Help needed, outside shoot

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clarkeg

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Clarke
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Hi all,

Just after some advice, a girl in my work does some very casual modelling but she has seen some shots of my son and has asked me if I would be interested in taking some shots of her in outdoors environments, local forest parks, etc.

I told her I would need to think about it as I am not 100% confident. Don't get me wrong I know how to work my D700 and the gear I currently have but whether I have enough equipment to get half of what I would like to come out with so I am after some advice.

Currently I have:
D700
Jessops external flash
Sigma 24-70 2.8
Sigma 150 2.8
Nikon 50mm 1.8
Tripod

When it comes to external wireless flash, etc I have no idea but I know this girl doesn't expect loads but I would really like to have a go at it.

I assume I would need to perhaps upgrade/buy the following for a basic setup:

Upgraded flash - was thinking of Yongnuo YN460 Flash (perhaps 2??)
Wireless triggers - was thinking of RF-602 Wireless Remote control Switch & Studio Flash Trigger combi System for Nikon
Some kind of tripod to hold the flashes
Some kind of flash umbrella.

Thanks again and please excuse my lack of knowledge when it comes to this kind of thing as so far I have just been using natural light 99% of the time for family shots.

I was also thinking on the other hand I could just use my gear and hope for good natural light to work in my favour but if it wasn't massive amounts of money I wouldn't have an issue with making some purchases, it's for a good cause :)

Thanks
Clarke
 
STOP

You are putting too much thought into this.

More this, more that, why. You could buy a £1k outdoor set and end up with c***, you can use what you have and get great shots.

You will not be great the first time, no one is, so, calm down, tell her your feelings, and take loads, DONT keep looking at the screen, perhaps one in eight, show her, ask what she thinks, but relax and enjoy.

All I use whan out doing the same is my Metz 45 CL-4 digi with now Quantum Turbo and my standard Canon 28-300.

If you want better results the best money would be spent on say http://www.jacobsdigital.co.uk/p-41487-jacobs-digital-lumiquest-prolite-bouncer-pocket.aspx with the gold and silver inserts

lq.jpg


setup-1.jpg


NEVER direct flash.



Or these

Pc140001.jpg


£2.20 inc postage yep ebay, the price is correct, I have three. Comes with velcro strap, rubber strap and fits my hammerheads and Metz/Sunpak standard flashes.

By the way I use the ishoot wireless £20 triggers from Ebay, they have never ever let me down, just make sure you use alcaline and not NiMh batteries you can see them under the flashes with the trigger on the hotshoe.
 
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JSER said:
STOP

You are putting too much thought into this.

More this, more that, why. You could buy a £1k outdoor set and end up with c***, you can use what you have and get great shots.

You will not be great the first time, no one is, so, calm down, tell her your feelings, and take loads, DONT keep looking at the screen, perhaps one in eight, show her, ask what she thinks, but relax and enjoy.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice, yea I am the kind of guy that over-thinks about things nearly wanting to be prepared for everything in advance lol.

I will definitely take on board your advice.

Thanks
Clarke
 
clarkeg said:
Thanks for the advice, yea I am the kind of guy that over-thinks about things nearly wanting to be prepared for everything in advance lol.

I will definitely take on board your advice.

Thanks
Clarke
Click to expand...

If you panic she will :nono:, have a laugh its FUN, all you need to remember is spare batteries, spare memory cards and spare camera batteries, want to spend get a battery grip if you don't have one. If you get all you spoke of you will spend more time setting up that taking photos, sheesh..

E N J O Y it
 
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you need to decide what sorts of shots you want to take. Have a look online, get a selection together, and deconstruct them


- what (if any lighting was used)
- was a reflector used
- are they in open shade
- are they in shadows
- where is the sun
- what time of day is it
- what does the exif say about focal length and aperture (and is the answer a surprise to you)

Answer that lot, you will have a starting point to deal with what happens next
 
Go natural light. If you're used to it then it makes sense.

If it's overcast then you have diffused light, so that will be very easy to work with (providing light levels don't exceed the ability of your camera's ISO range).

If it's bright, the search out open shade where the light will be even.

If she's not sure what she wants then don't try to go mad with new techniques - use the skills you have rather than trying to learn new ones without knowing why.

If you do go down the flash route, direct flash is very good but you'll not create enough shadows to highlight shape and form. Although without a background for a shadow to show up on, direct can work very well, especially if it's fill flash. Don't try and bounce flash outdoors, as you'll lose too much power and it could throw you a little.
 
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Why don't you do a couple of shoots with use the first as a test then the second to get some proper shots. Just enjoy it though it's too easy to fall into the gear trap and forget why we started taking photos in first place.
 
Thanks all for the info/tips. I'll let you know how I get on when we arrange a date in January.

Thanks
Clarke
 
If I had the equipment to go down the diffused flash route, I would, as it's the easiest way to create 'new' light that looks good. But flash in general, if you don't know it, is a big area to explore and not one to try under pressure if you know nothing about it. Also, you need to know what kind of diffusion you want and you then end up spending a lot of money on soft boxes, stands, brollies and lots of other things.

Diffused flash is all about having a light source that complements the subject; you can have a diffused light source that's four inches square but on a full body shot from 15 feet away, it'll not giving you a benefit over a bare flash. These small, on-camera soft boxes like what JSER has shown are all well and good for head and shoulders work where you can create some kind of regulated drop-off in a tight space, but for a full body shot it'll be virtually no different to a bare flash and IMO, is just money wasted. Also, bounce cards like JSER uses are there to create catchlights when bouncing light but waste power massively if the light isn't actually bouncing of anything. If they're on-axis as in his image of the tripod, then they serve no purpose an on-camera flash wouldn't serve. A flash from 20 feet away that has a surface area that's twice as big as a bare flash isn't going to create any light that looks different.

Unless you know what you want to do with bare flash, then it can be an unkind light source to work with and if you intend to take it off-camera, then it's even more difficult to work with because the transition between shadow and highlight is even harder to master. Using a small off-camera bracket like described by JSER is pretty useless because the flash is still, to an extent, on-axis and the light in't really coming in from a different angle, not enough to give the light shape. To start shaping the light you need to take it several feet away from the camera to get any discernable effect and that requires cords or triggers.

Stick with what you know and feel comfortable with.
 
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