Boulder Strobist

One Light Location Fashion Photo Shoot

2008-05-24T15:09:00.003-06:00

The day after Bobby and I did the business portraits, we headed to the mountains to do some fashion photos. Bobby was nice enough to hold my Photoflex softbox on a stick for my shots. I got Denver model Arianna to pose for me on what was a pretty windy day. The main challenge for this shoot was getting the strobe close enough to light the model, 1 strobe in the softbox was a bit weak as I was underexposing the sky. And this was while placing the model in the shade. I'm going to figure out a way how to stick 2 strobes in the softbox to gain another stop of light.

I have more pictures from this shoot posted on my other blog . . . check them out HERE.

Kids On Trampoline Using DIY Beauty Dish... BT

2008-05-24T08:16:00.009-06:00

Update...

I've added two more photos using the studio soft box for comparison... one at dusk, one full dark. The box was at the edge of the trampoline right next to me camera right at head level pointed up just slightly. BT

Steve Z & I made a couple of the DIY Beauty Dishes that are on the Strobist Blog. This is my first shoot with mine.

Nikon D200.
Sigma Wide Angle Lens.
SB-800 Camera Left in DIY Beauty Dish. (took my soft box as well for comparison)
Shot during the Magic Hour and after dark.
Strobe 1/1 power.
On camera flash set to Commander mode at 1/128th power. (essentially no light from on camera flash)

The Set Up...

Shot after dark... This is a comparison shot using the soft box close range camera right.
Hard for kids to take turns on a trampoline...

Environmental Business Portrait with Wrap Around Lighting

2008-05-22T22:35:00.005-06:00

These shots were the product of several different things that came together at the same time. The first was a nice cloudy morning. I've been watching Strobist posts about overpowering daylight to make moody and dramatic clouds for a while. Unfortunately clouds here in Colorado aren't too predictable, so it can be tough to get the timing right and finding a model in time. This particular model is Bobby Turner, who should be posting some stuff on this site eventually. The second inspiration was another Strobist post about Jill Greenberg's lighting setup s. I like her full wrap lighting style. The third factor was another Strobist post about the Ray Flash Ring Flash. I'm a hopeless gear addict, and when I saw the post, I had to buy one. This shoot was my first one that I used the ringflash. I will post a specific review of the flash later on. The fourth and final factor is that I want to make actual money shooting photography, and guys in suits tend to have more of it than me, so I'm working on manifesting here!

I've included the setup shot below. I used 3 Nikon SB-26's and 1 Canon 580EX on full power triggered with Pocket Wizards. I used my Photoflex Xsmall softbox for the main light about 45 degrees camera right at full power. I used a ball bungee to tie it to the gate so that it didn't blow over from the ever present Colorado spring wind. Fortunately Bobby's pomade kept his hair permanently slicked back in place. Later in the day I ironically read an article in The Onion about Guys with Slicked-Back Hair. The rear 2 lights provided the rim and accent lights on both sides of the dark suit. Finally, the Ring Flash provided the overall fill on the front. The light loses about a stop of light, so it doesn't really have the power to be a main light in this situation. With all this light I was able to underexpose the landscape so I could get nice puffy clouds and a deep blue sky. OK that's all for now, check back soon for the next day's model shoot at Red Rocks! I've posted the full set of photos to check out HERE.

Back to the Alley...

2008-05-18T23:44:00.007-06:00

So, back to the alley. My main goal for the night was to practice the Strobe on a Rope technique I recently read about on the Strobist Blog. I used my Nikon off-camera TTL chord mounted on a mono-pod, with a Stoffen diffuser on my SB-800 to capture these first few frames of Steve Gaudin.

Then Steve Z proposed some jumping, we scattered a few strobes and pocket wizards about and here is I came up with.

Air Z!

Here is a shot taken by Celin Serbo that shows me shooting and somewhat illustrates we concocted this crazy-alley-strobism. ~John

Cool Wedding Oriented Off Camera Flash Photography Blog

2008-05-14T09:38:00.001-06:00

I've checked out Flash Flavor before and was impressed. Shooting off camera flash at a fast paced event like a wedding can be very challenging. There is a lot of gear and setup required to get some of the magical shots that one often sees. It's like trying to create dozens of studio perfect shots in the timeline of one evening, on the fly.

Flash Flavor has a lot of technical tips, lighting setups, and inspiring photography. There is also stuff of interest for non-wedding photographers as well. Here is an example of a great 'how-to' shot that could be applied to many dramatic portrait scenarios.

Boulder Strobists Meetup Photos: That Alley Behind Trilogy

2008-05-11T00:11:00.015-06:00

View all images from Steve's Strobist Meetup 1 HERE.

This was my first Boulder Strobist Meetup. Can I call it a Meetup if we don't organize on Meetup.com? Anyway, we wandered around downtown looking for a place to set up and shoot. We decided on a small alley off the side of the alley behind the Trilogy Wine Bar on 13th St. This is a picture of the end of the alley.

So I quickly became obsessed with this pair of socks that was somehow shellac-ed to the wall. This shot is using a single SB-26 with a red gel, shot from above. I'm shooting up on the wall, and you can see where the gelled light ends up high on the one.

Here I added a human element, Mr. Steve G. A snooted and gelled flash is pointed on the socks, and there was another SB-26 camera right on his face. I think I used an umbrella but I can't remember.

So I also had the idea to do an action portrait shot of me springing off the wall. I did about 20 of these jumps. One kid comes up and asks us if we were doing parkour, which I found pretty funny. Uh, kinda. Anyway, after I was done I took some shots of John pulling the same move. This one is my favorite.

OK guys, now lets see the rest of the shots of me launching the Bruce Lee maneuvers! I've been gimping for a week, I want to see if it was worth it!

Welcome to Boulder Strobist

2008-05-09T19:18:00.002-06:00

Welcome to the Launch of the Boulder Strobist Website. This blog is a place where we will grow our local photography community, by sharing our creative thoughts and ideas as well as our technical knowhow. By sharing and learning from each other we will push each other to raise the collective bar of our work. And the result will be that we all will profit with more creativity, and the overwhelming influx of clients, jewels, and riches that will surely follow.

Kinda makes you want to join huh? Yeah, we thought so. We invite other local photographers to join us and add to our community and this blog. Currently we have random informal get-togethers. In the future . . . who knows? For now stay tuned for more info.