Joe McNally Workshop: Update

September 9th, 2008, Westford, MA: One of my aims to attend this workshop by Joe McNally was to actually meet him, and yes I did get an opportunity to meet him, not only that I shook hands with him too and also got a picture taken with him...and second aim was to learn how to effectively use the Speedlites. Well, the second aim was not really fulfilled. To begin with Joe demonstrated how to set up a scene using large strobes and give it a natural look, so that people do not say the scene was shot with strobes...boy he's a genius ... then after that we were divided into groups to practice on the models... the whole experience was good but not what I had anticipated. I did shoot some images but I mainly used only one strobe and clicked some pictures (see the slide show). Joe was moving across the house helping everyone set up and shoot. Towards the end of the day, Joe showed us how to use the Speedlites and mimic a scene that was initially lighted by the large strobes. And he did it amazingly well!!


What I learned from the workshop...
-keep things as natural as possible...look for windows in a room, a window frame gives light a natural frame. Even if the strobes are used from outside of the window instead of natural light, the picture would look very natural.
-use of a CTO (color temperature orange) filter over the strobe will give a natural sunlight on a cloudy day
-Clint Eastwood can be lit with car head lights, but a lady needs a soft light for lighting
-if you are bouncing the light off of the ceiling, bounce it straight up and not at an angle (well I need to try ...)
-before you start to shoot, take time to assess the weather, the people (how they are behaving, and take time also to see how to tackle these people), and see how the light is
-take pre-shots to assess the light..the angle intensity etc
-use as much natural light as possible
-Phtography is a business and in this business it's all about CONFIDENCE...if you are not confident at least show you are confident
-If the light is too harsh use blockers...hmm..it's not what I learnt here, but it was in my notes so I wrote it...
-Canon flashes can trigger Nikon flashes optically... (I need to try optically triggering several flashes at one time)
-National Geographic hardly pays anything to its photographers!!!

Now it's time to keep experimenting with light... :o)


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