What kind of flash/lighting set up for this?

[tslice]

The flash/light is obviously not coming from the same angle as the camera. How are these lights set up? What kind of lights are they? Are they continuous lights or flash lights? If its a flash, how does the flash get triggered from a distance? How are the lights powered?
scottserfas.com
jonhumphries.com

 

[Digital Matt]

Again, please post links to the photos.

Monolight strobes on light stands with umbrellas. They can provide a lot of light in short bursts, and cover a wide area. They can be triggered by a radio frequency, or a pc cord attached to the camera. They fire when the shutter is tripped on the camera.

http://alienbees.com/

 

[burtharrris]

Plus they overlight the subjects, so when the aperture is closed down and shutter speeds increased, the ambient light goes down. This gives really dark blue skies even in photos taken in broad daylight. It produces really cool effects at dusk when colors are getting warmer; the subject really pops out when its hit by the strobes.

 

[Garbz]

The same effect can be achieved with a standard flash fired off camera into an umbrella. I am sure he doesn't use one method for all his photos.

Light is a tricky subject, there's literally hundreds of different ways to get the same light, and hundreds of different lighting scenarios. To answer your question about off camera flash. He could be using professional pocket wizards for wireless triggers, a system like Nikon's CLS, the SU-4 system which triggers a flash when it sees another flash. It could be a cheap wireless trigger, infrared, sound, PC sync cord, hot shoe extension. The list is huge just for this one method.

If you want to learn about lighting I suggest having a look at the Lighting 101 guide at http://strobist.blogspot.com In his guide he talks about reverse engineering other's lighting setups.

 

[tslice]

ALRIGHT! You got me all excited to get out there and try out some stuff! Thanks, I'm gonna go read the lighting 101 guide right now!

 

[burtharrris]

Be careful on Strobist, it will take up all your time and damage your relationships. There are so many articles on that page, and they're all so informative. I'm not saying I'm addicted, but I have read for 4 hours straight once.

 

[jstuedle]

Yes, strobist will eat up a lot of your time. But it is an informative site with great lighting help, DIY finds, and other great ideas. I have started using this method for lighting live bands. Great stuff on that site!

 

[DeepSpring]

I have herd a lot of people when shooting skaters have a 580ex on camera and a 430ex as a slave off to one side.

A cheaper way is set up one on a sync cord. But yeah check out strobist they tell you everything.

 

[burtharrris]

A few skate photogs I've talked to use a Vivitar 285 or a Canon 540EZ cause you can get them off eBay for $50 bucks.

 

[tslice]

I'm addicted! I woke up at 2 this morning and could not sleep, so I browsed strobist for an hour or so. Thanks!

 

[Garbz]

Sorry