exposure is established, the key light is turned on (a Yongnuo 560III in this case).  The quality of the key light is adjusted: its shape, strength, and color balance.  The room’s ambient was a mix of tungsten lights at 3200k and incandescent lights at 2800k.  To lower the flash’s color temperature from daylight (5500k) to the room’s warm tones, a Full CTO + 1/4 CTO  gels were placed on the flash.  All of the lights present in the scene were now speaking the same language…

What a great group – Terry, Jeremiah, Len, Jeffrey, David, Karen, Louise, Christian, Stephan, Stewart…  & Sarah and Philippe – Thanks to all!

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SPAO is a small Photographic Art School in the country’s Capitol that wins lots of great awards (more than other emerging talent entries in North America last year).   Hard working & very talented students, along with dedicated instructors – like Photographer, John Hewitt Hallum, make the  SPAO experience very special.

John, like other accomplished artists, has an easy-to-be-with attitude, and great wit.   He was game to sit in as subject for a Focused-Key Lighting class that I gave during the winter session.  Photographers shooting photographers can sometimes be a little double-edged.  As subjects, they simply Know.  John came to us with his characteristic gentle & open presence – keenly aware, yet casual.  Very easy & fun-to-be-with.

Focused-Key Lighting is all about taming a thoroughbred.  The key light is a very hard focusing spot light that can be quite theatrical – left on its own.  My approach, is to blend enough room/fill light into the total exposure to allow the key light to do its sculpting & detailing work in a more subdued fashion.

There were two light sources blended (3 flash heads total):

1- main light: was a twin lens, variable focusing zoom spot light, with built-in iris & contour blades to shape the light (powered by a Speedotron pack)

2- room fill: was handled by 2 flash heads (w/standard reflectors), positioned to either side of the set, and aimed at the studio ceiling (powered by a separate Speedotron pack)

In the examples below, the 1st image is the room lit rather flatly, using two flash heads aimed at the ceiling.  The 2nd & 3rd images demonstrate the cutting power of the zoom spot.  In the last 2 images (as well as the main image up top), the power to the key spot has been turned down considerably, resulting in a smoother transition between the two blended sources.  The spot retains its specular, carving qualities, and yet, the final mood is more subtle.

Thanks to John and the SPAO crew!

Oh, as pensive or as forlorn as he may appear in the top photo – John is, in fact…laughing

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I am resting on the floor in Lynne’s farmhouse, the two thick yoga mats below me are very comfy.  She is about to begin a Feldenkrais™ class.  One of the other participants asks about her horse sculpture – that was just brought back from being exhibited: “Well, it started out as a deer.  The tomato wire I used to construct the frame for the body was conical, and the shape led me towards a horse’s head.”

At about 12 feet high, this horse is imposing, confident, and simply stunning.  Lynne loves animals.  A Tellington TTouch™ practitioner, she has had as many as 85 sled dogs, many cattle, donkeys, and… horses.  She likes people too.

She created the sculpture for the International Textile Arts Triennial, held at Moon Rain Centre
www.moonrain.ca in the rolling hills near Paltimore, Québec – about an hour from Ottawa.

24 artists braved the summer heat to camp out, create and expose their work.  Lynne used green baler twine for the horse’s coat.  More of her work can be viewed at: www.lynnebedbrook.com

TECHNICAL INFO:  Lighting was a single 4 foot Octabank with an eggcrate grid.  The bank was aimed high to get Lynne & her horse and also to avoid any spill in front of both subjects.  Twin Canon 600EX-RT Speedlites were triggered by a Canon ST-E3-RT Transmitter.  Canon 5D MKII and a 35mm ƒ1.4 lens.  The flashes were set at ƒ5.6 and shutter speeds varied as sunlight faded – as low as 1/15th sec.  No flags nor fill for these images.

For examples of my work: www.adrienduey.com

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