The beautiful consequence of failure is the sight of inevitable triumph on the horizon.
While trial and error may seem like a tedious road to tread, there is no greater feeling than attempting a shot for 15th time only to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Sometimes that failure can be dictated by human error, external circumstances, or even cheap third-party gear. The true cost of gear isn’t just the dollar amount you pay for out of pocket but the potential of missing breathtaking or irreplicable moments.
We’ve compiled some of our most valuable tutorials using reliable, durable, and powerful lighting gear – the Profoto B1 & B2:
How to create golden hour with no sun
During a wedding mood board review, our bride told Pye that she really liked “Golden Hour” shots. So, when they began planning their wedding day, the bride and groom scheduled a 30-minute Golden Hour photo session. But like most weddings, things didn’t run on time. Even though he missed Golden Hour, Pye was determined to fulfill the client’s wishes. He set up the Profoto B1 and put two Color Temperature Orange (CTO) Gels on it to emulate natural sunlight.
Read the full article on how we achieved this shot here, or check out our Special Effects Course Recreating Golden Hour in Premium.
how a single light can carve subjects out of complex scenes
Of course, getting this image could have been done a couple of different ways, but this is just a prime example of how 500W/s of power really helped simplify our lives and helped us achieve our vision in a single shot.
Read the full article on how we achieved this shot here and see more behind-the-scenes footage from this shoot in our Unscripted Series, exclusive to SLRL Premium.
three ways to create dramatic portraits with one hard light
Light is a controllable element that can help you to create any type of image you want. From the light and airy quality of natural light during golden hour to the dramatic and detailed portraits that hard light can bring, using and modifying light can help change your image from ordinary to extraordinary! In this video, We show you three flash techniques to help you create dramatic, environmental portraits that will wow your clients using only one hard light.
Read the full article on how we achieved these shots here.
how a strobe can enhance soft pastel portraits
Twenty minutes into this shoot, we encountered a small issue. The sun that had been peeking through the trees had disappeared, so we brought out the Profoto B1 and placed it on a Benro Monopod to recreate the look our couple was looking for.
Read the full article on how we achieved these shots here.
[REWIND: THE TRUE COST OF GEAR AND GEAR FAILURE]
how we use our favorite ultra portable beauty dish
Typically, when shooting wide-open apertures midday, we use an ND filter to help bring down the amount of light and stay below 1/200th sync speed to get the most power out of our flash systems. But for this shoot, using an ND filter would automatically compromise the quality of images from the Zeiss lenses, regardless of the filter we would use.
This is where the Profoto B1 and B2’s really shine, as we can still get significantly more power running in high-speed sync than regular flashes. We used the B2’s on this shoot, and even at 250-watt seconds in high-speed sync, we got more than 4-5x the amount of power than a standard flash running high-speed sync.
Read the full article on how we achieved these shots here.
two simple gel techniques for incredible effect
In this tutorial, we teach you the difference of gelling for creative effect vs. corrective effect.
For the first scene, we are using the Profoto OCF Beauty Dish (which we tested in this article) with the Profoto B2 and an orange CTO in one of the gel holders. Remember when lighting to set your camera exposure first to how you want the ambient light to look in the scene, and then adjust the flash power accordingly.
In the second scene, we show you how to gel for creative effect and tell you about a bonus lighting technique from our Lighting 101 and 201 courses in SLR Lounge Premium.
Read the full article on how we achieved these shots here.
how to create formal family & wedding party PORTRAITS that sell
Group and family portraits can be difficult; they are tough to light, they take a long time to pose, and trying to get everyone to look great (no blinking!) is no easy feat. But in this video, Pye shows us three reasons why he loves group portraiture, along with seven tips on getting incredible editorial bridal party portraits while using the Profoto OCF Beauty Dish.
Read the full article on how to create formal family & wedding party portraits that sell here.
5 steps to creating large format ENVIRONMENTAL PORTRAITS
Backlighting is one of the key ways to create large format environmental portraits that make an impact. This as it allows for clean separation of the background and adds depth. Given the wide nature of the shots we’re going for, your relative distance from the subject may be quite far, and the ambient light may not be ideal, so having a good lighting set-up is of the utmost importance to get the final image you want.
See how we created this shot here.
3 tips for dramatic fitness & athletic PORTRAITURE
The perfect light – well, that’s always going to depend on the subject matter and the desired effect. In this tutorial, we are going to give you a few simple tips on how to chisel out the human body using dramatic highlights and shadows which will work perfectly for athletic and fitness portraiture. This is just a small facet of one of our upcoming courses covering everything to do with Fitness photography: how to light it, how to pose your subjects, and how to post-produce it to enhance your imagery – coming soon to SLRL Premium!
Read the full list here.
The true cost of reliable gear
Everyone has a budget when it comes to gear, but at what cost do you compromise value?
See why buying the right kind of gear can you get you the shot you’ve always envisioned – read the full article here.
Ultimately, it is up to you to decipher whether or not you prefer quantity over quality, or if it’s worth compromising your time and hard earned money to spend fixing and repairing gear that isn’t worth the hassle.
For tutorials and explanation of how we use our gear to create these shots, upgrade now to SLR Lounge Premium – your path to portrait photography success.
