You won’t like him when he’s angry. | 06:56AM Apr 19, 2008
My latest personal challenge, though there are many, has been to take on the world of location lighting.
What has sparked my interest in the wonderful world of artificial light you ask? The answer is the one and only, Joe McNally. This 25-year veteran of the National Geographic has made location lighting not only his specialty but also his passion! He has mastered everything from dramatic low light portraits to lighting an entire B52 bomber with only Nikon Speedlights. The man is a magician with light.
I saw Joe speak for the second time at this year’s Photoshop World. His lighting seminar was fabulous and extremely educational. Not only can the man light any scene under the sun (no pun intended) but he is also a pretty awesome speaker, funny as hell.
Now, enough inspiration, lets get down to the nitty gritty. What we are looking at here is who else but my pal Ryan lit by a total of 3 canon Speedlites. I dropped my white balance to 2800 K to throw the background blue and wrapped a red handkerchief around my key light (580EX II). The mix of colors and dynamic, grungy background I think comes together well for a unique and highly stylized portrait.
Did I mention we didn’t finish up this shoot till around 4 a.m.? We started at 1 a.m. You have to admire friends who are willing to stand around half naked in an abandoned skate park for four hours in 40-degree weather.
What has sparked my interest in the wonderful world of artificial light you ask? The answer is the one and only, Joe McNally. This 25-year veteran of the National Geographic has made location lighting not only his specialty but also his passion! He has mastered everything from dramatic low light portraits to lighting an entire B52 bomber with only Nikon Speedlights. The man is a magician with light.
I saw Joe speak for the second time at this year’s Photoshop World. His lighting seminar was fabulous and extremely educational. Not only can the man light any scene under the sun (no pun intended) but he is also a pretty awesome speaker, funny as hell.
Now, enough inspiration, lets get down to the nitty gritty. What we are looking at here is who else but my pal Ryan lit by a total of 3 canon Speedlites. I dropped my white balance to 2800 K to throw the background blue and wrapped a red handkerchief around my key light (580EX II). The mix of colors and dynamic, grungy background I think comes together well for a unique and highly stylized portrait.
Did I mention we didn’t finish up this shoot till around 4 a.m.? We started at 1 a.m. You have to admire friends who are willing to stand around half naked in an abandoned skate park for four hours in 40-degree weather.
