The Second Annual Portrait Studio Lighting Meetup

March 2010

Every one of us probably has a flash attachment for our cameras and are generally unhappy with the result whenever we use it.  I've been in the same boat so I signed up for the event to see what could be done to improve things.  I knew going in that we would be exposed to lighting equipment impractical for my available space and budget.  But I suspected that some opportunity to learn about using an off camera flash would present itself.

For the record, I shoot with a Nikon D300 DSLR and, besides the built in flash, have a Nikon SB-600.  I've read about the Nikon "Creative Lighting System" and setting the camera and flash to use it but simply never took the time to figure it out.  I spent some time experimenting with camera/flash settings before this event which was a good thing because I did get to utilize what I found out.

The organizers of this event set up five lighting "stations" at Ephrata High School.  Attendees were split into five groups and we rotated through the stations every 20 minutes or so.  Someone was on hand at each station to talk about the lighting setup, color balance, and provide information on camera settings.  Models rotated in reverse order to provide an opportunity to sit before each group.

Equipment came from several members of the group who are professional photographers.  Some of the lighting setups were fired by radio transmitters which we took turns borrowing.

Attendees were broken into two groups for an afternoon session to provide time to experiment.  I decided to utilize the time to work with my flash attachment "off camera".

A click on any of these images will get you a larger view....

~  The five lighting setups.....

  

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