Off Camera Flash Workshop: JVS Lighting

One little Canon 580EXII Speedlite with, so many possibilities.  I recently had the pleasure of attending a one-day workshop with JVS Pictures.  JVS is a hubby-wifey photography team based in Texas, known for their amazing speedlite and off-camera lighting skills.  In fact, they team shoots nearly 99% of all images using some sort of added light source.  And while my personal style of photography doesn’t necessarily rely on artificial light sources too much, it was really great to learn how to better use off-camera and artificial lighting for those critical moments (like dark ballrooms, wedding receptions, dark churches, etc).

Using just a Cheetah Boom stand, and one little Canon 580EXII Speedlite with, JVS taught the group so many cool ways to light up the subject.  On the left, we’re using a Canon 580EXII Speedlite in a Cheetah Boom stand with a Photek convertible umbrella.  This setup brings out some really soft light onto the subject; so you get that nice glow of light on the face.  The setup on the right shows a Canon 580EXII Speedlite in a Cheetah Boom with iDC’s Asymmetrical Strip Bank; which is great when lighting up an entire subject from top to bottom (not just the face).

Below, we have a Canon 580EXII Speedlite in a Cheetah Boom stand with a Photek Softlighter II.  This setup lets out some very very soft light, because the light is being spread out through such a large umbrella surface area.  The effect is a gentle glow right on the subject.

The next setup on the left was one of my favorites.  The lighting used here is a called a Beauty Dish with a grid; and this particular lighting setup is famously used for beauty shots and fashion close-ups.  The best part of this particular lighting setup, is that it eliminates any shadows typically seen under the nose or lips; and really “opens” up the whole face.  Also, using a simple reflector, the beauty dish lighting takes on a whole new dimension.

The setup on the right was by far the most impressive (and by impressive is mean ridiculous)!!  Again, using just one Canon 580EXII Speedlite, the Cheetah Boom setup was paired with an AlienBees 86″ (yes, 86″) silver Parabolic reflector.   And while this setup is pretty large and in-charge, you’ll be surprised to know that it actually doesn’t light up a whole lot of surface area.  Instead, the setup is better suited for lighting up subjects that a really far away.  A great example of this might be to set it up towards the back of a church, so the light bounces and reaches all the way to the front of the altar onto the bride & groom.

Here’s JVS (aka: Joseph Victor Stefanchik) showing us some of his cool tips and tricks!!!

At the end of it all, we all definitely had an opportunity to work each of the lighting setups on our own and take a few shots.  Here’s my take on using off-camera and artificial lighting like never before.  For the sake of learning here, these images are straight-out-of-camera with no adjustments made…. just so you can see the actual results of the lighting setup.  The setup on the left is the Canon 580EXII Speedlite in a Cheetah Boom stand with a Photek Softlighter II.  The setup on the right is the Canon 580EXII Speedlite in a Cheetah Boom stand with a Beauty Dish and grid.

Hope this helps, and that y’all (Texan style) learned a little something.  Happy Wednesday!!!