Lighting For Effect

I have been working with my little traveling light kit some more.
I have made a kit using several shoe mount flashes. I have three Nikon SB-28's and a Sunpack 120. I have just added the Sunpack to the bag. It is a great flash with an external power pack to give it a little boost. I have written about it before. The reflector comes off to be used as a bare bulb flash.

I have also added a soft- white umbrella. I have been using direct flash, and decided to try the umbrella.

The top photo I did yesterday in a local restaurant. It is an extremely low-light kinda place. I wanted to see some of the room in the photo so I shot at a really slow shutter speed to capture the ambient light. I shot at f4 for the flash and 1/13 second to get the ambient.

The second photo shows my lighting setup. The subjects were at the center table, and the umbrella was the main light. The other light came in on their backs to separate them from the background.



The last two photos were done with two lights as well. I wanted to light the two business partners and the artist rendering of their new building in the background. I put one flash with a homemade snoot behind them aimed at the rendering. The snoot concentrates the light so only the rendering is lit. The other light was to my left aimed at about a 45 degree angle toward my subjects.
These were done without the umbrella for a bit more control of the light.



Since I wanted these to be a bit dramatic, I kicked my shutter speed up to 250th to darker the room, eliminating the ambient light.

These shots kinda work. I should have noticed the reflection on the painting hanging behind them, and on the rendering. Need some barn doors for my main light.