The SMUGS Blog

The Vancouver Island SMUG held it’s meeting at Studio on the Rock in Lantzville, owned by Frederic Robinson, with over 20 members in attendance. This was very fun SMUG put together by the guys from Vivid Photography, Neil and Adam, to give everyone a taste of lighting in different situations.

Neil and Adam, with the help of Dirk Heydemann, broke us up into three groups. Neil’s station was set up inside and gave everyone a look at different studio lighting set ups. Neil had four different set ups and everyone had an opportunity to shoot with them to see what they liked best. The setups consisted of a large Octabank and a strip light in back, both on and off. Then we moved to a medium sized rectangular softbox, then a large umbrella and the final set up was a beauty dish. Some of us also used a small grid spot on the hair as a hair light. It was very interesting to see the changes that were evident by each different set up. Below is a picture taken with the beauty dish.

Dirk’s station was located outside and consisted of two cars to photograph courtesy of Ronald and Rachel Kirk and Frederic. Dirk showed us several different off camera flash set ups, natural light tips such as using a polarizer to cut the reflections down, and some light painting.

Adam was running the third station which consisted of an outdoor model shot using off camera flash. Adam discussed several different light modifiers such as softboxes and umbrellas, and we were given the opportunity to work with them while photographing the model.

It was a great evening which introduced everyone to the many different types of lights, modifiers and setups and gave everyone the opportunity to work with them. As Neil mentioned while we were at his station, there are classic lighting set ups that are tried and true, but it is always good to experiment, to find what you like, to be creative and to find your own style.

Submitted by the Vancouver Island Scribe: Todd Ross

Todd Ross is an amateur photographer that is hoping to make the jump to professional in the next few years. He mostly shoots Landscape, Nature and Sports, but he is going to try his hand at some Portraits in the near future.