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Fall Family Shots w/Setup

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proudfather

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These were taken with a 5D and 70-200 mm lens. I had to alter the shutter speeds and ISO's as the ambient light faded. The mainlight softbox is size 36x36".

-proudfather



Here is the setup shot...



And some more...







 
Beautiful job, as always. Thank you for sharing your setup.

I've yet to venture outside with strobes. Do you set your camera to expose for the ambient light in the background and then adjust your strobes to fill?
 
Great stuff there! Some of the nicest i've seen here in a while!

It was great seeing the vagabondII in use since i'm waiting on mine to come in a couple weeks! I can't wait to get out there with it.

I noticed your second light on a nice boom, do you remember where you got it? I had one but it got stripped with the weight! So, now i'm looking for a nice, strong one to use as you did for hair light!

Thanks for sharing!!
 
Nicely done. I really like the balance between subject and background without looking overly artificial.

Thanks for posting these.
--
Kevin
Canon 10D
Canon 30D
Canon 28-135 IS
Canon 17-40 L
Canon 70-200 L
Canon 550EX
Canon 580 EX
 
You're right: That's the usual approach. In honesty, however, for this shot I first measured the mainlight strobe and then set the shutter to match the ambient. I was shooting relatively wide (~ f/4.5 to f/5.6) with slow shutters, as low as 1/30th of a second. That's why I had to start increasing the ISO as the light got darker outside, up to 400 I believe.

-proudfather
510picker said:
510picker wrote:
Beautiful job, as always. Thank you for sharing your setup.

I've yet to venture outside with strobes. Do you set your camera to
expose for the ambient light in the background and then adjust your
strobes to fill?
Click to expand...
 
I got the stand on eBay (Amvona) and the boom arm, which is an Avenger by Bogen/Manfrotto, at Sammy's in LA. It's a love/hate relationship. While it can tolerate virtually any light/modifier in any combination, it's a pain to take on location given its weight. But it's a necessary evil when it comes to hairlights.

I'm loving the Vagabond II. I made my own previously, which I figure I can use for extra strobes or as a backup. I love how the VB lets you plug the light in at the business end of the system, as opposed to mine, which uses the bottom.

-proudfather
Surfincb said:
Surfincb wrote:
Great stuff there! Some of the nicest i've seen here in a while!
It was great seeing the vagabondII in use since i'm waiting on mine
to come in a couple weeks! I can't wait to get out there with it.

I noticed your second light on a nice boom, do you remember where you
got it? I had one but it got stripped with the weight! So, now i'm
looking for a nice, strong one to use as you did for hair light!

Thanks for sharing!!
Click to expand...
 
Thanks Kevin.

-proudfather
Kevin TN said:
Kevin TN wrote:
Nicely done. I really like the balance between subject and background
without looking overly artificial.

Thanks for posting these.
--
Kevin
Canon 10D
Canon 30D
Canon 28-135 IS
Canon 17-40 L
Canon 70-200 L
Canon 550EX
Canon 580 EX
Click to expand...
 
These photos are nice. What type of AB did you use for your hair light? How many flashes do you get with that set up with your Vagabond? I'm thinking about getting one.

Thanks
 
Yes.. yes.. proudfather posted another beautiful family... shot beautifully... how surprising!

Proud - I love your consistency. You and a handful of folks just nail it time after time. I of course was gonna post a family that I shot yesterday... but now... I just can't bring myself to do it... just can't live up to the example... the bar too high...

And I came back from Palm Springs with nothing to show either! (other than a few new hats for the kids...)

woe is me.
Doug (not_so_proud ;)
 
Very nice PF.

Ladies posing together: More S-shape on the lady camera left would have been more flattering. Some bending of her right arm would have shown her waist. The lady camera right is posed nicely.

I learned a lot from here. For sure you've been here years ago.



http://jzportraits.home.att.net/c06/06-06

I've tried on friends to pre-coach them on choice of clothing prior to the shoot, as you usually do, but a few weeks ago a family said: "but that's unnatural". Have you encountered that on your shoots ?

Dan
 
I think the shots are great. If I had to nit pick, and only because I spend a lot of time in Photoshop, the vignetting seems a little harsh and obvious. I'm wondering if the same result could have been achieved in camera by underexposing the background a little more. I'm curious myself, not knowing what your lights can achieve.
 
Thank you for the kind words and suggestions. For this session, I didn't use an AB for the hairlight. It's hard to tell, but the stand is balanced on somewhat of a hill, and I was affraid that the heavier weight might cause it to fall over. So, I used a cheap MedaLight without the modifier (also to reduce weight).

The vagabond has given me over 200 shots thus far per charge. I haven't had to take more shots on a single charge. But that was with 2 lights. So, it seems to have a lot of power.

I considered trying to tone down the boy's ear in post. With the ambient light getting darker, the effect of both the mainlight and hairlight became greater. Admittedly, I was too lazy to continuously adjust the hairlight. Good to hear from you Rodney after so long.

Posing is still a beast and it's something I continue to try and improve upon. With "non-professional" models, it's so very difficult at times.

-proudfather
 
On the subject of posing, what is the relationship among these 5?
--
Warm regards,
DOF
 
--
Warm regards,
DOF
 
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