My Basic Set Up

Last night my babysitter came over to watch my daughter and each time I took a pullback shot I accidentily erased the darn pictures.  Anyway, I asked her if she’d just pop in for the photo so I could share with everyone on my blog.

I primarily use my Alien Bee 800 or 1600 and my beauty dish with a reflector.  On the beauty shots I posted the other day, this is exactly what I did for lighting.

I shot these with my 24-70 so you could actually see the set up but when I’m shooting portraits, I always use my 70-200. I never use my 24-70 on close up portraits anymore.  I never realized it until someone pointed it out to me that I was making my clients look bigger than they really were with the wide angle lens.  The longer the lens the better.   I sneak in there between my beauty dish and reflector.

I will share my processing in another post b/c my family is needing me now.

And here’s a photo of my sitter with the exact same set up.

Here are some questions I’ve been getting.  Hopefully, if I answer here they will help other people.

Have you ever used or know anything about there “cyber syncs”

I have not used the cyber syncs.  I don’t think I had heard of them when I bought all of my pocket wizards.  I know people who use the cyber syncs and they seem to be totally fine.

Can you show a quick set up of your indoor stuff?

I actually pretty much shoot exactly the same inside and outside.  I just don’t use my reflector outside because it’s usually just me.  I don’t have an assistant.  I wish I did but I don’t.  Sometimes, if the mom comes they will hold the reflector but in the studio it’s a bit easier b/c of the stand I have.

How far do you have your light from your subject?

It’s probably 2 to 3 feet.  Basically the distance of that reflector so more like 2 feet.  If I’m using my AB 1600 in the studio, I literally have the power all the way down so I can shoot at 3.2.  Outside, the distance will vary a lot more because it depends on where we are shooting.  If we are in a super weedy field it will be totally different.

Here’s a pull back shot of me in the field with one of my seniors.

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