The image above is an example of how to use minimal equipment to achieve natural tone to a complex image.
I needed to be able to show the three separate elements (living, dining, kitchen) in one shot while highlighting the space and the layout . The challenges in this composition include bright natural light from the dining area and an almost fully shadowed area in the hallway behind the fireplace. There are also three levels of overhead incandescent cans and lamps PLUS dark floors.
Composition:
Each shot is different, each photographer is different, and equipment differs. The best advice I can give on composition is to try several different angles and see what works best. For this shot, in addition to the details I mentioned earlier, I needed to be able to place a slave flash in to the frame without being able to see it. More on that in the Lighting Details section.
Here is the equipment:
Nikon D300, Sigma 12-24mm, Two SB-800 Speedlights, Tripod, and small tripod for slave.
EXIF: RAW, ISO640, 22mm(equiv), f7.1 @ 1/50th
I choose a relatively high ISO in order to maximize the Speedlight’s cone, while also keeping lower flash levels to avoid harsh shadows (I apply noise reduction and minor sharpening in Lightroom). If I need to make adjustments, I will open the aperture if it’s too dark, and increase the shutter speed if it’s too bright. The idea is to keep both adjustment as even as possible, going too far in either direction will provide undesirable results.
Exposure
first exposure
The first exposure I make is a plain shot at the meter setting with an aperture of f9. This will give me a starting point. My goal is to adjust the shutter speed until the incandescent lights (maybe a lamp or can) in the frame are at the point where they are barely about to be blown out. From that point you can begin to add light (and place the slave) until you have the results you want.
The first exposure for this shot happens to be right on the money (thank you very much), the artificial lights are bright but not blown out. I can now proceed to add my own light.
Lighting Details:
Camera: pop up the on-camera flash. This will trigger the slaves. You will need to go to the camera flash settings and set the on-camera flash to fire at the minimum level. This will be enough to trigger the slaves but not cast shadows in the shot.
Slaves: To turn the SB-800 into an adjustable slave, hold the SEL button for a few seconds until the menu pops up. Navigate to the flash settings, and press SEL to select. Choose SU-4 from the menu. Press SEL to save, then hold SEL until the menu disappears. The display will now say REMOTE , you may need to press the MODE key to enter manual mode. Now you will be able to adjust the light in increments as necessary.
Slave 1: Hand held. I use this unit to light the foreground of the shot. Usually at a bright setting (1/4) straight up with the diffuser on. The good thing about having this flash hand held is that you can move it around easily if you need to mitigate a shadow or something. There is definitely an art to doing this, and it is really fun to find what contortion works for a certain space. I set the camera timer for a few seconds, and that’s plenty of time to get into the best position.
Slave 2. On a tripod. I use a cheap pan head tripod, fully collapsed its about a foot tall and expands to about 4ft.
For this shot, I held Slave 1 three feet to the right and behind the camera with a flash level of 1/4, straight up with diffuser. Slave 2 was two feet tall behind the slim wall near the kitchen with a flash level of 1/64, straight up with no diffuser. It took me a few shots to fine tune the lighting and placement, but it’s easy to make adjustments.
Generally, the slave needs to be in the line of site of the main flash, although I regularly place the slave around corners or in different rooms with fantastic results.
Results:
The effect is very nice, all of the elements are lit evenly and naturally. Now, there is a shadow thrown from the slave by the dining room chandelier, anyone seeing it would not know that it was an artificial light, it looks very much like sunlight reflected off the table. By moving the light slightly, I could have thrown that shadow somewhere else without affecting the tone, it’s depends on what you like to see.
This shot took me five minutes to compose, setup, and shoot. With a compact setup and a good plan, you can cover a large house in just a few hours.
