Photography Notes

photography

Flambient

Pre-Shoot

  1. Turn on lights
  2. Open blinds
  3. Turn off fans

Camera Settings

  1. ISO 100-400 (higher for bigger rooms and weaker flashes)
  2. f/7-f/8
  3. Adjust SS (histogram)
  4. Point flash upwards about 18 in. below ceiling (adjust power for exposure; use same power in the same room)
  5. Between waist/chest height (interiors); eye-level (exteriors)

The Shots

  1. Window Pull (flash directly at window full power) - expose for outside by lowering SS (can bracket if needed)
  2. Repair window shot - same as 3 but with no flash
  3. Ambient - expose for mid-right of histogram
  4. Flash - increase SS by ~2 stops over ambient and 1/4 flash power - use histogram to avoid overexposure
    • at least one from behind camera (up and back)

References:

  1. rephotojournal.com
  2. fotober.com
  3. reddit.com
  4. reddit.com
  5. Workflow discussion (reddit.com)

Tips

Set custom profiles for ambient, flash, etc.

  • Q1 - Ambient - RAW, WB AUTO, no flash
  • Q2 - Flash - RAW, WB AUTO
  • Q3 - HDR Bracket

Shoot in the order in which Photoshop opens the layers (reddit).

  1. Window pull (flash)
  2. Repair window pull (no flash)
  3. Ambient
  4. Furthest flash shots
  5. Closest flash shots.

The flash shot is ONLY for getting the true color of a room, without color casts from reflections, lighting, and the like. The ambient shot is ONLY for getting the natural light and shadow in a room. (reddit.com)

Editing

Lightroom

  • Auto-sync
    1. Color profile
    2. White balance
    3. Highlights -50
    4. Shadows + 50
    5. Lens Correction
  • Fix exposures (around center histogram) - window pull expose for outside

Export to Photoshop (steps source)

Photoshop

  1. Align layers
  2. HDR merge (if applicable)
    • Copy/backup layer (hide)
    • Copy to 50% luminosity blend
    • Copy to 50% color blend - add black mask
    • Group blends (“50% Ambient”)
    • Layer order
      1. Group - Ambient (color)
      2. Group - Ambient (luminosity)
      3. Ambient copy/backup
  3. Flash Pops
    • Behind camera flash
      • Duplicate -> Darken
      • Duplicate -> Color
      • Group (“Darken/color repair”) below ambient layers
      • Layer order
        1. Group - Color
        2. Group - Darken
    • Side-to-side pops
      • Add white mask
      • Linear gradient
      • Below “Darken/color repair”
    • Room/hall pops
      • Move above Darken/color Repair
      • Either “Lighten” or “Screen”
      • Group and add mask to group (select off areas where pop applies)
  4. Color repair - when colors are off/gray
    • Color layer in “Darken/color repair” - add white mask
    • Brush (black) over bad colors (100% opacity and 100% flow)
  5. When done, CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+E (merge all visible) -> CTRL+SHIFT+A (Camera RAW) - final adjustments
  6. Save and go to LR

References:

  1. Multiple flash pops - Brandon Watts
  2. Stephen Tilmon
  3. Rich Baum
  4. Brandon Watts
  5. Big rooms with small strobes - Tony Colangelo
  6. Flambient with one flash - Joe Gustafson
  7. Big strobe - Will Gay
  8. Window pull - Rich Baum


Twilight

Pre-Shoot

  1. Shoot during golden hour (online calculator).
  2. Turn on all interior and exterior lights.
  3. Open all window blinds.

Camera Settings

  1. ISO 100-400
  2. f/8-f/13 (stop down for better focus of deeper subjects)
  3. Adjust SS (can be up to 4s)
  4. Wide focus

The Shots

  1. Bracket +/- 2 stops

References:

  1. hdrsoft.com

Gimbal

Balance Ronin SC (youtube)