Gavin, I have been following you since the beginning. Have loved every video. How you keep it simple, easy to follow, and understand. I also love that I can watch your content without worrying about anything inappropriate for my kids to hear or see. Your videos, shooting and editing style has changed how I see a shot and edit. I have fallen in love with photography all over again. Thank you!
I came away from this with several things in my head. 1. You shot what worked. Ambient/flash/mixed 2. Chloe is so comfortable in her body that she looks beautiful in any way that she presents herself. Her translucent skin glows, even in flat light. 3. You constantly mix up angles, lenses, lighting, sets and the changes make the shoot seem fresh as it goes along. 4. I've watched your videos for a long time. I enjoy them for your humor, talent for teaching and your energy. I'd like to keep watching them for years to come. You were out of breath for this entire session it seams. Have you had a check up lately? Sorry if that seems out of place, but it is well intended.
Thank you, Gavin and crew! Always interesting to see the way these images progress during the shoot, and how you've thought things through, like the "clean plate". :)
Curious what the clean plate photo would look like completed. There was a lot of light from the flash spilling around so I don't think it'll be as simple as planned.
always a pleasure to see your videos.. the only thing i would like is the Chloe comments/feedbacks, that make sense? ..happy to see your back team too with them setup!!
What a great shoot Gavin. Hectic (for you 🤣) but a lot of fun to watch. Beautfiul model, beautiful images, great location, and a terrific behind the scenes team. You guys are awesome 👍😊
Hey Gavin....man your vids make me super happy......and Chloe.....oh Chloe.....gods gift......and yes she aways looks amazing :)...man you have a great space to take pics!!! super envious.
Hi from northern germany. I always like your videos. They help me to improve my photography and language skills. Thank you. I look forward to see more of your videos :-)
What composition ‘rules’ do you follow, if any (e.g. rule of thirds; Golden ratio etc), when taking your shots? I’d love to see a video on this. Thank you for another great tutorial. I always learn something new from your videos. 👏👏👏
Nice video as usual. You know how to keep the audience attention. In my opinion the softbox is a bit too small for this kind of shot and was producing harsh shadows. I would have used a bigger soft box. The fact that it was an overcast it helped for producing soft shadows without the flash. Again... nice delivery of an interesting video.
15:30 Curious as to how you pack these lights. I have both the Flashpoint XPLOR 400 Pro and the Flashpoint eVOLV 200 TTL as well. I have separate cases for each but would like to carry them in one case as you have mentioned. Would it be possible to post a photo of your packed kit? I did a screen grab of your case to try to figure it out. Thanks.
Okay figured it out. Remove the flash mount and cover from the 400 then cut out the section to allow placement of the 200 along the side of the case. Clear MacGyver Gavin! Cheers.
It was very fun to watch and learn from Your video. I'm also using flash on location, but don't shoot tethered because I can't figure out how to power my laptop. How did you manage to do that?
😊 I think you have done the right choice in changing your old photo cart from the one @27:38 to the one at @13:49 🤣 Joking aside, Chloe is an amazing model when she smiles !
1.2?, eso explica la falta de nitidez en las fotos, por otro lado excelente video instructivo, y la modelo, maravillosa, no pierde la sonrisa para nada y eso que mas bonita que el 99.9% de las modelos que salen en este tipo de videos que siempre están con cara de aburridas y a veces hasta molestas, pero Chloe es maravillosa, saludos para ambos desde Perú!!
Definitely needed at least two lights Also I think your flash could have been a lot closer to the model. Probably the reason you were getting specular highlights on the models face….
A caravan abandoned in the backyard? No problem. Send Sam to the shops and invite Clarkson, Hammond and May over. They're bound to arrive in a Foxhound capable of making the caravan recyclable.
You are very good at communicating and making these sessions work. You have a very pleasant garden. And your family team are also excellent - your missus is really in command. A few things. I know these are for Adorama, so you can’t mention the ‘G word’, but as you are in the UK and Adorama doesn’t exist here, perhaps you could point out that Flashpoint is rebranded Godox and in the UK and most other countries, you be buying Godox. Not an issue if this is aimed mainly at a US audience but, all the same. At the end, someone asked a question about feathering. In response, you turned the soft-box back toward the camera (losing most of the light on Chloe). But feathering can be up and down too in either height or angle. If you angled the light up, you’d have subdued the hotspot on the grass between light and model (maybe not an issue with you plan to comp out the lighting PS, but alway worth getting it in camera, as much as possible). Same with the flank of the caravan closest to the light which was very hot in the first set up. Feathered back toward the camera, the hotspot would have been reduced. Anyway, really enjoyed it
"Can you do that with speedlights?" Hoey asks rhetorically, and answers, something like, "probably not". For a lot of people watching these videos, these God Ox (holy cow) Flashpoint strobes are too big and heavy, or expensive. As the model 400 Gavin uses here burns through some 400 Joules (aka Watt.seconds or W.s or Ws) at full power, how does this compare to a speedlight? Well, I would rate the speedlight top model God Ox at best at 50 W.s - 1/8th of 400, or 3 f-stops (3 EV) less. As the 400 has 9 manual levels and if these are precisely at 1 EV distance, this means at level 6 this model 400 burns 50 W.s into a flash. As W.s are about energy consumed - they're the micro version of k.W.h or kWh as 3,600,000 W.s are in a kWh - they actually say nothing about how much light comes out of a device. But, let's assume they're all equally efficient. 1/8th by the way means you need 8 of the small Holy Cows to get to the model 400's full power. My guess is, Hoey did not mention the level in the video, that the model 400 was above level 6. At level 7, you would have needed 2 speedlights into one softbox and at level 8 you needed 4. The problem with overpowering the sun (or daylight) is that it does not help you to raise ISO as this raises the exposure of the ambient and hence a stronger flash to overpower that. If you need more flash power then you can reduce distance between flash and subject. In this case, Gavin has the softbox rather far away from the model and that makes the light hard, plus most light goes into the stratosphere. The question is what it would have looked like with a bare speedlight (i.e. zero loss in the softbox) and maybe at a closer-by distance. If money is not the deciding factor, but size and weight are, then a top model camera brand speedlight may give you a comparable 75 W.s at 2/3rd the price of the model 400. But as they run off 4 AA cells, they take considerable time to recycle and you might want to add an optional external battery pack to compensate for that and still then the recycle time is to be taken into account every time, so in a softbox you may want 2 of these with additional battery pack in order to cut the recycle time in half. In a studio, the speedlight approach works well - but if you use more complex lighting setups, you may end up needing 10 speedlights, 10 optional battery packs and 120 AA cells to make this work (using two speedlights in bigger softboxes to keep recycle times down and mitigate the risk of overheating because of fast cycling through high power flashes). Replacing 120 AA cells is a serious chore and recharging them really needs a charging device that displays the state of each individual cell, plus can revitalise Ni-Mn cells. At that point you have to be really motivated for this approach. So, yes, you'll have a hard time to pull this off with speedlights.
Hi JP, recent Godox speedlites like the V860iii use a Li-ion battery pack and have a rather fast recycle time, plus, almost impossible to drain the batteries on a single shoot. I like to use 2 of them for product photography, at least one of them for macro photography, and for portraits I generally use a Godox AD200 Pro as key light with the speedlites for backdrop and/or fill lighting. But I confess I never did a portrait shoot outdoors with a mix of ambient and flash light. Seems like fun, so I'll give it a try.
Great video. I love the old shed, great teamwork and it shows there professional
Chloe’s smile is contagious
Very entertaining but more importantly, educational! ,,,re-learned a ton of techniques I’d forgotten. Thank you Gavin and crew.
Gavin, I have been following you since the beginning. Have loved every video. How you keep it simple, easy to follow, and understand. I also love that I can watch your content without worrying about anything inappropriate for my kids to hear or see. Your videos, shooting and editing style has changed how I see a shot and edit. I have fallen in love with photography all over again. Thank you!
I came away from this with several things in my head. 1. You shot what worked. Ambient/flash/mixed 2. Chloe is so comfortable in her body that she looks beautiful in any way that she presents herself. Her translucent skin glows, even in flat light. 3. You constantly mix up angles, lenses, lighting, sets and the changes make the shoot seem fresh as it goes along. 4. I've watched your videos for a long time. I enjoy them for your humor, talent for teaching and your energy. I'd like to keep watching them for years to come. You were out of breath for this entire session it seams. Have you had a check up lately? Sorry if that seems out of place, but it is well intended.
“…..slings and arrows of outrageous fortune….” Gavin will overcome all adversities. Well done.
hi gavin iam from South Africa love what u doing.follow all ur videos and learn a lot from u.Ur fantastic.
Guys u guys are rock stars of photography!!! Learning so much ❤❤❤ thanks Gavin 🙏
love your home photography outdoor location, so lucky to have your backgarden as excellent location shoot
Thank you, Gavin & crew!
Watching live from Uganda
As always great, love the background music from the birds
yet another fab video Gavin ,, and Chloe is fab , and team Hoey are ace ,
Thank you !
Great video Gavin and you know where I’m watching from.
Great shoot as usual ...many thanks learnt a lot.
Great job, Gavin. Congrats to all of the team.
One of a kind | Thanks Gavin hoey
Thank you 😊! Very informative and a pleasure to watch
Thanks Gavin,Chloe,Sam and Freya for your excellent live stream. 😎👍🇨🇦
Thank you, Gavin and crew! Always interesting to see the way these images progress during the shoot, and how you've thought things through, like the "clean plate". :)
Curious what the clean plate photo would look like completed. There was a lot of light from the flash spilling around so I don't think it'll be as simple as planned.
Brilliant as usual Gavin and crew .
Great Job everyone
Really enjoy your videos Gavin. Thanks so much.
Mike from Maine, USA. Love your videos. Thank you
always a pleasure to see your videos.. the only thing i would like is the Chloe comments/feedbacks, that make sense? ..happy to see your back team too with them setup!!
What a great shoot Gavin. Hectic (for you 🤣) but a lot of fun to watch. Beautfiul model, beautiful images, great location, and a terrific behind the scenes team. You guys are awesome 👍😊
I really enjoy this format - informative and useful!
Awesome great off the grid Portraits
Thanks from Saigon, Viet Nam
Thank you SO much for posting these videos. By the way, I've never heard the name Freya, but it is such a cool name!
I love it with no flash
Hey Gavin....man your vids make me super happy......and Chloe.....oh Chloe.....gods gift......and yes she aways looks amazing :)...man you have a great space to take pics!!! super envious.
Hi from northern germany. I always like your videos. They help me to improve my photography and language skills. Thank you. I look forward to see more of your videos :-)
Great Video Gavin
Q: I see that Gavin is tether, can you share which PC / tablet are you using here ?
Thanks for sharing with the community.
Excellent live show Gavin. Chloe is a awesome model.
G’day from Western Australia. Fun and games as usual😀
What composition ‘rules’ do you follow, if any (e.g. rule of thirds; Golden ratio etc), when taking your shots? I’d love to see a video on this. Thank you for another great tutorial. I always learn something new from your videos. 👏👏👏
i quite liked the look of the feathered light shot
I usually like 30% flash and 80% ambient but in these photographs sorry to admit it but the ambient all at 100% ambient looks the best.
Watching from TH-cam in Paris Tennessee
Nice video as usual. You know how to keep the audience attention. In my opinion the softbox is a bit too small for this kind of shot and was producing harsh shadows. I would have used a bigger soft box. The fact that it was an overcast it helped for producing soft shadows without the flash. Again... nice delivery of an interesting video.
Watching from Horncastle, Lincs
Hi, Gavin. Good tutorials. Greetings from Chile.
15:30 Curious as to how you pack these lights. I have both the Flashpoint XPLOR 400 Pro and the Flashpoint eVOLV 200 TTL as well. I have separate cases for each but would like to carry them in one case as you have mentioned. Would it be possible to post a photo of your packed kit? I did a screen grab of your case to try to figure it out. Thanks.
I was intrigued by this as well, even tho I use a pelican case, i still found it brilliant.
Okay figured it out. Remove the flash mount and cover from the 400 then cut out the section to allow placement of the 200 along the side of the case. Clear MacGyver Gavin! Cheers.
It was very fun to watch and learn from Your video.
I'm also using flash on location, but don't shoot tethered because I can't figure out how to power my laptop. How did you manage to do that?
Love from India..
I’m in the US. Northern California.
Dayton, Ohio in the house!
It rained briefly in brighton this afternoon just for 2 mins or so. It iz getting windy but overcast not so hot now
Hi from Atlanta, Georgia
please oh please manage to get a sunset shoot at some point like originally planned. Would love to see that.
Great vid3o gavin and co
😊 I think you have done the right choice in changing your old photo cart from the one @27:38 to the one at @13:49 🤣 Joking aside, Chloe is an amazing model when she smiles !
1.2?, eso explica la falta de nitidez en las fotos, por otro lado excelente video instructivo, y la modelo, maravillosa, no pierde la sonrisa para nada y eso que mas bonita que el 99.9% de las modelos que salen en este tipo de videos que siempre están con cara de aburridas y a veces hasta molestas, pero Chloe es maravillosa, saludos para ambos desde Perú!!
Hi we are from Bakersield California.
That look 👍
Hello crew and Gavin. Peter from Belgium here. Question, witch metering mode do you use when working with flash? Spot or matrix? Thank you so much
Melbourne Australia
what's the cart make/model Gavin ?
Definitely needed at least two lights
Also
I think your flash could have been a lot closer to the model.
Probably the reason you were getting specular highlights on the models face….
What sandbag do you use for your light stand and how heavy is it
Fun video, very cool!
Would these method work with film cameras and lighting. I have a skonic light meter l 308
Can't seem to get the glow softbox in canada..any ideas Thank you
23.29 i prefer these using natural light so much more natural
Sydney, Australia
Missed live again. But the recording is also okay... Damn. Need to watch out better
What is the cable your using here?
why you dont use full frame camera?
Baltimore Maryland USA
A caravan abandoned in the backyard? No problem. Send Sam to the shops and invite Clarkson, Hammond and May over. They're bound to arrive in a Foxhound capable of making the caravan recyclable.
No doubt that your photos are OK but in the video, photos appear to be blurry, less sharp than the video. Great photography lesson as always :)
I do suppose the he is in aperture priority mode
Likes from mauritius
Natural but with a little flash for the catch light in her eyes
Massachusetts
Boston Massachusetts
You are very good at communicating and making these sessions work. You have a very pleasant garden. And your family team are also excellent - your missus is really in command.
A few things. I know these are for Adorama, so you can’t mention the ‘G word’, but as you are in the UK and Adorama doesn’t exist here, perhaps you could point out that Flashpoint is rebranded Godox and in the UK and most other countries, you be buying Godox. Not an issue if this is aimed mainly at a US audience but, all the same.
At the end, someone asked a question about feathering. In response, you turned the soft-box back toward the camera (losing most of the light on Chloe). But feathering can be up and down too in either height or angle. If you angled the light up, you’d have subdued the hotspot on the grass between light and model (maybe not an issue with you plan to comp out the lighting PS, but alway worth getting it in camera, as much as possible). Same with the flank of the caravan closest to the light which was very hot in the first set up. Feathered back toward the camera, the hotspot would have been reduced. Anyway, really enjoyed it
"Can you do that with speedlights?" Hoey asks rhetorically, and answers, something like, "probably not". For a lot of people watching these videos, these God Ox (holy cow) Flashpoint strobes are too big and heavy, or expensive. As the model 400 Gavin uses here burns through some 400 Joules (aka Watt.seconds or W.s or Ws) at full power, how does this compare to a speedlight? Well, I would rate the speedlight top model God Ox at best at 50 W.s - 1/8th of 400, or 3 f-stops (3 EV) less. As the 400 has 9 manual levels and if these are precisely at 1 EV distance, this means at level 6 this model 400 burns 50 W.s into a flash. As W.s are about energy consumed - they're the micro version of k.W.h or kWh as 3,600,000 W.s are in a kWh - they actually say nothing about how much light comes out of a device. But, let's assume they're all equally efficient. 1/8th by the way means you need 8 of the small Holy Cows to get to the model 400's full power. My guess is, Hoey did not mention the level in the video, that the model 400 was above level 6. At level 7, you would have needed 2 speedlights into one softbox and at level 8 you needed 4.
The problem with overpowering the sun (or daylight) is that it does not help you to raise ISO as this raises the exposure of the ambient and hence a stronger flash to overpower that. If you need more flash power then you can reduce distance between flash and subject. In this case, Gavin has the softbox rather far away from the model and that makes the light hard, plus most light goes into the stratosphere. The question is what it would have looked like with a bare speedlight (i.e. zero loss in the softbox) and maybe at a closer-by distance.
If money is not the deciding factor, but size and weight are, then a top model camera brand speedlight may give you a comparable 75 W.s at 2/3rd the price of the model 400.
But as they run off 4 AA cells, they take considerable time to recycle and you might want to add an optional external battery pack to compensate for that and still then the recycle time is to be taken into account every time, so in a softbox you may want 2 of these with additional battery pack in order to cut the recycle time in half.
In a studio, the speedlight approach works well - but if you use more complex lighting setups, you may end up needing 10 speedlights, 10 optional battery packs and 120 AA cells to make this work (using two speedlights in bigger softboxes to keep recycle times down and mitigate the risk of overheating because of fast cycling through high power flashes). Replacing 120 AA cells is a serious chore and recharging them really needs a charging device that displays the state of each individual cell, plus can revitalise Ni-Mn cells. At that point you have to be really motivated for this approach.
So, yes, you'll have a hard time to pull this off with speedlights.
Hi JP, recent Godox speedlites like the V860iii use a Li-ion battery pack and have a rather fast recycle time, plus, almost impossible to drain the batteries on a single shoot. I like to use 2 of them for product photography, at least one of them for macro photography, and for portraits I generally use a Godox AD200 Pro as key light with the speedlites for backdrop and/or fill lighting. But I confess I never did a portrait shoot outdoors with a mix of ambient and flash light. Seems like fun, so I'll give it a try.
I have Olympus OMD EM 1
Oregon
Everything is great except your Camera and lenses. SOny or Canon full frame please!
there is no right or wrong but sometime there is better
Fort Lauderdale FL
Brighto uk
🇬🇧
🌹🌹🌹🌹👍👍👏👏
Indiana
You have a shadow on one side of her face