Speedlights, South Africa Style
South African photographer (and Strobist reader) Robert Miller, whom you may also know as "Panascape" on Flickr, has been showing up in PIX African Photo Journal so often he should be paying them rent.Back in the March edition, Miller wrote and photographed a story entitled, "Welcome to Strobist." He got four pages for his story and another four pages about his photography in the form of a monolith/Q&A piece. Not a bad month.
Then he pops up in my mailbox today with a stitched, HDR panorama with embedded lit portrait on the current, triple fold-out cover -- which is basically a PIX magazine geargasm to the new Nikon D700. (It wraps around to the back cover, too. Craziness.)We'd never do the ad / cover / fold-out ad thing like that in the States. But seeing that kind of stuff is one of the reasons I love reading foreign photo mags. Even as an old Chinese Wall newspaper guy, I have to admit it is pretty friggin' cool for PIX to announce a long-awaited camera like that.
Links and a diagram, after the jump.
Top Photo: How it Was Lit
Here's the setup for the top photo. Two umbrellas and a ring light. Click the diagram to read more info in Robert's comment stream, where he talks about how he built the flash and ambient ratio for the shot._____________
As far as my photo, which pretty much looks like a little turd compared to Robert's stuff, I stuck an SB-800 at camera left and exposed for the flash at about 1 stop above the ambient. Location: My mail box.
For more info (and a diagram) on Robert's tri-fold, high-dynamic-range panorama cover shot, check out his Flickr page for the photo.
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by David, at 12:00 AM.
18 Comments:
Of course the lighting looks good, though I'm thinking it might look a little better if the falloff hadn't hit the ground quite as much.
Nice job on their posing, too, yeah?
Thanks David. All I can say is that neither the cover the article nor top picture would have happened without Strobist and the Strobist as I would never have thought of using speedlights the way I now do.
I'm really stoked to see Robert getting some exposure on this site - he has been doing some inspirational work for some time now.
Pix is a great magazine too - the same issue ran an article on wedding fashion photography which was basically s summary of what I learnt from this site and flash flavor. In fact, at least an article every issue references www.strobist.com
You have some far reaching influence David.
I picked up this same magazine in Johannesburg the other day. There are several nods to strobist and the guys at Flash Flavor in the magazine. Only thing missing was a setup shot or diagram of the cover shoot. And here it is :)
Thank you.
Excellent work from my fellow South African!!!
Very nice shots there, and am very proud to see other South Africans doing things the strobist way, and doing them very well.
Big thumbs up!
Mikhail
Am I the only one who really does not like the Dave Hill/HDR/super mega contrast look? It looks so artificial...
Whatever happened to using strobes to make the photo look like strobes weren't even used?
LG: I'm with you there. The first thing I noticed about the shot at the top was the halos around the heads. to me, it says that he *didn't* get the lighting right and had to fix it in post. It's possible to get this look without haloing everything, but it's quite a bit more work.
But this wouldn't be needed at all if he'd got that balance of sky and foreground using his lights in-camera.....
I also think the Dave hill/supercontrasty/comic-book-hdr look detracts from otherwise ok images. Very gimmicky methinks.
Every time I start to think "been there, done that, getting bored", you come up with something else that reminds me of why I do this.
Your "turd" of a picture is not that bad. I even took the time to consider how you lighted it. If that make you feel better.
@IG - I also am not a big fan of this look.
Although I don't like the style the photograph was taken in, as a graphic designer, I am very interested in the triple fold-out. Now I'm going to have to pick that issue up somehow.
I like the creative use of the various tools to blend and make a wonderful image.
Good to see a South African on the strobist blog! If he is from Cape Town I might need to inquire about doing some assistant work. Good work Robert.
The thing that most intrigues me about this post is that it appears that DH checks his mail box with a camera and flash setup :-)
From a fellow Cape Town photographer, I'd say "Well done Robert", not for Pix, but for getting featured on Strobist, as this is far bigger than Pix!
As to LG, Sigurd and others: remember that it's a style, it's meant to look flash-lit. "Natural" flash is another style of shooting. Especially in fashion, this has been popular. Artificial is often what is required..., believe it or not.
I've been shooting with small lights in addition to my biggies for 10 years now, so getting to Strobist was great, it almost validated that this was a great method.
David, this just means you need to come and visit SA. We've a community of absolutely kick-butt, red-hot, creative and generally nice photographers down here. Come and learn to light in our summer sun! Especially here in Cape Town (ok ok, biased), but even Johannesburg, Durban and Port Elizabeth has some killer talent.
Hi David,
I hate to even ask, as I already benefit so much from your time, but seeing as you are the guru, I must. Any advice here? This could possibly be an interesting post for you. I see it as an impossible situation for strobes and a case where PS manipulation is the only way out.
No worries if you are too busy.
Bests - Wes
http://flickr.com/photos/nightphotog/2718569059/
Whoohooo! Nicely done Mr Panascape. :P As a fellow Capetonian photographer, I'm very proud to have us on the map, especially on such a renowned blog as this. You got the cover & I got the readers Pix award... how about we swop next month? :)
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