Rim light / pop to mountain biker

Rider: John Hauer, Location: Cupertino, CA

One of the things I wated to experiment with this shot is to bring some pop to the rider and isolate it from its rather cluttered background. This is actually one of the few times I have positioned a flash behind the subject to created the effect and something I may have to consder doing more often as it seems to be quite effective.

Some of the difficulties of setting up this shot is flash placement relative to where you want to frame the rider (in the case of mountain biking, always dynamic), shadows projected from the light source, and potential blown areas /”glare” from the flash.

I admit that there are many flaws to this photo, but overall I am quite impressed at how the rim light brought punch to the rider and made it stand out. For my next attempts, I plan to position the light source further away and maybe even utilize a snoot of some sort to better isolate the source. I’ll share a setup diagram when I figure out a way that works well.

Best,

Ivan

Update: I just remember I have a photo of where the flash was positioned relative to the rider. It was situated behind the rim facing upwards. See below:

"Light" Vignetting

At a recent indoor biking competition, I decided to play around with my Canon 580ex flash settings to see if I could come up with something a bit more interesting than the normal “on the camera flash look” where everything is uniformly lit. What I mean is trying to avoid the usual “flat” look that occurs with a single frontal light source and bring some ‘pop’/emphasis to the subject. What I describe below can probably be done in photoshop/pp, but I prefer to do what I can on camera.

Essentially, what I did was set the flash zoom setting (manual mode) different than my lens setting. I zoomed the flash unit more than my lens setting, thus not lighting the entire frame. Remeber that zooming the flash will decrease its coverage area. In addition, the use of a Canon Off Camera Cord helped aim and position the light to minimize shadows.

For example, below I used a 50mm zoom setting on my flash while shooting with a 28mm lens.

The flash was not aimed at the subject properly, but it gives you a sense of the light coverage. After another attempt, I was successful at capturing the rider and creating a somewhat natural vignetting around him due to the limited flash coverage.

(EXIF of image above)

Finally, another example of my Tokina 12-24mm set at 12mm and shot with the flash zoom at 75mm.

This technique will not satisfy everyones cup of tea, but it seems to add a nice touch when light is limited or when you want to get a little creative.

Cheers,

Ivan
ibwphoto.com

Golden Hour

Details:
Shutter: 1/320 sec., Aperture: f9, ISO: 400, Manual mode with pattern metering mode., shot in raw

My brother actually took this shot of me as I was taking a break from the camera. I still remember yelling out the settings to him as I walked up the hill. What works for me in this shot is the texture of the rocks and the warm tint from the sunset. Another thing that benefited this shot was the fact that I was wearing a black sweater. This hid most of the hideous shadows that would show up if I wore a light color top.