- My name's JB Sallee from Dallas, Texas.
My wife and I both photograph weddings
for the past 17 years.
Today, we're gonna be talking about off-camera lighting
and how to use strobes more effectively and also,
when to use strobes and when not to use strobes.
So, first tip today is to not muck up
a great shot with strobes.
I found on a wedding day especially,
we don't bring out the strobes until after the ceremony.
We set 'em up for the family formals,
and we're not gonna slow down the bride's wedding day
bringing out our strobes and making fancy images.
For our portfolio,
we just wanna get really nice
available light images.
So for example, this image, this was shot in
Death Valley National Park at the Mesquite Dunes.
We shot this at five in the morning,
and I didn't wanna muck up the shot and use strobes
and drag out all the strobes out there,
which I coulda done.
Made it look nice, but with the angle of light comin'
way off camera extreme, probably 85 degrees off camera
to the left,
it looked really nice
with the bride just running across,
and she ran across for about 25 minutes
back and forth tossin' her own veil
and we got one awesome shot.
Before we had kids,
we would shoot every single night
at sunset, get these beautiful images for our clients,
and then when we had kids,
we started making this excuse
that we wanted to shoot during the afternoons
and not at the peak hour, the golden hour,
because we wanted to be with our kids.
Be parents like everybody else, of course.
So we started finding locations that were nice
to photograph that had shade.
Then we'd bring our strobes in to mimic the sun.
And one of our go-to lighting set-ups,
I guess, I would say is
one strobe 45 degrees off camera to the right
is the main light with a OCF pro photo soft box.
And then one 135 degrees off camera to the left
and just cross light and mimic the pattern of the sun.
So it looks like the sun is touching their skin,
but it's actually just strobe.
This is one of our images we shot at one of our
international workshops last year in France.
I chose this location 'cause I liked the background.
The castle was lit well with the available light.
But the bride was actually in the shadow of the trees.
So what we did, we set up two of our strobes.
Again, my go-to is 65 degrees off camera to the right
with a pro photo be 10 and OCF ED dish,
and then to the left 135 degrees off camera,
we've got the magnum reflectors shooting
directly to the back of the subject
to separate her from the backdrop.
So the next tip that I have
is to use the sun as the kicker.
I love doin' this for our clients
to get that light coming from behind
spilling into the camera just a bit into the lens.
Gives it a nice little whimsical look.
But if we don't have a strobe on the subject,
then the subject's gonna be silhouetted
and that's not gonna be nice.
So we bring in a pro photo B10 full power 500 watt.
S'we shot this in Olympic National Park.
And you can see that we actually have the light holder
and the strobe in the shot,
which is necessary to make this image possible.
So what we do is take another take another shot
after we get our main shot,
take everybody off the little ledge
and take that little spot,
photo shop the light holder and the light out of the shot.
And you can see, there's not too much we do
in Photoshop to finish our images
because they look really good
straight out of camera because we are using
off-camera lighting.
So the next tip is,
if you want more drama,
if your imagery's straight out of camera,
use off-camera lighting and
use extreme angles with your light.
Even if you're not using strobes
and you're not comfortable yet,
look where your sun and your available light
is coming from,
and make sure it's not
directly behind you,
because then you get a flat-lid image.
You wanna make sure the sun's coming off from the side.
If you want really dramatic imagery,
make sure it's like 90 degrees off camera,
turn your client's face 45 degrees
in between the camera and the light source
you get perfect Rembrandt light every single time.
So for this next image,
this was shot in Denver
at another one of our workshops.
And it looks like this could be shot
with available light.
But there's actually two strobes set up
90/90 shooting into each other towards the subject.
And these are on snoot,
so the lights not filling
the ambience of the courthouse.
And what makes this work is,
we can stop this down a few stops,
make the backdrop a lot darker,
more dramatic.
But it still looks very natural
with the angles of light.
As we've gotten a little more advance in our career
with our lighting,
we found that we don't have to just light
the subject all the time,
we can also use the strobes
to light the scene and the props.
So in this next example,
you can see we took one of the strobes,
put it outside the window and let it flash
while we're photographin' this family,
just add a little more dimension
with light coming through the window,
cascading onto the floor
and not just being so flat lit.
We love to photograph our clients and set up
beautiful light on them,
but also, sometimes they bring some props.
So if we have a couple that has an aircraft
or they have a story of how they met,
we say bring the props,
we've got some extra strobes we can use
and we'll set it up and light up the props as well.
So, like I said before,
our go-to is, we're gonna up our lights on the subject
and then, if we need to,
if we don't have enough strobes,
we can take the subjects out of the shot
take another shot on a tripod
or hand-held, doesn't matter
and then we can light the props,
the aircraft, the bags as in this next example,
and we can take those two images,
marry'em together,
erase through, get the bags perfect,
get the aircraft perfect,
get the groom perfect and get the bride perfect
and also get the light on their champaign glass perfect.
So it's kind of fun,
you know, the more advance you get
with your lights,
the more you can just play 'round and have fun.
Your couples see you doin' this
and they see you just working,
they're like, "I hired the right person.
"Not only are they fun,
"they're creative,
but they know their stuff
with lights."
So one thing we like to do for our couples
is to incorporate reflections.
It's somethin' that they don't see everyday.
And it just makes the room look
just a little more magical.
So I've learned over the years,
to make a reflection really work,
you have to toss some light onto the subject.
And using strobes off-camera lighting's
the best way to do it.
For example, this next image we used two strobes
to light the scene.
We used one strobe to light the subject.
And then we used our angle to use a reflection
and incorporate it into this bridal image.
And she loved it.
And her mom loved it, too.
It's edgy, but it's also classical.
The next tip I have for people is,
don't be limited by your strobes.
If you need your strobes to be
in the shot to light your subject, do it.
Shoot with the light,
the strobes in the shot,
take 'em out later in Photoshop.
One thing I like to do is shoot
a stitch of images.
So I'll shoot five vertical images
with the strobes in the shot.
And then I'll take the subject out,
I'll take the lights out.
I'll re-shoot it,
then I'll grab all the images I need
and I can go in light room now,
it's really simple.
Right click on those five images,
photo merge, or photo stitch, sorry,
and it makes a perfect panorama.
And we sell a lot of three by one ratio images,
just because it looks different.
And our clients love that.
So last tip I like to give people,
if you want to get better at your craft,
you gotta practice, practice, practice.
If you gotta take your kids out,
you gotta take your dog out,
or your cat out and photograph 'em, do it.
Have fun with it. Take your strobes out.
Try different things.
Put the strobe behind the subject and shoot into the strobe
and get a different effect every time.
So get out there and practice.
If you'd like to practice with me,
I'm holding a 26-city tour in 2019
and B and H is sponsoring.
And first day on Thursdays,
we're gonna be speaking for four hours
on in-person sales,
how to get new clients,
how to make more money.
The second day is limited to 15 students,
and you're going to be shooting with me
and models and I'll bring the strobes.
And it's hands-on education.
We're gonna take the strobes around,
get some beautiful shots in every single city.
And just have a lot of fun.
You can find this information on our website.
It's salleephotography.com S-A-L-L-E-E,
and then just click on the workshops.
I'm J. B. Sallee.
Thanks for tuning in.
And I hope these tips help.
(light music)
Looking at you's weird for me.
(laughing)
You're like looking into your soul.
I'm gonna look past you a little bit.
- [Cameraman] It's fun but you did all right.
I'll be (two people talking) all time.
You wanna fake, look around,
it's fine.