I’m currently teaching at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops in Santa Fe, NM. We are into our second day of the workshop and we’re having a blast. I have 14 excited students that are just loving there time here, and so am I!

This is my first time teaching a 5 day workshop and I just love it. I hope I have other opportunities to teach here. Apparently, the waiting list for my workshop could have easily filled an additional class. Wow, that just blows my mind.

The photograph at the top of the post was from a morning demonstration illustrating a portrait technique using only one SB-800 strobe and two reflectors. This beautiful young lady featured in the photo is the workshop assistant that has been assigned to my class, eat your hearts out Erik & Ian!

No sooner did I get back from Philadelphia, I received a call for a quick executive portrait for an annual report. The design firm and client wanted these two executive photographed outside with rock or some sort of natural stone around them. Weather dictated that the photograph would be shot inside instead of out. This image needed to be completed and delivered to the printer on Friday.

I was able to scout the location with the two designers working on this annual report the day before the shoot. The only natural stone available to us anywhere within the building where their office are located was between a stairwell and elevator lobby.

Here is the lighting set up for the shot.

I shot this using 3 SB-800 Nikon strobes using CLS (Creative Lighting System). I was able to control the strobes via the build in command unit on the D700 I was shooting with.

Even though the two strobes used for the background lights (group B) did not have direct line of sight to my position behind the camera, the CLS system worked great. The lights used for the background where bounced into the ceiling and both where fitted with full cuts of CTO in order to provide warmth to the wall behind the subjects. The lighting in the elevator lobby is the available ambient light from tungsten fixtures. The elevator lobby is through the doorway behind the gentlemen on the left

The key light or (main light) was 2 tall panels connected together with a white fabric. I positioned a SB-800 across the doorway where the two subjects where standing and directed the light into the panel system. I placed 2 gobos around the head of this strobe in order to control flare. Just above the subjects heads where 3 small spot lights that where effecting the shot. We used black foil in order to cover the lights during the exposure. There was also 3 florescent light in the hallway which we turned off via turning the tubes in their fixtures. The florescent fixtures would have contaminate the scene with a green color cast if left on while dragging the shutter for the elevator lobby exposure.

If you’re looking for an advanced point & shoot pocket camera, no doubt the CoolPix P6000 is somewhere on your list.  If so, then check out DIWA member website LetsGoDigital’s latest review. Nikon is close, the concept is there. The only hurdles that have to be taken are to apply a [...]