Attributes for a Photographer

To be a successful photographer, there is not one but many attributes to take on board. They are reliabilty, an open mind, creative flair and uniqueness, organisation skills and probably the most important - the ability to be able to communicate and connect with a variety of people. You won't always meet people who you easily get along, but you should be able to put this aside and get along with your work.

Monoblocs and Speedlites

For the second class we played around with the monoblocs and speedlites. The monoblocs are tough to carry around but they emit a good amount of lighting for studio work compared to the speedlites. However the speedlites are handy when on location.

Taken using a monobloc to create a high end lighting feel

Using 3 speedlites (one on camera, one placed to the left of Mel and one hand held to the right of her), to create butterfly lighting

Review of White Balance

First class back, we reviewed auto white balance, daylight and custom:

Daylight

Custom

Auto

Flash Revision

Portable Fill Flash
- on camera flash units (e.g. Speedlites)
- lightens harsh shadows in daylight
- can be used to brighten an image or lessen the full extent of sunlight

Monoblock
- self-contained unit that is cheap, light and easy to move around which is ideal when on location
- uses a variety of flash accessories (e.g. soft box, snoot, spot, barn doors)

Infared Triggering Device
- when the shutter release is triggered an infared signal is sent to the recievers on the flashes, causing them to go off