Strobezilla.com

August 10th, 2008 Dave Scott

Since this site is supposed to deal with all things related to a photo business I don’t think it is right to load it up with photo shoots, lighting diagrams, and equipment use. This would be very easy to do because of the amout that I shoot. To remedy this, I created a new website which will feature actual shoots including equipment used, reasons behind decisions, final results as chosen by myself, a photo editor, or art director, etc., etc., etc.

The image at the top of the page is from an assignment which was to illustrate an athlete that is giving up a sport in favor of another sport and his job.

Please check out strobezilla.com.

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My Son’s First Real Shoot

May 29th, 2008 Dave Scott

My son Ryan (16) was putting together a video for a project at school. The video documented parts of his life and also the fact that he would like to be a photographer. Well the time came to do a complete shoot WITHOUT DAD present. Assisting him and shooting the video is Ryan’s older brother Jordan (17). Jordan also did the editing for Ryan’s project. I took this clip out of the finished product and replaced the copyrighted music that he used with a loop. This all took me about 15 minutes so I hope you can bear with the quality.

This should inspire some of you that email me with questions and lack confidence. All of the lighting was designed and set up by two teenagers. Don’t over think your lighting. Remember, main light, fill (if needed), accent light (if needed and/or you want it), and background light (if needed and/or you want it). For this shoot the guys used a medium softbox at f8.0, fill light was a white, reflective umbrella at f5.6, hair light was a 7 inch reflector with a 20 degree grid at f8.0.5 (yes, we still use a light meter that is about a couple decades old), and the background light is a 7 inch reflector with a 20 degree grid at f8.0.5.

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Posted in Equipment, Misc, Shooting | 1 Comment »

Keep It Simple When Time Is Very Limited

May 17th, 2008 Dave Scott

My oldest son, Jordan, is a vocalist and he was one of the leads in the musical Fiorello which was performed by his high school drama and vocal classes. I decided to offer to shoot photos for the performers because of their dedication to the project. They were rehearsing into the night. They were also serving as their own stage crew.

During the final dress rehearsal I found that the stage lighting was not acceptable for photographs. There were far too many hot spots and dark spots. We ended up shooting with our strobes in the two hour time slot between the final two performances.

Because time was so limited and the sets and the cast would vary I went with a lighting set up that offered a lot of soft, even coverage. Two 400 w/s monolights were placed just out of camera view stage left and stage right. Two 400 w/s monolights in reflective white umbrellas were also just out of camera view (left and right) and at the front of the stage. I also added a Nikon SB-800 with its diffusion dome at the middle of the stage near the first row of seats to kick a little light into the shadows. My background metered half way between f5.6 and f8. The subject area metered at f8. I used an 85 mm lens from about 8 rows back.

Ryan and I worked extremely hard to get everyone included. We ended up just getting our cart full of equipment off the stage right when seating for the final show began.

Oh yeah, Jordan played the part of Morris and is the seated, middle aged man in the above photograph.

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Shooting In The Sun At Noon

April 29th, 2008 Dave Scott

I read quite often on forums and hear in person how so many photographers feel they cannot shoot in midday sun. I was recently out on a senior portrait shoot. We started in the morning and went till about noon. The sun was high in the sky. There was a shot that I wanted to get on a bridge.

To create the shot seen above, I positioned Mariah with her back to the sun. This made perfect sense because, in the studio, I normally use strobes with 20 degree grids for hair and accent lights. For a main light I used a 20 year old Vivitar 285 HV flash mounted on a light stand. The flash was fired through a shoot through umbrella at full power. It was positioned to camera left and about 5 feet from Mariah. The strobe was fired the old fashioned way… with a sync cor.

The dark eyes are not from lack of light. It is from eye liner which is applied a bit heavy. Nonetheless, that is the way Mariah does her make-up and this shoot is all about capturing her.

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Clamshell Beauty Lighting

March 26th, 2008 Dave Scott

Brittany is a great make-up artist and likes to model on the side. I wanted to shoot some images for a class that I teach to demonstrate to my photo students how color can greatly enhance an image. The photo I envisioned was a standard beauty shot with Brittany wearing a white, off the shoulder top and the lighting being the clamshell style beauty lighting. The added color would come from the background only. The class saw two versions of the image, the image shown here and one with a pure white background. For this article we will only discuss the image to the left.

For the background I used yellow seamless paper. To gradate the background from orange to yellow-orange I added a strobe with a red gel. In the image, you can see that the background is orange at the top and yellow-orange at the bottom. I encourage you to play around with background lights. Watch the changes that happen when you change gel colors, background paper colors, and don’t forget to change the intensity of your background light. You will be amazed at the endless background combinations. Remember my philosophy is to experiment with your lighting. It’s the best and most fun way to learn.

To light Brittany, I used a very large light source. A 77 x 77 inch aluminum Photoflex frame fitted with a white translucent skin, and two strobes with wide angle reflectors shooting through. The frame was supported 2 Matthews C-Stands, held in place with 25 pound sandbags. The frame was lifted such that its bottom was about 42 inches off the ground. Brittany was kneeling on the floor. This kept the height of the Photoflex frame manageable. If you look in Brittany’s eyes you will see the main catchlights just above her pupils. The large secondary catchlights below the pupils were created with the bottom of our clamshell lighting set-up. Normally, I use a large reflector for this purpose but in this case we had white seamless paper still on the floor from a previous shoot. The light from our main light above reflected back up from the white seamless creating the beautiful secondary catchlights and filled in the shadows below the chin.

The image of Brittany is just as it came out of the camera with the exception of a spot of acne that I removed in Photoshop. Above is a diagram of the lighting set-up.
SHOPPING LIST

• Photoflex 77 x 77 Aluminum Frame
• Photoflex 77 x 77 White Translucent Skin/Fabric
• Matthews 40 inch C-Stand
• Matthews 25 Pound Sandbag
• Seamless Background Paper 107″ x 12 yards Deep Yellow

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Posted in Equipment, Shooting | 4 Comments »

Just Shoot It

March 20th, 2008 Dave Scott

Cruising around the internet forums and talking in person with other photographers it seems that so many wish they had better camera bodies and/or lenses, always wanting the flagship products that their brand has to offer. Don’t forget, of course, the forum kings that brag about all of the top of the line equipment that they own and use which just adds to the camera envy.

Get equipment that will get the job done for you. Remember, you are in business to make a living, not to brag about equipment. Almost all of the email I receive from Business For Photographers readers states that you folks are wanting to start or improve portrait photography businesses. I’m going to approach this with Nikon examples because that’s what I shoot and am familiar with but I am sure you are all familiar with your own brand’s camera models.

In the summer of 2005 I went digital. I purchased 2 Nikon D50 cameras with the kit lenses. These cameras were about $700 each. This summer will mark 3 years with that $1400 investment. Even though all of my old manual focus lenses work with my digital bodies I didn’t waste money on more camera body than I needed. Over 3 years those D50s have cost me $467 per year. Compare that to my colleagues in my area who shoot less than I do and for lower rates that have purchased 3 Nikon D2x bodies. That’s $15,000! Make your choices wisely and keep a business mind. If your business truly needs a $5000 camera in order to add to your bottom line then by all means do what you need to do to get that camera. Otherwise, get the camera that will do the job to your satisfaction. My D50s have been used for 20×24 portrait enlargements, have shot magazine covers, and numerous magazine spreads.

The photo students in one of my classes were complaining about the “crappy” cameras they had available to them in class. They were Canon Powershot S2 IS cameras which can be seen to the right. I took the camera and instruction manual home for the weekend. While shooting a senior portrait I took out the S2 and got it to fire my strobes by using its built in flash. The image above was produced with the S2.

You don’t need the most expensive camera equipment in order to get the job done. Learn to use what you have and purchase what you need only when you need it. Don’t get caught up in all the chatter on the forums or the marketing in the magazines. Stay focused on your Return On Inverstment. Just for the record, no, I would not recommend the Powershot S2 IS for use in your photography business.

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Q/A Finding The Money To Start Your Business

March 15th, 2008 Dave Scott

Reader, Anthony, in Houston TX writes:

Dave

It seems to be a catch 22. I am on a shoestring budget and trying to get my photography business off the ground but I am not generating enough money to actually purchase the equipment that I need to do any studio type work. I’d like to buy studio lighting that I can take on location to do portraits and such.

When starting a new business it is important to fund said venture. In photography, I notice that many people believe that they can simply buy a camera and lens and go into business. Photography is no different than any other type of business. You need a certain amount of capitol and equipment in order to get started. And No, regardless of what you’ve read elsewhere, shooting portraits on location with available light with your one camera body and two lenses is not what I consider a photography business.

The way I got my business started in the early 80s was to drop out of college and go to work in a machine shop for 2 years in order to bank enough money to open a studio.

Let’s get back to Anthony’s question.

I emailed back and forth a few times with Anthony to find out a bit more about his situation. What I found out was interesting. Every weekday, Anthony buys two coffees and eats lunch at a restaurant. I did a quick check of what that would cost me in my area. Two coffees would cost me $3.78 and an average lunch would run me around $6.00 (I don’t eat large lunches). Essentially, if I did the same thing Anthony did, it would cost me $9.78 per day.

Now, let’s calculate what I actually do.

COFFEE:
I buy Starbucks Breakfast blend by the pound for $10.50. That pound yields me 36 cups of coffee. My cost per cup of coffee, including cream and sugar, comes to $0.43. My total cost for two cups of coffee per day is $0.86.

LUNCH:
I make my own lunch. I have a sandwich (some type of meat and cheese), chips or crackers, and a piece of fruit every day for lunch. My total cost for lunch is $1.43.

If I spent as Anthony does on coffee and lunch it would cost me $9.78 per day. I actually spend $2.29 per day for the same items. That saves me $7.49 per day. That’s a whopping $149.80 a month! Every two months Anthony could purchase about $300 worth of equipment.

Let’s take a look at what you can get with $300:

• Photogenic StudioMax III 320 Watt/Second ($259.50)
• 33″ Impact Umbrella - White Translucent ($9.95)
• Impact Compact Air Cushioned Light Stand (34.95)

That comes to a total of $304.40. There is your photographic lighting equipment for a one light set-up. Make your purchase and get started learning how to use your new equipment. That means take it out of the boxes and try experimenting. Make mistakes and improve. For a look at business portraits that were shot on location and with one strobe visit one of my business portrait sample pages HERE. All images were shot with one strobe except the top, left image. Can you make money with a one light set-up? Absolutely, yes. The 11 images on that page were part of a 30 person business portrait job.

There are plenty of ways to tighten our belts to make our dreams happen.

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