Make Light Real

Neil November 21st, 2008

If you shot this image – would you find something in it?

Photo Courtesy of Shane Snyder photojournalist

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• contrast , Creativity , Curves Power , Hear the Shadows , How To: , Mind Like Water , Photoshop Retouching , Real-light Overlays , Textures , Tutorials

Neil November 12th, 2008

his post is in the Thinking Big series combined with a couple other techniques:

• Thinking Big: outside the music hall
• Lighting a HUGE space – for anything that may happen
• + Light Control: turn the sky from white to blue
• + Balancing the Sun with flash – Crosslighting

Equals how to cross light a mountain!

One of the repetitive questions I get from people are – why such a big flash – and why take it all over with you? I suppose it would be like asking someone who works online the whole time why they use a broadband internet connection (http://www.o2.co.uk/broadband/mobile/), for them the answer is pretty obvious. And it is for me too, it just makes so many more options available.

Quite frankly – this is EXACTLY why!

In my lighting case that I loaded onto the plane in Rochester New York was:

• 1 Alien Bee 800 Monoblock flash unit
• 1 Paul C. Buff Vagabond portable power unit and power cord
• 1 Black Impact Air Cusioned light stand height 230cm (model #SLS-LS8A)
• 1 Pocketwizard reciever
• Paul C Buff 11 inch parabolic reflector

Here’s one of the resulting peak moment shots that I try to reach for in my wedding photojournalism. The lighting case was loaded in the helicopter’s coffin gear carrier for the trip up the mountain and across the island. But a large mono-light wasn’t all I had in my arsenal…

Of course I want to cover the whole event with variety as well as style so get past the jump and let’s talk details…

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• Creativity , Exposure , Gear , How To: , Motivation , Photographic Flash , Photography Lighting , Tutorials