X-Rite Colorchecker Passport

X-Rite's ColorChecker Passport is a color chart that fits in your pocket. X-Rite's Lightroom plugin will analyze the colors and create an ICC profile. This profile will ensure the color that the camera captures match the color on the chart. The results are small, but noticeable.

A stand-alone version is also included for those who use Photoshop, but do not use Lightroom. Currently, only Adobe products are supported (as they use ICC profiles).

By default, photos that are imported into Lightroom use the Adobe Standard profile. I shoot the ColorChecker Passport under each new lighting setup and create an associated profile. It's probably overkill, but it's fairly quick and painless. Only white balance and the profile are applied to the photos below.

Many thanks to Eric for being my ColorChecker passport model extraordinaire. I promised to post a few shots as Eric made a different expression for each test shot.

For more information on how to use the ColorChecker passport and some extra examples, visit their website.

The Flash Bus 2011 - Portland

When Chris, Eric and I heard that Strobist (David Hobby) and Joe McNally were going to do a joint seminar, we purchased our tickets as soon as they became available. If you're interested in lighting, I highly recommend snagging a ticket if one is available. The whole day was very informative, entertaining and went by in a flash. ;)

David Hobby discussed how he approaches lighting during the morning session. He starts off by assessing the available light, and then adds light starting with those that are generally run at lower power and works his way on up. This approach allows you to see the the effect of each light instead of cavalierly setting up all of your lights and crossing your fingers.

Building from the bottom up

• Ambient
• It's important to know the quality and amount of available light, even if you decide not to use it.
• To determine the direction of the light, underexpose it.
• Fill
• Fill allows you to set a "floor" for the image and set contrast range.
• Fill can "create an ambient" light if you choose to decide not to use the existing ambient.
• David Hobby often uses a ring flash to provide shadowless fill.
• For highly reflective subjects, increase the size of the light source to reduce specularity.  You can bounce or fire the light through a large sheet to achieve this. Another alternative is to move the fill light to a better position.
• Key
• With the fill as a safety net, you have more freedom to experiment with your key.
• Accent
• Adding a background light, hair, rim , etc. 

Photo by David Hobby shown at The Flash Bus tour to demonstrate lighting from the bottom up.

Setup shot for the image above. I took photos of the slides, hence the heads in the shots as well as the horrible color casts.

A few thoughts from David Hobby and Joe McNally

• Shoot a photo from the perspective of the light source to see how the light falls (to compensate for modeling lights).
• Use a light meter for repeatability and to determine relative power levels of lights.
• One light for shape, one light for detail. Stated another way: One light for controlled fill, one light for character.
• When you're happy with the shot, push yourself some more. You've spent the time setting up the light, so make sure you've gotten some good subject interaction. Think of it as the last wind sprint at the end of a race.
• Flickr is a great way to do location scouting.

McNally showing how it's done

Memorable Quotes from The FlashBus 2011 - Portland

Joe McNally

• "The miracle of small flash: It fits in your bag; You just need 5 people to help you."
• Spoken when McNally had multiple assistants hand holding 3 or 4 reflectors.
• "I do trust the equipment to the point that it screws me over - then I go to manual."
• Regarding using strobes in TTL mode
• "I never met anyone that I couldn't overlight."
• "I don't get too fussy on location - You can't afford to be."
• "David and I constructed the 'Tree of Woe'."

David Hobby

• "This is light that really doesn't look like light. This is where I am trying to go lately."
• "When I was 22 I tried to solve every problem, but I tended to beat the interesting out of the picture."
• "We define dark subjects with specular highlights. We define light subjects with shadows."
• "Digital giveth and digital taketh away."

David Hobby's mother:

• "Did I just see you on national television in your underwear?"

Phillip

Phillip gave us a hard time for shooting too many female models and not having enough "gritty realism". Eric turned the tables and had Phillip model for us the following weekend, complete with a week-long mustache. Dave Reeves graciously loaned us his father's early 1940's era car, which proved to be quite a diversion from our usual location.

Using our speedlights in a small, highly reflector interior proved to be a time-consuming mental ray tracing exercise. In retrospect it would have been best to have worked our lighting from the bottom up (Ambient > Fill > Key > Accent - more on this in an upcoming post). After a few umbrellas and moving Phillip one seat back we found the shots we were looking for.

I ended up liking the pose, but the background didn't quite fit. There's just something a little creepy about it. ;)

We ended up going for a blue gel in the end, which suits the pose and expression better.

The composite was straightforward.The Pen Tool was used to extract Phillip from the background. Select > Color Range was used to select the orange rim light on the shoulder and hat.

Retouching & post-production links

FstoppersPPT YouTube channel by Sean Armenta

• Pen Tool - highly recommended if you haven't used the pen tool before
• Brush & Patch Tool
• Clone Stamp

Retouching tutorials - by Christy Schuler

• Skin
• Symmetry
• Eyes
• Hair
• Contouring

Lighting Info

Umbrella camera left and right. Double blue gel on a speedlight on the "backdrop". Water and oil to create the "raindrops" on the back of the car. Glycerin and water should work better, but oil was readily on hand. Adding rubber cement to the mix makes the droplets permanent. Not quite something you would want to do for a car, but a useful trick to keep around.

Lindsay

It's been a while since I've had a chance to post some photos on the blog. Eric and I have done 4 photo shoots since Serena, so expect to see some most posts within the near future. Finals are two weeks away, so I expect to be caught up once finals are done.

After a overcast week we ended up with a wonderfully sunny afternoon. Mike came along to assist on the shoot and was put to good use holding up a large (41"x74") translucent screen. It diffuses the light from the sun and creates a large soft light. It's a wonderful tool, it's just not as sturdy as I would like. It's essentially a very cheap version of the Sun Swatter.

To make the most of the wonderful weather we shot outside by the trains near Touchet. Near sunset we drove a few miles to Lovers Lane and finished off the shoot there. Big thanks to Lindsay for coming out and being a great model.

 

 

 

Lighting info

Train: The Elinchrom Octa Light Bank (camera left) was used as main, along with a Photoflex 41"x74" translucent screen to soften the light from the sun. A 42" reflector + SB-600 was brought in for fill (camera right). The first shot was lit with natural light + reflector.

Lovers Lane: Elinchrom 39" Deep Octa as main.

Serena

This is the first time I've been to the 3rd floor of Rigby Hall. Eric and I ended up shooting on the greenhouse side while proved to be quite interesting. Unfortunately nothing is actually growing in the greenhouse except for a few hearty cactus. Serena modeled for us and did a wonderful job.

Lighting info:
1 & 2: 39" Octabox with both diffusion panels
3: 22" Beauty Dish with grid
4: 22" Beauty Dish
5 & 6: 22" Beauty Dish camera right, 39" Octabox with no diffusion panels camera left

Modifier Comparison: 74" Elinchrom Octa Light Bank, 39" Elinchrom Deep Octa Box, 22" Kacey Enterprises Beauty Dish

I currently own 3 modifiers for my Elinchrom lights:

• 74" Octa Light Bank
• An indirect light bank that has one diffusion panel
• 39" Deep OctaBox
• A direct light bank that has an inner and outer diffusion panel. Deflectors can be added directly in front of the strobe due to the placement of the Elinchrom umbrella mount.
• 22" Kacey Enterprises Beauty Dish
• A beauty dish made of high impact plastic. An optional grid or diffusion panel can be placed in front of the dish.

I have been wanting to test and compare the light from each modifier for quite some time now. Eric graciously agreed to model for me and acquired the studio for a few hours.

The front of the light modifier was placed in the same location (roughly arms length away), and the background is approximately 8 to 10 feet behind Eric. A Sekonic L-358 was used to meter and adjust light levels for each modifier. All images were processed at 4900°K.

Click on any of the images to open them.
 

Octa Light Bank + Diffusion Panel

Octa Light Bank

Deep Octa + Inner + Outer Diffusion Panels

Deep Octa + Inner Diffusion Panel

Deep Octa + Silver Deflector

Deep Octa (bare)

Beauty Dish + Diffusion Panel

Beauty Dish (bare)

Beauty Dish + Grid

Bare Bulb

Maja

Eric and I went location hunting the day after Ashley's shoot and found two locations. The original plan had been a vineyard photoshoot, but due to all of the snow melting we decided to do some last minute scouting. The weather was still a frigid 30-35 °F, but Maja was able to hop in and out of the car while we were changing lighting setups or moving locations.

Lighting info at the bottom of the post.















Lighting info:

Pallets: Gridded 22" Beauty Dish
Deteriorated building: 39" Deep Throat Octabox with silver deflector
Final shot: 39" Deep Throat Octabox with silver deflector and front diffusion panel.