In 2005, I was lucky enough to attend my 1st photogaphic workshop that greatly influenced my flash photography career. Ironic enough, it had nothing to do with flash photography! The workshop was "See, Shoot, Show" offered by Huy Nguyen and JVS. The 2 day workshop encompassed photojournalism techniques and thought process working an event as a documentary journalist. Both of these guys opened my eyes and enlightened me with some serious direction.

Basically, these guys regurgitated ALL they knew and my pen was non-stop writing. JVS had some interesting ideas and concepts that especially stood out to me. Up to that point, I was using flash off camera but just not really having a clue how to control light whatsoever. He showed a few slideshows and let us in on some of his flash lighting tricks. I remember thinking that I couldn't wait to RUN to my next wedding armed and firing away with some new inspiration.

HAD that workshop been about flash ONLY, holy sheesh... I would have wet myself! Since that time, I have been constantly checking the updates and imagery from JVS and was so suprised to see his recent announcement. This guy will teach you how to find the HOLY GRAIL of flash lighting essentials, especially for those wedding photographers who work with small strobes. Details on his off camera flash workshop at the bottom of this post!

He likes to work as lightweight as possible and has a killer eye. Jump on his website real quick to see what I'm talking about, if you haven't already seen his stuff. BOOKMARK it!

JVS gave me these few images for this FF post...

The bridal was lit with a 580EX II, focused with a homemade foam snoot and tripped with a MultiMAX.

I have always LOVED this shot of his....Have you ever wondered how to make a nice groom portrait?

Old-school and classic, the groom portrait was lit with a 550EX, focused...yep with a homemade snoot, and tripped with the original 16 channel Pocket Wizard (black case model).
I’ve been using and refining my small strobe technique's for close to 15 years and will be sharing this knowledge at our 2 Day Workshop.

Check out his flash blog at: www.offcameraflash.com

His workshop link: 2 day workshop

Date: Oct. 7-8
Location: Dallas, Texas
Who: JVS and Anne
Name: 2 Day Lighting and Portrait Workshop
What: Electronic flash in a portrait environment

This 2 Day Lighting and Portrait Workshop with JVS and Anne will take you
from being timid with strobes to understanding the ins and outs of lighting
techniques with small strobes and monolights.

Explore the world of light with JVS through multiple demonstrations and
hands-on learning. You will become familiar with using your own strobes,
multiple strobes and have the chance to use Alien Bees in studio and on
location.

Anne will help you breathe fresh air into your portraits by offering ideas
on how to control your portrait session with unique results.

JVS and Anne are excited to have several awesome Workshop sponsors!

For more information please visit http://www.jvspictures.com/2day

***In addition, we plan to take our Workshops on the road in 2009 and we’re currently looking for hosts. If you’d like to host a Workshop, please email 2day@offcameraflash.com

Recently, i've been very interested to try this technique out... Imagine a totally blank canvas. Now imagine that canvas is the frame inside your 35mm DSLR. When you open the shutter to allow light through the iris, you start the magic! Now lets say you have 100% control over the amount of light that enters your frame... hey, last time I checked, I did! Ok cool, no that you understand the basic principal of starting this artistic process, turn on your flash.....50+ times... take a million photos....whatever. Follow a few rules.... 1. determine your ambient light's exposure in your frame... ex: bright sky, tungsten street lights, etc. 2. tune in your flash to control the light (manual flash mode). 3. Walk around blasting the flash aiming it all around highlighting special parts of the frame. 4. Combine each frame using tons of masking in photoshop...

I first gazed at the creative vision of fellow light master, John Michael Cooper.  I met up with John at the Vegas get together in the desert mountains where we was doing one of concept sessions. Jason Dominguez and I stood there watching him and really scratched our heads and let the creative juices start to flow.....

Thanks John for your time during this workshop! I really enjoyed watching you work!

My bud Jason Domingues was recently playing around with this technique... He told me that for some of these, he was shooting 100 frames.... he may only use 40-50 or so frames in post production.....picking and choosing the best as each frame gives another layer possibility... you can light whatever you want!

Thanks for the cool shots guys! I'm eager to go out there and try this one myself....i'm sure I'll botch it real good on my first try :)

Cheers!

matt

Every time my eyes hit Jaco Fourie's site or an image he has created, i'm drawn in. This South Africian photographer has one outside the box creative vision and I'm so happy he is willing to share here on FF. Recently, he was involved with a TTD shoot that resulted in some serious fine art. He continues to challenge the creative edge and is delivering some killer stuff. Rangfinder even contacted him and is planning on featuring his business in their February 2009 issue! Congrats Amigo!

Jaco writes:

I had a real blast shooting these images. I like to combine video light with off camera flash. It gives me the ability to be so creative when it comes to lighting up my subjects. The video light is too weak to use in direct sun light. That is where the off camera flash comes in handy.
So why is off camera flash such a big buzz word these days? It has been around like forever. I personally think it is because now we are so portable that we can create stunning images using it very quickly and in places never seen before.
The main aim of off camera flash is to model the light so that the subject in the image becomes more 3D. Well that is the reason I use it. It adds a lot of drama and makes my wedding images a lot more dramatic. If you do it correctly you have so little postproduction on the images. The images are 95% done in camera

I shot this image using only video light from the side. The pier we were under had these blue lights shining down the side and I wanted to use that in the image. Using off camera flash was too powerful and overpowered some of the blue. That is why I decided to use only video light here. The image was shot with the Nikon D3. These cameras are truly amazing. I shot this hand held in the dark. I under exposed this shot by 2 stops so the blue would be prominent. It reminds me of a Star Wars Movie
Exif Info
Iso 5000
1/100
F 5.6

We also shot at this cave like opening. I noticed the wind blowing through it. I am always looking out for spots to use a veil and decided that this would be a cool place to use it. I also wanted to add some drama to the shot, so I added some flash flavor. I had 2 SB-800 speedlights that I fired via Skyports. One pointing at the front of the model and one pointing at the roof of the cave. I under exposed the shot by 2 stops to let the ambient go dark. Remember that your shutter needs to be slower than your camera sync speed to get a proper flash exposure. I played with this image in Photoshop to make it more moody.

Exif Info.
Iso 200
1/160
F 5.6

Thanks for taking the time to submit your killer imagery. I'm very inspired here amigo!

Jaco's blog featuring more TTD's

I'm still doing a little testing and now that I have this new format, i can post bigger photos.

Are these images too big for your screen? My max size is 930 pixels wide... I figure since this blog is all about the image, then posting BIG juicy shots will have more impact.

Here is an example 930 image... Every year, Whale sharks migrate to the waters of the Riviera Maya for feeding on plankton. You can charter a tour and go swim with them. I took my underwater housing with me, fisheye equipped. Swimming my A$$ off, I snagged this shot.... this fish was 55 feet... his head was the size of a truck!