cgardner
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 p.1 #10 · Horsing Around for Christmas | |
Chester:
Regarding the use of dish on the bottom, it was to make the fill catchlight smaller and easier to retouch. The same is true for round vs rectangular SBs on the key light: they create different catchlight shapes when used close to the eye. In general I prefer round catchlights rather than rectangular. For that reason when using a med. SB for a solo portrait I'll usually use a 20" circle mask on it. The mask also creates a nice natural vignette on an dark background when used closer. But for that shoot the lights were 6- 7 ft from the faces so the catchlight from the rectangular SB turned sideways weren't a problem so I took the circle mask off. You'll note in the set-up photo I use a small SB with both circle mask and grid for the hair light. In that application both limit the spread of the light and the grid helps eliminate flare - my low ceiling prevents higher more effective placement of the hair light.
Regarding the illustrations, I started using them because most of my tutorials originated in threads where I was helping / teaching others from the baseline of their own photos and when I edited the thread for my web site it was easier to draw an illustration than find a model and try to duplicate the shot. What I also discovered from working interactively from the baseline of what each person already knew, was that people actually learn faster from their own baseline + conceptual understanding of what worked and what didn't than following rote examples of lighting patterns on mannequins, etc. Lighting is very situational, and each situation is really a complex problem, so rather than providing photographic examples to imitate I stress concepts and learning how to solve a problem with goal setting and finding the best strategies to meet the goal. I think its a quicker path to understanding how the variables interact to affect outcome in the holistic sense. Its a different, unconventional approach, but one that seems to resonate with "engineer" types and those with programming experience who are accustomed to solving other complex problems that way with goal setting and strategic planning.
Michael H: The thing you are asking about is the AB wired remote control box attached to a PW receiver which I attach to a light stand so I can move it around and have the remote where its convenient. I don't have two med. SBs so I used the dish and med SB interchangeably as key and fill. When I got the dish I compared the two directly and found that the dish work well as fill from over / under the camera because from about 8' it fills the room with light and at the same time creates only a very tiny catchlight. I always retouch out the fill catchlight, and the dish makes that task much easier.
Chuck
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