Lessons

Lesson Info

Live Shoot: Interesting Light with Grids

We're gonna do the flex kit with the black background, with a little grid, with a low flex. But I'll do it with Cameron, and we'll do it right here, set it up right here. It's gonna be real easy, real fast. We'll do B1 low on the ground. And I'll move my stuff back. And if anybody has any questions in the meantime, I'm happy to answer them, but we're gonna fire this one up pretty quickly. I'm gonna do... I gonna do it right here. I need a Profoto B1 low, which this will do it. This should do it. I need my grid situation. So guys, most of the time, I'm gonna talk about grids a little bit. Most of the time, if I'm using a grid, it is to do what? Stop light from going somewhere. Or get light going in one direction, right? So a grid is gonna allow light to go that way. And then dependent upon how big the grid is... Is this the one that was in here? This one? This the one I'm working with? I didn't change it, you didn't change it? I didn't change your grid. Well let's go for this grid. ...

We got grids. This is the Profoto OCF grid system. And it's really cool, 'cause it's lightweight, it's plastic, you can pop these suckers in and out. But it's gonna allow my light from the head to go one direction, and there's different degrees of spread. This one is the... This looks like the 5. No, this is the 10, this is the 10. So we're going with a 10 degree spread. We're gonna go, we're gonna pop it on the front of this light. These are brand new, so it's a little bit tight. We got it. Did we get it? Almost. I got it. I'm good. We're gonna go about 4.5 on that, and then I'll adjust. Give me a flex. Give me a flex. We're gonna flex it up. We're going to my go-to. Give me a 20 on the back one. And Cameron come forward a step. Come forward another step. There we go, come forward another step. There we go. Just wanna make sure this kick's gonna hit you. I mean, I should say kick you. I wanna make sure I kick you. Not too hard, it's not gonna hurt. Okay, here we go. We're going kick. Turn on the modeling light on that. And then what I need you to do, are these wheels locked? Yeah. We should have a weight on it. We have these wonderful water ballasts right here called a Hurley Pro H2Pro bag that would be perfect for this scenario, guys. And they are awesome, 'cause I take them everywhere I go. Okay, Hurley Pro gear guys, there it is. Now pull it a little straighter for me. And let's look at the height, are we okay with the height? We might have to have Cameron do my main move. What's my main move when I got height issues? Spread them. Spread 'em. He might have to spread 'em, let's see. Okay, scootch a little bit this way for me. Was that a scootch? That was not a scootch. Stay right there, that's good. Hold that. Okay. Chin down a little bit. There you go, bring that forehead out. Guys, I find it very difficult, when I'm teaching lighting, to not direct my subject, because whenever I'm shooting, I'm always immersed in creating something for them, an atmosphere for them to work in. So in this environment, we're teaching lighting, but we're not really doing much in terms of direction, but I want to make sure... By the way, the models are doing great. It's just, I want you to know that once you get your base, I want you to start to work on your direction in portraiture, okay? 'Cause that's really what it's all about. Do you feel like you're being directed well today? Love it, good. Okay, good. What're we doing? Let's drop that puppy down. So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna skirt the matte black ProBoard. So we talked about the matte black ProBoard. He's wearing black. I got a black board. If I shoot that and it goes black, I might get some... The black jacket and the black hair into the black ProBoard. I'm gonna start with that, I'll set that up. Do me a favor, just get two B1s over here and set them up and put them at like 2.0. And I may or may not need them. So what I'm gonna do is I put the grid on here, and I do this move. Guys, as your artist figures out your moves, as you start to work this stuff, as you start to figure out what you like. You'll develop little things that you like. One of the things I like is that I don't like that to go too black, and I like to put a streak through it. It looks like it's just barely there, but it's there. So what I'm gonna do, it's there right now, and I'm gonna tweak this, and adjust it to where I think it'll look cool. Where you barely see it, but you see it. So I'm gonna change my lens to my 70 to 200. John is running around like a chicken with the head cut off over there. There you go. Thank you. Here, this lens. Got it. Give me the back cap? Back cap. Thank you. Cool. And I'm gonna go back to my move. I'm gonna bring up my tripod. I got Cameron there. He's looking good already, because why? What light is this for me? It's my gofer light, right? Do I know the gofer light like the back of my hand? I don't really know, do you guys really look at the back of your hand? Like, do you know it? I don't really know it that well. But I know it like the saying goes, yeah. Okay, jam your forehead out. I mean, do you inspect the back of your hand? Who came up with that? Anyway, jam your forehead out, come forward a little bit, hold that. Scootch a little, hold that, there you go. Give me your squinch with your brow pressure that you learned today, because you're really good. And we're gonna attempt to... We're gonna put this on manual because I know I want it to stay at the setting that it's on. Although I don't know where John set it. Where'd I tell you to set it? I said 4.5, it's at 4.5. You are unbelievable. Just perfect. All right, none of the other strobes are on in the room, right? Let's just take a shot. We're gonna take our guess shot, and we're gonna go back to our settings. So we're doing ISO 200 this time, right? We were at 1/160, right? At 4 is my move, that's my move. Hold that right there. Now let's see, hold that, I can work with that. I'm at my 92 millimeter setting. And spread your feet out a little bit so you're a little lower for me. I need you a little bit lower on the background. There you go. Perfect, don't move a muscle. Good, let's see it. Let's take a look, let's see if we're perfect. We've got light, we've got separation. We did not get enough. We barely have the back shoulder. I'm with you. I didn't hit the board enough, and I need... I'm going 5, and is this on? Not on yet. Is it a battery? I got it. And I'm gonna bring in my buddy. Now I'm moving him way out over here. Actually, I don't wanna hit him. Let me try this. We're gonna light this board just a little bit. I know it's black, but we're just barely gonna tweak it with light. Can you put the other one at 2.0? And we'll start from there? I'll do it. I'll do it, I'll do it. See how the black, he's falling into it? For me, that's too much black. What do you got there? I like the exposure, I like my buddy Phil. I like it on him. Maybe I could open up a little bit. Let me just go... I'm just gonna bring him a little bit hotter. I'm gonna go 40, I'm gonna mix it up. I'm gonna break some rules. Oh, by the way, every rule that I've told you over the course of the last two days, just break 'em. Over the course of this course, all rules are meant to be broken. That's how you learn, that's how you grow. Don't listen to those people online who think they're always right. You don't have to listen to me. You break the rules, you show me a good picture, I'm gonna be like, there you go! You broke the rule, I love it, the picture's good. The picture is what... That's it. It is about the final image. And, as artists, what we like. It's not about the rules. Break the rules. All right, hold it right there. Perfect, squinch it up a little bit more. Oh my goodness, Cameron. You're never gonna forget that, are you? Now we're starting to get the separation off the black, do you see that? It's a little subtle. Now I can see it. Now I've got that streak. See how it's a little milkier down in here? Hold on, that screen looks a lot different than my screen. But do you see this? So I'm blowing this strobe so it's a little bit more over here, and it comes out over there. My goodness, that looks way different than this screen. I love it over here, and that's a little bit hot for me. It's hot so that for the homescreen, you'll see a dark image. It's a little hotter? Yeah, that one's always a little hotter. We still looking good, though. We got it? But do you see this? This is from the grid. See how it's darker up here? That's the deal. Now, I wanna darken it just a touch. Just drop these back a little bit. Drop those back a little bit, drop that back a little bit. And I wanna go, and I wanna darken it just a touch. So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna go and I'm gonna go 5.6. But I'm gonna do a trick. I'm gonna drag my shutter a little bit. So the strobe's gonna hit it, right? I'm gonna go 5.6, which is gonna make the background darker, but I'm gonna drag the shutter so that it allows the flex kit, which is the continuous light, to burn in there. So I'll get him. So we're going to 1/100 of a second at 5.6, and we're gonna try this. Jam that forehead out, scootch a little bit that way. Hold on, I wanna do something. I wanna give you a little move. Let me give you a little move. There you go. My buddy Phil is on fire right now. Guys, feathering. So I'm hitting him with the edge, I'm feathering. See how the light's pointed at me? This is a good indication. The light is pointed directly at me right now. He's over there. But the edge is hitting him, I'm watching it. Get this camera fired up. Ready? Watch this. The edge is hitting him. 'Cause otherwise it wouldn't be there at all. And now I wait. And I go and I feather it, and I'm good, and I'm right there, and we're gonna try this shot. I'm at 5.6 and 100, but he looks a little high. I'm actually gonna go down a little bit. Let's try 6.3 at 100. Hold that right there, I like it. Cameron, you're rocking it. You're going left, right, and center on me. Oh yeah. Now let me see it on this screen. Okay, see what we got? I darkened the background. I still have that stuff around his shoulders, right? Wow, it's so much brighter on that one than it is on this one. Did I press my... I love it. Can you do me a favor and amp that sucker up? To... What's it at? 5.0. Go to... Go to 5.5. Go nuts. All right, there you go. Can you separate your feet a little bit more? I really wanna see this streak out. Good. I wanna show you if you go too hot with it. That's still so subtle. I've gotta point it in the perfect spot. Did you see it, little slits? Let me do it. Is the modeling light on it? Yeah. The modeling light will help you in this scenario, guys. Keep it on. So it's hitting the board, and it's streaking this way. But let me just see if I hit the board a little harder. Bring it... There we go. I can adjust where this is going. Let me see this. All right, and we're at 5.5? Go to 7. I'll show you what I don't like. Seven. All right, separate the feet, get in there. There you go, stand up straight. Put your hands in front, not in the back, there we go. Chin out and down. There you go, hold that right there. Good. How we doing? You see the difference? That's not what I wanted, right? Now I got a guy that can do that, right? (laughter) That's not what I wanted. I did not want the streak to go through like that. So let's go to... Let's go back down. To like 5.0. And I think I got the shot where I want it. Do you see, my look on this ProBoard is this little, little, that little streak of light that goes across. Actually, where's the five degree grid? Let's make it more of a streaky line. Like a streaky, crazy little... Where we got it, what're you doing? I got it. Is this the fiver? No, that's the 20. Okay, I have a 20, 30, and 10, so that's what I've got. So that's as tight of a move as we're gonna make. So the only way to make it tighter is to dump it in here. And this is not the right stand for it, but. Let's try it. Let's try it like this. Yeah, hold it right there. That's perfect, let me see that. There we go. And put it at 4.5 again. And this is at 2.0? I don't even know if I wanna... Let's turn these off so I can just see the streak. Okay, here we go, guys. Let's see what we got here. 4.5. Cameron, you're just rocking it, all day long. Getting it done. He's getting the job done. Wow. You see how it's gone? That's all where you point it, John. It's still, because of the black matte ProBoard, you've got the separation. But I still want the streak. John, just fire it up, what do you got? You could see it on there. 4.5? Go 5.5. Point it at the board a little bit more than you are. Like that, try that. We'll split it. Separate your feet, Cameron. Turn a little bit this way. Go this way, go this way. No, no, listen, watch me. Stop right there. Come forward a little bit. Separate your feet a little bit more so you're lower. Keep going, don't be afraid. There you go, good. Perfect, right there, I like it, I can work with that. Good, let's look at this and see if we get the streak we want. There it is, now it's on the other side of the shoulder. That's too much for me. It's too much for me. So I'm playing with it, and in my studio, since I'm used to it, I've got the proper stand, and I've got the proper angle, and I know exactly where I'm going, and you'll always see, when I shoot the matte black ProBoard, that I've got a little bit. This is too aggressive for me. I've got a little bit of this stuff going on over the shoulders. And it's like a streak that goes through there. Sometimes I don't do it. But as my work developed, I just liked it. So now I'm doing it. So that's a way to use a grid just to light a background.