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Four looks, one grey background

Sometime back I made a textured wall for my studio which I love but the most important thing about it is the colour. If you can only choose one background for your small studio then for me it’s always going to be grey. Why? Because with a little bit of lateral thinking and lighting knowhow a grey background can be black, white, coloured or grey (obviously).

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIoWwx-elCE[/youtube]

Grey
This is the easiest to do. If you only have one light get your model as close to the grey background and shoot away. If you want a darker grey simply move the model and the light away from the background. For a lighter grey you’ll need at least one more light. Scroll down to “white” for more info.

Black
Black is basically a very dark tone of grey so to make the standard grey go black you can do one of two things. Either move the model or light as far from the background as possible or move the light as close to the model as possible. An egg crate grid over the light can be used to reduce light spilling onto the background.
In a small studio the latter way is how I go, it does mean that the softbox ends up in the shot but if you watch the video you’ll see my Photoshop / Lightroom trick to hide it.

Coloured
For this you’ll need at least one more light. The extra light(s) is placed behind the model and a coloured gel is fitted. The background colour is from the gel but also from the light output. A stronger background light will give brighter colours which can bounce off the background and onto the edges of your model in a small studio. A lower powered light will created a background with darker, richer colours. It’s all about balance and experimentation.

White
This is the toughest to nail. Adding more light onto the background from the rear light makes the background record as a lighter tone of grey. Add enough light and the grey will be white. Add too much light onto the background and you’ll lose detail on the model. You can find out my tips for balancing light to get the perfect white background in this video.

Make a simple LED Background

All sorts of random things can be turned into an amazing portrait background but last year I was shown something called the Pixel Stick which looked amazing. It was a Kickstarter backed project that combined LED’s and long exposures in a way I’ve never seen before. Although the pixelstick was out of my budget the basic idea wasn’t.

My low tech LED stick took just a few minutes to make and worked amazingly. Take a look at the Adorama TV video I made with the spectacular Mark Wallace to see for yourself.

I’ve had loads questions all asking the same thing… How do you make my LED stick?

eBay proved to be the perfect place to start my search. There are loads of low cost LED’s on the market and I found a 2 meter roll of multi-coloured LED’s complete with battery box and controller for about £17.00.

Each LED is actually several coloured LED’s clustered together which turn on or adjust their brightness to change the colour. The controller is very basic but allows you to set the colour, brightness and any effects such as flashing or fading through the spectrum.

The LED strip is very flexible and sealed inside clear silicone (or something like it), so I found a spare bit of 1.8m timber and attached the LED strip to that. There’s adhesive on the back of the strip but I just used a few rubber bands to hold it place. Just make sure the bands don’t cover the LED’s!

Then it’s just a matter of attaching the batteries and choosing a mode. Some colours worked better then others as did some modes. The key as always is to experiment and have some fun!

5 FAQ’s (and answers) about flash meters

If you shoot with flash you may well be aware that speedlights and (increasingly) studio strobes come in either manual or TTL versions. If you’re shooting weddings, events or any sort of running and gunning photography, TTL is brilliant but for me manual flash teamed with a flash meter is how I like to work in the studio.

If you’re thinking a flash meter might be what you need to improve the consistency of you shots or you already have a flash meter but aren’t sure on how to get started with it, then I’ve got you covered.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG4P-Odutr8[/youtube]

In the video above I cover the top 5 questions I hear from photographers and flash meters.

Can’t I just use my camera’s meter?
Do all flash meters work the same?
How do I trigger the flash and the meter?
Where do I point the meter?
Do I really need one?

My flash meter of choice is the Sekonic L-308S Flashmate. It’s about as basic as a handheld meter can be but it’s super reliable and excellent value for money. More information can be found over at Adorama http://www.adorama.com/SKL308SN.html?KBID=67338

Gavin vs Mark Portrait Challenge

A few weeks back I was honored to have Mark Wallace, my friend and fellow Adorama TV host, stop off at my studio for a couple of days. Mark has been travelling the world for the past 18 months or so and this was the first time in a long time that he’s been shooting in a studio.

Now you probably already know I love a photo challenge, so when Mark suggested a studio challenge I jumped at the chance.

The rules were simple. We’d both use the same studio, same single flash and photograph the same model. We set a 20 minute time limit to include planning and filming and would see each other’s shoot until the end.

Mark went first and you can see his video below.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2aEN6UUDYA[/youtube]

I love what Mark did with the simple lighting and subtle editing. I was also blown away by the quality for the Leica especially as Mark had been telling me it’s probably not a camera that you’d choose for studio portraits

Once Mark was through, I got my turn.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzQr3GTUrwg[/youtube]

It was great to try out an idea I had been thinking about for a while and as you can see, my image is totally different to Marks in almost every way. I went with a contrasty light, aggressive pose and bags of drama.

The “home advantage” really can’t be underplayed. Remember I was using my gear, a model I’ve worked with before and I had the props hanging around in my studio. Even so I think it says a lot about how the photographer adds to the image when two of us can come away with such different emotions from the same subject using the same light.

Most of all it was a huge amount of fun and that’s what photography should always be about!

My best of 2015

With the year drawing to a close, now seems like a good time to take a moment and look back at what I did with my camera during 2015. A lot (but not all) of my time goes into making videos for Adorama TV and in 2015 I made 26 of them, which have had over 1.4 million views so far.

So here are a few of my personal highlights. If you have your own, please leave me a comment.

Most watched video
At 150,000 views in just over 5 months, my “day to night” video for Adorama TV has easily been the most watched video I made in 2015. As anyone who makes YouTube videos will tell you, it’s almost impossible to predict which videos will become “popular” and often it’s not the ones you would expect, or perhaps that should be wish.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGsQxXUEvc4[/youtube]
However I’m really thrilled this video has taken off. It was a sound idea that took a long time to plan but was great fun to shoot. Best of all I the final photos came out even better than I had hoped.

Most fun video
It’s tricky to choose just one as I enjoy them all in different ways. But the poker player shoot I did with Brian back in February was a very memorable one.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kum6KjmToYU&index=22&list=PL821B7D720DEA39FA[/youtube]
I know absolutely nothing about poker and as it turned out, neither did Brian. Fortunately Brian is an excellent actor as well as a model and once the technical bit was out of the way, he excelled in the role. I loved the range of emotions he produced although some of that may have come from drinking the “whisky” which was in fact cold tea!

Video I’m most proud of
usually my videos are all about taking and making a great shot but back in June I made a video that was more technical than usual. It covered how focal length can affect the compression in a photo.

For years I’ve listened to photographers go on about how they use a longer focal length lens to compress the foreground and background but that’s actually not strictly true. Yes they used a longer focal length lens but it’s camera to subject distance that does the compression and in this video I prove it… although I still get photographers telling me I’m wrong!

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbESqYkodmQ&list=PL821B7D720DEA39FA&index=14[/youtube]
I had photography students firmly in mind when I made this one but I know a few “expert” photographers who learned from it too.

Most fun photo shoot
I don’t just make videos, I’m also a full time photographer. I always throw myself in to any shoot but occasionally a job comes along that really stands out. The best example of that in 2015 was a PR shoot I did with LG mobile and the Three network here in the UK.

When I got an email asking if you can photograph a medium and ghosts at a ruined church in the most haunted village in the UK, I jumped at the chance. The full brief included shooting a spooky outdoor cinema in the dead of night at a location without power… I loved it!

As you can see from the photos, things got very spooky and smoky. Our medium arrived late at night having just come from a séance but I guess my lights must have frightened away the spirts as she was unable to detect any ghosts until I was packing my gear into the car!

Best “Subscribe” ending
Do you watch my videos to the end? If you do then you’ll know I like to have fun with the “Subscribe” button. And yes I do spend far too much time on it.

This year I’ve made the subscribe button float in a balloon, appear on a London bus and ripple at the bottom of a fish bowl.

But my favourite subscribe button was at the end of my 15 minute photo challenge at the Pantheon in Rome. Chiselled on to the 2000 year old wall with just a little help from Adobe After Effects, this subscribe button took a fair bit longer to make then the rest of the video took to film!

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XaF-IPSwJo[/youtube]

Tips for Better Bokeh

Recently I shared a few of my bokeh shots as a Friday Freebie. Nice as they are, nothing beats shooting your own stock shots and luckily bokeh is easy to do. This time of year is also perfect for bokeh shots with many places covered in festive lights which makes brilliant bokeh.

In the video below I cover the basics of bokeh, what it is, how you can control it and some simple tips for getting some great photos with it.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zBfBDNyGpA[/youtube]

OK, so you’ve mastered bokeh and it’s time to go beyond basic bokeh. In part 2 of this mini series I dive a bit deeper by adding flash, doubling my bokeh count and changing the bokeh shape.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mXg7-Juvrc&feature=youtu.be&a=[/youtube]

Bokeh is brilliant fun to play with but remember it’s not just for Christmas, the basic principles can be applied year round on any shot that has small points of light in the background.

Fearless Flash For Speedlights

I love shooting portraits with small flashes and judging by the number of questions I get about the subject, I’m not alone. I’ve run many workshops on the subject, I use speedlights during my live talks to camera groups and yes, I really do use them in my day to day work. But I’ve never made a complete video series on how to get the most from them… until now.

I’ve been working on the Fearless Flash Photograghy video series for the past few months and I’m really thrilled it’s finally completed.
More info here…

If you’re looking to get big results from small speedlights, this course is for you and I’ll walk you through everything you need to know to get up and running with speedlight photography.

In this video series you’ll learn more than just what gear you need, you’ll discover the craft of working with speedlights as I put theory into practice on some simple but stunning shoots. Working with three great models, I’ll share my favourite one flash setups and double light setups that can be quickly reproduced in any studio big or small, permanent or portable.

The course is packed with great information but you don’t need a specific camera or flash brand to follow along. It includes plenty of lighting diagrams and a BONUS video with my quick tips for post processing the images shot during the making of this series.

You choose to either rent the videos and watch online for a month or buy the series and download or watch online at anytime.
More info here…

Photoshop vs Make-Up

If you’re shooting any kind of portrait, the value of good quality make-up can’t be underestimated. For example, editing time can be massively reduced in family photo shoots by applying a little powder to reduce shiny skin on men. More creative photo shoots often demand more elaborate make-up and whilst I always try and get things as good as possible in camera, I do enjoy a spot of Photoshop fun.

So I decided it put make-up and Photoshop head to head in a battle to see which was better. You can see the results in the video below.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUWY5jvCdG4[/youtube]

Photoshop
For a single photo, given enough time and skill it’s perfectly possible to create the effect of bruises. In fact using tools such as liquify I could create some pretty convincing swelling that make-up alone couldn’t do.

Of course the downside is I’d need to do this to every photo and there are plenty of make-up styles that would be far harder (if not impossible) to recreate in post-production.

Make-Up
Give the choice, this is the way to go. An experienced make-up artist will be able to create amazing looks and once applied the make-up is there shot after shot, after shot.

Of course there’s no reason why Photoshop and make-up can’t be combined and that has the potential to take your portrait photography to a whole new level.

5 Questions about flash meters

One of the very first lighting accessories I brought was a flash meter, in fact the same meter gets used and abused almost every time I use manual flash. I’ve used my handheld flash meter with speedlights and studio flashes of all makes, I use it in the studio and on location. Honestly, I couldn’t work without it.

If you’re thinking of getting your own flash meter or already own one but are not sure how to get the best from it the video below should help answer some of the most common quesions.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG4P-Odutr8[/youtube]

Not a video viewer? No problem, try this instead.

1 Can’t I just use my camera meter?
Nope, you’re camera meter is designed to work with continuous light and can’t react fast enough to meter flash. However you can use your cameras LCD to review the photos and adjust the flash power based on what you see. This trial and error approach is OK but does have its drawbacks… see the video for more on this.

2 Do all meters work the same?
Well, they all meter the light so at a basic level they’re all the same. In my case I simply set the meter to match my camera’s ISO and shutter speed and when the flash fires I can read off the aperture.

Of course there’s plenty of advanced flash meters around that have features that might make life a lot easier for you. Some meters can measure the amount of ambient contamination in your shot, others can figure out lighting ratios and there’s even some which have pocket wizard radio triggers built into the meter itself.

3 How do I fire the flash?
That largely depends on the flash meter. On my Sekonic L-308s I prime the meter by pressing a button on the side and then fire the flash by pressing the “test” button on either the flash or radio trigger.

Other firing options include attaching a PC Sync cable from the flash to the meter or as I previously mentioned, finding a meter that has a built in radio system (such as Pocket Wizard)

4 Where do I point the meter?
This is the question that usually sets off much debate among photographers. For me it’s always… Point the meter at the light, however as you’ll see in the video, if the light is mostly coming from the camera position, the same exposure is recorded by pointing the meter at either the flash or the camera.

One mistake a lot of photographers make is to place the meter in the shadow cast by the chin or by the models hair etc. It’s easy done, so if the meter is telling you something that feels wrong, move the meter and try again.

5 Do I really need one?
No, you can do the trial and error way of working and get very good exposures. However if you move or modify the light you’ll need to do the same work all over again.

A flash meter saves time on a shoot and gives you extra confidence in nailing the correct exposure. However it’s always worth remembering that correct exposure isn’t the same as perfect exposure so it’s a good idea to ignore the meter from time to time and get a little experimental with your shots.

Lastly there’s one more reason for using a flash meter and it has nothing to do with how it works… Just like shooting with a big camera, the untrained eye can equate using a flash meter to knowing what you’re doing. Now, whether that’s a good or bad thing I’ll leave up to you.

Day to night in a flash

Shoots at night can yield some stunning photos but the lack of light has a bunch of problems that can easily trip you up… literately. However if you have a little bit of flash know how, it is possible to do a portrait shoot and make day turn to night in just a few steps. Here’s how I did it in four steps

Step 1 – Underexpose the ambient

Unless you live in the Polar regions night time is usually associated with a lack of light, so the first thing I had needed to do was convince my camera to see less light. One way to do this is by using exposure compensation and dialing in a negative amount but because I was going to use flash to light the model I took a different route.

Flash and Manual mode go hand in glove, so switching to manual is the way to go. After setting the aperture to f/4 and the ISO to 200 the correct shutter speed turned out to be a feeble 1/10^th second. By halving the shutter speed to 1/20^th I underexposed the ambient light by 1 stop. 1/40^th second gave me another stop and finally 1/80^th second underexposed by three stops and gave a shot that was dark but not black.

Step 2 – Set the flash

1/80^th second gave a nice dark background but also underexposed the model, that’s where flash comes in. With the key light in place all I had to do was set my flash meter to match my camera (1/80^th sec, 200 ISO) and adjust the flash power until I hit f/4 on the meter.

So now I’ve got the flash power to match my camera setting and giving a perfect exposure on the model, however the same camera settings are under exposing the background keeping it dark.

Once the key light was in I added a second light to separate the unlit side of the model from the dark background.

Step 3 – Moon light

Thanks to Hollywood we assume that the moon always comes out at night and it produces blue light. Of course neither is true but let the dream live I say. Turning the warm afternoon light blue is as simple as setting the wrong white balance. Switching to Tungsten or Incandescent white balance will do the job in camera or it can be changed in Lightroom / Photoshop Camera RAW.

The blue looks great on the background but a bit odd on the model, so to warm her up I added an orange gel to the main flash. There are gels marked as CTO (Colour Temperature Orange) which should perfectly balance out the white balance but I don’t have one. Luckily Lightroom / Photoshop Camera RAW can easily fine tune the colours, especially if you do the same as me and shoot a gray card in the same light.

Step 4 – Moody Mist

This is the fun bit. Again I’ve got the movies to thank for this but adding a little bit of mist seems to sell us the whole night feeling. It also helps to cover up anything distracting in the background and by adding a third light right behind the model (and the smoke) adds a splash of light to an otherwise dark scene.

There are many ways to make smoke. Being a long way from a power supply I opted for smoke grenades. You’ll find them at your local paintball / airsoft park and whilst they’re not cheap, they do offer a safe and reliable source of smoke. I used two Enola Gaye smoke grenades which gave around 90 seconds of smoke each. Yes after all that setting up the whole shoot was over and done in under three minutes!

So there you have it, day to night is perfectly possible and whilst the results are very different from really shooting after dark, they look pretty darn good to me.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGsQxXUEvc4[/youtube]