The third day of our fashion photography workshop involved learning how to light on location mixing the sun with your off camera flash and really using it off camera instead of mounting it on your camera.  One of the really cool things we did was mounted Dave’s Canon flash on a c-stand bounced into a Photoflex umbrella !   One of the benefits of mounting the flash to a c stand with the arm is that you can boom it out at any angle you want and of course you don’t end up with a photo that looks like you used harsh on camera flash.

We spent the whole day experimenting and just shooting, shooting and shooting.  I would observe Dave as he photographed the model and suggest different things to say to the model as he was shooting.  We had a nice lunch and ended up with great photos.  Dave is a great guy and learned so much.  Dave gave his testimonial however if there is something specific you would like to ask him about his three day workshop please don’t hesitate to email him.  His email is dave@daveclee.com and as always I encourage you to email or call me if you would like more information.

Don’t be afraid to shoot outdoors with ONLY  the sun !  I hear it so many times, photographers tell me they like studio light more because it is more beautiful or consistent etc.  Well what they are REALLY saying is that they are afraid of shooting outdoors in natural light.  If they knew how to manipulate the natural light I am positive they would agree with me that natural light can be so friggin beautiful !  I LOVE  shooting outdoors in natural light.  Yes the studio is more controlled, no wind, no clouds no dust etc.  But you know what ? Don’t always take the easy way out.  We must continuously  challenge ourselves otherwise we can’t move up that ladder of  success.

Imagine a client calls you and asks you to do a shoot outdoors on location and it’s a BIG payday. I’m talking 50k or more.  Wouldn’t you like to be able to take that job and produce great results with confidence ?

Ok so look at this shot.  The model is back lit by the sun of course.  So now you ask how did I get light into her face and body?   I wore  a white t shirt, that’s it !  Just a plain white Haines t shirt that cost me 10 bucks or whatever it was, lol.  I was acting as the reflector !  So the next thing I did was make sure my meter in camera was set for center weighted.  What that does is meter the center portion of your scene and takes into consideration the strong back light.  Now granted, her hair will be blown out but you can control that with your exposure.  If you did not want her hair to be blown out, you scrim her.  But then it starts to look like a portrait, blah boring !

Ok so now days you shoot digital so you can see if you exposed correctly right away !  You have NO excuse to get out there and try it.  If you don’t want to embarrass yourself by taking a model out there at first then here is what you do.  Find a tree, a big oak tree or any tree that is large in circumference.  It doesn’t have to be a tree but the color of the bark is close to skin color and it is not shiny or metallic.  So make sure the tree is being back lit by the sun and shoot away.  When you dial in your exposure with the results you like then your ready to take a model and shoot.  Make notes of your exposure etc. Please don’t be afraid to ask me more questions or share your thoughts !

So I just shot some new beauty photos. Most photographers use a beauty dish, however they can be expensive, especially for a photographer who is just starting out. What is the solution ? This photo was shot with just one small umbrella, a small silver reflector at breast level, and a strobe hitting the background with it’s regular 7 inch reflector attached for separation. I placed the umbrella camera right about 2-3 feet above model’s eye level. Of course you need to tell the model to be aware that this is her ONLY light source so do not turn your face away from it. Any good model of course would know this. This was shot at 125th @ F/8 , 100 ISO. The make up and hair artists were standing by right next to the model ready to jump in and make tiny little adjustments to hair and make up. When shooting beauty like this, it is VERY important to pay attention to EVERY detail, thus my team was stepping in every couple of minutes or so adjusting something.

Tags: beauty lighting, beauty photos, cosmetics, hair, jason christopher los angeles, light source, photographer, photographers, reflectors, smooth, umbrella
]]> http://jasonchristopher.com/blog/2008/05/15/beauty-lighting-on-a-budget/feed/ 12 http://jasonchristopher.com/blog/2007/09/11/learn-how-to-photograph-outdoors-using-flare/ http://jasonchristopher.com/blog/2007/09/11/learn-how-to-photograph-outdoors-using-flare/#comments Tue, 11 Sep 2007 19:24:11 +0000 Jason Christopher http://jasonchristopher.com/blog/2007/09/11/backlit-beauty-outdoors/

Many fashion photographers have asked me how I achieve this look. What I tell them is TAKE A CHANCE ! With the digital age there is no reason NOT to take chances.

Ok so how is this done ? I ALWAYS use a white board, NEVER a silver or gold reflector. Reflectors create that “glamour” look which is great for glamour but not fashion or beauty. I either have an assistant hold it or if you don’t have an assistant, your make up artist is a good choice. The board is held off camera right out of camera view and yes blind the model. It is their job to be able to deal with it. I control the contrast with my shutter speed. The faster the speed the more contrast you get.   Ask any portrait photographer and they will tell you that this technique breaks the rules of photography.  Well if you all don’t know me by now one of the things I say many times is… F * * K  the rules !  If it looks good then go with it ! 

Now I invite you to ask questions !