Gerard Maas Images

I did today my first shoot with a new set of Pocket Wizards MiniTT1 + FlexTT5.

In a typical indoor shoot like the one today, the IR communication would mostly work in the basic setups until I start moving around, getting too close to the softbox(es) or trying more tricky angles. In the past I’d have to revert to previous "known to work" positions and resume from there.

E-TTL is great for me, as I like to change my lights to follow the poses of the model in front but in the past, I’ve seen many black frames from that technique, sometimes breaking the flow of the shoot and affecting my mood.

But as from today, all that has changed. The radio communication of the PW TT1/TT5 units got me in every corner and for the first time I didn’t have to worry about turning heads (580’s heads–that is) to follow my movements around. The only black frame today was from empty batteries!

That was a great way to close the year.

A happy new year to all and great light in 2010.

-Gerard.

An experimental image taken during a photo session with Czech model Iva.

Light Info: one 580EX II on an Ezybox 60 in front and to the side and one 580EX + blue gel on the back directed to the model.
Combining different color temperatures in one image can give some interesting results.
-Gerard.

This image illustrates the use of the technique called “dragging the shutter”, combining ambient light with flash to have the “diamond” frozen in the air leaving a trail of movement going upwards that gives the impression of a magic levitation trick.

(tech info: 2 speedlites in softboxes at both sides and behind the subject, 1 speedlite on the background. Synchronized using a voice-activated shutter release. Canned mist for the mystery ambient)

I bought a nice pre-cut gel pack from at www.photogels.com
Since I got them, I’ve been looking to do some creative effects with them. I had the opportunity the other day, when I visited a fellow photographer Pablo Vicente and his girlfriend Stefanie. She was very patient with us while we tried and shared many different flash techniques.
It was a good opportunity to try a cross-color technique, using complementary colors on the lens and flash to achieve a radical result.

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This image was made using the CTO gel on the flash and a blue cokin filter on the lens.

Thanks to Pablo and Stefanie for the good day.

-Gerard . (more…)

It was a great pleasure to work with such capable and great models. Hopefuly I did them some justice preserving their beautiness in pixels.

Most of the portrait work was done using speedlites in combination with a Lastolite Ezybox 60cm.
speedlite_portraits/

Last weekend I had some time to do work some more with the Ezybox Hotshoe. Here’s a sample of what can be achieved with it.

This image illustrates few important points of using the Ezybox Hotshoe:

- Color Temperature - using a flash as main light provides us with a consistent color temperature of about 5500oK, the shadow where the girl is placed is actually much colder, which is visible on comparison image on the right. The portrait is much pleasing with the neutral-warm tones

- Light Control The light of the moment was quite harsh, coming slightly from the back and leaving most of the face in shadow. The Ezybox+580EX were used as main light. This was achieved in this case by decreasing the ambient exposure by 1 stop and using the flash without exposure compensation

- Portability Sorry to state the obvious but it’s really nice to have creative control over the light in the middle of the garden

The flash was used in automatic exposure mode (E-TTL) triggered by the controlled wireless ST-E2 on the camera.

is this info useful to you? Drop me a line with comments or questions. A more detailed review on handling the Ezybox Hotshoe is coming. If you have questions, now is the moment. - Gerard

This is a small test I did while walking in the woods. It was a rainy day and the natural light was very soft but totally unidirectional, revealing little structure in this mushroom. A perfect opportunity to try the Ezybox Hotshoe I was carrying with me during the walk.

The enhancing effect of the Ezybox on the image is evident. The light is very soft when compared to the bare flash on the camera, while the directionality reveals structure and creates a more three dimensional image of the mushroom.

I held the flash in position improvising with a stick of wood as ‘flash stand’. The flash was a Canon 580EX controlled wireless from the camera with a ST-E2 Wireless controller. The lateral placement of the Ezybox allows the line of sight between the controller on camera and the slaved flash on the Exzybox hotshoe mount.

Few minutes after the Ezybox was packed down and we could continue with the walk before the rain got us.

I’m still trying out the possibilities of this practical flash difusser. I’ll keep reporting my findings…

It seems logical to think about freezing during the winter, but fact is that we haven’t seen the first temperature under 0oC. Freezing time seems as appropriate.

Read more >>>

frozen/img_9614.jpg

Outline effect

To create this image, we used a Lastolite Ezybox fitted with a speedlite and we masked the middle of it with black velvet cardboard. The composition was placed in the blacked out area. The diffused light coming from the sides of the softbox enter the transparent surfaces at an angle, creating an outline effect on the coloured water and glass jars.

The speedlite was used in E-TTL mode, and was triggered using a ST-E2 on the EOS10D. We used a EF 100 f/2.8 Macro lens to take the image. For this technique, it’s very important to use a hood, to avoid flare from the side light.

Use a hood

To achieve a great backlight effect, the light source will be behind or almost behind the lens. In this case, it’s the natural light from the sun is enhancing the colours of this cactus rose leaf and flowers. We include here an image made with the same setup, but removed the hood from the EF 100f/2.8 macro lens to show the effect of flare on the image.

Focal Lenght

Certainly one critical decision point in any photography is the lens to be used. While it’s actually distance which determines the perspective on a subject, a focal lenght of a lens will allow you to play with that distance to achieve the desired perspective and composition.

This is a small comparison of four focal lenghts on a portrait of Anne Sophie.

Thanks to Anne Sophie for being such a great model!

All images were exposed: 160/f5.6 ISO 200 using the quite unstable natural light (fast passing clouds) combined with a very reliable speedlite 580EX diffused with a portable Lastolite Ezybox

Picture Styles

A new feature in the latests EOS Digital SLR’s. The Picture Styles allows you to tune the response of the sensor for specifical rendition of tonalities. It’s the digital equivalent of choosing different films like de saturated Velvia or the subtle Portra.