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I could not have asked for a better morning for my Outdoor Lighting Workshop last Saturday at sunrise. We all met at the beach at 5AM, hauled all this gear to the shoot location, set it up and lit it up.
I demonstrated several lighting setups, using different gear and various techniques.
For the shot below, I used a single strobe with a 56″ Octabox, gelled with a 1/2 CTS (Color Temperature Straw) Notice how warm Madeline’s skin is? That’s what a colored gel will do.
For this epic shot of Charles, I used strobes. A 60″ octabox for the key light (camera right) and a stripbox for a rear accent light (camera left)
I also busted out some speedlights. The shot below was lit with a single Canon 600EX-RT shooting through a 46″ umbrella.
I also demonstrated non-flash lighting techniques. I used a 4×6 gold reflector for the shot below.
This shot was not lit at all. No flash. No reflector. Just natural light.
Thanks to all the models for waking up so early and being so fierce….and fun. From left to right: Sydney, Dana, Madeline, Charles, Sandra, Leigh Anne.
Thanks to everyone that attended. Next week’s blog post will showcase some of THEIR images from the workshop. Come back and check it out.
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Will, I have two questions:
1. What is the name of the warming gel that we used during the workshop?
2. I want to buy an umbrella with a front diffusion fabric, just like the one we used during the worskhop. What size was that? Does it come with a speed ring or do I have to buy it separately? I have Aline Bees 800. If I have to get it separately, which one should I get? Paul Buff website has two different kinds.
Thanks a lot!
Hi Caroline. There are 2 types of warming gels. CTO- Color Temperature Orange and CTS-Color Temperature Straw. The CTS gels tend to be less on the red side. Keep in mind that each of these gets come in various levels of strength. A full CTO is twice as dense as a 1/2 CTO therefore it will turn the light more orange and also reduce the power of the light because of the thicker density.
I think we were using a 42″ umbrella. Umbrellas do not require speedrings because you can just stick the shaft into your strobe. If you’re referring to the Octbox, yes you do need one that has a speedring compatible with YOUR strobe. I would recommend getting the larger Octabox from Paul C Buff if you use Alien Bee strobes.
Hey Will,
I typically only use speedlights in my day to day lighting, so I am not sure if I am asking this question right…but what is the power strength (type) of the alien bees that we using on the beach? I definitely had a lot of fun using them and would like to gain more experience with them. Thanks so much for all your help!
Leigh
Hey Leigh. We were using Einsteins and Alien Bee B1600s which both have the same power output. It would take about 8 580EXIIs to equal the power of one of these strobes.
Whoa, epic lighting on the big guy!
Love the natural light shot best though!