To learn more about the workshop, please visit the Studio Photography Workshop page.

STUDIO PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP is a post from: blog by eulee

The good thing was yesterday’s shoot was not in a competition environment and we could direct the gymnasts to repeat certain routines. But the speed was also a challenge. I wish I could ask them to stop in mid air but defying gravity is not one of their strengths. So we encountered all sorts of tech issues but the most tricky ones were the most basic. Logistics. The gym was fully occupied, both with gymnasts and equipment and power sockets were at the walls far away from the action. Mental note: bring plenty of extension cords. Halfway through the shoot, we had to move because our power cord was lying on the runway for the vault. And we had to figure out how to wire up the lights again. This and other problems took a lot of time to resolve.

Getting ready for the shoot

We concentrated on the balance beam and the pommel horse only. For the balance beam, I used the strobe but the main problem was the range of the Skyport transmitter. One of my lights seem to have more limited range and nothing is more frustrating than having one light firing without the other. And taking turns to fire. So the poor girl had to repeat her routine many times. I’m just hoping that through this she gets even better. As for the horse, I used the modeling light because there’s no way the strobe will be able to catch up. So I slipped on a 50mm F1.4, set it open at something like F2.5 to get enough shutter speed and it turned out pretty good. That’s also because he was in a stationery location and not jumping from one end to the other.

Test shot at F4. Not enough shutter speed

I will need more help in the coming shoot so if you’re interested in assisting, please let me know. I will need a pool of assistants as the shoots are going to be almost daily and notice can only be given at the last minute.

YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES SHOOT 1 is a post from: blog by eulee

Experience with studio equipment will be an advantage although not compulsory. Training will be provided of course. Great opportunity to learn since each location and each discipline presents a different challenge.

If you are interested or know any who might be, please let me know. I can be contacted at 97616405 or eulee@photographybyeulee.com. Thanks!

For some information on what the shoot is like, please refer to the post on Youth Olympic Games Shoot 1.

LOOKING FOR ASSISTANTS is a post from: blog by eulee

It was playtime towards the end and as the whole family gathered in the playroom, I pulled over one of my lights and started firing away. Totally unplanned but I learned to expect the unexpected when dealing with kids at Darius’ and Desiree’s age. Makes the whole shoot so enjoyable by keeping the photographer on his toes

The first time for Darius. Well done!

Desiree and her 'Bear-siree'

The Family

Little Darius

Darius and Mum

Private family time. Desiree unexpectedly starting feeding Darius

The family in playroom

Techie info. I used both of my Elinchrom lights. One was fitted with the 80X80cm softbox, and the other with an umbrella. No reason for this combination. Except maybe the softbox will not be large enough for a full body standing portrait but for this purpose, the smaller softbox will do just fine. So softbox on camera right and umbrella on camera left, just to fill the shadows.

Lighting Diagram

More of such images can be found in the Family Photography category.

DARIUS AND FAMILY is a post from: blog by eulee

For myself, this blog was started as a kind of social experiment and i must say I am hooked on it. I started in May 2009, after many years of deliberation and fears that I will not get pass my first post. I eventually discovered a love for writing. I can’t say I’m very good at it but at last I don’t dread it. So my first post was on packing for an overseas shoot in a reply to curious questions on what I always bring on my shoot. At that point of time I was already overseas and that was the perfect moment to talk about it. From then my blogging went on to discuss techniques, equipment, workshops, current work, book reviews and now with my new iPhone, a bit on apps and its camera. After the first post, ideas start popping up and since then, I’ve logged 140 posts! I try to go for higher value content and not just one-liners so I think I’ve done decently looking at my workload.

Work-wise in 2009. My core business is still wedding photography. I love this business and being a part of someone’s wedding. My corporate/commercial work, comprising events, product and advertising has been consistently providing the variety I look for. I am also moving into family photography in a bigger way as compared to the previous years. While I’ve been shooting families regularly, it’s only in 2009 when this area has picked up.

2009 is also the year my business moved on from a sole-proprietorship to a Limited Liability Partnership. My business partner is my fiancee Lydia and she’s been great in providing emotional support and a listening ear for me to bounce ideas off. 2010 will be the year that she’ll officially become my life-partner .

Lydia and I at Pont Neuf, Paris

I love to share. I am always excited about helping others discover things about photography and their camera. It was with this intention that I started officially my photography workshop in 2009. I fashioned it after my short stint in the tv series on Channel News Asia called Scene City. In it, guest photographers were brought to different places in Singapore to handle different photographic challenges. So to spice things up, my workshops are completely hands-on and located in different areas in Singapore.

So what’s the most popular post so far? Surprisingly, the highest statistic is about me…hmmm….followed by my post on my workshop. And then about my short article on Canon G11, which was posted immediately after the news was released.

So what’s in store for this blog in 2010? I hope my blog will be a useful resource for anyone interested in photography. I know I should not generalize that much and look for a more niche audience but I hope there’s something here for everyone. I’ll try to write more about techniques, tips and reviews in the hope that you can glean more useful information. I will still post current work to inspire and to sharing something new. Of course I can’t post everything due to some confidentiality issues.

Thanks very much for visiting my blog, dropping a note, commenting, and I sincerely hope that you’ve learned something all this while. That said, please feel free to give me ideas on what to write about too.

Have a great 2010 ahead!

A YEAR IN RETROSPECT is a post from: blog by eulee

The old and the new

I think the greatest difference besides the size and weight is the EL-Skyport transmitter’s remote function. This is one function I’ll enjoy using the most, although a learning curve is required. It’s kind of like the Canon’s ST-E2 transmitter which can control 2 groups of lights but way more advanced because you have a lot more control, hence the learning curve. You can even determine the increments for the light output so you can have a refined adjustment for products and a faster adjustment for portraits. Very useful if the lights are inaccessible or you just don’t want to keep walking to manually adjust them. And you can have your assistant concentrate on other things. Or better still, work alone.

Everything is cleverly designed and I especially like the packaging. All the items fit snugly into a bag, which you can just sling over your shoulder to bring to a shoot. The stands also fit snugly into a bag and that goes over your other shoulder. The bag contains:

1. 2 X lights
2. 2 X power cables
3. 2 X softboxes + adaptors
4. 2 X Sync cords

All well packed and weighing maybe 5kgs or so.

The compact carrying case

Can’t wait to test them out in my next shoot.

Looks like I’ll be playing with the lights this Christmas. No more gadgets. I’m not complaining, I need to use them to shoot the YOG athletes in my next assignment.

BOWENS VS ELINCHROM: BATTLE OF THE LIGHTS II is a post from: blog by eulee

Lighting diagram

Took a shot without the key light to see the effect of the two lights behind. I adjusted the EVs and zooms to get the effect I wanted. When setting up lights for a complicated setup, you can fire one at a time to check what each light is doing, independent of the rest. Kind of ‘building’ the set. When satisfied, then fire them all. So here’s what the image without the key light:

Effect of back lights

I like.

Ok then, let ‘em rip.

The back two lights were grouped in Group B while the key light was in Group A. This is useful practice because I can change lighting ratio on the ST-E2 transmitter to A:B = 4:1. Literally light in Group A fires at 4 times lights in Group B. Between the flashes in the SAME group, I used the EV button to vary the power.

All lights firing

I used a black velvet cloth as the backdrop because I wanted to study light falling on me easier. But the problem is my hair (like any typical not-so-hip-male-who-does-not-dye-hair) blends into the background. So just thought I’d fire one flash directly at the back of my head to give an outline. So I sacrificed the one on camera left and had it firing at me. Here’s the result:

One light firing at the back of my head

It just provided an accent. If I wanted to look like an angel, I’d blast the power.

Wish I had more flash units. I can do more Joe McNally type shots.

All I can say is I didn’t give enough credit to those small fellas. They pack a punch. With so many modifiers out there now, I think I’ll leave my big lights in the studio and start bringing them small lights. At least I don’t have to worry about power supply or heavy batteries.

WHAT TO DO WITH 3 FLASHES is a post from: blog by eulee

Doing the Matrix

The technical details of this image:
ISO 100
Aperture: F22
Shutter Speed: 10s

The flow can be captured by a long shutter speed. So that’s easy. Well, I need to decide how long the shutter speed. Too long and the flow will be overwhelmed by the lights, and too short, there won’t be much of a movement to be seen. Of course all this will depend on the movement speed of the subject. A lot of trial and error is required.

The static image is a challenge. I could fire a strobe during movement to freeze action or stay still for a longer time to register an exposure on the image. I did both here. The first shot was strobed and while moving to the extremes, I stayed still just a little while longer. I tried firing strobes when I was at the extremes but the strobe overpowered the flow and in the end I got a stop motion type of image without the flow. Not exactly what I had in mind. But this could be one of the options for the client.

Determining the shutter speed, aperture and strobe power was quite challenging. As mentioned I needed a long enough shutter to give myself time to move. And I didn’t want ambient light to creep in so the aperture needed to be small. The whole flow was captured by the modeling light. And that had to be adjusted to avoid overexposing the image. The strobe output was a matter of trial and error, after setting the aperture.

In the end, it was a simple experiment but it’s close to what I envisioned. Of course, I’l be using black velvet as a backdrop to allow the flow to be more visible. Here it wasn’t too visible because light spilled onto the gray backdrop and a lot of it was lost in the background. Furthermore the light spilled from the modeling light onto the image already lit by the strobe is a problem. I may have to use a different set of lights to avoid this.

And in the end, I may fire 2 frames. First one to take the portrait before movement, using strobes. And the other one dragging the shutter to capture flow. And the layer the two images in post processing. I could have experimented with that if I had an assistant earlier. But it should work in theory.

It was a crude attempt and more needs to be done but at least I have a starting point. Will update when I improve on this technique.

DOING THE MATRIX is a post from: blog by eulee

You can do your part! Calling all photographers, make-up artists, assistants, everyone who think they can be a part of this movement. Join us and be a part of a growing worldwide community.

Help Portrait is all about giving back to the community. Ever encountered a less fortunate person who would like to have his portrait taken but cannot afford a professional photographer? Well, it’s time we give them an opportunity.

Help Portrait is the brainchild of Jeremy Cowart, and you can read more about its mission in the blog. All around the world, people are participating and putting in their time and skills to do something for the less fortunate. Join us and sign up in this link. Look for Singapore and you’ll see us there.

I’m opening this up to anyone who would like to assist me when we start doing this. It’s totally FREE and you’ll have a chance to learn about studio photography. Learn valuable tips on lighting and posing people and also play a part in this movement. You can contact me on this blog:

email: eulee@photographybyeulee.com
hp: 97616405
twitter: twitter.com/tweetbyeulee

Come on guys, let’s do something for the community and bring a smile to someone else this Christmas!

HELP PORTRAIT SINGAPORE is a post from: blog by eulee

Someone was selling an old Elinchrom system and I tested it a few days back. I was so impressed with the size, ease of use and the design of the lights and softbox. The thing that hit me most was the size and weight of the lights. For the same output, one light weigh almost half that of the Bowens (2kg vs 3.5kg), and is even nearly half the size (260mm vs 410mm). Perfect for location shoot. Pack two of these lights, umbrellas and stands in a bag and I can just sling it over the shoulder. That’s it, a mobile studio kit. You may not feel the difference when just carrying one light but you will when you have a few of them.

Bowen Gemini 500W - Image from Bowens

Elinchrome BX 500 Ri - Image from Elinchrom

So if you’re looking for a set of lights, consider something that’s convenient. Specs-wise, they’re very close but I guess to me, the clincher is the size and weight. Transporting up to 4 lights, stands, modifiers, cables, camera equipment, notebook, etc is a challenge and every kilo I save makes a lot of difference.

Check out Bowen’s system here and Elinchrom’s system here.

If you’re looking for battery powered packs, check out Strobist’s post on elinchrom lights. Plenty of good info there, including comments from users.

BOWENS VS ELINCHROM: BATTLE OF THE LIGHTS is a post from: blog by eulee

Please contact eulee at:
Mobile: 97616405
Email: eulee@photographybyeulee.com
for more details

PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY CLASS is a post from: blog by eulee

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Protected: WINE CARRIERS is a post from: blog by eulee

The only setback I can think of is the recycle time of the strobes. He has the answer to it…set it on a low output! Also, the shoot must be done in a very dark environment to prevent light bleeding into the image since the shutter will be open for a longer time.

Time to experiment!!

Read more about it in Chase Jarvis’ blog. He’s got a neat video of how this is done too.

HIGH SPEED PHOTOGRAPHY is a post from: blog by eulee

After the first shoot of the cups, an additional shoot was required for both the cups and the coffee sachet to be more in focus. Sometimes shooting the same thing twice gives an opportunity to try and explore a new approach. The layout of props was similar to the previous one so changes were made to the lighting setup. I still used the ST-E2, Speedlite 580EX and an umbrella. This time I used a styrofoam board as a reflector.

The time of shoot was in the evening, and there were long shadows and the colour of light was yellowish so I needed to introduce artificial light to get the blue-ish white of a morning light. I could also shoot RAW and change the colour temperature too during processing. Previously I used a shoot-through mode with the umbrella but this time I tried the reflective mode. The umbrella was useful to block the harsh evening light and to introduce soft light. Bringing the whole setup into the studio defeats the purpose of using ambient light to produce the right ambience. The flash was dialed up to +3EV to flood the scene with daylight. To throw a bit of light to the branding, a white styrofoam reflector was used. I chose not to use the silver reflector because I wanted a subtle fill light. The whole idea was to make the picture look as natural as possible. The sachet was highly reflective so I positioned it in front of the cup so that the light from behind was blocked.

The setup looked like this:

Shooting products with a lifestyle twist: Reloaded is a post from: blog by eulee

Light Modifiers: Beauty Dish is a post from: blog by eulee