Help me figure out how to light this rail...

zbphoto

zbphoto

Active member
So Transworld Snowboarding has been running photo contests all season, they have pretty nice prizes (Pocketwizards!) and the exposure is awesome. This challenge is to use flash to shoot an urban rail at night.

http://snowboarding.transworld.net/1000173894/featuresobf/your-turn-photo-contest-into-the-dark-deadline/

Might friend came up with a great idea for the contest, she wants to do a sequence of these two rails in a line from this angle. My only problem is I have no idea how I'm going to light it without strobes being all over the shot.

Said Rail:

425901_10151324975945012_824105011_22932598_260903427_n.jpg


I have access to my two flashes and then my friend's two or three. I don't see how were going to do a full sequence though, we can go that during the day, but I think it would be sick to just get two banger shots one on each rail and then stitch the two frames. So what do you guys think? The surrounding area is a major road and then the trees, and its got a tiny bit of natural light. Input on how to light it is really appreciated.

Thanks,

Zack.
 
This was the only photo I could find that shows both. Yah, I ment speedlights (2x Yn-560's, and 3x 285 HV's. WB is diff but whatever, I'll work with what I have). Thats a good idea in terms of lighting. I think that I could hide the upper kink behind that wall as it turns, and then the second kink I can zoom the flash in and just put it out of the frame. I'm so stoked for this, the rider I'm shooting is getting pretty big and she has some connections with SBC Women...
 
What do you guys think about shooting each rail at a time from the same angle, and then stitching them. I know its kinda cheating but it would be a lot less work and easier to eliminate speed issues.
 
idk about that...

I'm just learning about lighting and don't know much but if someone gave me five lights and told me to light that rail I'd use two lights to light the rail/ground (pointed downslope, one at the top, another midway), another two to light up the rider (parallel to the rail, midway and bottom) and a fill light for the rider at the bottom to cut down on shadows.
this has good lighting, maybe a bit more light on the rider though

 
I'm talking about lighting it with flash for photo, not lighting it with running lights for video. But thanks anyways.
 
No shit. Also God, thats the only angle where I can get both rails in from the front, I'll mess around while I'm there, but I have a specific shot in mind.
 
I think I understand what you're trying to say, you basically want to do a sequence shot on the rail but cant because obviously the flashes cant fire that fast? If that's the shot you're trying to get it's kinda sounding like you're shit out of luck. You'd be better off if you could get your hands on some lights and a gene for the night. good luck regardless
 
We are going to just take one photo on each rail and stitch it like you would a sequence, we have 5 lights. Unfortunately though the weather has taken a turn for the worse, its +10C and raining, and I re-concused my self again. This most likely isn't going to happen, at least for the contest.
 
if you can wait, try to get a sunpak 555 or two. I hear they can be used with super fast recycle speeds and can do sequences pretty well.
 
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/UwzTRAfwqo8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
I would say your best bet with a single shot on each rail is to shoot them separate and stitch them. Easily doable with 3 flashes, unless you feel like lighting something in the background that would add to the shot.

Lights labeled 1 are your main lights, have them a stop brighter than the ones labeled 2. Toy with the angles and heights a bit to see what you like. Standard 3 point lighting for portraiture usually has the main light 45` off camera and 1 stop brighter than the fill light which is about 10` off to the opposite side of the camera than the main light.

Take the shot when your rider is directly between you and flash 3 on the lower rail. That way you will get a nice rim lighting and hopefully the rail will act as a gobo and you'll get a good looking shadow coming towards the camera. It may get distracting though.

I would have the flash #2 on the lower rail aimed up a bit, maybe with a flag or snoot so it doesn't wash out your shadow of the rail.

Try getting a long exposure before the flash to pick up the ambient light on the buildings.

snowboardflashshoot.jpg


I'll start with saying I've never tried this before, but in theory it should work depending on specs of the flash.

Do any of your flashes have a strobing feature? If so, set flash #2 to strobe at probably 8 times (however many "frames" you want) at about 8Hz. Then you can get a sequence with a single long exposure shot. You would probably have to move the flash back a bit and set it close to full power to light up the rider for the length of the entire rail. (I'm not sure if the recharge rate is quick enough for full power, and it may burn out your bulb. Check our manual.) Flashes 1 and 3 would only fire once to give you one shadow/background light. You would have to move flash #3 in your lower shot to be in line with where the rider would be for your first "frame". Otherwise you'll get a shot directly into the flash without the rider blocking it out.

Try it, post your results!

 
After watching the above video, having someone following the rider with the flash makes a TON more sense than just trying to move it back/power it up.
 
Thanks a ton for the help, but this just isn't going to happen. Ottawa has lost all its snow, its been warm and raining the last two days and its supposed to be like that for the next week. No more urban, but I'm deff gonna try this next year.
 
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