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Strobist Technique: Cross-lighting with Wireless Strobes
Photographer: Chris Burns Short tutorial/demonstration of how I light many of my photos. I keep getting the same questions over and over, so I’m just going to answer them here. If you don’t read this and ask one of these questions in the comments I’m just going to refer you back to this description. 1. How do you process your images? I have no problem giving out my lighting setups, but I do not give out my editing techniques. By the way, it’s not the editing that’s important, it’s the …
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The simple answer is because one light is brighter than the other.
It’s the same reason we can use reflectors to fill in shadows in portraits without getting a nose shadow on both sides of the face.
The brighter light easily fills in shadows cast by the dimmer light, while the dim light isn’t powerfull enough to hide the shadow cast by the brighter light.
i thought both lights were set at 1/16 that’s why i was confused. thank you!
They were both at 1/16, but the key is half the distance to the subject than the backlight, making it appear 1 stop brighter. It’s actually just outside the frame during the video demonstration.
The numbers in the setup are what I had to use at that time of day in that location, and will be different depending on your setup. It’s the position of your lights that really makes this technique work.
thanks alot for the awesome video sir. how did you edited the picts to make the stobe flash pop up more. is it more better in lomo?
Each finished photo is about 10 – 15 layers.
The subject is made to stand out simply by underexposing the background.
I’m guessing you mean lomography when you say lomo? To answer your question, I don’t find any photography technique better than another. They are all tools used for a specific reason.
hey what tools did you use for post processing?…to make it look more dark and contrasty?
For contrast, I use curves adjustment layers, blending modes, and dodging and burning techniques.
ohhh… ok, thanks alot. ü
sweet, great result!
so simple, and what an amasing result! (yes amasing from OZ
Thanks for the tutorial mate
Can you show us the picture straight out of the camera so we can see the before & after difference
Each set already has the before and after. The first one of each set is straight out of the camera, and the second (the ones with the pan and zoom motion) are processed.
I like that!, used to use only one flash will experiment with cross lighting now thanks!
hey can i do that with sb900?
You can do this with any kind of light. Flash units work the best due to the large amount of light they give off in a short amount of time, but I’ve even used this crosslighting method with cheap 200 watt work lights.
why did the shaddow only produce from the light on the cameras right? one camera pointed diagnally upward and the other one down?
50th comment! Nice work dude! Thanks a lot!
You have helped me in my photographic work a lot!
How much post processing did you do?
I metered for the shutter speed and apperture first, bringing the ambient exposure 2 stops below normal. Then I set the flash’s power.
The Vivitar 285 has a dial on the side that helps you calculate proper exposure. Other than that, it’s just practice and knowing your equipment.
wow, nice shots!!
I’ve always thought that this kind of shots were taken at night, or late afternoon. Wow, didn’t know that flash could cause such an effect even during the day.
you can almost completly overpower the sun if you wanted to
. They’re small but boy are they versatile.
Great vid btw !
awesome THANKS! :] I just got a brolly, soft box, set up for my birthday today.
Thanks so much very talented!