On The Road... Pics Added!!

[mmeyer]

I had a friend help me with a shoot idea that I had last night. We went out on the road and had some fun with his guitars.

Feel free to tell me what you think. I know these are not for everyone but hopefully you'll enjoy them.

[Steve Foss]

Sweetly lit and composed, Mike. Good job matching light levels and temps on the ambient and supplemental lighting. The first looks like an album cover to me. I also like the others.

If you shot some of the subject looking at the camera, you'd have a wider variety. Also, since the guitar case is so deeply shadowed that it is almost impossible to make out in the final two images, I'd either remove it or gently light it separately, whichever makes the most sense.

[bottomdweller]

I like them. First and last for me

[Dbl]

I like these Mike. I like what you did with the lighting on these. The guitar case I would lose in each of the shots. As Steve said they are dark, hard to see and in my mind add nothing to the shot and it draws my eye away from the subject.

I like the focus on the player and the guitar and the spot of light on the pavement. I do these types of shoots weekly and I always look forward to them. My favorite technique is to use that beautiful natural hair light called the sun behind the subject. Might not of been possible with the orientation of the highway and where the sun was positioned but if you use an east/west highway you should be good to go.

For me I already know what I am going to do for the shot for lighting, its a matter of finding a location that meets that same concept. Again I think you've done well! Keep on experimenting, you are getting some cool work.

[Dbl]

Actually the more I look at the shots if you take the third shot and you changed position to his left with him turning toward you about 90 degrees you would have that sun behind him as a hair light and eliminated that power line on the left side of the shot. Of course maybe you had more things in the background to camera right...I wonder about earlier in the evening when the sun would reflect on the long stretch of highway in number two? Cool I think?

I looked at the EXIF and you are almost identical settings to what I use at this time of day. Did you use your Bee or SB800? I am guessing SB800 since I don't believe you have a power source for the Bee?

Again nicely done Mike!

[Dbl]

Nice clone work on 3, or is it a different shot? I like that much better Mike.

[Paul]

Take this for what is worth, but since I am a proffesional Disc Jockey, I notice things like this. Print Number one looks like it could be CD cover for a Keith Urban CD. I really like that look

[mmeyer]

Thanks for all the great compliments! I'm glad that you liked them. Thanks for the great suggestions as well. I will put them to good use!

I found this seldom used stretch of road and scoped out the sunset and found it was great because the sun was directly down the road so I thought it would make a great sunset shot. But that was 2 months ago. The sun has since moved quite a ways. I was also hoping for a day with some clouds to add a little contrast to the sky.

Anyways, here are a couple more where I used the sun as a hair light. It worked pretty well for these although maybe I should have jelled the SB800 to match the sunlight. That's something new I'll have to learn about. I used the SB800 (good memory, Dan) without a modifier just because I wanted a little harsher look to the light. I bought a light meter to help me with the flash, however since it's pretty new to me I'm not sure that I used it to it's potential. I've never heard anyone talking about light meters here so I'm not sure if you guys use them or not. If so, any tips wuold be helpful.

Here's one with him looking at the camera (just for you Steve:) ) He hates it.

Thanks again for the comments!

[Dbl]

OH MAN!!!!! That last one is fantastic!!! I love it along with the PP treatment! You could not have timed it any better with the sun light hitting the pavement behind him. I think its the best shot I've seen you post!!! Great work Mike.

Light meter, I have a Sekonic L-358 with the module for triggering PW. I do most of my lighting just like these shots, outdoors on the fly with different lighting all the time. I don't use my meter in these situations...seems counterproductive doesn't it? I've done so many of these that I just know what settings to put in the camera and how to set the lights. I usually take one or two test shots and I have everything set.

It would take me longer to figure out the readings from my meter! In the studio I think is where the meter shines You have fixed lights and you are working with ratios. Makes it much easier to take advantage of settings. I do use it outdoors to check exposure on the subject for general ambient light settings for the camera exposure. Then I use the flash or strobe and adjust the output of the flash/strobe to get the light I want on the subject.

Really a simple process, set camera for ambient, set flash/strobe for subject light. Much of what a meter does you can do with a white towel. Put the towel on the subjects shoulder, adjust camera for ambient, turn on flash/strobe and adjust power until you get the white towel just blinking. Back off 1/3 of a stop. You now have perfect exposure for your subject. Who says this stuff is rocket science! If I can do it anyone can.

Great job Mike, I throughly enjoyed this group of shots. And I'm with the subject, the shot of him looking at you is the weakest of the bunch, technically right on though.

[Birdsong]

This was really nice to see something different and creative (love the concept), and also helpful to read comments and learn from them even if they are beyond my scope now. For instance, the hair lights and lighting on the road can apply to composition in other settings. Thanks for posting these.

[mmeyer]

Thanks Dan, that's a great compliment to get from you! You've taught me so much, I do appreciate it!

Sarah, thanks to you, I like to photograph things that are different than most of the posts on this board. I don't always get a great response here so it's nice when I do. I like nature stuff too but I'm really enjoying portraits right now. This is the first place I post pics and the first place I look everyday, and I learn a tremendous amount from these guys as well. Lighting is what I'm trying to learn now, it's so important because it does apply to every photo you make.

Thanks again