How to light this setting?

[dbphotos]

I'm sure there are several different ways to do this, but how would you light and expose this shot?

I'm guessing underexpose the photo and use some off camera flashes (i.e. SB800 or 580's) to expose the subjects.

Let's hear your ideas.

[douge]

David
Looks like you did a good job with what you had. A few assistants holding reflectors would of helped to soften the shadows. If not assistants available, a couple of Quantums with reflectors would have helped. Doing a setting with subjects in one place and having action added is tough. You would have needed one flash set for the area of your jumper and to a number of exposures.
Good luck and good shooting.
Doug

[Sonny]

I'm gonna a give it a shot....I'll probably be wrong but hopefully somebody can correct me. Remember, these are my best guesses and using canon gear.

I'll start with 3-5 Canon 580EX flashes using IR. By using IR instead of Pocket Wizards, the ETTL allows a photog to shoot above 1/250 with High Speed Sync.

First I would place one flash on stands to me left and right (about 2-6 feet away) at 45 degree angles pointed directly towards the group. Next rotate the flashes 90 degrees . You want the flash head to be in a "portrait' orientation to get better light distribution from head to toe. Then I would set up one to two more flashes to the right to cover the person jumping. Maybe place a final flash behind the group pointing in the general area at the peak of the person's jump (back lighting). Or you could use the sun light to achieve the same effect.

I would start with shooting in manual mode, ISO 200, f/4.0-f/8, ss 1/1000-1/5000, auto white balance, and spot metering.

Start by exposing for the background which is the sky. Then lock in those settings. When you expose the people ETTL will do all of the guess work for you. Of course there will be plenty of adjustments that need to be made. Repositioning flashes, ratios, power settings, and in camera settings just to name a few.

You want high shutter speeds to freeze the guy jumping with out any motion blur. Also try to under expose 1 f-stop in camera. This will give you that super blue sky!



Anyways, that all I can think of. Hope this helps.

[CaptainTom]

This is the perfect situation to use the TriCoast exposure method. They will under expose the background by approx 3/4 stop and give the off camera flash(s) about +1 stop of compensation. Then of course, they have some tricks in processing that make it all come together. If I told you everything, I'd be giving a workshop, and that is against the rules.

I like what you've got.

[dbphotos]

Just for clarification, it's not my shot. One of the photographers that shot for EXPN and the image is linked from EXPN.com.

[fivegrand]

I'd use an 8'x12' reflector on each side of the camera, if anything at all. Clearly some kind of main source was high and left, whether it was a light or a reflector doesn't really matter.

As for the sky, it's not underexposed - the Channel Mixer is your friend.

[carrbowl]

Originally Posted by CaptainTom

This is the perfect situation to use the TriCoast exposure method. They will under expose the background by approx 3/4 stop and give the off camera flash(s) about +1 stop of compensation. Then of course, they have some tricks in processing that make it all come together. If I told you everything, I'd be giving a workshop, and that is against the rules.

I like what you've got.

Ok..help clarify this for me..if you underexpose the background by 3/4 stop, and overexpose the flash by 1...does that make it really +1/4??? That would make sense mathwise, but you actually are exposing the background different from the forground with Tom's numbers right? (see why my brain doesn't do all this technical stuff!!! it works wierd )

[Jake]

That would be a hard shot to use Canon wireless ETTL because it looks like it was shot with a fisheye.
If that's the case, then keeping the IR sensor in line-of-sight in the day light while using a fisheye is very hit or miss. I've tried. By the time you get the flashes to fire every time, then the flashes are IN your shot!
I would just underexpose the sky a little and use 2 lights on the group via pocket wizards.

[CaptainTom]

Originally Posted by carrbowl

Ok..help clarify this for me..if you underexpose the background by 3/4 stop, and overexpose the flash by 1...does that make it really +1/4??? That would make sense mathwise, but you actually are exposing the background different from the forground with Tom's numbers right? (see why my brain doesn't do all this technical stuff!!! it works wierd )

What you are doing is mixing two seperate exposure values into one exposure. Since the flash only effects the forground, you can expose the sky using whatever value you want.
The camera is underexposing the total exposure by 3/4 which would give a nice sky, but dark foreground. The flash will over expose the foreground slightly. Put the two together, make some PS adjustments and you should get a WOW image.

[carrbowl]

Ok..so why not meter the background, and then adjust the flash to the same exposure as the background?? Then they would have the same exposure wouldn't they??