Sarah S. at Montpelier Station, Bristol

The second day of Jayce Clarke's workshop (see yesterday's blip for Day 1) was built upon the first day where we had used only natural light in exterior locations. Today we started again in the morning with a basic tutorial about flash and the various systems that are available, as well as being shown equipment that could be used to make its use easy and effective.

Jayce was once again informative, encouraging and adamant that we use light meters and get the image in the camera and not rely on software to get good images. I was a bit daunted as everything was pretty new to me and I have never used flash except when built into the camera. He demonstrated how awful this can be compared to when you take control of the flash unit, setting it up on either a fixed or portable stand and adding diffusion systems to produce exact results.

I was impressed by the time we went on location in the afternoon and he showed us exactly what he meant by taking images with his model, Sarah S. again, which showed exactly what he could produce by taking control of light. I will add my versions of some of his set-ups to my Blipfolio tomorrow, although they were very different from his pictures, but they worked for me.

This picture was from the last set-up we did, when we went to a local train station which had graffiti on the walls of the platform. There was cloud cover at the time, with intermittent sunshine, but the scene was in shadow. He set up a beauty dish on a pole with a flash unit inside it as the main light, and a second pole with another single Speedlite unit bringing light behind the model's left shoulder, as we look at her. He then controlled the separate groups independently of each other from a transmitter on the camera, using the infra red spectrum, using Pocket Wizard equipment. It all worked very smoothly was quick to set up and produced impressive results.

After testing the set-up it on his camera and then showing us the images, he then let each of us in turn attach the transmitter to our own cameras. We could then have a few minutes with Sarah posing individually for us so we could see for ourselves how well the methods worked. We had previously tried about five other situations using the equipment differently in each situation. It was a very effective way of training and inspiring us which is what seemed to excite Jayce.

So I have to thank him very much for all his advice and help and inspiration. If I could afford it, I would buy several of the bits of gear he has shown us, including the diffuser and reflector frames, monopod poles, the portable beauty box and the Pocket Wizard transmitters and receivers; the light meter is now essential. Then after some/much practice, I would go back to him for a more advanced course. We all found it very valuable. Sarah was terrific too, making a big effort to come alive in front of all of our cameras whenever we needed her.

For your Info:
Here is a a picture of Jayce (on my blipfolio), in the red t-shirt, setting up the 2 groups of flash system, which I then used for my Blip picture here. DailyKeith is in the background holding a speedlite on a pole. The beauty dish is made by Westcott and is called a 'Rapid Box Octa', with a diffuser attached to the front in this instance.