Lighting 101 - Traveling Light

Everyone is different with respect to the gear they choose to take a given assignment. But a news photographer, for example, typically carries two digital bodies, one with a fast wide zoom and another with a fast tele zoom. This gives backup redundancy for the failure of critical items: the camera and either lens. (The zooms cross over in the portrait range, so you could be down a camera and a lens and still be mostly okay.)



Add to that a small waist pack with a strobe and a 50 (either an f/1.4 for speed or a maybe a macro depending on the assignment in my case) and you have a very capable setup. But with the addition of a few small, light items, you can add to it the ability to easily use light off camera on any given assignment.



The idea is to incorporate the gear into your standard setup so you will always have the ability to use better light. The big studio flashes are nice (and I do use them) but they don't do much good from inside the trunk. Or under the bed. If you have the light with you, you'll be more inclined to use it. That is the whole philosophy behind learning to better use the shoe-mount strobes. They are always there. If you get in the habit of using them more effectively, you will always be ready to add light to a situation when you need it.



The first photo (up top) shows the typical two-body, two-zoom setup and small waist pack.



The second shot shows that with the addition of a little bit of gear you have the added ability to use light off camera. You can create hard, soft or bare-tube-style light, with a full beam spread or very tight throw. It can be balanced for flourescent, daylight or tungsten ambient light. The light can be positioned with either a stand or a Super Clamp. Not much difference in weight. Huge difference in ability.



The light stand is a compact, five-section model, modified (drilled) to have a strap. I love these 5-section stands because they break down very small and ride on the shoulder as if they are not there. It is topped by a standard umbrella/stand adapter with a shoe mount. "Ball-Bungeed" to that is a full-size stowaway umbrella that double folds for easy transport. The umbrella is stuffed inside of a homemade folding snoot made out of gaffer's tape and the cardboard from a box of Frosted Flakes.



(More on all of these individual pieces of gear soon.)



In the waist pack is a set of Pocket Wizard remotes that will allow me to trigger the strobe wirelessly from up to several hundred feet away. I keep some small items, like a Super Clamp, small flash diffusor and some gels there, too. The ball-bungees holding the umbrella to the stand also double as clamps.



This gear suffices for easily 90% of the assignments I shoot. Here are some single-light examples shot right from this kit. All open in a new window which you can then close to stay inside the Lighting101 thread:



Backlighting in a giant wind tunnel

Lighting archeologists in full sun

A quick, dramatic indoor biz portrait



And I can comfortably walk a couple of miles with it, if need be. I also can easily shoot with either camera with the lighting gear hung from my shoulder.



The sooner you get the "less-is-more" philosophy about how much gear you carry around, the less likely you are to be popping Vioxx for your back and joint pain when you are 40.



Next: Lighting 101 - Light Stands