10 EPIC LIGHTING RECIPES SIMPLE TOOLS + INTUITIVE EDUCATION = INCREDIBLE IMAGERY & & SO...WHY'D WE TEAM UP? We're teaming up with MagMod because we've been fans of their products long before we ever created an official partnership. Plain and simple, MagMod makes the best lighting modifiers we've ever used. We not only use them professionally with Lin + Jirsa Photography clients, our A to Z education within SLR Lounge primarily features MagMod products as well. When it came to creating this lighting guide, it only made sense to partner with our friends at MagMod. They're a company that designs great products that are backed by good people that we can stand behind. Enjoy the guide! Pye Jirsa - Educator and Co-Founder of SLR Lounge + Things.co + Visual Flow + Lin & Jirsa Photography We're teaming up with SLR Lounge because they offer the best A to Z education for photographers. Their workshop library is the only place we know where you can learn everything from picking up a camera, to mastering offcamera lighting, to running a successful photography business. We've also seen the results of that education, many of our own MagMod Ambassadors and educators got their foundation from SLR Lounge. When it came to creating this lighting guide, partnering with SLR Lounge was a no-brainer since it's the best place to master lighting and so much more. Trevor Dayley - MagMod Community and Brand Specialist + Trevor Dayley Photography YOUR BENEFIT Oh, best part of this partnership is that it benefits each of you. Here are discount codes that you can use should you wish to purchase any MagMod products or SLR Lounge education. We'll place this a couple times throughout this e-book for convenience. Click here for 10% off any MagMod purchase Learn more about SLR Lounge Education. Enter "MM50" for $50 off the Annual Membership GETTING STARTED 01. 02. 03. What's a "Lighting Recipe?" What gear do I need? Tips for beginners Much like a cooking recipe, a "Lighting Recipe" is a set of instructions that will lead you to a particular result. They're not only a great way to learn photography, they make it easy to "cook up" great photos (see what we did there?). Sorry, you're always at risk of dad jokes with Trevor and me. Every recipe will have a specific list of gear "ingredients." Some of those ingredients will be optional, like your specific choice of lighting modifier. Others will be required. For example a two light setup will require two off-camera flashes. To get the most from this e-book we want you to come to the table understanding the Exposure Triangle along with how to control off-camera flashes in manual mode. Think of these recipes as a starting place for your creativity. Once you get the hang of things, just like you might tweak a recipe in the kitchen, you can adjust this lighting recipe to suit your particular taste. In addition to the lighting modifiers listed in each Recipe's Ingredients, you will need your camera, three off-camera flashes, and a radio remote to control those flashes. Because this education is beyond the scope of this guide, we've teamed up with SLR Lounge to create this guide because they offer the industry's best A to Z education that covers learning manual mode, mastering lighting, and even running a 6-7 figure photography business. MAGMOD FLASH MODIFIERS One of the keys to lighting recipes is having flash modifiers that help you control and color your light. As we share each of these recipes we will add information about which of these MagMod modifiers we used on our flashes. To find out more about these modifiers, click on the images to be taken to their product pages. MagSphere 2 MagSnoot 2 MagBox Pro Line Instantly shapes your flash into a soft, omni-directional bare-bulb light source that works perfectly as an on-camera or off-camera diffuser. This snoots collapsible design delivers precise control with 4 different beam patterns making it easy to put light precisely where you want it. Super fast zip on diffuser, integrated built in storage pocket, magnet attaching honeycomb grid, simple setup, and an integrate gel slot make these some of the most popular soft boxes for photographers. MagBounce 2 ProGel Newly redesigned bounce modifier that has been stripped down to it simplest and most functional form. Perfect for group shots or for use on-camera. These gels were redesigned to be faster and stronger than ever thanks to their new embedded magnet design and increased strength. Gelling your flash has never been easier. MagGrid 2 MagBeam Provides you an optimized beam pattern so you can control the light coverage and eliminate unwanted light spill. One very popular combo is to stack with MagSphere 2. The most versatile, unique and awesome fresnel lens modifier ever created for photographers. Create some unique patterns of light with the MagBeam paired with MagMasks. RECIPE LEGEND - PART I Here's a quick little Recipe Legend that will walk you through how each Lighting Recipe is designed and how you can get the most from this guide. INGREDIENTS LIGHTING # OF LIGHTS = 1 MAIN FLASH (4-6FT) FAVORITE MODIFIERS MAGBOUNCE MAGMOD GRID WORKSHOP > LIGHTING TWO OVERPOWERING THE SUN PART I AND II The Ingredients Card is where you'll find the specific gear and modifiers that we're recommending. If something is labeled "optional" then it's just that. These are our "Favorite" modifiers to create the looks shown within the receipe. But keep in mind once you've learned a technique, you can switch the modifiers however you like. TIPS More often than not, when it comes to The Tips Card is where we'll walk through how each lighting technique works, when we like to use it, and provide additional guidance for each Lighting Receipe. lighting our portraits we're usually trying to hide our light sources. But the point of "stadium lighting" is just the opposite, show off those lights just like you might see behind your subject in a stadium. We like to do this with two flashes placed equidistant behind your subject. Then place a third flash at the 7 o'clock position to light your subject. However that third light is optional since just the two rim lights will create a unique look in and of itself. If you want more education on a topic, each Lighting Recipe will reference specific lessons within SLR Lounge's A to Z Content Library BONUS TIP: To control the starbust pattern, use the Aperture on your lens. A wider aperture will create more of a blooming effect, where as a smaller aperture will create a sharper starbust pattern. RECIPE LEGEND - PART II Here's a quick little Recipe Legend that will walk you through how each Lighting Recipe is designed and how you can get the most from this guide. THE SETUP The Setup "Clock" is designed to give you an idea of the flash positioning in relation to the camera and your subject. 12 11 1 10 This denotes flash placement. Keep in mind that this is just a starting point. After learning the concept, feel free to adjust and make your own. By default, aim the flashes at your subject unless you see the arrow instructing you otherwise. 2 9 3 8 4 7 The Flash symbol placed over the 4 o'clock position means that your flash should be placed roughly in this spot. In this instance, about 45 degrees to camera right. PROGEL (COLOR) Use a gel over the flash. The colors we recommend will be listed in the sub-text. Your camera position. 5 6 Your subject's position. "THE ONE" OVERPOWERING THE SUN INGREDIENTS TIPS THE SETUP 12 What happens when you turn a flash light on in bright sun? Nothing right!? 11 Because in bright sun, you need a lot of LIGHTING # OF LIGHTS = 1 MAIN FLASH (4-6FT) FAVORITE MODIFIERS MAGRING light in order for it to show. So when it comes to overpowering the 2 After you figure out your composition, darken your in-camera exposure. We like to start at ISO 100 (or 50 if available), 1/200th for the shutter, and a closed MAGBEAM (8-12 FT) down aperture to darken the scene PART I AND II 10 sun, think one over one (1/1) or full power. MAGBOX (2-3 FT) WORKSHOP > LIGHTING TWO OVERPOWERING THE SUN 1 9 3 (usually around f/7 to f/14). If you're using a standard flash as your main light, place it around 4-6 feet from your subject. If you're softening that 8 4 light (with a MagBox) bring it to around 2-3 feet away. If you'd like the flash out of frame, use a MagBeam which will allow you to throw a lot of light at your subject from 8-12 feet pretty easily. 7 5 6 IMAGE BY LIN + JIRSA Don't underestimate the power of one well-placed off-camera flash. I captured this image in Laguna Beach, California. To darken my exposure as well as add depth, I shot the image around 1/200th, f/11 and ISO 100. This image was lit with a single off-camera flash (without modifiers) directly to camera left aimed at my female subject. I often opt for bare flash to create a more edgy light that defines my subject within an environmental portrait like this one. BONUS TIP: If you need more flash power, you can use 2x flashes with the MagRing adapter. This was shot at midday when the sun was directly overhead. If you look at the rock in the distance, you can see how the sun is hitting it on top. It was a bright cloudless day in Tucson, Arizona. I placed 2 AD200 flashes mounted into a MagRing with a MagBox 24" Octa on the front to overpower the sun. Both flashes were turned up to full power. I then raised my aperture to close it down, set my ISO to 100, and Shutter Speed to 1/200th of a second (fastest sync speed on camera). By doing all those things, I could make it look dark outside, despite being under the bright afternoon sun. IMAGE BY TREVOR DAYLEY "STACKING" LIGHT STACKING FOR DEPTH INGREDIENTS TIPS THE SETUP Light stacking is the key to creating 12 depth and drawing attention to a 11 particular area of your imagery (often LIGHTING # OF LIGHTS = 2 MAIN FLASH (3-5FT) ACCENT FLASH (2-4FT) your subject's face). Here's how it works. We like to place our main flash around 3- 1 10 5 feet from our subject using a softening 2 modifier like a MagBox. Again, when outdoors we are going to start at full power for this light. FAVORITE MODIFIERS MAGBOX PRO 42" OCTA MAGGRID The second light will be positioned on the same angle, but just a foot or so 9 3 inside of the main light as an accent light. We like using the MagGrid for WORKSHOP > LIGHTING THREE LIGHT STACKING FOR DEPTH accent light to focus the light only on the face. The accent light will be at a lower flash power, just enough to subtly 8 4 draw your viewer's eyes towards the brighter area of the photo. Side note, this setup is also a popular technique in product photography. 7 5 6 What's unique about this setup is the depth of the lighting pattern. My main flash is putting a lot of light on my subject allowing me to underexpose a bright midday scene. But it's the second flash, my accent light that's highlighting the face and drawing attention toward my subject's expression. BONUS TIP: My favorite setup for this look is 2x AD200 (or equivalents) in the MagRing with the MagBox. This gives me 400Ws worth of light with a soft overall look. Then just inside of that main light, I like to place a 3rd standard flash with a grid that just highlights the subjects face. This exact setup will need 3 lights, but it provides a soft light that's still powerful enough to overpower the sun should you need it. IMAGE BY LIN + JIRSA I love shooting at civil twilight - about 25 minutes after sunset. It doesn't last long, but it's one of my favorite times to shoot since it allows me to throw the sky into this deep rich blue. To capture this, I used a large softbox as my primary light source. Because it was already dark, a standard flash was enough even with the softbox. For my accent light I used a second flash with a MagGrid at a low power setting just to draw a little more attention to her face. Both flashes were camera left at around the 8 o'clock position. IMAGE BY TREVOR DAYLEY "RAINMAKER" BACKLIGHTING AIR PARTICLES INGREDIENTS TIPS THE SETUP Rain can be frustrating for clients but it's 12 an amazing opportunity for epic imagery. 11 But when shooting in the rain, share LIGHTING # OF LIGHTS = 1 MAIN FLASH (5-10FT) 1 images from the back of your camera with clients to get them excited about the results. Rain or bad weather are truly 10 an opportunity to turn lemons into 2 lemonade. FAVORITE MODIFIERS MAGSPHERE The key to shooting in the rain is getting light behind your subject that spreads out and illuminates raindrops, mist, or WORKSHOP > LIGHTING THREE BACKLIGHTING FOR RAIN AND AIR PARTICLES 9 3 even fog in the air. We love using the MagSphere on our flash to help with that even spread of light. To protect your gear in the rain, keep a Ziploc bag in your gear bag that you can 8 4 pull out and slip over the top of your flash. It protects the equipment without affecting the light output. Atmosphere Aerosol is also a great tool to create fog/air particles when needed. 7 5 6 One of my favorite ways to add an extra kiss of awesome to your rainy day portraits is to have your subjects use a white umbrella. If they don't have one, your shoot-through umbrella will work fine. The beauty of the umbrella is that it will catch light from your backlight and send it down to wrap around your subject's faces. BONUS TIP: In this image we're only using the one backlight as shown in the recipe. But if you want to add to the light wrapping effect of the umbrella, add a second flash just behind your subjects pointed up at the umbrella. IMAGE BY LIN + JIRSA This shot started out as Stadium Lighting which we will cover shortly. But I decided that I didn't want the flashes visible in the frame. I moved the flashes to the edges of the scene just to illuminate the light rain fall. The key here is that the principle is identical, create a backlight to illuminate the snow/rain or any other atmospheric particles. The two lights were placed at 10 and 2 o'clock providing an edge light on my clients while lighting up the rain. If you look close you'll notice closer to the light how more particles of the rain mist are lit up. I included this example here to show how rain is more apparent the IMAGE BY TREVOR DAYLEY closer it is to your light source. IMAGE BY LIN + JIRSA Same principle, different scene. If you've ever seen the Lin + Jirsa signature hairspray shot, it's using the exact same Lighting Recipe. Put down a backlight and you'll light up any air particles, including those from hair spray. BONUS TIP: To exaggerate this look, we like closing the curtains so the background is naturally darker than the illuminated particles. Also, so you don't actually mess up your client's hair, have a MUA or a bridesmaid spray the hairspray just behind the bride. From your angle, the viewer won't be able to tell that it's not actually landing on the bride's hair. "CROSS LIGHT" 2-POINT CROSS LIGHTING INGREDIENTS TIPS THE SETUP Cross lighting is a beautifully simple two 12 light setup that you can even pull off with a single flash. LIGHTING # OF LIGHTS = 2 MAIN FLASH (5-10FT) SUN/SECOND FLASH (10+FT) 11 1 The goal is to use one light for your subject with a second light to highlight 10 and carve them your subjects out of the 2 scene. With a cross lighting setup, each light FAVORITE MODIFIERS MAGBOX MAGGRID MAGGRID + MAGSPHERE comes from an opposite angle on the clock. Your second light source can be a flash, but it can also just be the setting 9 3 sun or a reflector bouncing light back to your subjects. Although using a flash will give you more options and control. WORKSHOP > LIGHTING THREE TWO-LIGHT FRONT AND BACK CLASSIC (CROSS LIGHT) The safest, most common position of 8 4 lights is 5 + 11 o'clock or 7 + 1 o'clock. But get creative and have fun with crosslighting. Once set, you can move around the circle and get a variety of different looks. Often times our favorite image is one that we didn't initially plan for. 7 5 6 While I only used a single flash, this was indeed a cross lighting setup. I captured this image in Hawaii and to darken my exposure as well as add depth, I shot the image around 1/200th, f/11 and ISO 100. This image was lit with a single off-camera flash (without modifiers) directly to camera right aimed at the bride. From there, I carefully positioned the bride's back to be angled against the sun. This allows the sun to become my second light which accentuates her back, dress, and veil. IMAGE BY LIN + JIRSA The venue is a gorgeous setting with tall trees lining the backside; you can see them on the IMAGE BY TREVOR DAYLEY right side of the frame. The problem is they block the sky during sunset. So I brought the couple outside the venue to this empty lot next door, where I had a clear sunset view. I placed a MagBox at 4 o'clock, asked them to look toward it, and placed a second flash with a MagSphere at 10 o'clock. You can see the difference it made it bringing light to her hair and shoulder. Without it, that side would have been in the shadows. I had a MagBox just outside the frame for this one, very close to them. It was at 8 o'clock. The second light had a MagBounce on it positioned at 2 o'clock. It is very subtle, but if you look at how the light on his shoulders helps to carve him out of the background. Sometimes those tiny differences help your subjects pop and make the photo. IMAGE BY TREVOR DAYLEY PARTNER DISCOUNTS More Lighting Recipes below! For convenience, here are the links to your coupons. Click here for 10% off any MagMod purchase Learn more about SLR Lounge Education. Enter "MM50" for $50 off the Annual Membership "STADIUM" 3-POINT STARBURST LIGHTING INGREDIENTS TIPS THE SETUP More often than not, when it comes to 12 lighting our portraits we're usually trying 11 to hide our light sources. But the point LIGHTING # OF LIGHTS = 2 MIN / 3 MAX LEFT FLASH (5-15FT) RIGHT FLASH (5-15FT) MAIN FLASH (3-5FT OPTIONAL) of "Stadium Lighting" is the opposite, 1 show off those lights just like you might see behind your subject in a stadium. 10 2 We like to do this with two flashes placed equidistant behind your subject. Then place a third flash at the 7 o'clock position to light your subject. FAVORITE MODIFIERS MAGGRID MAGMOD PROGELS The third light is optional since just the 9 3 two rim lights will create a unique look in and of itself. However if you would like, add a third light at either the 5 or 7 WORKSHOP > LIGHTING THREE THREE-POINT STARBURST LIGHTING PART I AND II o'clock position to light your subject. 8 4 To control the starburst pattern, use the Aperture on your lens. A wider aperture will create more of a blooming effect, where as a smaller aperture will create a sharper starbust pattern. 7 5 6 If you're going to use Starburst Lighting with your subject looking into the camera as shown here, I'd highly recommend you use a third light to light your subject. Here I'm using a 3rd flash boomed directly over my subjects head with a MagBox to create a soft main light to light his face. BONUS TIP: When I'm not lighting my subject's face, I'm not going to have them look directly into the camera. Instead I'll turn my subjects to offer their profile to the camera allowing the two backlights to accentuate my subject's form. IMAGE BY LIN + JIRSA IMAGE BY TREVOR DAYLEY This is the same Stadium Light Recipe but with the flashes framed just outside of the image. I put MagMod gels on the front of my flashes to pull off the color flares. I then shot a few photos with the flashes visible and then took a few steps forward to get the flash right on the edge of my frame. The light on her face was natural sunlight. We were shooting in the shade under a barn cover with daylight behind me. Usually, I wouldn't place my light stands so far back, but I was trying to blend them into the background. When editing out light stands from a photo, I like to make it as easy as possible. In this situation, because the background was so busy, I knew it would be a lot of work, so opting to move them back and turn up the power on my flashes was the decision I went with. The happy accident is that it added some nice shadows on the short wall behind them, creating great leading lines for the couple. IMAGE BY TREVOR DAYLEY "RAINBOW" BROADWAY STAGE LIGHTING INGREDIENTS TIPS THE SETUP 12 We usually place the lights at 4/8, and typically to get started will put the lights 11 at the same power and distance LIGHTING # OF LIGHTS = 2 (approximately 5-8 feet away from subjects). LEFT FLASH (5-8FT) Once we have that baseline shot, you RIGHT FLASH (5-8FT) can decide how you want to adjust the FAVORITE MODIFIERS MAGBOUNCE MAGSPHERE WORKSHOP > LIGHTING THREE TWO-LIGHT PIN WITH AMBIENT SHUTTER DRAG 1 10 2 power of your flashes for more interest in your photos. This can be done in two ways. One, you can change the power of one side; for example, make it half the 9 3 power of the other. The other option is to move one flash in closer and pull the other further away. Because of the inverse square law, changing the distance of your light to 8 4 the subject will affect the amount of light hitting your subject. This is a go-to two-lighting setup that we like to use at sunset. 7 5 6 One of the tell tail signs of rainbow lighting is the two shadows coming off your subjects. If you look in the grass, you can see those. So that those shadows are not distracting to the image, I like to lower my position to the ground. In this shot, both of my flashes are just outside the camera frame, so I didn't have to edit them out, and they each had a MagGrid+MagSphere combo. When I placed the couple in the shot, I wanted to make good and sure the space behind them was also free of any palm trees. So don't forget to find that clean space; it can make or break the shot. IMAGE BY TREVOR DAYLEY When shooting large group shots I love using the rainbow lighting setup with MagBounce modifiers on each of my flashes. This helps me to get a solid spread of light across everyone. The benefit of the Rainbow setup is that the IMAGE BY TREVOR DAYLEY flash on each side will eliminate harsh shadows. This makes it a great lighting setup for large group shots like this one. BONUS TIP: Raise your light stands as high as they can go and feather your light towards the back. Here my light stands were fully extended to 13 feet. I'm including this image because this shutter drag is utilizing Rainbow lighting with a slight modification. Not only am I dragging the shutter at 1/5" of a second to get blur on the cars driving by, I've pulled the subjects forward a little. Instead of the lights being at 4 and 8 o'clock in relation to the lights, pulling them forward brings the lights to the 2 and 10 o'clock position. From there, a MagGrid was placed onto each light to focus the light, then I had each subject look toward the flash placed on their side. IMAGE BY LIN + JIRSA "SKY ON FIRE" GELLING FOR CREATIVE EFFECT INGREDIENTS TIPS THE SETUP 12 Gels are your cure to a boring sky. We have the cure for knowing what each gel 11 will do to your scene. Start with any LIGHTING # OF LIGHTS = 1 MAIN FLASH (5-8FT) 1 lighting pattern you like. You can adjust your White Balance in 10 camera or in post if you're shooting raw. 2 The easiest way to remember what a gel FAVORITE MODIFIERS MAGMOD PROGELS MAGBOX CORRECTION GELS is doing is to think, "How will I correct for the color I'm adding to my subject." CTO = Orange light on your subject is 9 3 corrected by cooling the temperature, WORKSHOP > LIGHTING TWO THREE FAVORITE GELS FOR AMBIENT/SKY MANIPULATION turning the entire scene more blue. PROGEL CTO | CTB | CTG CTB = Blue light on your subject is corrected by warming the temperature, turning the entire scene more orange. 8 4 CTG = Green light on your subject is corrected by adding magenta, turning the entire scene more purple. 7 5 6 Here I'm using a CTO gel on my main flash positioned at 4 o'clock. Because I'm adding orange to my subject, I have to correct for that by cooling the in-camera White Balance to around 3600K to 3800K. This adjustment corrects for the orange light on my subject, but it also shifts the rest of the scene into a deep blue. IMAGE BY TREVOR DAYLEY This is the same image and composition, but this time I'm using a CTB gel on my main flash positioned at 4 o'clock. Because I'm adding blue to my subject, I have to correct for that by warming the in-camera White Balance to around 8000K to 9000K. This adjustment corrects for the blue light on my subject, but it also shifts the rest of the scene into a warm orange tone. IMAGE BY TREVOR DAYLEY "EXPLOSION" BACKGROUND LIGHTING PT. I INGREDIENTS TIPS THE SETUP Position the light right behind your 12 subject just like you would with a rim 11 light, but this time rather than point the LIGHTING # OF LIGHTS = 1 FLASH (1-2FT BEHIND SUBJECT) 1 light towards them, point it toward the background. 10 You will want to turn the power up on 2 your flash, usually to half or even full FAVORITE MODIFIERS MAGBOUNCE MAGSPHERE WORKSHOP > LIGHTING TWO WRAPPING BACKGROUND LIGHT FOR SILHOUETTES power depending on the scene. Sometimes we will add a second flash to make the effect even more significant. 9 3 This an excellent lighting recipe to use in a bridal suite when the room is disheveled behind the bride. Great shot to show clients on the back of your camera at the night's end. They will head home talking about their photographer 8 4 pulling off magic in the camera. Also, this Lighting Recipe is a fantastic way to create silhouettes nearly anywhere. 7 5 6 Shot in the evening, All I'm doing here is aiming a single flash at a concrete wall directly behind my clients. My aperture is wide at around f/2, I'm shooting at around 1/200th and ISO 400. From here, I'm blasting the flash at full power off the concrete wall allows it to open up and wrap around my subjects. This is one of those lighting patterns that will create something amazing in the most mundane of locations. IMAGE BY LIN + JIRSA This was shot in the bridal suite and behind her, the room, which was more like a big meeting space, was pretty unorganized. So I laid a flash on the ground with a MagBounce and turned it to full power. Then, I pointed that light away from her and toward the mess. I had a second light resting on top of an armoire with a MagSphere pointed toward her so I could get a little more light on her face. Her face was a little too dark and in the shadows without this second light. IMAGE BY TREVOR DAYLEY IMAGE BY TREVOR DAYLEY For this senior portrait her mom had asked if we can get a few pictures of her playing at the piano as she is a talented pianist. The piano was located in the corner of the house and around it hung on the wall were some distracting elements. I decided to get rid of those by creating the explosion of light behind her. To do this I put one flash on the ground and another rested on the piano. Both were turned up high. By doing this I was able to turn everything behind her white and bring all the attention to her rather than have the viewers eyes distracted by the once busy background. "HIGHLIGHT" BACKGROUND LIGHTING PT. II INGREDIENTS TIPS THE SETUP Our eyes are drawn to three primary 12 things in photographs, brightness, 11 contrast and sharpness. This lighting LIGHTING # OF LIGHTS = 1 FLASH (1-2FT BEHIND SUBJECT) FAVORITE MODIFIERS MAGBOUNCE MAGSPHERE WORKSHOP > LIGHTING TWO BACKGROUND LIGHT FOR SILHOUETTES PT II 1 recipe is a subtle way to direct the viewers eyes right where you want it by adding a touch of light behind your 10 subjects. It's very easy to do. 2 Like the Explosion recipe you will want to point your flash away from your subjects, and place it behind them. However, for this one rather than 9 3 turning it up to full power, you will want to just enough flash for a highlight. It's this subtle touch of light that will draw your viewers eyes into your subjects. 8 4 Make sure when doing this to have your clients interacting with each other, as this isn't the type of look at the camera and smile type of shot. 7 5 6 IMAGE BY LIN + JIRSA Here I'm mixing a few techniques that you've already learned. I'm using the background light, but it's set to a lower power than what we might do for the "Explosion" Recipe. The light is directly behind the couple and aimed at the wall at maybe 1/4 power. But the trick here is that I've also added a MagMod CTO to the light which allows me to shift the entire scene blue with an in-camera White Balance of around 4000K. The result is an image where the graffiti turns blue and the brightest area of the image features a warm kiss from the couple. I captured this image in the Sequoia National Park. The final image is actually a panoramic stitch that ended up being more than 100 megapixels and meant for a giant wall art print. Thing is, I didn't want my couple to get lost in the grandeur of the scene. So to bring attention to them, I placed a Profoto B10 (a 200Ws flash) right behind them and aimed it at the tree. Because I was shooting with a closed aperture, I'm using the flash at around 1/2 power which put just enough light on the tree without blowing it out. The result is this natural vignette effect that draws the viewer right into the highlight behind the couple placed at the base of the tree. IMAGE BY LIN + JIRSA "FIREWORKS" BRING THE MAGIC INGREDIENTS TIPS THE SETUP Fireworks is not the easiest of recipes to 12 do but it always ends up being a client favorite. It requires a few minutes to 11 setup, so use it for portrait sessions until LIGHTING # OF LIGHTS = 1 TO 2+ FLASH (1-2FT BEHIND SUBJECT) MAIN FLASH (5-10FT) 1 you can pull it off quick enough for a wedding. 10 For the pattern, use the MagBeam with 2 a wide angle MB lens and one of the MagMasks on the flash behind them. FAVORITE MODIFIERS MAGBEAM Play with the MagMasks and gels for a near infinite variety of looks. MAGMASKS Once you're happy with the pattern on MAGSPHERE + MAGGRID the wall, add a main light for your MAGBOX + GRID WITH GO-BETWEEN-OBJECTS 3 subjects. The trick here is to make sure this light WORKSHOP > LIGHTING FOUR CREATING LIGHTING PATTERNS 9 8 4 doesn't bleed into the other light you just created and cancel it out. Our favorite way of doing this is by placing the light higher while using the MagGrid or MagGrid + Sphere combination. 7 5 6 On the next page I show behind the scenes and will break down the setup there where you can see it all visually. IMAGE BY TREVOR DAYLEY The guy in this shot is holding one of my flashes at his hip in his left hand. On that flash is the MagBeam with a MagMask and a Red gel. That's what is creating that cool lighting pattern on the cement wall behind them. Now to put light on them I have my flash at about 10ft high angled down towards them with a MagSphere + MagGrid. This combo helps me to focus the light on them. Note how their shadow casts down because of the height of my flash. If I didn't raise it as much then the shadow would be on the wall effecting the light design. Also by using the MagGrid it helps to keep my light from spilling into the red light. IMAGE BY TREVOR DAYLEY LEARN MORE OK, so what now!? Below are links to grab your MagMod gear or to jump into SLR Lounge Education at a discount. But there's more! MagMod and SLR Lounge have two incredible Facebook Groups that are completely FREE to join and a great place for ongoing education and feedback. It's also the best place where you can directly connect with Trevor and Pye who are active in both groups. Click the links below to join! PARTNER DISCOUNTS Click here for 10% off any MagMod purchase Learn more about SLR Lounge Education. Enter "MM50" for $50 off the Annual Membership