Last weekend we held the Model Photo Shoot Workshop at the Mackenzie King Estate in Gatineau Park. For a workshop that was covering lighting I couldn’t have asked for a better day, well except for the 20 minutes when we had a torrential downpour in the late afternoon. But the light was just incredible right after the rain! The day had started off with a cloudless blue sky and as the day went on the cloud cover increased. It was incredible, we were able to cover so many different lighting situations.
With a location flash kit we were using it to balance flash with ambient light, using it in direct sunlight, overpowering the sunlight with the flash, shooting it through an translucent umbrella, bouncing it off a large light panel, and…. well you get the idea, we did everything. New to the lighting kit for this workshop was the PocketWizard Plus II Wireless Triggering System. They were so easy for all of the photographers to use. I didn’t have to explain a thing, other than to say “this goes in the camera’s hotshoe – and shoot!”. They worked flawlessly triggering the flashes with everyone’s camera, it didn’t matter which make or model they had. It’s a big Plus (I guess that’s how they got the name) having these in the lighting kit. So far I have found them to be extremely reliable, they are proving to be a much better option than my other radio slaves, which seem so archaic when compared to these PocketWizards. I now why everyone raves about them!
Another aspect of lighting that we covered was the use of reflectors. We were demonstrating the use of white, silver and gold, we were also using some diffusers as well. Everyone was pretty amazed what a difference the reflectors made. Even when it was overcast, which is something that they didn’t expect at all.
In the near future I will be posting some of the photos that the participant’s took on this workshop. The next Model Photo Shoot Workshop will be held on Saturday October 15th, there are still a few spaces open – Email to register or for details.
