Speedlights and Strobe Lights | Back to Basics with Peter Hurley

[@BandH]

Now that Peter has discussed lighting, it's time to talk about directing your subject! bhpho.to/3vSdyB4

[@EliInfante]

Peter always has great tips and insight!

[@MartinV.]

Great Video!!

[@MazharulIslamDipu]

she is so gorgeous, a true beauty!

[@charleyl264]

Thanks Peter. Some great advice, as usual.

[@juanmuller9261]

Great Peter! When you explain your setups it’s so easy! You are Yoda!

[@magdalenastone724]

May I ask what are the sizes of those strip boxes, I can see one 1x4, but it is different from the rest

[@charliegreen1989]

The other 2 are both 1x3

[@PE4Doers]

Thanks you so much for using my favorite model Marina in this video :) I will always watch any video to the end, and give a thumbs-up when I see her. Oh, the photographic suggestions are good too ;)

[@karlweb1]

Thanks Peter Headshot crew member Got a fee paying clients off of it this year

[@SpotBentley]

Do you always shoot in landscape orientation and crop as desired in post?

[@danyj.mendez4745]

Do you prefer vertical or horizontal shots?

[@valleyg2347]

Can the strock lights enlighten me

[@peteristvanphotography]

Good info, thanks

[@aneshmagan]

Why tripod when shutter speed is high?

[@BandH]

A tripod can still be used while the camera is set to a higher shutter speed. This is to ensure that there is no risk of blurring an image, which is still possible when hand holding the camera.

[@jpdj2715]

(a) You want to interact with the model, as photographer, and not think about potential blur. The camera in your hands is a distraction. Use a remote control to fire. Peter's lighting setup is in the way too. And contrary to my point he sticks his head behind/in the camera when shooting - I wouldn't. (b) Modern cameras have very deep dynamic range. A photographer starts with a "black shot" where the speedlights/strobes don't fire and the camera's exposure set for these lights gives a black shot - a way to make sure the "available" light doesn't contribute to your shot. If you shoot tethered and brighten up that black shot, you'll see after you raise exposure a couple EV that the model pops up out of the dark image. This available light exposure easily translates into motion blur. (c) Anything on "auto" in the camera increases "latency" - the delay between pressing the shutter button and the shutter firing. On tripod, switch off vibration controls like IBIS and VR, set a fixed white balance and ISO, expose "Manual". In a studio with abstract background, you do not need shallow depth of field, so stop down to - say - f/8 and focusing is less critical, so you may not need autofocus even. Oh, and shoot raw only. Now the camera fires without latency and just scans the sensor for the flash exposure. The tripod helps in this setup. Note that in "raw" the white balance and ISO are just numbers/labels that your raw processing software uses to open and depict your photos - changing these numbers will not change the raw image data, only a bit of meta data (so there's no point in auto ISO and auto WB when you only shoot raw in a studio). You cannot fire "high speed continuous" with strobes/speedlights, generally, and need to anticipate and fire at the right moment. Fixed, low, latency helps with that. So there's a side effect of using tripod and working full manual. (d) If you use different light modifiers than Peter's "I want ring-light light, but I don't want ring catch lights, or don't want to spend the money on a serious strobe one" then you could have more open space between the camera and the lights. Feathering can defeat the inverse square law, so the model has more freedom to move. And you can walk around and through sufficient "opening", interact with the model and fire the camera with your remote control. Provided you can visualize in your brain what the camera sees from the other point of view. And that's a matter of "train the brain" - learning: doing, failing, repeating, until you get it.

[@wcsdiaries]

@@BandH Is there a way to not have the lights appear in the eye? I'd love to see her eyes but instead I see 3 white lights taking up her eyes

[@BandH]

What kind of photography lighting is your favorite?

[@longliveclassicmusic]

Strobes, hands down. This whole movement toward continuous light is a shame because it ignores the simple fact that super bright constant lights will blind your subject and have them squinting, especially with any type of reflector… They're also nowhere near adequate at smaller apertures. I'm ready for the Flashpoint 2400 Pro to come out because I want all the wattage! When you're gelling and gridding and flagging your lights, photography swallows light output like a pit in the earth.

[@jaym5938]

Not this

[@afsalcccc]

triangular pupil looks weird

[@JohnDoe-yd7zm]

Is Peter himself running on batteries or continuous power? What's the recharge time because wattage seems off the charts :)

[@keithmagee4450]

No recharge time, Peter is running off the grid!

[@truthsayers8725]

i want people who are willing to come sit for me. i want to make enough money that i can retire from my other job (30yrs on it) but im having issues with one of my 600s, dont want to spend the money on 3rd party speedlites, have one flashpoint 400 (same as the godox from @B&H Photo Video) that i got on a screaming cheap deal with virtually no use but i like the idea of the constant light. need better marketing or a better market i guess

[@TheFaustianMan]

Rather counterintuitive, as a dilated pupil psychologically means the person likes you and trusts you, hence when two people are together the pupil is larger, as they are enjoying each others company. This psychologically correlates to intimacy and trust, as we are hard wired to pick up this signals. Peter would rather have more color, meaning the person dislikes person looking at the photograph, which can be rather off putting, as the psychological signals we get here are standoffish, icy, detached, and maybe even angry. Negative emotions. Hence, the viewer of the photo would be more likely to chose an eye with less color. This is statistically speaking. It would be akin to someone making an angry face for a job interview. But hey, he has been in biz a long time, so he must know what he's doing.

[@Whatreally123]

99% of the people have no idea about this psychology aspect. So who cares. Just saying.