I have just finalised the dates for my flash photography workshops for the rest of the year. 

There are a total of 17 workshops planned for the rest of the year throughout the USA, and even a date in Canada - details and dates can be found on the workshops page. 

The workshops now feature a new format with the day split between the seminar in the morning, and the actual practical workshop in the afternoon.  This will allow the choice of attending just the morning presentation (the seminar with the Q&A session); or the entire day, including the morning presentation and the practical shooting sessions with models in the rest of the afternoon and evening.

For feedback on previous workshops, check the comments left by the attendees for each workshop.

What are your settings?  -  a question that I am often asked about various images. 
And quite often, the answer is surprising  -  it doesn’t really matter.   
Sometimes the specific settings are of importance, but usually much less so than the method of getting to correct exposure of the ambient light and the flash.

This is the photographic equivalent of teaching someone to fish, versus just slapping a fish down on a dinner plate.  Just telling my settings will reveal very little about the how.  And yet, the how is far more important than just a listing of seemingly random figures.

Let’s look at this recent image from one of my workshops on flash photography - especially since it is exactly the kind of thing which I teach during the course of the day.

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Many photographers who have entered the industry in the last several years aren’t readily aware that a number of the digital techniques and special effects available today in Photoshop, are actually based on processes that were available to film shooters of past years.

One effect that seems to be a particular favourite of photographers recently is cross-processing - an effect where colours are made more vivid, and the tonality and contrast are skewed to create a high-fashion or slightly surreal effect.

Fuji Sensia 200 exposed at 125 ISO - processed as C41 print film.
Nikon F90 camera;  Nikon 24-120 mm f3.5 - f4.5
Johannesburg, ca 1998

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Currently I shoot exclusively in the digital format, but before digital, I used slide film for most of my personal photography. With no darkroom available to me or the inclination to use one, I had very limited options to manipulate the images I got on slide film.  Cross-processing however, is a fairly easy and really amazing technique that is accessible to anyone who uses a one-hour lab.

Cross-processing entails developing film in non-compatible chemistry.  Transparency film uses E6 chemistry and print film uses C41 chemistry.  So with cross-processing you would switch film and chemistry combinations, developing colour negatives in E6 and vice versa.  Hence … cross processing.

If print film (negative film) is developed in E6 (transparency) chemistry instead of the usual C-41 process, then a positive image will appear on the film. In similarly when transparency film is developed with a C41 process (like in a 1-hour lab), then it will produce a negative image - which can then be printed.

Due to the incompatible chemistry required for the two types of films, the contrast and colours go haywire. Wonderfully so!

Fuji Sensia 200 exposed at 125 ISO - processed as C41 print film.
Nikon F90 camera;  Nikon 24-120 mm f3.5 - f4.5
Johannesburg, ca 1998

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For anyone who would like to try this technique, it is still accessible to anyone who uses a film one-hour lab. Simply shoot on E6 (transparency) film and ask your one-hour lab to process it as print film.

Photographs that would look best with cross-processing, are those with a simple and bold composition. Subjects or scenes which are inherently more colourful also tend to work best.

The lighting should preferably also be fairly flat, and not too contrasty, since the highlights will blow out and shaded areas be overly dark. Cross-processing increases the contrast a lot - though you may want to use this for effect.

What helps to retain shadow detail in the negative, is to over-expose the film by a stop.  That extra bit of exposure will also give more colour saturation. Push processing isn’t recommended, because cross-processing already makes for a very contrasty print, and push-processing may increase contrast too much.

According to some magazine articles, Kodak slide film responds better to cross-processing than Fuji, but I have only tried Fuji slide films - Fuji RD 100 and Fuji Sensia 200 - both with great results.  The results differed between those two films, but as to what is better is difficult to judge, since the results depend on the final filtration and exposure decided on by the mini-lab operator I use.  I always handed my exposed film in at the one-hour lab with clear instructions that Iactually do want slide film developed as if it were a print film.

Fuji Sensia 200 exposed at 125 ISO - processed as C41 print film.
Nikon F90 camera;  Nikon 24-120 mm f3.5 - f4.5
Johannesburg, ca 1998

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The results you get back from the lab will vary greatly from lab to lab and who prints them for you. Since the negs look nothing like normal colour negatives, and the filtration to get decent results is vastly different from a normal neg.  So your lab owner needs to like you a lot as well for you to get decent results this way.

Even though the cross-processed effect can also be created digitally - the simple technique here is still valid for film shooters.  The final result with cross-processed film may not be predictable - but because the tonality and colour is so different you can’t really fail for the results will be surprising and out of the ordinary.

Atlanta was the last stop in my series of workshops for this Spring.

For this photograph of Calisto, (one of our models for the day), we used a speedlight mounted in a softbox to get this dramatic and directional light. As you may notice, the lighting looks fairly similar to the image I show for the blog entry on the workshop in Charlotte. This image of Calisto, however, was photographed earlier in the day, so we needed a lot more power to match the brighter daytime light. We therefore couldn’t just bounce flash into a reflector like we do during the evening sessions where ambient light levels are low. Different techniques for different situations, but with similar results.

Thank you to everyone who made this Spring series a success. The workshops will return in the Fall with a series on the East Coast, and in a new format.

After a short week back home, I visited Charlotte today to present another in my series of lighting workshops.  Tomorrow I’ll be in Atlanta for the final workshop in the Spring series.  The workshops will return in September with a new format.

This photo is of Leslie, one of our models, and was taken during our evening practical sesssion in downtown Charlotte.  Using TTL flash bounced into a reflector, we balanced the flash with the evening sky and the lights of the city behind her.

Thank you to our two models, and to everyone who attended the workshop.

One of the original pages on this website a few years back, was on the subject of my choice of Nikon’s custom curves.

Since I went over to a raw-only workflow about 5 years ago, I haven’t had any need for custom curves. The reason for this is that there are an infinite number of scenarios under which we take photographs, and hence there won’t be any single custom curve which would suit all situations.  Lighting scenarios change. The contrast will change, and  brightness and other settings will also change.  A raw workflow is the most flexible way to adapt to this.

The quest for the perfect custom curve is a dead-end street, and the best advice I can give to anyone who is curious about custom curves - for whatever reason that may be - is to forget about custom curves, and go to a raw workflow.  You’ll avoid many headaches this way.

However, I still get emails asking for info and my opinion on custom curves.  So for those who are curious about the original page on custom curves, I am reposting the article here as it orginally appeared. 

(For anyone else, this page will be trivial and of marginal interest.)

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I enjoy shooting destination weddings- and I’ve been fortunate to photograph weddings in Aruba, Miami, and St Augustine (in Florida).  Later this year, I’ll be photographing weddings in Las Vegas and the Bahamas.

These are weddings are often in exotic locales.  (Well, nearly everything will seem exotic outside of New Jersey, but I digress.)  Even even though it sounds exciting to photograph in faraway places, there is a challenge that comes along with that -  packing enough of my gear and getting it safely to my destination.  It is even more of a challenge with restrictions placed on air travel.

Since I frequently get asked via emails to show what I have in my camera bag, I thought I’d post some of what my camera bag looks like when I travel. (It is slightly different than when I photograph weddings locally, and can drive there in my van.)

For me it was an  easy choice for a camera bag - the Think Tank Airport Security. This roller case is sturdy, protects all my gear inside, and has roller wheels that just glide ever so smoothly.  It is also surprisingly roomy inside for a case that can be taken on-board an aircraft as carry-on luggage.

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There are a few pockets on the outside.  These are handy for phones, and an iPod and airline tickets and various bits and pieces and papers.

But let’s have a look at what I keep inside …

As you can see, I don’t pack my roller-case super-tight with an overload of gear.  I still need to be able to pick this baby up when it is loaded.

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Firstly, the inside of the roller case ‘lid’ in more detail …

Lots of zipped pockets for goodies, but mostly I keep this to stick various items onto the clear fronts of the pockets.  This is where I stick the CTS and 1/2 CTS filters that I use to balance my flash with Tungsten light.  There are also a few strips of gaffer tape. (Very handy stuff!  I never go without.)  And the white/grey/black card you see there is the Qpcard, in case I need it to easily correct the white balance in post-processing, for something I photograph in strange lighting.

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The main compartment is where it gets more interesting …

… and here it is with the top layer of items unpacked outside the case :

Looking at the smaller items that I unpacked as the top layer …

The rows from left to right, (top to bottom):
  -  Visible Dust - Arctic Butterfly.  
      This is a handy device to clean my cameras’ sensor if I need to.
  -  two Canon CP-E4 battery packs, which I already have loaded with rechargeable batteries.

  -  two zip-lock bags with 8 rechargable NiMH batteries for the CP-E4 battery packs.
  -  two Tamrac memory card wallets.  
      Each wallet contains four 8Gb SanDisk CF cards, and four 4Gb SanDisk CF cards. 
      Each camera also has an 8Gb SanDisk SD card in them.
      (I use the SD cards to record medium JPGs on, as a safeguard against any of the CF cards failing.
      As an aside, I only shoot in RAW, other than the back-up JPGs.)

  -  Canon ST-E2 wireless TTL transmitter
  -  two Stofen diffuser cups, of which one has a hole cut in the top.
  -  a business card holder.  (It is the aluminium case with the red ends.)
  -  one spare battery for the Canon 1D mkIII bodies.
  -  two pieces of black foam which I use as my light modifiers,
  -  on top of this I have displayed the cord and plug to recharge my iPhone and my iPod.
  -  black hair bands.  (I use this to keep items in place such as the black foam light modifiers.)

  -  iPod, loaded with cool tunes.  (An essential item for travelling.)
  -  iPhone.  This is also essential in that I have my Calendar and Contacts close on hand.

If you’re interested in any of these items, check out these pages listing all my photo gear -  all which link to B&H’s website where these items can be purchased. 

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And now, the larger items at the bottom of my roller case :

Firstly, the two cameras are both Canon 1D mkIII bodies.  They are currently my camera of choice.
The two flashguns in the front are Canon 580EX II Speedlites.

The lenses are,  in the back row, from left to right:
  -  Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L II
  -  Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS 
  -  Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS  (on the lens hood you can see another piece of filter stuck.)
The two lenses in the front are, from left to right:
  -  Canon 35mm f/1.4L
  -  Canon 85mm f1.2L II

As you can see, I favour zooms over prime lenses, but I do hedge my bets by adding two superb primes.

And again - if you’re interested in any of these items, they can be purchased via these pages listing all my photo gear, which all link to B&H’s website.

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Perhaps as interesting, are the lenses I leave behind.
Two lenses which are covered (nearly) by the superb 16-35mm f/2.8L II, are:
  -  Canon 14mm f/2.8L  
  -  Canon 20mm f/2.8

Two other primes that I leave behind, are: 
  -  Canon 24mm f/1.4L
  -  Canon 50mm f/1.2L
This is a specific choice, in that I feel that the 35mm and 85mm primes make an excellent pair for their focal length and perspective. 

A zoom that I leave behind, is the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L - and the reason for this is that the range is already covered by the 24-105mm f/4 optic.  And since most destination weddings tend to be in areas where light abounds, I don’t need the extra stop that the 24-70mm lens offers.  Besides, I am covered with the other zooms and primes should I need a faster lens than the 24-105mm f/4 optic.

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Other items that I take with me, but don’t put inside this roller case, are various bits of minimal lighting gear, and my battery chargers.  I place them in my check-in luggage.  Should my check-in luggage be misrouted, I still have my core equipment to photograph the wedding shoot to my complete satisfaction.

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As can be seen, I travel with a fair amount of gear, but carefully chosen.  There is back-up of everything, and redundancy in case of failure.  Since I’ll be far away from home and my usual resources, it is essential that I am self-contained, and can meet any challenge head-on.

Indeed, neil kitteh sez do not fear the flash.  That’s right .. embrace light in all its forms, and don’t be afraid to use flash to enhance the existing light.  Listen to the kitteh!

My friend Angelica Glass created a similar image for me on icanhascheezburger.  If you haven’t visited icanhascheezburger yet, do so … for a slightly surreal and very funny diversion.  Photographs of cute kittens, (or rather, kittehs), with funny slogans to while away an hour or two.  Or to catch up on every day to check for new entries.

The final workshop in my series of workshops on the West Coast, was in Port Orchard, WA. 

The image above was taken during the evening session at the Boat Harbour, where I showed the workshop attendees how to bring out dramatic skies with specific application of lighting techniques.  Here, our models Deborah and Josh were lit by two off-camera speedlights in softboxes.   

The workshop was hosted by Heather Bowden of Etched In Time who had contacted me about bringing my workshop to her brand new studio in historic Port Orchard, (right across Puget Sound and a short ferry ride from downtown Seattle). My workshop had the honour of being the inaugural event at Heather’s brand-new studio!  Breakfast and lunch was provided by Morningside Baker.  (Heather insists they have the best bearclaws in Washington).

A big thank you to Heather for hosting the workshop, as as well as our models and everyone who attended. Keep in touch!
(More info about future workshop locations.)

The next workshop in the series was held in Portland OR .. and it was overcast and finally, rainy.  No big surprise.  Our challenge in Portland was not in how to deal with harsh light and shadows, but how to create contrast and drama in our lighting.

In the first image here of Mark (at the World Forestry Center), we bounced an on-camera flash into a reflector (using TTL flash) to add dimension.

The next image, which is of Amanda, was taken at night at the Pioneer Courthouse Square.  We used the same technique, but gelled the flash for Tungsten light using one of the Sticky Filters. This reduced the usual strong orange murky background that you get due to the disparate WB between flash and the background Tungsten lights.

Once again, thank you to our models, and to everyone who attended this workshop.
(More info about future workshop locations.)