Sometimes I think what a privilege is for me to be working as a photographer in the city of London. This is probably one of the most exciting and diverse city in the world were people interested in photography are provided with such unique opportunities and objects for their photography.  Of course the weather isn’t always in its best but with good timing and planning this shouldn’t be a huge problem. There is also this surprising element I like to call “The Magic Moment”, the magic moment is the situation in which the weather is bad, nothing is happening the way you planed and just when starting to feel sorry that you went out just to waste your time then out of the nothing appears The Magic Moment that gives you the opportunity to capture the perfect photograph that proudly we can add to our portfolios.  And there are so many other surprises for any photographer who would like to explore more of the amazing opportunities that city of London have to offer.

Just a quick note, I always had the wish to start organizing a London street photography workshop for people who would like to explore more of this amazing city and its photographic opportunities so if you came across this blog and you are interested in participating in future workshop please let me know so I can finally organize myself and do something about it ;)

The bar itself looks very interesting but for me, from photographer point of view, the whole lighting situation appeared a bit flat, and this is because there isn’t direct access for the sunlight to enter the bar so all of the available light coming through the windows is indirect illumination, which is good thing but I still needed to create some bright and pleasing highlights.

Now I need to say that all I took with me this same morning was my camera (Canon 5D mk I) wide lens (Canon EF 17-40mm USM) and two speedlits (one 430ex and one 580ex) with my bellowed colour gels.

Ok let’s examine the picture below:

Canon 5D mk I, F/5.6, ISO 400 and shutter speed of 1/6 of a second and AWB without flash.

This is how the image looks without any additional lighting, illuminated only by the indirect daylight and the cast from all the ambient lights inside the bar. The camera settings here are: F/5.6, ISO 400 and shutter speed of 1/6 of a second and AWB.

My next step was to set up one Canon 430ex on a stand dressed with full CTO gel and positioned outside the bar and directed through one of the large windows.  On the image bellow you can see how now I’m starting to get the so desired highlights from the directional light I created (same camera settings as the previous image).

Canon 5D mk I, : F/5.6, ISO 400 and shutter speed of 1/6 of a second and AWB with gelled full CTO flash.

OK now finally it started to feel like an early morning.

Then I wanted to increase the contrast a bit so to achieve this I dragged my shutter speed up and increased my flash output (Camera settings: F/5.6, ISO400 at shutter speed of  1/15).

Canon 5D mk I, : F/5.6, ISO 400 and shutter speed of 1/15 of a second and AWB with gelled full CTO flash.

From the above image you can see that I have achieved quite high contrast scene so in order to decrease the contrast I dragged my shutter speed back to  1/8 and by doing this you can see that now I had better  balanced image.

Canon 5D mk I, : F/5.6, ISO 400 and shutter speed of 1/8 of a second and AWB with gelled full CTO flash.

Now I was happy with how my image looked, well I could’ve done even further adjustments if I had more equipment with me, so I continue with my work of photographing the interior of the bar. Then, while I was exploring different angles for my compositions, Jasmin showed up and we decided to create couple of images with people within the frame. So as I mentioned  I was happy with my light but when we decided to add people within the scene I wanted to create a  bit more dynamic light so just to break the scene and to create a touch of contrast between my objects.  And to be honest I didn’t have much left in my back, so I took my last Canon 580ex mounted it on a stand and dressed in full cut of blue gel. For the image below I also moved my 430ex with the full CTO inside the bar and positioned behind me bouncing at the wall on a full power and I placed my blue gelled flash outside the bar aimed at one of the windows from the back. The setup for the last image from this post was similar to the first one the only difference was that I used grid on my CTO flash from camera right which was directed straight into Jasmin and the board with the  drawings.

Canon 5D mkI, Canon EF 17-40mm F/4 USM lens.
At F/4.0, ISO 1250 AT 1/30 with two speedlits one with full CTO and one full Blue.

Canon 5D mkI, Canon EF 17-40mm F/4 USM lens. At F/4.0, 1/90, ISO 320, with two flashes one with full CTO and one with Blue gel.

So this is one good example of how two small flashes can dramatically enhance the quality of other ways quite flat and boring location setup.

Now after moving all the lights on their new position I need to rethink my strobes colour strategy. I wanted my next set of images to be much more moody and kind of spooky, plus I had this really wonderful and reach on texture wall on the background which was going to suit perfectly the purpose of the upcoming action.

My key light was a Canon 580 EXII mounted on Large Interfit softbox on the right side of my camera. This light was gelled in blue and also the soft box had its diffusers and the grid on. Then as a fill light I setup another Canon flash this time on a large beauty dish. The fill was gelled in very light ¼ cut of Green. Now on this particular setup this light isn’t very noticeable as green and this is due to the light zone pattern I was trying to create, this will become clearer when we get to the rim lights. I positioned two bare Canon 430 EX flashguns on both side of my model as rim lights. The zoom on my rim flashes was set to 24mm, the widest they could be set, as I wanted to create this zone/pattern of blue light that surrounds and warps around my object, I forgot to mention that both of my rim lights were gelled blue as well. Although my widely spread rim lights were covering the back wall I still decided to add an extra background light so to break the even distribution of the blue light. For this purpose I used 580 EX gelled with full cut of green gel and as modifier for my backlight I used a Coco ring flash adapter. I really like the pattern and shape of the light that this modifier produces, and for some purposes it fits quite well into the whole setup.

Diagram of photographer lighting setup of creative portrait photo session.

I forgot to mention, even I should have started with this, that the initial plan for this photo session started after I met and have a chat with Jasmin Ford the manager of “Doodle bar” which was so helpful and nice to agree and let me use their premises for my photo session. Once again I want to say big THANK you Jasmin! …by the way if you are looking for a very cool place to visit and have some quality time the Doodle bar is just the perfect one.

On the day we met at the Vyonyx studio where my friend Miroslava Todorova works. The guys from Vyonyx were very kind to let me use their office as the studio was located above the Doodle bar. After we were ready with all of the pre-production preparations finally I could start to setup my lightings.

For the first concept of “The Queen of Souls” my lighting setup consisted of four Canon speedlits triggered by PocketWizard mini TT1 in combination with flex TT5 and flex II. My key light was gelled full CTO Canon 580EX II on full power which I have it mounted on interfit large octabox on camera right and above. The purpose of this light was to provide my whole scene with the soft and nicely wrapped around my objects quality of light that a large octabox can deliver. I took the decision to colour correct my key light with full CTO as I strategically was planning to create a better and more interesting colour contrast within the lighting range of my scene.  My fill light was another Canon 580EX speedlit which was placed on camera left, behind a white bed sheet. Yeh it may sound weird but after all my scene was quite large and for the purpose of it I needed equally big light source that could help me fill my scene with the right quality of light I was looking for. The next thing I did with the fill light was to place a 1/4 magenta colour gel over my flash as I wanted to break the shadows and create more interesting colour contrast. The third light on this particular set up was a Canon 420 EX coloured with a full stop of blue gel and girded with Opteka honeycomb grid. I decided to use the grid as the flash was some distance away from my objects and by using the grid I had better control over the size of my rim light. Behind the throne I had positioned my last Canon 430EX flash which acted as background lighting, this flash was coloured in red. For my background I used a smoke machine as I really like how the light gets tangled around the smoke. Also the actual wall on the background was quite far from my objects and if I didn’t have the smoke I probably would needed more flashes to illuminate the entire, bare, background.

In the graph below you can see a better visual representation of the lighting set up:

Camera settings: Shutter speed 1/125 at F/5.6, ISO 100, auto WB.

Canon strobes lighting diagram.

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Ok I can go like this forever, there are so many examples that shows how well photography and video work for businesses. But the point here is if you like to build a good Public Profile or Brand Identity you will need the help of professional photographer or videographer (as statistics are showing that 85% of the clients are more likely to purchase a product after watching a product video, the same applies for companies offering serves) to do the visual work and presentation for you.

Now there is a big difference between UK and USA in terms of how photography is been appreciated. It tends that in UK photography is, somehow, less popular and cheaper, most companies or business are looking for photographers who are ready to go and do some kind of work for nearly no fee. But the problem here is that a professional photographer cannot afford to create a decent image if the fee is under certain industry standards. There are so many examples out there with pages rich on text but very poor imagery. Well if you value your businesses you certainly don’t want to ruin your credibility by compromising on the cost and quality of the most crucial component for your business and public profile, the Photographs that shows who you are and what you do.

On the end I would like to encourage small and big businesses not to hesitate on price when comes down to hiring a professional commercial, corporate or editorial photographer as this most definitely will pay off much more than it cost.

The control of the new Plus X is even simpler and consists of just power switch, a rotary channel dial and a big test button. Probabley something that we need to pay attention here is that the 10 channels correspond with the same number of channels of any older PocketWizard remote, as long as we use unites manufactured to operate for the same region (US designed units are not compatible with units designed for the EU market).
PocketWizard Plus radios are well known for their range and reliability. Although the new PocketWizard Plus X is significantly cheaper, the photographers who choose to use them will still get the range and reliability they expect From a PocketWizard products.
The power for the new model is provided by two AA batteries, which we can considerate as an improvement over the Plus – II generations.
Another great innovation that comes with the new X model is that the unit goes both ways. The Plus X terminal, hot shoe or mini-jack, can determine whether it is attached to a camera or flash. Literally the unite senses sync voltage and in doing this can set itself automatically as a receiver or transmitter.
Channel Hopping is the next extra bit of luxury packet in this small unit. Channel hopping can be useful in case when Plus X receive a signal on one channel then we can configured to second trigger on the next channel. This is very practical when PW is triggering a remote camera which can use the same receiving PocketWizard to sync fire a remote flash. Basically with channel hopping we can do with tree units what normally would require four.

To the end is nice to think that the big companies actually are taking in account what is happening across the market and in turn are coming up with cheaper and better products. As some photographers are saying that PocketWizard is slightly late with the release of this cheaper unit as quite few of them are already using cheaper alternatives, with similar performance, that are available on the market.
But to the end of the day this is a great and reliable product that won’t cost a fortune.
Well done PocketWizard , but just keep in mind that there are cheaper alternatives out there and for most photographers on a budget they’ll be the alternative solution.

Yes I described the Speedlite 600EX-RT as brilliant because is compact and saves you to carry in your bag extra equipment like third party receivers, plus all the wonderful features listed below:

1. Two-Way Radio – This is something new for Canon as their first device was infrared based transmitter which wasn’t the best option for outdoor wireless controlled flash use. Now they added 2.4 Ghz radio signal to the new system which allows for the Slaves to send signal back to the master/transmitter when recycled and ready to fire again.

2. The range of transmitting/receiving the signal is about 98’ (30m) according to the manual, in the urban environment with all the interference, but there were claims from people who tested the system in non-urban environment that they were able to fire the Speedlite from 340’ (100m) away.

3. Sync Speeds -  Using both devices together, even with any pre-2012 Canon camera, allows you to shot at all sync speeds  up to 1/8000” ( in high-speed sync mode ).

4. Groups – Now this is something really practical that allows more flexibility when controlling lots of flashes at once on a set.  The Speedlite Transmitter ST–E3–RT provides you with up to five groups and the mode for each group can be set individually.

5. Bigger and better LCD display.

6. Interactive menu for the System – together with the better LCD on screen display offers much better navigation and operation. There aren’t any hiding functions under same button.

7. 15 Channels, 10.000 IDs and a Channel Scanner.

But there is couple of little problems, and this has nothing to do with the quality of the new Canon system, for people like me, who already have 7 Canon speedlites ( combination of 430 ex and 580 ex II ) and the combo of Pocketizards transmitter and receivers, it will be literally impossible to replace/upgrade to the current new Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT & Speedlite Transmitter ST–E3–RT and the reasons are:

The very first reason is the price tag of the Canon’s Speedlite 600EX-RT unit as, obviously, we can just buy one speedlit and anyone who wants to do some serious strobe lighting will need at least 3 of them. And the fact is that the Canon’s Speedlite 600EX-RT price in UK is something between £460 -£500 per unit which for most of us is quite high price to pay for a speedlite ( by the way wexphotographic is selling it with £80 cashback  http://www.wexphotographic.com/buy-canon-speedlite-600ex-rt-flashgun/p1530019 ). Now the thing is that the price although high isn’t that bad for all the extras packed into that small source of, so desired for all of us photographers, light.  But if you are on a budget there is much better solution from Canon to start with your off camera flash photography and this is the Canon’s 430 EX II, not the 430ex. This flash is ideal solution and it comes much cheaper than its bigger brothers, 580EX II AND 630EX – RT, also power wise is just 2/3 stops less powerful than the big boys.

The second reason, for me personally, is the fact that the new Canon Speedlite Transmitter ST–E3–RT won’t work with any older flashes than 630EX-RT. And in case I want to upgrade to the new system this will mean that I need to first sell all of my already own equipment in order to get the new system, which won’t generate enough money to help me replace it without spending any extra solid cash.

So my conclusion here is that at the moment I will be still using my old strobes system but as soon as I can afford or the prices drop down a tad I definitely will be selling my PocketWizards and older Canon speedlites to get  the new Canon’s Speedlite 600EX-RT & Speedlite Transmitter ST–E3–RT .

Well done Canon, keep up the good work and please consider that most of your customers are on a tide budgets!!!

After I woke up in the morning I decided to go and visit Calumet, near Euston station in central London, I love this store, as I needed a new boom arm, I had one from previews purchase I did through eBay but it wasn’t very strong and reliable to hold one speedlight and the beauty dish. I won’t be going into any details of my experience in the shop for well-known reasons ;)  By the way I also picked up few clip clamps and a roll of the so necessary, for every living creature, Gaffer Tape!

After the shopping I needed to take my wife to Nero coffee as she was getting very grumpy while we were in the shop, the same happens with me when she is doing her shopping and I have to wait.

Any way long story short, as soon as we reached home I started unpacking and fixing the new boom arm on one of my light stands. Finally I had a proper boom arm for my lighting, although it was a good deal only £53 and is sold with a counterweight plate (maybe because it was made by Calumet). Now after putting everything together as a true photographer I went and engaged my wife to pose for me so I can play with my new toy. At first she wasn’t very happy, as she was doing some work, but I knew that this was going to change quickly.

So let’s go now through the initial setup:

First and only one light at the moment was a Canon 580 EX mounted on Interfit Strobies XS Braket holder, the light modifier was Interfit Diffuser Beauty Dish (40cm) with the grid on as I wanted to keep the light spread under control, also I had a diffuser on my beauty dish (white cloth as the diffusers on the soft boxes). I tried to create something like a diagram and I hope you’ll be able to read it.

So the next step was to bring my model, I need to point out that this is always the case with my wife when I’m asking her to stay in front of the camera so I can do some tests but as soon as she sees the first results she starts to feel very comfortable and even comes up with some extra ideas about the session ;). Ok so now I got my model seating in the couch, still doing her job on the laptop, and I’m ready to throw some light on her from my beauty dish ( on the diagram bellow you can follow what is happening up to this moment).

And here is the actual result from this early stage of our photo setup (camera attributes: F/4, 1/125, ISO 100).. In this situation I’ve got my shutter speed up to 1/125 which basically cuts any ambient light coming from the window ( as usual for London the day was overcast and moody so not much light coming from the window )

Wow so boring!!! …but as photographers we always need to be prepared to face any challenges and constantly think what is wrong or how we can improve any given situation. So up to this moment I’m totally unhappy with how everything unfolds and my next step is to go pickup and add a fill light. So I went to the other room and brought to the set a Coco ring flash adapter, I could have brought an umbrella but I didn’t have much space around me.  So the next step is to add our feel light.

And here is the result with the ringflash adapter, just keep in mind that I was changing the position of my ring flash I did few shots holding it in front of the lens but most of the time I had it as it is displayed on the diagram.

And again some example of the results I was getting, on the image bellow you can see how the shadow on the left side of her face is starting to get much smoother and also the very typical shadow back on the wall that usually you will get from a ring flash (maintaining the same camera settings). Still nothing special up to this moment.

Now I decided to start exploring what my ambient light may add to my set and the next thing I did was to drop my shutter speed down to 1/15 and my ISO up to 800 (just keep in mind that when you are increasing the ISO you also need to reduce the output of your flashes, the shutter speed controls the ambient and the ISO affects both)… check the diagram and the picture for the new update, and sorry for the mess in the room ;)

Ok I totally had enough, it is still flat and somehow ordinary there isn’t contrast, there isn’t drama! It is  time for radical changes. From this point on first I started playing with the white balance (so far my WB was set to auto) trying different modes till I was happy with it (my final WB was set to florescent). Then I change the position of the ring flash placing it behind my object orientated towards the wall. The next step was, as I setup my WB to something so weird, to colour balance my flashes so I can get the right results I wanted.

Now my next set up was looking like this, after I added Full CTO colour gel to my main light and Blue one to my ring flash which was acting as a background light and because of the WB I chose my ambient was giving me a slight touch of blue rim on the left side of my models face.

After quick change, she was already interested enough in what I was doing, we continued with the final version of the lighting setup.

Yep it was the final touch to the lighting but I wanted to add something more to the mood of the photographs. So I started zooming out my lens while pressing the shutter, this is call zoom effect, and the effect of this was resulting in very nice aura of light around the model. Working this way is like cooking a dish. You keep trying it and if something is missing just add the right ingredients until it starts tasting nice ;)

“My domestic Mona Lisa”..this is how I like to call the results ;)

What have I done here? Well for certain nothing so spectacular but the point is that I didn’t stop until I achieved some decent result. Moving the lights around or adding more lights fill free to do and use anything that will improve the overall look of your photographs, don’t just stop up to the point where your object is just lit by a your strobe. Keep pushing and exploring because in such domestic environment we do have enough time to do all of this as compared to one of these paid assignment were the time schedule is very short.

So the bottom line is that playing with your strobes from time to time could be very good exercise helping us to develop better understanding and intuition of how to use any lights in any situations.

Here you can see some quick renders from the progress of the project before the video is ready.