A New Toy

I had the good luck to be given a Lastolite Ezybox softbox for my birthday last December and up until now I haven’t had a chance to use it. Katy and I set it up last night and had a play with it.

First impressions are that it’s a doddle to put up; a flick of the wrist and the softbox takes shape. I am not going to go into the how to set it up as it was fairly straightforward, if you use one you'll see what I mean. Putting it away was just as easy. I made one modification; I removed the cold shoe that came with the bracket and replaced it with one of the flash triggers I use. The model I got was the 60cm one.

The light from it was amazing and very controllable. It was made for the type of portrait shots I like to do; film noir. I have been getting similar results with using a closed down reflective umbrella, but the draw back of this approach is that there is the umbrella rod close to your subjects face just waiting to poke their eye out. Not recommended. And also I find it harder to reach in close to the subjects face to adjust the flash output. The softbox can be almost touching the models face and you still have easy access to the flash, because nits behind it.

the setup

I have yet to use it outside, but given the weight and shape it cannot be any worse than an umbrella in the wind. Fort these shots we killed the ambient, more or less and then added back in the softbox light.

And thanks again to Katy for being the model… and the photography in the end...

Noel and Katy

Project 52 ... 23

Meet Maggie...

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D200, Tamron 17 - 50 f2.8, SB800 softbox, camera left

Maggie is a bit of a culinary expert. She works for the culinary genius Mr Roux and she tells me she loves her job. The theme of this shot was always going to have food in it in some shape or form. Maggie also sings in the choir at Mass on a Sunday and her dulcet tones fill the air like the song of an Angel! She is very well know and liked in the community.

The shot here in Maggie's back garden, when I suggested using the garden bench, she went and dressed it herself! Much better than I could have done it - she told me she had done it before (I shall file that away for future reference...) so I let her get on with it. I set up the SB 800 in a softbox to camera left with a 1/2 CTO (colour temperature orange) gel on it to warm up the photo. The ambient is under exposed by about a stop or so. I wanted to reproduce the late evening glow on an overcast night. The camera was at 1/200th or so and I tweaked the f-stop until I got the shot I wanted. Maggie is always smiling and this shot in a sequence was the one for me.

Thanks Maggie for letting me into your home, maybe next time you'll bake a cake...?

Project 52 ... 21

Say hello to Des...

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D200, Tamron 17 - 50, f2.9, Sb 800 soft box camera left, Vivitar 285 and gridspot camera right

I first met Des about a year ago and given that he is a Building Surveyor we immediately had something in common; the recession. To all who know him he a very happy and sincere person and always has a great building site story!

Throughout this project I have constantly wondered what the next shot is going to be. Because I am invariably in a person's home or office and while often I know them, I don't know their house and given the timescales involved have no chance of a recce beforehand. But I had been to Des' house before so I remembered the glass dining table. So Des became the first reflection shot.

An Sb800 is in a softbox illuminating Des and not much else as I kept it quite close to him. To the right is the 285 with a gridspot that is pointed past Des and onto the wall behind. This separates Des from the background. Ten minute set up, shot done.

Project 52 ... 20

Put your hands together for Father Chris... in prayer that is...

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D200, Tamron 17 - 50 f2.8, SB 800, Vivitar 285

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Father Chris is the local Parish Priest. A very caring and giving priest, he looks after two parishes with two churches, so his time is precious. I was delighted when he agreed to let me take his portrait.

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This is the Altar of St Joseph's Church where we set everything up. Fr Chris could not have been more helpful; he suggested wearing his vestments, I wasn't sure if there might be Canon Law against wearing them for anything other than a mass, but he assured me otherwise! While he changed I set up my lights as you can see in the set up shot below.

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I then stepped back and took a wide shot to include the strobes. The Vivitar 285 is to camera left with a gridspot on it aimed at the Crucifix and the SB 800 is to camera right with a softbox on it, positioned to illuminate the top half of Fr Chris and to taper off towards the floor.

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Churches are serene and wonderful places. I enjoy photographing them in every way; the architecture is unique among all the architecture of the world. Indeed all places of worship are, whether its a standing stone, a temple or a church; they are all wonderful. Sometimes they are bright and airy, sometimes dark and moody. I like shadows and light together, I was looking for something in between.
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That evening it was very sunny outside and the light streaming in was interfering with the optical trigger on the Vivitar 285, the SB 800 was fine with its SU 4 built-in superslave. I eventually got the shot I wanted and one that says to me this is Fr. Chris' church. I want to say a big thank you Fr. Chris for having patience with me that evening!

Project 52 ... 15

This is the one and only Christopher...

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D200, Tamron 17 - 50, f2.8, Sb 800 + softbox , Vivitar 285 + gridspot, Sunpak behind

Christopher is standing on a layout space down the centre of the drawing office studio. An award wining architect, Christopher is leaving his mark on this land in the residential sector. His designs are innovative, both traditional and modern, and very well received. He is a much sought after designer. Unfortunately he doesn't appreciate my jokes... but that's another story.

I lit Christopher with an SB 800 in a softbox to camera left about six feet and 30 degrees to the front of him, it was probably at 1/2 power. A Vivitar was placed behind him at about 45 degrees and at 1/2 power, with a tight gridspot. About ten feet behind him was a small Sunpak flash with one manual 'full power' setting to give him an 'edge'.

I set this all up beforehand, again visualising the finished shot, did a few test shots, tweaked the aperture. The D200 was set to manual at 1/250th. Then all that was left was to call in Christopher, get him to climb on the table and shoot! As you can see I missed!

Project 52 ... 14

Say hello to Bev, or, as she is sometimes called; Carol Vordeman, you had to be there...
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D200, Tamron 17 - 50, f2.8, SB 800 in softbox camera left

A difficult shot - at least for me. The sun was blazing through a skylight just over Bev's head bouncing all over the place. So I dropped the exposure for the ambient as much as I dared to and then threw back in a little flash to make a subtle portrait of this lovely lady.

Project 52 ... 13

Meet Donald. A pillar of the community.
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D200, Tamron 17 - 50, f2.8, SB 800, softbox

This shot was taken one evening in March, when the weather was kind to us; it was warmer than expected. I say pillar of the community because Donald has given a lot of his time to being a school governor and has recently been recognised for it. He gives this time and expertise selflessly; a lesson to us all. This is a relaxed picture of Donald, being himself, in his own environment. He can also be seen here, in a more formal portrait.

The shot was very simply lit with an SB 800 in a softbox to camera right at about 30 degrees to Donald and slightly higher than him. I wanted to give the effect of ambient light coming through the French doors of an evening. I dropped the exposure on the ambient, set the camera at about 1/250th and tweaked the aperture until I got the shot I was looking for.

Project 52 ... 12

This is Maria.

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D200, Tamron 17 - 50, F2.8, SB 800 softbox camera left

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Maria is of Italian extraction which is given away by her beautiful continental looks, and photographing a beautiful lady is always very easy. She is a wonderful lady and great friend of the family

I placed an SB 800 in a diy softbox to camera left very close to Maria's face, but at such an angle that the reflection of it would not bounce off her glasses and into the lens; you want to be able to see through, her very fashionable, glasses! The resulting light was very soft and wrapped around her face perfectly. A bare flash would have been too harsh and the shadows hard and unflattering.

We spent about half an hour taking a few shots until I had the one I wanted. A great shoot, thanks Maria.

Project 52 ... 11

Meet Juanita, She is Headteacher of a primary school.
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D200, Tamron 17 - 50, f2.8, SB800 softbox, Vivitar 285

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There is an air about head teachers that is always there; it is tangible, real and everyone can feel and sense it; which is what I was trying to convey in the picture. But this is only evident if you are a good head teacher, and Juanita is. The school has gone form strength to strength under her direction. The children are making fantastic progress and are very happy, which is vital in a school. Everyone has a great respect for Juanita and the work she does. Long may it continue.

The set up was the same as the Governor's Formal Portrait setup, described here.