The night before I flew out of Nepal to Hong Kong I had the chance to quickly go out with my strobes and grab a few shots around the district.  It was a blast, but was cut short by a sudden onslaught of food poisoning and low batteries.

Enjoy.

Todays Tech Tuesday is all about lighting.

Let me start by saying that there are some travel photographers that won’t go near artificial lighting – I am not one of those.  I’m not discriminating between those who use artificial light and those who don’t.  I don’t really draw a strong distinction between the two, other than to say I love natural light just as much as I love lighting setups in many ways – it just happens to be the lighting setups that get my blood rushing and make me excited about being a photographer.  If you are one of the strictly natural light guys, no worries – unfortunately you might not get much out of this post other than maybe some information you can store away for when you do pick up a strobe,.

Moving on…

Over the last month I’ve been asked several times about what lighting setups I use while I’m on the field.

Here is my typical field setup.

Just a quick list of what you see above

1. 2x Westcott 43″ convertible umbrellas (here)
2. 2x multiclamps w/ shoe mounts (here)
3. 2x Nikon sb-24’s (here)
4. 2x Manfrotto Nano Portable light stands (here)
5. 1x Paul C. Buff CyberSync Trigger Controller (here)
6. 2x Paul C. Buff CyberSync Trigger Receiver (here)
7. 1/8th gridspot (here)
8. Lightsphere, rechargeable batteries, red bungie things, tape

The real beauty of this setup is in the fact that it takes up very little space in my bag and it was super cheap compared to most setups.  I’ve taken this exact setup all over SE Asia without thinking twice.  If you’re setup is too big or you have the mental conversation about “should I take it or not” , you probably wont take it, and in my opinion, the setup is too big for you to easily get out, set up, and capture a killer shot if the situation arises.  Food for thought:  It took me less than 3 minutes to get this shot from having nothing setup – here’s what I got. The setup can be seen here.

A closer look after the break…

1. 2x Westcott 43″ convertible umbrellas

First, this is no octabank, softbox, or even a large light modifier.  You aren’t going to get that super super soft and flattering light from these little guys, but hey, we are going for transportability and the 43″ seems to be the middle road between quality and size – and honestly, the qualities really not that bad.  These pack down very small and will fit in any decent sized camera bag and will even fit into some satchels.  One thing about the convertibles – you will noticed I’ve gotten rid of the cover that makes it into a bounce umbrella.  Why?  I lost them on the field.  I prefer the shoot through because it’s one less thing to put on, forget, or break – remember, the ability to get this thing setup asap is going to play a lot into being able to pull of these kinds of shots on the field.

2.  2x multiclamps w/ shoe mounts

You just have to have these.  This is actually maybe the most awkward part of the setup as far as packing goes.  The reason for that lies in the fact that these material used on these is small but because of the levers it actually ends up taking a bit of space and being just bulky.  Nonetheless, you have to have these unless you plan on taping the light to the stand – which is not advised.

3. 2x Nikon sb-24’s – The actual flashes

I already know what a few of you are thinking – “Why is he using those old flashes?!”  Lot’s of reasons.  Firstly, I paid $80 USD for these killer flashes just over a year ago.  They get awesome reviews.  They are cheap, strong as a rock, easy to rebuild, have easily accessible pc sync port(s) and are incredibly easy to use.  Plus, they have been around forever  The full manual controls force someone who is just starting off to learn their flash rules rather than just relying on iTTL right out of the gate – which is important.  Plus my buddy Zack would kill me.  Most of all, if I break both of them in one day, I’m out $200 USD rather than breaking one sb0-900 that would cost me over twice as much.  Simplicity is key here. **the sb-24’s are actually difficult to find now, thanks to The Strobist blog review – your best bet is second hand through Adorama or B&H

4. 2x Manfrotto Nano Portable light stands

I can’t give these stands enough praise.  They are light and tough as nails.  I’ve had these stepped on, trampled by yaks, and consistently thrown around and they have taken the beating w/o any problems at all.  A drawback is that these will definitely have to be held up in any sort of wind and their max height is about 1.9 meters.  I can get it to around 2.2 meters, but it’s pretty unstable at that point.  Nonetheless, these things are amazing for what they do and how easy they are to transport and setup.  Manfrotto knows what’s going on and they made an incredible light stand for travelling photographers.

5.  Paul C. Buff CyberSync Triggers and Controllers

I’m going to cover the Paul C. Buff products together.  Let me start on this one by saying that there are just about a billion triggers and controller systems out there – I’m not saying these are the best by any stretch of the imagination.  However, I knowingly chose the CyberSyncs for a few reasons.  Anyone familiar with Paul C. Buff products can vouch for their exceptional customer service.  In short, I needed a company that wouldn’t give me fits about replacing something (most of the time for free) and shipping it overseas.  In addition, these things are cheap, small, and incredibly reliable.  For the price of one Pocket Wizard item (receiver or transmitter) you could buy an entire remote setup from good ol’ Paul C.  Granted Pocket Wizards are truly awesome, it would be hard to justify taking them where I go and replacing them would put a serious dent in my budget.

6.  1/8th gridspot

This product is a nice little gridspot with velcro that you can attach to the head of your strobe.  Small, light, made of plastic so it won’t break.  Great to have in the bag and one that goes with me just about everywhere.  If you aren’t familiar with why you should have a gridspot, check out these links:

• Strobist on gridspots
• How to use a gridspot

7.  Fong Dong, tape, rechargeable batteries, bungies, etc

• Gary Fong Light Sphere – Everyone is probably familiar with the Fong Dong – creates beautiful soft light from an on camera flash (here)
• Tape – Always gotta have it.  That’s all.
• Batteries – I take tons of Chinese batteries along with me, but these seem to actually last longer.  Pretty generic.
• Bungee cords – These rock.  I use them to attach just about everything to just about everything else (here)

I hope that helps answer some of the questions that have been coming in lately.  I took just a few reference shots for you guys – they are all listed below.  Basically all my lit work is with a similar setup, so you can see the versatility that comes with it – not all of these are “travel photog” shots – but you get the point.  The great thing about this is that it’s light, fast, and cheap.

]]> http://www.brianhirschy.com/mobile-lighting-for-travel-photography/feed/ 8 http://www.brianhirschy.com/reasons-to-do-a-self-portrait-series/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=reasons-to-do-a-self-portrait-series http://www.brianhirschy.com/reasons-to-do-a-self-portrait-series/#comments Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:37:49 +0000 bhirschy http://www.brianhirschy.com/?p=71

So I love portraits.

Since I’ve moved into a new complex and the locals are getting used to us, the culturally relevant and respectful portrait opps have been sparse.  So what do you do when there is no one to shoot and your creative juices are flowing?  In my case, the self portrait.

I love the self portrait.

Around 3 months ago I had the idea to do a 30 day self portrait series with a certain amount of creative resctrictions.  The restrictions were as following:

• I could use two strobes, but they must be in the same position and power settings.
• I had to take the shot at the same time of day
• At that time, I had to stop what I was doing and incorporate what I was doing into the shot
• If I wasn’t home, then no worries
• I had three exposures to play with
• Same focal length, camera settings, etc

The setup

• 35mm 1.8 Nikkor
• Taped off: Tripod Location, Camera mount on RRS head & L Plate, taped off tripod head settings, Taped off my position
• Wireless Remote Shutter release
• Shot against a white, concrete, bland, cold, Chinese plastered wall

So take a look at these next 14(hardly 30, we will address that) images from a 30 day self portrait series and then we will discuss what you can learn about photography, lighting, and yourself after these images.

Congrats.  You made it through 14-some-odd pictures of one ugly guy.  For that, you deserve some application.

Things I learned

1. Make sure your restrictions actually help. If you will notice, towards the end of my self-portrait series lots of other stuff other than me ended up in the pictures.  Truth be told, I was bored with the same focal length, distance, setup, etc.  Though the idea was good, I was tired of having gaffers (consistency, remember) tape on my camera, my tripod, my floor, my wall, etc.

2. It’s a series; make the pictures connect somehow. Talk about balance.  First I say loosen the rules and now I say figure out a way to make it all connect.  Naturally there is a bit of coherency since YOU are the subject. However, a bunch of pictures of yourself that you took is not necessarily a self portrait series.

3.Plan Ahead – If you are planning on getting 30 pictures in 30 days, you need to do some planning – especially if you want them to be interesting.  Much like a 365 project, it’s really difficult to do if you aren’t ready for it.

4.Learn - Man, do I just sound like a Jr. High Basketball Coach now?  Seriously.  Do it with the point of learning, EVEN if its learning how one lens reacts to certain conditions or how a white wall with two strobes in a 10ft x 10ft room will react at 6pm.  Be conscious of what it is you are doing and what effects that has on the outcome of your capture.  I now that sounds like pretty obvious advice – and it is to some degree – but I guarantee you that the more conscious you are during those 30 days the better photographer you will end up being.  Be aware… and expose right(kidding, kinda)

5. Notice what variables might be changing – Same setup, same strobe powers, same lens, camera, position – different exposures.  Why.  Well, I moved alot and that has an affect on strobe placement results.  How will that work with a future client when you have everything set the way you want it and then all the sudden they, like people tend to do, move.  For you LOST watchers out there, as Daniel Faraday would say “We are the variables, Jack! We change the equation!”

Also, I live near mountains and on the 4th floor of a big apartment complex.  The seasons were changing and the ambient light in my office/studio changed very rapidly from one week to the next which in turn changed the effects on the later shots.  My rules were set – I inadvertently, through my rules to maintain consistency, cause inconsistency.

One last thing that I won’t include in the “What I learned” section.  Just find a way to shoot.  For me this was inspired out of moving to a different location that to eventually get the kinds of shots I want, is going to take time.  Not picking up your camera does NOTHING to help progress towards that end goal.  I am a people person – I love shooting people, however, I live in a very culturally paranoid place.  Don’t stand still – if you know the shot you want to get but don’t have the subject, figure out how can create that shot with YOU in it instead.  All that being said, don’t settle for the self portrait.

It’s like fasting – people do it for a reason.

How do you shoot what you love and actualize your vision in an environment that encourages something else?

Some necessary back story. I live in far Western China as a photographer, photo business owner, and teacher.  A travel photographers dream, right?  Travel photography I like, but I don’t absolutely love it.  I don’t hate it by any means and in fact I really enjoy it.  See the difference there?  I walk down the street every day and pass highly interesting subjects from 6 different minority and ethnic groups.  Monks, Muslims, Chinese, Mongolians, and a few that 99.9% of the world wouldn’t recognize.  It’s a truly awesome place to live and run a business.  Photographically I’ve had to dig to find my gold.

WHAT IS YOUR VISION?

Before I even start this section, if you are reading this, go buy David duChemin’s VisionMongers. David articulately put to words quiet a few things I had been thinking for a long time and expresses much better than what I’m going to say here.  Most, if not all, of the ideas and concepts I’m refering to here he covers with a wealth of knowledge and wisdom that is well beyond mine. <end pub>.

But seriously guys and gals, what IS your vision?

I wrestled with this question in a 9 round cage match to the death.  This is where the killer blows landed – every time I was out shooting something I thought to myself “Man, what would that look like on white seamless?” or “What could I do with an umbrella and some hot-shoe flashes here?”  It’s a lot like the Flipping a Coin method of decision making.  You flip and coin and in that instant you know which one you are hoping for.  It’s certainly not that easy but I found myself coming back to off camera lighting work, lighting setups, modern vs. ancient, high contrast.

I love taking multiple, off-camera flash shots of an ancient culture – that’s contrasty and I love it.  Now, if you didn’t see the different before, see it now.

I really enjoy travel photography, but I LOVE lighting it.

I get goosebumps thinking about it.  I love lighting. Dare I say, it brings me joy (LIGHTS//CAMERA//JOY). LOVE.IT

I sit in my office late at night taking test shots of myself – firstly because no one else is around and secondly in order to see how it would make something ancient look modern when out and about.  I take what I see other people doing with full studios and try my damnest to recreate it with something I could carry on my back.  I try to see how far I can make two hotshoe flashes go.  Heck, I’ve woken up in the middle of the night with some lighting setup in my brain and was compelled to act on it that instant(having no kids and a supportive wife required).  I’ve started to describe myself as a studio photographer happily living in the Third World.  You see where Im going with this?  As David duChemin says in VisionMongers, “We shoot best what we love best.”

THE WHINY PHOTOGRAPHER

The Whiny Photographer phenomenon happens to most everyone I know and for a whole gauntlet of reasons.  I have landed squarely, embarrassingly, and undeniably in this category more times than I would ever wish for more frequently than I want.  The Whiny Photographer is the one who focuses on things like “Man, I’d love to shoot what that guys shooting.” or “I can’t do that without (insert gear here).” or “I just can’t do that here.” or “Yeah, but he has a great opportunity for ….”.

Focuses on- NOT NECESSARILY expresses regret, desire, or missed opportunity. FOCUSES ON!

The Whiny Photographer breeds discontent, burn-out, lack of motivation, and a general lethargy.  You probably will never kill the little Whiny Photographer thats inside of us all, that’s not necessarily the point.  The point is to not let it get in the way of opportunities, hustling, passion, desire, and finding YOUR vision and way of doing things.  When the Whiny Photographer is out, these things are rarely in coexistence.

OPPORTUNITIES

We all have different opportunities because we are different people in different places with different passions and completely different life stories.  You undeniably see EVERYTHING at least a little different than I do.  That, my friends, is awesome.

<the point>DO WHAT YOU WANT WITH WHAT YOU HAVE.</the point>Turn that unique set of variables into something you are passionate about, have a vision for, and LOVE doing.  What would the photographic community have to offer if every photographer expressed and produced vision oriented work of the opportunities they had where they were instead of praying they they win that Twitter competition from Scott Bourne so they can start being a “real photographer” with that 5D Mark II. It’s there, it’s work, it’s hard, it’s buried, it’s dirty- get the shovel and start digging.

WHAT IM NOT SAYING

I’m not saying I don’t whine and I’m not saying that I don’t look at opportunities that other people have and absolutely lust over it.  I’m not saying that I don’t wish weekly that I had a full studio with built-in white seamless and 1600 sq ft. of working space with studio monitors and lights out the tailpipe.  I’m not saying any of that.  It’s about focus…remember.

Every day I see my friends Zack Arias, Stephen Hunton, Shaun Menary, and Phil Thomas (to name a few) capitalize on opportunities that I don’t have, in a studio I don’t have, with interesting people that don’t live here, with resources that don’t exist within 3,000 miles of me.  I don’t ignore that by any means and I’m not saying it doesn’t affect me.  I am saying this – it should serve to help refine my vision and puts a fire under me to do it differently – the way I want with what I have.

Inversely, I also bet that those guys have never had a Tibetan Monk walk into their house BEGGING for a picture or photographed a nomads first visit to a city or had the opportunity to capture a child monks love for basketball.

I’m also not saying that you should settle where you are either, obviously.  If you love shooting big cities, Nowhereville, Kansas might not work out for you.  Count the cost and do what’s necessary.  What I am saying is there are opportunities in Nowhereville, Kansas that only you have.period.

Like I said, this has been 4 months of soul-searching that have culminated in these thoughts.  I’ve been accused of everything I’ve listed here and will continue to be accused of letting The Whiny Photographer out of the bag, and too often.  I’m not travailing against anything here but myself.

Cheers,

-B