I usually stick to natural light or flashes on light stands at the reception etc.. i've never done an actual strobist with a softbox on a stick deal until this weekend.
I purchased a 20 dollar constant light softbox from someone on FB that found it at a yard sale and didn't know what it was. Removed the constant hot light and fabricated a bracket to mount my SB900 in it and thew it on a stick.
it sat in my garage for a month while i figured out how I would use it.
Wedding day arrives and I look at it and say what the heck lets try it and throw it in the back of the car while packing up, I let the bride and groom know that during the reception I was going to grab them for a few minutes to step away for a special picture and they agreed no problem.
Had one of their friends hold the softbox up at 45 degrees up and over and took a few shots with different poses and was pretty happy with the results.
Next time i will try gelling my flash to tungsten to match the constant lights around as well.
I am very excited to hone this skill and get better to try more shots in the future.
Great job for a first time and welcome to the clan! I'm only viewing this on a iPhone but as you mentioned next time you might want to gel the flash. It's also looking a touch hot on them and you might want to try feathering it up a bit to draw attention to their faces.
Very nice for your first go at it! I would dial the light back and move it at a bit more of an angle to get a bit more edge to the shadows. I am usually a big proponent of gelling, but I actually like the look of this without the gel
I definitely look forward to more opportunities to fine tune this.
I hope to get a larger softbox or octabox.. as the one i used this time is only a 2 ft by 2 ft square with a grid on it.. i want a little larger to soften it up a tad and also bring it up higher to create that edge shadow.
i will go back and adjust the levels and mask out the couple to dial the exposure on them a hair.
nextelbuddy wrote:
I hope to get a larger softbox or octabox.. as the one i used this time is only a 2 ft by 2 ft square with a grid on it.. i want a little larger to soften it up a tad and also bring it up higher to create that edge shadow
I have a big octobox that I bought for just that purpose. I used it at a few weddings and have not touched it since. The 24x24 gridded softbox really is enough for lighting the couple. The bigger ones just tend to get in the way and is more to carry, imo.
joelconner wrote:
I have a big octobox that I bought for just that purpose. I used it at a few weddings and have not touched it since. The 24x24 gridded softbox really is enough for lighting the couple. The bigger ones just tend to get in the way and is more to carry, imo.
thats good to know! thanks for letting me know that. May pay off mire to master and work with what I have for now.
sherijohnson wrote:
see if you can't practice some when it is not a wedding day... you can play around more if you find a patient model
Fair enough but just to add, i did make sure to get my safety shots of the couple for their intimate shots and this was supposed to be just extra so I didn't want anyone thinking i was using paying wedding couples as guinea pigs. i did make sure to get my shots needed for the couple for a great album
I think it looks great for a first effort. I also agree about the gelling. My other suggestions would be to take out the utility pole and wires in the background and perhaps gently mute the street lights
jprezant wrote:
I'm guessing this is a composite and you shopped out the light?
Yes I took the first image with the couple and the second with out the couple on a tripod to keep the framing correct and then removed the person holding the light out.
BKphotography wrote:
I think the lighting is not too bad... I wouldn't say its too hot.
What I think lets down this image is the comp.
I would love to hear more on this, How else could I have composed this type of shot differently? Rule of thirds? portrait orientation? not in front of the water fountain?
arize84 wrote:
I think it looks great for a first effort. I also agree about the gelling. My other suggestions would be to take out the utility pole and wires in the background and perhaps gently mute the street lights
you are absolutely right, the power line poles are a huge distraction but i didn't remove them because the power lines were going through light gradations and i thought it would cause more grief leaving them in or more cloning artifacts. I may go back and actually try it to see what happens.
thanks for all of the critique guys! I really do appreciate it. I am trying to take my wedding photography to the next level or another level to help separate myself from the craigslist shoot and burners and I think mastering off camera flash for some imagery can really help among other things.
