Why It’s OK to Put a Light in the “Wrong” Place
December 22, 2008 by David Bergman
They tell you to never look directly into the sun, right? Sometimes it’s fun to break the rules.
Last week I was on assignment shooting Shinedown at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ. I had very little time to make a portrait, so I did a quick CYA shot and then moved the guys over to a couch in the corner.
At camera left, I put a big softbox with two SB-900 strobes on a dual-flash speed ring. Nothing too crazy there.
But then I took an SB-800 and placed it under the couch, pointing straight out at me. I set the light on manual at full power and used Pocket Wizards to trigger everything.
So, what happened? The softbox did exactly what it was supposed to do. It gave me nice, soft, light falling evenly across the frame. There’s a reflection off the texture on the wall at far right, but I kind of like it.
What about that little “sun” on the floor? It completely blew out (there is absolutely no detail in there) and even flared out over Brent’s leg.
This is a no-no in some photography circles, but I like the way it looks. It adds a bit of grunginess to the image.
I did my RAW conversion, basic toning, and vignetting in Aperture. Then I brought it into Photoshop to play with the color tone for the final result.
For the concert a few hours later, I did something similar. I put a blue-gelled SB-900 in the far corner near the back of the stage. I asked for permission from the tour manager and he said it was OK, but if it affected the band during the show I’d have to turn it off. No problem.
I got about 20 frames before the sound guy sitting near my light pushed it over. I asked him what happened and he said that the flash was bothering him.
Too bad. The images were looking pretty good despite the fact that, once again, I was shooting right into the strobe. All of the red light from the front is the club’s lighting while the blue in the back and on the ceiling is all coming from my strobe.
I would have liked to shoot the whole show like that, but I still made a few other nice frames after putting the flash away. I especially like this one in black and white.
Ideally, I’d like to have at least two strobes firing — one in the back and another one in the front. I’d put them off camera and out to the side so I don’t blind the band with every shot.
It’s OK to break the rules, but I still wouldn’t want the band looking directly into the sun. Or my strobe.
I love shooting directly into light, be it for gigs or landscapes! Rules are only there to be broken…
I don’t what I like more….
These images or “Breaking the Law, Breaking the Law” lol
The texture on the wall is great. One more light just duplicating that effect on the other wall would have been great too.
The black and white is a great effect. I will try you idea on some of our dungeon scenes. Thanks for the information.
JohnDocker
“Scars are tattoos with better stories.”
Have you tried this set-up triggering with the SU-800? Would that work too? I’m just wondering. And thanks for the hint with the dual flash speed ring. Where did you mount the Pocket Wizard and how is it conected to the flashheads? Do you your SB-900 connected to a external powersource such as Quantum Turbo Battery?
To use the SU-800, I would have needed a clear “line of sight” between it and the strobe’s infrared sensor. Since the strobe was under the couch and behind a leg, it would not have worked.
The alternative would have been to use my radiopoppers, but I still would have had to set that strobe an manual instead of TTL. Since the camera is seeing the strobe, it would have dialed the output way down in TTL mode.
Dig it! Create the light you want. I meet so many young ‘uns that use poor light as an excuse. My old picture editor at the Chicago Sun-Times, Bob Kotalik said, “Kid come back with a good shot, we don’t publish excuses here.” I love playing with small strobes and putting light anywhere you want. I agree rules were meant to be broken.
David, great shots. I shot this exact same show, probably bumped into you in the pit without knowing it. I like the effect of the blue gelled strobe on stage, and I relaly like what you did backstage with the strobe under the couch, great work. I notice in the backstage portrait there’s no Nick, did they leave him out purposely since he was leaving the band soon?
I was wondering if I could request a favor from you, if you don’t mind, would you check out my website and take a look at the Shinedown photos from this gig and give me a professional critique? If not I understand, but I’d appreciate your input.
Thanks, Rob. I’m sure we saw each other, but I tried to mostly stay out of the pit at the beginning of the show so you guys could all get your shots. I had plenty of time during the rest of the show. I made that portrait at the back near the bar right as fans were starting to come in!
When the guys came out and there were only four, I said “aren’t there five guys in the band?” and they just said, “nope.” I didn’t push any further and found out a few days later that Nick was leaving the band. I’m pretty sure these are the first photos of them as a four piece.
Ah, yep, now I recognize the couch. Nick was one hell of a showman, gonna miss him the next time they come around.
Hey! Some awesome photos you have here :]
Love this shot, the first one, rules are only made to be broken, I agree with the commenter who said that before
=]
Very nice. I like the effect this technique has. Mind if I borrow it?
Thanks for sharing.
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