Chester Academy 22nd April 2010

[Lee Iggulden]

This month we will be meeting at the Days Hotel Chester North (CH5 2HX), formerly Gateway to Wales Hotel on THURSDAY 22nd April.

From then on we will be meeting on EVERY 3rd THURSDAY of each month, the first being 20th May.

This month it is all about "High" and "Low" key photography with Andrew Wells and Paul Smith. We have our very own "Steph" coming along with a friend to model for you in some funky clothing and posh ball gowns.

You will be taught how to pose your models, make them feel at ease and how and when to use the correct lighting techniques. There will be two studio set-ups with the different style of lighting, one before supper and one after.

Registration is essential using this link http://www.welshotimaging.co.uk/academy/evenings.php (http://www.welshotimaging.co.uk/forum/../academy/evenings.php) and must be done so before Tuesday 20th April at 5.00pm

Academy members £15.00
Non Academy Members £20.00

The evening includes a full buffet supper and runs from 6:30 until roughly 10pm. We will start the first module at 7pm.

[Anthony Smith]

Im certain dad and I will be coming. He may be a little later but should still be there before 7. If you dont mind, we'll pay cash on the night, if thats ok?

Thanks

Anthony (jnr)

[Lee Iggulden]

We would prefer it if you registered your interest in the normal way please Anthony as we need to be certain that we confirm the right numbers with the venue.

You can do so on the Academy Evening link.

Thanks Anthony.

Lee :)

[Geraldine]

Hi Lee. Is Thursday the new day for the Chester Academy evenings?
Silly me. Forget this question I always forget to scroll up the screen for the previous posts.

Glad its changed, should be able to make it more often.

Geraldine

[Paul Smith]

Glad to hear that, a few people mentioned Wednesday was not the best day so Lee shifted it. Be good to see you there.

[Lee Iggulden]

I will see you in Hong Kong first Geraldine :)

The 3rd Thursday of EVERY month will be the new Academy Evenings.

The Evening in April is on Thursday 22nd...

[markcarline]

wow - looks like I might actually be able to make this one.

Could you possibly tell me...

Where abouts is it in Chester ?
What time does it start ?
How long does it last for ?
What gear do we need to bring with us?

I have just got myself two speedlight flashes (430ex / 580ex) and a hybrid shoot through/reflector umbrella that I could bring along that might be usefull. Only thing I dont have (and its next on my list to get) is a ST-E2 remote trigger but I have a couple of those ebay pocket wizards we could use.

I have absolutly no idea about shooting with flash in a studio so looking forward to it!

Mark

[Paul Smith]

Hi Mark, I've updated the first post to include the venue and times. We open at 6:30pm to start at 7pm. You'll just need to bring your camera along we will supply the lights and the triggers for both setups. I'm sure we'll find time to have a long chat about all the various kit options with you all.

[markcarline]

great thanks - i'll email you my completed registration form tonight ;)

[Lee Iggulden]

We are still able to take bookings for this event but it maybe best to phone me on 01248 670 693 if you would like to attend.

Obviously Eifion and I are not in Hong Kong so we will both be at the Academy Evening to meet you and help you enjoy the evening.

See you there :)

[Anthony Smith]

and another wonderful evening, thank you team. Many thanks to the lovely models for their time and efforts, thank you.

Junior

[markcarline]

Agree - a great night!

I'm going to process my images and upload them to the welshot FlickR group over the weekend but the only problem is that I have a memory like a seive :( and completly forgot the models names. I know one of the girls in the low-key setup was called Sophie (spotted her on page 2 of the flickR group) but what was the others called?

Thanks in advance.

Mark

[markcarline]

By the way - I was speaking to Eifion and another member last night (sorry I forgot your name - again!) who was also shooting at the High-Key setup upstairs with a Canon 5d Mark II and was also having black bands on their image when shooting at 1/200 sec and it was fine at 1/60 sec.

I just did a google on this and discovered this discussion here:
http://photo.net/canon-eos-digital-camera-forum/00RvOm

So turns out the issue does seem to relate to the studio Bowens lighting and the radio triggers, this post from the above thread says it all......



David Bell , Dec 28, 2008; 11:03 a.m.
"I presume you're using the Elinchrom Skyports? I have a set and with my 5D the limitation is around 1/160. This is a function/limitation of the latency in the radio triggers, not your 5D. With an on camera speedlight you will see "better" results in terms of max possible sync speed."

btw - name tags might be a good idea next time ;)

[StephOwens]

upstairs there was me - steph :) and laura.
i think the other girl downstairs was rachel.

[Jevsnw]

many thanks to Lee and Eifion for organising, the girls for modelling and to fellow shooters for general banter and tips......a great night :thumbsup:

[Paul Smith]

Yep Rachel was the other model downstairs, they all did brilliantly and a big thank you goes to them all.

Really glad you all had a good time, it was great to see the academy really buzzing as you all shared ideas with each other. We'll do some reading up on the 5D issue, if it was radio latency I don't understand why it doesn't affect other models. It seems very odd that 400D's and 30D's are fine at 1/200th while the 5's top out at 1/60th.

[markcarline]

........We'll do some reading up on the 5D issue, if it was radio latency I don't understand why it doesn't affect other models. It seems very odd that 400D's and 30D's are fine at 1/200th while the 5's top out at 1/60th.

Just looked into this again and it maybe because the 5d is a full frame, heres a few links i found:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/canoneos5dmarkii/discuss/72157611449994282/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/canoneos5dmarkii/discuss/72157623514320861/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/canoneos5dmarkii/discuss/72157611456414786/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobist/discuss/72157615791485466/
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/714336

I checked the 5d manual and on page 104 it says:


"Using Non-Canon Flash Units"
Sync Speed
The camera can synchronize with non-Canon compact flash units at 1/200 sec. and slower speeds. With large studio flash units, since the flash duration is longer, set the sync speed with 1/60 sec. to 1/30 sec."

Amazed for the quality of camera that it has this limitation but its not an issue know we know about it.

[markcarline]

also!... Paul I found some instructions that you where talking about at the end of the low key session about making your own snoot..

http://lightingmods.blogspot.com/2007/06/diy-black-straws-snoot-grid-part-1.html

Project for the weekend ;)

[Paul Smith]

That's similar to what I put together and gives a surprisingly useful result. The length of the tube affects the tightness of the beam, if you want a tighter beam use a longer tube.

I can understand the 5 being 1/200 instead of 1/250 because of the larger sensor size but 1/60 is a big drop. Even at 1/60 though the flash should be bright enough to freeze the subject in a studio environment, could see it being an issue if you were trying to balance with ambient light though.

[Anthony Smith]

love that tuorial with the black straws for a snoot, guess what im going to try over the weekend ha ha

Here's a question though. The images we shot last night, are we allowed to use them? e.g. Can I put them on my website, as an example of a portrait I have taken? Can I post them on say FLickr, or ePHOTOzine? I know i cant use them for advertising, i woulndt want to, not without a model release, but where do we stand with posting them for critique or comment?

Thanks

Junior

[Paul Smith]

My understanding is that you're fine to use them as you've described, as long as it's not commercial you should be fine.

[Anthony Smith]

cool, thanks Paul. Thats what I thought too, but always better to ask isnt it?

Thanks

[Anthony Smith]

well, I did it. I made my own honeycomb snoot.

I followed the tutorial posted above, well, just about.

Lots of black straws, nail glue, some card and about an hour and a half in time. It works too. Im really chuffed with it, :)

Anthony

[markcarline]

Just finished post-processing the images from thursday. I have added them to the flickr group (the 6 I am allowed in one day - i'll add the others tomorrow).

C&C welcome ;)

1) Steph & Laura at Welshot Imaging
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4045/4549098218_20027af84b.jpg

2) Steph & Laura at Welshot Imaging
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4035/4549096324_fb8a83eae2.jpg

3) Laura at Welshot Imaging
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4058/4549093834_dce46e2cdc.jpg

4) Laura at Welshot Imaging
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4016/4548456391_60d19de187.jpg

5) Laura at Welshot Imaging
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4038/4548454289_440f0f960d.jpg

6) Laura at Welshot Imaging
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4058/4548452709_6f64be4952.jpg

7) Steph & Laura and the "High-Key" setup at Welshot Imaging
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4050/4549085088_f81a6a0e89.jpg

8) Rachel at Welshot Imaging
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4058/4549082906_6e0ae6d0ac.jpg

9) Sophie at Welshot Imaging
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4063/4549078626_1d174765bd.jpg

10) Sophie at Welshot Imaging
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4045/4549081812_eaef905fe6.jpg

11) Sophie at Welshot Imaging
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4069/4549080554_4b8928947b.jpg

I have noticed that if I would have done the low-key session again I would have made sure that the light was positioned so that there wasnt such a big shadow over the nose.

All the original images are available on FlickR and the models are more than welcome to grab / print out copies for their porfolio.

[markcarline]

Appologies - Just read the "Feedback thread" here and didnt realise that we're not encouraged to submit images for critique. Hope you dont mind me sharing them anyway.

Mark

[Lee Iggulden]

Hey Guys.

Thanks for all the great feedback. The models names are Sophie and Rachel (downstairs) and Steph and Laura upstairs.

For anyone wanting model release forms we can supply them to you if you need them.

As for name tags, we normally do have them Mark but they were in the boxes that didnt arrive....

BTW, Eifion got his lights working :) it was just the fuses that had gone but from now on these modules will be on a "One at a Time" basis to give the lights time to recover

Have fun in the sun everyone :)

Lee :)

[Lee Iggulden]

Great images Mark. Thanks for also posting the images that shows others having a go as well.

I am glad you learnt things that are going to make you do things differently in future.

Lee :)

[markcarline]

.....Thanks for also posting the images that shows others having a go as well...

no problem - feel free to use it if you want ;)

As I said, thursdays are good for me so see you again next month

[Lee Iggulden]

Brilliant Mark.

You and all the other people that attend help make the evenings what they are, without you all our they would be boring :(