This post has been created and written by attendees of the 10 day JarvieDigital Bootcamp 2011 – (Interns for summer 2011)

(Photos by Laurel Scott)

INTERN 1

Bootcamp Day 5 and 6 – Flash Camp

We started out in the studio in the morning working with different lighting setups and equipment and light ratios. We mostly used softboxes, but we also used the beauty dish and reflectors. This was a good exercise in completely controlling the light – there was no external light to work with, so everything we did directly effective the outcome in its entirety.
We moved on to Alpine in the afternoon to start working with flash outdoors. This was challenging because the more types of equipment added in, the more something is likely to malfunction… so we had quite a few times when the flash didn’t go off… and so we got a lot of problem solving practice in.

(Photos by Laurel Scott)

I enjoyed using flash, even though it was often frustrating to get everything to work together. Moving the flash around to get the desired result is great. The talk we had the day before was informational, sure, but actually using the flashes is much more effective. The continued practice will be necessary, though, to fully implement what we learned on a regular basis.

The best part about flash camp: light painting in the middle of the night.

Update: When we were shooting the wedding two days later and I was using flash, I was so caught up in what we were doing that I didn’t remember all that we had done with flash. So, more practice and actively trying to think about and implement those techniques is important to becoming better.

(Photos by Laurel Scott)

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(Photo by Britney Brent)

INTERN 2

Flash is probably the best invention ever, aside from the lightbulb… which I guess is a part of it, but you get the idea.

I found that as we were working the in the studio learning about flash the pictures seemed so perfect right out of the camera. When oyu hace total control of the lighting and a steady and consistant theme to the shoot the whole process is much easier. From setting up, taking all the pictures you could imagine to editing, I felt like because of the consistancy the work flow went by so much quicker.

However, I’m not going to lie, I LOVE to use the natural light of the outside world that you just can’t get in a studio. Using the light outside along with flash sure does help the picture though. We spent two days working outside with the flash at all different times of the day. We started with the sun high, then shot at sunset, when it was dark, and then again in the morning at sun up. Because of the light being so different around the flash helped us still get good pictures. We were able to control better what what being seen and focused on in the picture. I LOVE using flash. I felt there was a lot let post editing when you use the flash which is soooo nice!

Flash: Learn it, love it, USE IT!

(Photos by Britney Brent)

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(Photo by Angela Terry)

INTERN 3

Flash Me

Each day gets more and more jam packed with information. Today we learned flash in studio and out.

In studio the one thing I want to talk about is getting the white background white. If you set your subject up in front of a white backdrop it is going to be gray. You must light your white backdrop and check your “highlights” option on your camera to make sure all areas are white. I didn’t realize how difficult it is to use a white background, but it is worth the time and effort gone into it.

Out of studio I learned how to get the clouds and sky looking real cool in the background. To do that you must manually set your exposure for the sky without the flash. Then when you take the picture of your client you can get an awesome picture with the flashes lighting them and the cool sky in the background.

(Photos by Angela Terry)

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(Photo by Jeff Bushaw)

INTERN 4

“FLASHCAMP”

Studio and Alpine:

This morning we went to a studio to learn how lighting in a studio can differ from outdoors with speedlights and reflectors.

(Photos by Jeff Bushaw)

Some of the distinct advantages of using a studio are:

• You can control the environment. Such as a specific amount of wind blowing in a models hair.
• Based on your equipment, you can control the quality of light ie. soft or harsh, and the brightness level of your light.
• You have control over your direction of light. So, it doesn’t matter what time of day it is.
• Convenience. Your studio is not over a river and through the woods.
• Your images can take on lighting that would not be available in the outdoors. This can also be a disadvantage (see below)

(Photos by Jeff Bushaw)

Disadvantages of a studio:

• Unless you are very experienced at controlling your light, it will always look like it was artificially lit. There are exceptions to this but typically this is the case.
• You are limited to your backgrounds based on what you have inside of your studio. Whereas the outdoors has enough backgrounds for more than a lifetime of photography.
• You studio location might not be as convenient as your backyard or neighborhood park.
• Studio ownership/rentals are not free. The majority of outdoor locations do not cost anything more than potentially the fuel to drive there.
• In the studio we played around with different setups to show how changing various things affected the end result of photo.

Later that afternoon, we had the opportunity to drive to a beautiful home in Alpine, Ut. That had an absolutely spectacular back yard with tulips, trees, rivers, and rocks galore. Then, with the help of several models and married couples, we utilized our learned skills of speedlights, reflectors, diffusers, and other light modifiers to take photos that would hopefully amaze anyone who sees them. The wonderful thing about using such modifiers in the outdoors is that when used correctly, they can enhance the current scene without looking “fake”.

That night we continued the same thing but we changed locations to an open grassy field on the side of the mountain where the background was snowy peaks, and a beautiful color filled sunset.

Spectacular!