Simple 3 Light Flash Photography Setup for Location Portraits and Headshots
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- Опубликовано: 21 июл 2024
- My entire kit of gear : kit.co/robhallphoto A7R3 : bit.ly/SA7R3RH
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AD200 : bit.ly/evolvRH
H200R (round head) : bit.ly/evolvround
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28" Deep Parabolic : bit.ly/RHDeepPara
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This video outlines how I go about using a traditional 3 light setup to capture portraits in any location. It discusses how I make sure the ambient light does not influence my final image. Then, it discusses the positions of lights as well as the light modifiers that I use on my Godox AD200s / Flashpoint evolv 200. Next I discuss how I determine my power settings, as well as how I modify the lights should I run into any issues such as light reflections in glasses. This is a great setup for clean headshots and portraits in any environment so long as you can find a decent background. For the camera I used a Sony A7R III, and for the lens I used the Sony 85mm 1.4 GM.
Very good video Rob. Most valuable part is taking the subjects height into consideration and adjusting lights accordingly. I made this mistake when photographing head shots for a gym where I cycled them through. I was focused on everything else that I didn’t notice the bad shadows on the shorter subjects until I got home. Rookie mistake, never again.
To answer your question that you posted recently, this is precisely the type of content I would like to see more of, i.e., various lighting styles, how to deal with reflections, etc.
Thanks! This is the type of content I'm most committed too. And reviews in the scope of my work. I'm so thrilled to be in a position with the University that not only allows, but enjoys me making educational content from their shoots.
@@robhallphoto Do another with two, and just one light. Then do one where you use different sunlight types AND flash. Pleeeease. Maybe throw in a HSS one. Awesome work, I'm learning from you a lot. I bought my first three flashes based on your recommendations.
uduzsk
Love it! I need to try the fill light in that manner. Usually I use a reflector underneath on location but I'd rather use fill versus an up reflector.
Basic, straightforward, has all the details and the thinking behind it. Well covered and easy to follow, clear and concise. Thank you sir.
Great video as always. I like the way you simplify things and clear explanations. I learned a few things from this video. Thank you.
this is an awesome format for your tutorial videos. The lighting graphics work great and you explanation of why you make the decisions are clear. thanks.
Thanks! Very helpful tips, especially about the reflection in the glasses, definitely gonna try that out!
Rob, lots of great information shared in less than 7 minutes. And I have all the lights and modifiers you used. Thanks!
Thanks Rob - Fantastic video! Short, to the point, and full of really helpful pointers.
Thanks Ross!
Thank you for the tip on reducing glare on eye glasses. Also applies to video when shooting interviewees who are wearing glasses.
Just set this exact setup for a police department photo shoot, worked great!! Thanks!
An easy way I did this was to measure my fill light first using a light meter. I would measure the fill for 5.6 then turn off my fill and then measure the key or main light at f8 and set the camera at f8. A lot of the time I would set the camera at 8.5. For me the background light would be set or measured at f11 depending on how bright you want the background. In my studio I used a hair light as well. To help keep flare out of my camera lens I always used a lens hood.
Excellent video Rob, thank you very much.
Nice one! I'll be taking these tips on board for the next time I need to do some headshots.
Yeah I love the round heads, they work & look great.
You know, I dont usually hit the like button, but when I do, its well deserved one.
Thank you will use this tutorial on my corporate shoot on friday. Thank youuuu!
Truly awesome video. Yes, it's basic, but you brought my attention to a couple of things I may not have thought about while shooting on location.
:) thank you!
great studio setup! thanks for sharing
soo good. this was a good reference video for me. Ive made a lot of mistakes in the begining, especially the back light bouncing back and creating haze. I ruined a whole shoot this way thinking i could fix in post. It didnt occur to me until a few days later that i was basically using the background as a bounce directly the lens. that learning experience cost me a 1k job...but never making that mistake again
Great video Robert, good tips and nice delivery.
Thanks Omar!
Really appreciate such videos, learnt a lot! Thank you very much!
Thanks, just the tips I was searching for.
Good lighting tips as always, the only channel that keep pushing lighting tutorials.Hopefully people realize that a good photo is a product of a good lighting,not just a good lens...I tried to shoot some intro videos with my camera but i get the same banding from led's...Any idea how to get rid of them using 30fps?
Best video yet explaining this.
வீடியோ மிகவும் பயனுள்ளதாக இருந்தது மிக்க நன்றி
இரா.மனோகர் சென்னை .
Very useful This video sir, , big thank you sir R.MANOHAR ,Chennai.India
One of the best videos on lighting! Thank you very much for your effort.
So glad to hear that!
Super helpful content Robert as I've been thinking about different easy-to-execute setups for corporate gigs. I'm curio8s about the round head on the ad200. Whats the angle of view for that mod compared to the fresnel? Is there a robust color correction option for the round head?
Hey Robert, thanks for the video! Do you see a significant difference in using a fill light instead of a silver reflector underneath the subjects? I understand that you would need to raise or lower a reflector. But besides that? I cannot help but I always have to look at the very small and bright catchlight the fill produces, it just looks unnatural to my eyes, but maybe that is just me...
Cheers, Peter
Very informative. Thank you. Whats the ideal direction for the modifier to be pointed that. It seems that the modifier for the key light is aimed at the chest area rather than the head. Would that mean the concentration of light is more on the chest area rather than the head?
Best video ever, thank you!!!
What a great tutorial! Thanks, Robert!
Thank you!
Good stuff sir, thank you so much!
I enjoy watching your videos. And all your Geer. How you set up and carry on set
Great video as always :-) I wonder about one thing, and if it would work. I notice that you are using an AD200 over your head as a fill light. Now that the V1 is availible, would it work having a V1 on-camera as a fill light, controlling the other 2 AD200's? Any thought's about that setup?
Thank You Robert!
Great simple set up. Any other favorite set ups.
Great video. What style softbox would you reccomend for family portraits (4-6 people Indoor portraits). I have a godox 36" umbrella style softbox but dont like it too much except for price. I like your 3 light setup but concerned the parabolics might be to narrow for family shots. I use 2 AD200s and 1 Godx 860 for background light. Would the Glow EZ Lock Quick Oct 36 or 48 give wider spread for family shots? Looking for soft light
still relevant, especially to a flash newbie like me! can i use the same setup with 3 speedlights (V1, 860TT, 350TT) with similar results? if so, V1 for key. 860TT for fill, 350TT for background? thanks for the effort and sharing. i am an appreciative subscriber. thumbs up.
Your are my new hero!!
Robert...what distance do you position the subject in front of the backdrop for your headshots? Thanks
Hi Robert, what do feel the advantage is of a parabolic softbox, I can understand a parabolic reflector being used with a moveable flash head ie Broncolor but surely the idea of a soft box is to provide a homogeneous light source?
Excellent superb video
Awesome. What are the settings for camera and ad200 you used?
If you can't get rid of the ambient light with a low iso, why not use an ND filter? I've used that with great success outside removing the ambient light in broad daylight to photograph cactus lit with only a flash.
Do you even use smaller umbrellas I️ have the barebulb with umbrella reflector. Need to pick up two more round heads.
I️ have spent a fortune in cameras lenses and gear lately especially magmod and godox.
Nice simple and effective :D
Great and informative video! I noticed a slight mistake and wanted to know the correction.
You said:
“Key light is the primary light for shaping the subjects face I’m going to position my light somewhere in between 7 & 8 o’clock if my client is going to be on the right side of the image and I position it in between 3 & 4 o’clock if my client is going to be on the left side of the image”
One of those is off (slightly) by a “tick” (an hour)…
Did you mean “between 8 & 9 o’clock if my client is going to be on the right side and I position it in between 3 & 4 o’clock if my client is going to be on the left side of the image”
OR
“between 7 & 8 o’clock if my client is going to be on the right side of the image and I position it in between 4 & 5 o’clock if my client is going to be on the left side of the image”?
I have the same setup as yours except I got only two Ad200 & a V1. is it ok if that V1 used as fill light? will it suffice?
Thanks for a great video! also Go OU!
Well done.
how do you get perfect focus if you cant even see through your evf once all ambient is cut out?
Love your videos my man. Very clear and informative instructions. Would love to see a tutorial on shooting group portraits.
Is this Still the light setup you use or you recommend something Else in 2020? I like to get in to business portraits side to my wedding photography business. But lights are new for me so im looking for a proffesional setup but affordable
Thank you 🙏🏼 😀
Great video nice
Hi Robert. Great video as usual :-) Quick question: Isn't the bare bulb better to use with a softbox than the round head (H200R)?
Addressed in my Round head video with supporting samples.
Barebulb has slightly less specularity but the pattern of light is the same & dictated by modifier, so for me the speed of gelling a round head is worth the slight decrease in light quality. The biggest negative of the round head is the drop in power output, so once I'm working more outdoors I may use the barebulb again.
great information, keep up the great work Rob.
Thanks Bro!
Great video, thanks Rob. What power were the lights on? Just curious how hard you have to push the AD200s at iso100 and f4 with that modifier from that distance. I have 3 AD400s and 2 AD200s, and obviously I’d rather travel lighter if possible.
Oh they were all really low powered. I don't remember specific outputs but I could have gotten away with V860IIs in this situation
You’re the Fn man, Rob. I appreciate all of your info. THX
I did a still life shoot yesterday with my 400s.. had them running through strip boxes with single diffusion, into Savage Translum diffusion to create gradients.. the lights were less than 2 feet away from the subject but due to all of the diffusion I had to run them at 1/2+.5 power. Some people think you don’t need so many watts but once you put a few modifiers on the lights, the extra power comes in handy.
Great as always, Rob. The round head to fill the box vs bare bulb for the key.??
I showed (with an example) in my first round head video that the difference in light pattern in barebulb vs. round head is minimal.
Robert Hall Photography I find that quite interesting to hear that. I guess the dome does all of the work filling the box.?? There must be light loss with that dome.
late to the game (again) but great video. you were shooting in either Rochester Hills or Auburn Hills? great school
very interesting use of the dome light. i dont have the ADs (i currently use Canon 600 ex-rts) so what would you recommend for the dome? one of those magmod blob looking attachments? most all of those modifiers really dont do a lot for me...
Yup, Oakland University is in Rochester, but right on the border of AH.
If you're using the fill flash close to the camera, any diffuser should take the edge off and reduce the specular highlights. Plastic cap, magmod, elastic softbox, whatever is cheapest. Different tools have advantages elsewhere, but for this purpose it's just about getting rid of the harshness of a bare fresnel.
As you mentioned, I struggle with the light from the backdrop not being pure white or then getting too much back into the camera lens which reduces contrast. Seems I can’t bring my subjects away from the background enough and it’s hard to see lack of contrast on back of camera. Wish there was a easier way to detect this.
The biggest thing you want to do is make sure you aren't seeing the incident highlight (the immediate line made from the flash bounce to your lens). That's why I'm always making sure my background light is level and just below the subjects shoulders. This ensures they are blocking the most significant reflection. The round head also plays a huge role here with it's significant diffusion.
Another awesome video, Robert Hall.
I have a question for you.
Up until last year, I was using mainly speedlites.
Still have one canon 600EX-RT II, one 430EX-RT III, and then I have a number of Yungnuo 600EX-RT II flash guns.
That was until I discovered the AD200. I now have two of these, and will sell off my speedlites (keeping just two).
I’m willing to add just one more Godox. I fancy the 400 Pro TTL.
My question. Is it better to buy one more 200 or to go for the 400.
NB: I already bought the Dual Smart Bracket AD-B2 with S-Type Fitting, so when needed, I can produce a 400 ws from one source.
But I’m thinking, if needed, I can use the 400 as key, one 200 as fill, and one 200 as hair or back light.
My photography is mainly people portraits, corporate events, headshots.
No: budget 💰 💴 💵 💷 is always a constraint, like every one of us togs.
I guess the question is do you ever foresee yourself needing 3 lights AND 400w of power. If so, get the 400, if not just add another 200.
I do my weddings and editorial shoots with 3 AD200s. In the summer, when we're outdoors a lot in bright sunlight, I keep the AD400 pro in the car and use it for outdoor portions in that sunglight, but...I'm almost always using only one light there. So I could do what I did last year, and just use the AD-b2 in those scenarios and be fine. But I like not breaking down the 200s and just scooping the 400 up when I need that much power.
Robert Hall Photography thank you very much.
Your feedback makes very good sense, and is a cost saving one as well.
For me, It’s cheaper and more convenient to “make-up” a 400 by using the B2 bracket to get that power when required, otherwise just use the 200 individually most of the time. Just as you said.
The 200 is half the price of the 400.
The 200 is more portable.
There are more full power shots from the 200 than the 400.
Win win situation.
Hey Rob, I saw your review of the Godox SLB-60w. Would you consider the SL-60 lights a good investment for a backdrop light instead of a flash like in this video?
I don't think it would be nearly bright enough to slot into the background light role in this video.
What about power ratios between the lights? Do you consider that or just use a light meter to match your key light output to the aperture and shutter speed settings you decided in advance? More videos like this please, and thank you.
I don't take the light meter outside of the studio personally. I don't mind eyeballing / using the histogram to identify my ratios. I normally use a light meter when I need a ratio with no client/subject to test with.
@@robhallphoto Thank you. I thought that was the case.
Robert, I'm wondering if these rounds heads for the AD200 are the same thing which Godox presented to you at Photokina as a prototype without the real body and promised releasing it in December or so.
no. The round head for ad200 (h200r) is not the same as the round head speedlight that has yet to be released.
Hi... Does ur AD200 power sufficient enough to be used with the deep softbox for the keylight?
in this situation...yeah. It's at quite a low power and on top of that is using the H200R which is lower output than barebulb.
Outside in sunlight? No, this wouldn't cut it. Its completely dependent on the ambient light levels.
If you had to increase f stop or increase shutter to HSS to black out the background, which would you choose?
F stop.
When you say reflector, are you talking about a metal reflector or do you mean a reflector reflector?
Great video and very clear and understandable
Based on context, I’m pretty sure Robert is talking about a metal reflector dish and the bare bulb on the AD200.
Thank you.
Hey, Robert. What are you using to protect the back of the AD200 LCD screen? Or if anyone has any recommendations, it would be helpful.
I use these : lightsavers.store . A local engineer actually designed them and they are far better than the covers offered by Adorama. I also chose 3 different colors to help me identify my light groups from a distance.
Robert Hall Photography Thank you.
You stated you use the DOme Diffuser is it the same dome you can use on the Streaklight 360
Not in this instance. This is the dome diffuser from the AK-R1 kit for the H200R round head. But, you could definitely substitute with any diffusion.
Thank u!!!!
great tutorial...
Thank you
U can achive a good potrait with one godox ad200 in elinchrome indirect octa 150 . One light can make background white.. just u need a reflector,..
Youre saying use the octa as the white background? Yeah I personally never do that because the idea of firing your brightest light straight towards your lens reduces contrast on a lot of angles.
Do you not want accent light?
3X AD200?
I Have Godox SK400 What is the use of usb of socket My Request can u plz clear the question sir
You can use the old FT triggers with it.
How come you do not need to modify the fill light to make it bigger? Everyone else uses huge modifiers on fill lights but from your video it appears that is not necessary.
I wonder this as well, the 'hard' shadows probably aren't present due to the darkness of the fill light but why do people bother with big modifiers for fills?
Dead simple. Since you are turning the background entirely white a shoot-through umbrella would also work for the main.
Yes it would! Although I find the shoot through umbrellas tend to be a bigger PITA for reflections. Sometimes I don't catch them when shooting then when I get home I see faint reflections in glasses.
Do you use 3 AD300 now the same way? Or 2 300's with 1 200?
1x 300 Pro + 2x 100 Pro, and yes - I just did it today actually!
@@robhallphoto 300 is the main?
All the more reason to get another AD200 and round heads!
They certainly are flexible. But the cool thing about this setup is you can make tons of substitutions for bigger or smaller lignts. If that's what you already have.
Nice
Why don’t you use a light meter for that? Great video!
I don't take it for these editorial shoots. I know my positions it's faster for me to just set them up and do a single test shot on each light. I always have a subject available too so it's no problem to have someone jump in.
Thanks. Since you're using a para with a bulb that doesn't protrude from the front of the strobe isn't that para really acting as a simple beauty dish?
Not really. I've shown in my H200R review that while specularity is decreased, light pattern and coverage is the same between the barebulb and recessed round head.
I have a Cheetah 26" Quick SoupBowl but this Glow 28" deep parabolic is discounted to about $70 on Adorama at the moment so may well just get one! Just wondering how much difference in light quality & character there would be. Thanks
Thanks!! As always, quick and informative videos! Hope I can make it to your lighting class!
Thanks John, I hope so too!
This is on point bro.
What brand of light stands are you using in this vid?
I don't even know what brand they are. I intentionally left them out of the discussion because they are horrible. I tried switching to a really lightweight stand to save weight running around the University, but one broke the first day I used them and they can't even handle the 200+soft box.
@@robhallphoto - I noticed the stands too in the video and even went back again to watch that part because they looked a little flimsy.
For lightweight and portable, I'm tempted to pick up the new Savage light stand when it finally arrives: adorama.com/samf10.html
Your cool lighting is back! :)
haha. We just changed studios and I don't have my video "situation" figured out there yet So I've been recording at home again.
Good info but pls show all images in end..
The point is illustrated perfectly fine with the examples given. More photos don't show more information.
Keep it simple is my lighting mantra & that seems pretty simple to me Robert.
Amen!
Thank you for the amazing video! A quick question! It seems like you are using PC. What is your opinion on using Windows os for editing photos and stuff. I have a Macbook Pro but I am thinking about switching to Windows. Not sure about reliability and stuff. I mainly use Lightroom, Photoshop, and lots of Google apps.
I actually use both. I've been a PC user all my life but bought my first Macbook Pro in 2017, and have no issues jumping between the two. I don't see any issue using windows, they are equally stable. The price to performance of desktop PC's is WAY higher than buying apple products.
@@robhallphoto Thank yo so much for your response! Today, I got a dell xps 15 to give it a try so hopefully, I can get used to windows soon.
I have to work with Windows for my first job and it sucks compared to my MacBook as I have to deal with many distractions the whole day. If your computer is not only your photo machine and you are using it for everyday work personalizing a Mac which simply lets you do your work is much easier. It starts with this annoying update circus under Windows and ends with file handling intelligence which is more refined under macOS.
If I work 8 hours under Windows I'm very happy if the evening comes, under macOS I'm wondering how many hours are gone working on photos and I'm not tired. Only stability and speed are not the whole story.
This experience for me took a year or so and is not obvious if you're playing around with a Mac only for 30min in an Apple Store.
Great video Robert...!
I myself work with the A7rIII and 85mm 1.4GM, so this video was very relevant for me.
I also have a couple of AD200's with round heads and a couple of AK-R1 light modifier kits. I am now patiently waiting for their new round head speed light to be released which will complete my 3 - light setup for portable, on-location stuff.
Thanks for sharing & keep up the good work..!
So you use three H200r's? Lighting equipment has come a long way.
Great video, what about the reflection in the glasses from the fill, I sometimes replace it with a fill card and even that can be problematic.
Generally it's gone with the tilt. But it's much easier to solve in post because it's such a smaller reflection. Soft box can completely ruin a shot.
Great video. More like this in the future
Thanks, that's the plan!
Great simple and efficient. What kind of light stands do you use? Mine bow over like crazy, I just hope no one sneezes near them...
I normally use Cheetah C8 / C10. I bought the stands in the video with the hopes of having a lighter bag but these stands are terrible and barely supported the softbox. One even broke that day. That's why I didn't mention them. Cheetahstands are great though!
Awesome. Not that we need it, but maybe you can throw in what power you had each light at to show how different they all are. But very cool man. I really enjoy your detailed videos.
Thank you.