An afternoon with Carley

I spent the afternoon with one of my granddaughters (Carley). We went out for dinner, did a little shopping, went to DQ for a blizzard. Then a couple quick photos when we got home. Canon 5DIII with a Canon 24-105 f/4 lens. The main light was a Godox AD360, the hair light and the background light were Godox V850’s. ISO-100, aperture f/8 and shutter speed 1/160.

Prom pictures of my youngest granddaughter - 2023

Prom pictures for my granddaughter.

Equipment list:

1 – Godox AD360 (main light) with flash receiver.

2 – Godox V850’s (supporting lights) with flash receiver.

2 – Phottix mounts.

1 – 24” x 36” Glow softbox.

1 – 10” x 24” Glow softbox.

1 – Rouge grid.

1 – Large light stand.

4 – small light stands.

2 – 20” x 30” White foam-core.

2 – Reflector brackets.

3 – Umbrella brackets.

1 – 57” x 79” collapsible backdrop with stand.

 

Camera – Canon 5D-III

Lens – Canon 24/105mm f/4

Flash transmitter – Godox Xpro

 

Camera settings – Aperture f/8, shutter speed 1/160, ISO 100.

I positioned the main light so that my granddaughter will be lit with the edge of the light as it goes buy and the light will drop off before it hits the background. This way my granddaughter will be lit properly, and the background will present as black. Adjust the power of the main light to f/8. The Rim/Hair light will be one stop below the main light, f/5.6. The background light and the reflectors will be adjusted to taste.

 Jessica

A lovely young lady that posed for me a couple years back. Clamshell lighting with two Godox 60cm softboxes and three Godox V860II speedlights.

ISO – 100

Aperture – f/8

Shutter speed – 1/200

Three cheap speedlights

 Three cheap speedlights

I bought three basic speedlights at the first part of last year, $110 for all three from Amazon, that’s cheap for three speedlights. One Neewer and two Godox. The Godox units had built-in radio receivers and came with radio triggers, the Neewer unit has an optical slave. They are fun to play around with and they have enough power for my small home studio. Just fooling around on a Sunday morning. The reluctant model is my lovely wife (Julie) of 46 years.

ISO – 200

Aperture f/8

Shutter speed 1/250

 

 Staff photos

I do volunteer photography for the local senior center and yesterday I did staff and group photos. I put up two lighting setups. One for individual photos with a Godox AD360 in a Glow 24” x 36” softbox for the main light. Camera was a Canon 5DIII with a Canon 70/200mm f/2.8 lens and a Godox Xpro controller on channel 16. The other for the group photos was a Godox AD600 in a 60” wing umbrella for the main light. Camera was a Canon 5DII with a Canon 24/105mm f/4 lens and a Godox Xpor controller on channel 17. Exposure on both setups was ISO 100, aperture f/8 and shutter speed 1/160.

Off Camera Flash

 Off Camera Flash

There are many ways to balance natural light and flash. Here are five ways that I have used. Which one you use will depend on how sharp or blurry you want the background to be. How much power your flash has or what ND filters you have on hand. When mixing ambient light with flash for portraits, your shutter speed controls the ambient light, and your aperture controls the flash. In the five examples here, I have kept the shutter speed and ISO the same in all five examples. I did all my manipulations with the aperture, that was to keep the shutter speed as high as possible and to keep the aperture as wide as possible. My friend Mandi volunteered to pose for the pictured. The start time was about 7:30 PM on an overcast day. The background was a group of trees in my backyard. The light was a Godox AD100 in a 65cm Triopo softbox.

Method #1

Method #2

Method #3

Method #4

Method #5

Headshot Booth

 Headshot Booth

Explanation: I use this setup for headshots in my family room because it fits well with my furniture. I got the idea from a book called “Headshots – 101” it’s a free eBook from Photzy and built it around my equipment. You want to start with a totally dark frame. In my small studio with the overhead light turned on, my camera set to ISO-100, shutter speed 1/160 and aperture at f/8, a test shot gives me a totally dark frame. So that’s the base exposure for my main light ISO-100, shutter speed 1/160 and aperture f/8. My fill light is set to f/5.6.

Equipment

·        2 - Flashpoint/Godox AD200 strobe.

·        1 - Flashpoint/Godox V860II speed light.

·        Collapsible backdrop 57” x 79”.

·        2 – 42” white reflectors.

·        Triopo 65cm softbox.

·        Triopo 55cm softbox.

·        InterFit white gel.

·        2 – Phottis flash brackets and two umbrella brackets.

·        1 – Large light-stand with boom arm.

·        4 – Small Flashpoint light-stands.

·        1 – Medium Flashpoint light-stands.