Viewing entries tagged
off camera flash

The Ultimate Guide to Shooting Flash with Rotolight!

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The Ultimate Guide to Shooting Flash with Rotolight!

Ever wonder how to get the best out of using flash photography with Rotolight? Have issues connecting your transmitter to your light? Wanna use your third party transmitter system to fire a Rotolight? This video is for you.

This video was shot at the Salton Beach with the very familiar and welcome smile of Emily Rinaldo. In this video Jason and Emily detail the following:

  • How to Connect the Elinchrom Skyport Transmitter to your Rotolight

  • How to Control Your Rotolight remotely using the Skyport Transmitter

  • How to Connect Your Third Party Transmitter to the Rotolight using the PC sync port.

  • How to Change the White Balance Color and have it reflect that change in the color of the flash

  • What flash output you should be using when strobing with Rotolight

  • How to turn on flash mode on your Rotolight

  • How to update the firmware on your Skyport Transmitter

Even better the video features a shoot by Jason of Emily as only the two of them can do together. This shoot was done using the Rotolight Titan X1 in flash mode in an abandoned tire shop in some scorching hot desert conditions. Below are the images created by Jason and Emily.

If you're interested in unique deals and bundles on these lights that are custom made for Jason's followers, please visit: www.rotolight.com/jasonoffers

***Links to Gear

*Sony A9- https://bhpho.to/31qNTlv

*Sony Zeiss 50mm- https://bhpho.to/3hq8deF

**Links to Social Media**

Photographer: Jason Lanier

*Website- www.jasonlanier.com

*Podcast- www.jasonlanier.com/podcast

*Instagram- www.instagram.com/jasonlanierphotography

*Facebook- www.facebook.com/groups/jasonlanierworkshops

*Twitter- www.twitter.com/jlanierphoto

Model: Emily Rinaldo

*Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/em.explores

*Website- www.emilyrinaldo.com

We really hope this video helps people out there to learn how to get the most out of their Rotolight when using it in flash mode. Please let us know what you think and thanks for stopping by!

Jason Lanier Photography

#offcameraflash #rotolight #jasonlanierphotography

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The Power of Black and White Photography

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The Power of Black and White Photography

Wanna know how to harness the power of black and white photography to tell better stories with your portraits? Looking for ways to better connect with the people you’re shooting? Watch the video below for a very special portrait session that Jason conducted with an old man named Wiley from Turkey Creek, Florida.

This video is about the power of black and white photography with portraits and how it has the ability to remove distractions and help you see right into the subject that you are capturing. Jason also discusses the power that photography has to help bring people together and how that is a critical trait for any successful photographer to develop.

Below are images taken at the shoot with the Sony 100mm STF G Master lens

Below are images that Jason took using the Sigma 20mm Art Lens

All images were taken using the Sony A9 with a 600 watt second monolight using a 48 inch octabox.

**Links to Gear:

*Sony A9- https://bhpho.to/31qNTlv

*Sony 100mm STF- https://bhpho.to/2HTv9oT

*Sigma 20mm Art Lens- https://bhpho.to/2EUkyrY

**Links to Social Media:

*Website- www.jasonlanier.com

*Instagram- www.instagram.com/jasonlanierphotography

*Youtube- www.youtube.com/jasonlanierpros

A big thanks to Wiley with Gillespie Auto Parts for doing the shoot. Also so appreciative of Anthony Schick and Artemus Burton for their help in making this shoot happen. You can find links to their Instagram accounts below:

https://www.instagram.com/anthonyschickphotography

https://www.instagram.com/artemus_burton_photos/

Thank you for taking the time to watch this video. We truly hope you found it to be useful and hope you stick around to watch a few more!

Thanks,

Jason Lanier Photography

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Bodypaint Shoot at the Jupiter Dungeon with Jason Lanier

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Bodypaint Shoot at the Jupiter Dungeon with Jason Lanier

Wanna see how to make a body paint shoot into something more than a typical sexy shoot? Wanna tell a story? Create mood and atmosphere? Join award winning photographer Jason Lanier for his body paint shoot done at the abandoned Jupiter Dungeon in Florida where he uses lighting and smoke to create an out of this world shoot experience!

To watch the video from this shoot please click below now!

This was a shoot using the Sony A9 with the 50mm Sony Zeiss and 20mm Sigma Art lenses. The atmospheric haze that you’ll see in the video was purchased on Amazon. The Jupiter Dungeon is an abandoned parking garage that was never finished due to the developers running out of money. It’s a really cool place to shoot.

To see the gallery of images created at this shoot please click below.

—Gear used in the video:

**Sony A9- https://bhpho.to/35PyHQX

**Sony Zeiss 50mm- https://bhpho.to/2Wl7OjY

**Links to Social Media**

Photographer:

Jason Lanier *Website- www.jasonlanier.com

*Podcast- www.jasonlanier.com/podcast

*Instagram- www.instagram.com/jasonlanierphotography

*Facebook- www.facebook.com/groups/jasonlanierworkshops

*Twitter- www.twitter.com/jlanierphoto

Model: Jamaican Red (Danni)

*Instagram: www.instagram.com/jamaicanred_

Crew: Anthony Schick, Zach Smith

www.instagram.com/anthonyschickphotography

www.instagram.com/zsmithphoto

We thank you for watching and invite you to watch a few more videos while you're here. Don't forget to click on subscribe and notifications so you're updated every time a new video is released!

Thanks!

Jason Lanier Photography

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Creating Dorothy- How Never Giving Up Can Result in Your Best Work

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Creating Dorothy- How Never Giving Up Can Result in Your Best Work

Ever feel like giving up photography? Do setbacks set you down permanently? Join Jason Lanier for a video where he perseveres through a setback to create some breathtaking work as he exemplifies the definition of never giving up.

This shoot was conducted in Belle Glades, Florida on the side of a road in a sugar cane field. This was an unplanned shoot that had to be created on the fly due to Jason and his team getting thrown out of their original shoot location. In this video Jason uses the Rotolight Titan X1 in flash mode with the Elinchrom Skyport Transmitter to create some movie like imagery with the models named Maddi and Nicole.

This was shot using the Sony A9 with the 35mm Sony Zeiss lens. Below are images taken at the shoot


**Links to Gear**

-Rotolight Titan X1- for the best deals on all Rotolight products please visit: www.rotolight.com/jasonoffers

-Sony A9- https://bhpho.to/35PyHQX​

-Sony Zeiss 35mm- https://bhpho.to/31XPakZ​

**Links to Social Media**

Photographer: Jason Lanier

*Website- www.jasonlanier.com

*Podcast- www.jasonlanier.com/podcast

*Instagram- www.instagram.com/jasonlanierphotography

*Facebook- www.facebook.com/groups/jasonlanierworkshops

*Twitter- www.twitter.com/jlanierphoto

**Models: Madison Ella and Nicole Taylor

*Instagram: www.instagram.com/madisoneellaa

www.instagram.com/nicole.tayylor

Crew: Anthony Schick, Gato Delix, Greg McCoy

www.instagram.com/anthonyschickphotography

www.instagram.com/gatodelix

www.instagram.com/gregselfaction

We thank you for watching and invite you to watch a few more videos while you're here. Don't forget to click on subscribe and notifications so you're updated every time a new video is released! Thanks! Jason Lanier Photography

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Securing a Photography Light with a SEATBELT? Jason Lanier at the Koloa Sugar Mill using the Sony A7Riii and Godox AD600 Pro

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Securing a Photography Light with a SEATBELT? Jason Lanier at the Koloa Sugar Mill using the Sony A7Riii and Godox AD600 Pro

Join Jason Lanier and Emily Rinaldo at an abandoned sugar mill used in scenes from Fast & Furious: Hobbs and Shaw. In this post, Jason completes a five-minute challenge using the Sony A7Riii, Godox AD 600 Pro, and 48” Westcott Rapidbox XXL with a little out of the box thinking approach!! Tune in to see what Jason does and let us know what you think in the comments below. Thanks for watching.

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The Shoot that FRIED my Godox AD600 Pro Battery- Sony A7iii by Jason Lanier

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The Shoot that FRIED my Godox AD600 Pro Battery- Sony A7iii by Jason Lanier

Join me for a shoot in the Florida Everglades where my Godox AD600 Pro Battery was FRIED and quit working on me. This was a crazy shoot where my muse Emily Rinaldo and I found ourselves shooting for a short time before the sun set on a dilapidated boardwalk in the swamp. This was also a shoot that resulted in me getting my legs eaten alive by chiggers that necessitated a visit to Urgent Care.

In this shoot I was using the Sony A7iii with the Sony 12-24mm, 24-70mm G Master, and Sony Zeiss 50mm f./1.4 lenses.

**Links to Gear:

*Sony A7iii- https://bhpho.to/30TJbej

*Sony 12-24mm- https://bhpho.to/30V4R9W

*Sony 24-70mm G Master- https://bhpho.to/30VO0E6

*Sony Zeiss 50mm- https://bhpho.to/312J6oY

*Godox AD600 Pro Flash- https://bhpho.to/30XUcv4

I was using the Godox AD600 Pro for only the second time with the Westcott Rapid Box XL. I placed the light in some bushes in the swamp area as he didn't have a c stand or lightstand with me. If the light had indeed gotten wet, or the battery was impacted by the environment I certainly would mention it and show it as I have done so in the past with other videos where I have broken gear. This wasn’t the case this time around. Below are the images taken during the shoot. Some with flash, the latter shots with natural light after the light failed.

During the shoot the light started beeping repeatedly and the fully charged battery completely died. Upon returning back to the hotel that night I left the battery charging overnight. Typically it takes about 2-3 hours to fully charge a battery like this one. The battery never took a charge.

Upon asking other users about this issue it appears to be a bigger issue not related to just my experience. I contacted Godox and asked for a replacement battery which they quickly sent.

I plan on trying the light and batteries out again to see if my experience is the same or better than what I experienced on this shoot.

We thank you in advance for watching and invite you to stick around and watch a few more videos while you're here. Don't forget to click on NOTIFICATIONS and SUBSCRIBE so you're updated every time we release a new video.

Thanks!

Jason

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Canon Project Part #2- Creating Color with Off Camera Flash- Canon EOS R with the RF 28-70mm lens by Jason Lanier

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Canon Project Part #2- Creating Color with Off Camera Flash- Canon EOS R with the RF 28-70mm lens by Jason Lanier

Welcome to Part 2 of the Canon Project, a series of videos related to our time using the Canon EOS R. In Part 2 we showcase a workshop and shoot we did in Helen, Georgia in conjunction with an event we were doing for PPA (Professional Photographers of America) for their Georgia Chapter (GPPA).

**Links to Gear Used in This Shoot**

*Canon EOS R- https://bhpho.to/2U8W4Cd

*Canon RF 28-70mm lens- https://bhpho.to/2FCH9pI

*Godox AD 600 Pro- https://bhpho.to/2FH9gnu

The location for this video was the Bus Graveyard which is a REALLY cool place to shoot. This was Day 3 of our 4 day workshop that I was teaching for the PPA members and on this day the group asked me to demonstrate a shoot from start to finish as well as give them a heads up on how I recorded my Youtube videos.

So, that’s what my Assistant/Muse Emily and I did! You can follow her on Instagram at www.instagram.com/em.explores

For this shoot we used the Canon EOS R with the RF 28-70mm lens. A lens that quickly found it’s way into my creative heart. It’s one of my favorite lenses on the planet at this point.

But we just didn’t shoot in a cool location with a great model and a new camera/lens. We also wanted to illustrate the difference that using flash can make when shooting in conditions that aren’t ideal for lighting. There is nothing better than the best natural light. But that' only exists for about 1 hour a day. And that’s only if it happens to be facing the direction that you want to shoot.

So sometimes you need to have the ability to ADD light to your scenes to be able to capture what you or your clients want or need to create. Sometimes we don’t have the luxury of picking the time when we shoot. Sometimes we have to make our own light.

In this video I show the difference between the two, demonstrating images side by side showing images taken with flash vs. images taken with natural light. Take a look for yourself by checking out the images below:

The images with flash have much more light and color. Because color = light in the world of photography. I purposely chose to make this Part 2 of the project because Part 1 shows a natural light shoot done correctly which has plenty of color and light. But that’s only because it was shot at the ideal time of day.

Below are images from the shoot:

For this shoot I have to say the Canon EOS R did exceptionally well. Focus wasn’t as fast as I’m used to with my Sony cameras, but for a portrait session like this one it was more than fine. The color rendering and effect on skin tones is really nice.

And that LENS. WOW, the RF 28-70mm f/2 is just a pleasure to shoot. There will be people who complain about it’s size and weight. But for me if you want awesome results you shoot awesome glass. And that’s one thing that Canon has done right with their mirrorless system. They are bringing out ultra professional, high grade glass. Far better than the offerings made by the Nikon Z system and far better than what Sony brought out when it first rolled out it’s mirrorless cameras.

The Canon also did much better shooting flash than the Nikon Z. It didn’t require me to do anything special to shoot in HSS (High Speed Sync) mode which was great since all of these images were taken in HSS with the exception of the natural light shot.

I truly hope you enjoy the content. If you missed Part 1 of the Canon Project which is a Natural Light Shoot done in Death Valley using the RF 24-105mm lens, you can check it out now by clicking below:

Thank you so much for watching and make sure to check out our upcoming parts of the Canon Project where we explore things like Black Light, LED, LED flash and more! We thank you for joining us and invite you to click on NOTIFICATIONS and the SUBSCRIBE button on my Youtube Channel.

See you next time!

Jason

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Making it RAIN! Epic High Fashion Portraits in the Water using Off Camera Flash- 7 Foot Parabolic by Jason Lanier

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Making it RAIN! Epic High Fashion Portraits in the Water using Off Camera Flash- 7 Foot Parabolic by Jason Lanier

Any photographer who’s been shooting long enough outdoors has had his or her bouts of shooting in the rain. While it can certainly be challenging, it can also be very rewarding to give you some results that are different than what you create on a regular basis.

Well, there are some studios out there that actually offer rain INSIDE of a studio setting. What they do is set up pipes that pass water through with holes in them that drop water down into a studio setting that has the proper drainage and water collection set up to make it possible to shoot with rain indoors.

I recently did a shoot with my muse Emily (you can find her on IG at @em.explores), at FD Photo Studio in Los Angeles. The obvious benefit to shooting indoors vs. outdoors is the fact that it allows me to set up lighting in ways that would be very difficult or impossible to set up under normal rainy conditions.

Here are some of the pics from the shoot:


**Links to Gear:

*Rotolight Products- to get a 10% discount and FREE Shipping on any Rotolight products please visit: www.jasonlanier.com/rotolight to get the promo code now!

*Sony A7Riii- https://bhpho.to/2zu1lJu

*Sony Zeiss 35mm- https://bhpho.to/2IDrv28

*Sony Zeiss 50mm- https://bhpho.to/2FmytlK

*Matthews Scrim- https://bhpho.to/2IE2HH9

*Westcott 7 Foot Parabolic- https://bhpho.to/2ICi3vP

This was a very fun shoot done at FD Photo Studio in Los Angeles. This was shot using the Sony A7Riii with both the 35mm and 50mm Zeiss lenses.

Lighting was set up using the Rotolight Aeos inside of a 7 foot parablic umbrella with a Rotolight Anova Pro 2 used as a kicker light and another Rotolight Aeos used as a fill light.

The model is the beautiful Emily Rinaldo who can be followed by going to Instagram and following her @em.explores.

We hope you enjoy the shoot and invite you to stick around and watch a few more videos while you're here. Don't forget to click on SUBSCRIBE and NOTIFICATIONS so you're updated every time a new video is released!

Thanks,

Jason

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Shooting the Canon 300mm f/2.8 lens on the Sony A7Riii using the Metabones Mark 5 Adapter by Jason Lanier

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Shooting the Canon 300mm f/2.8 lens on the Sony A7Riii using the Metabones Mark 5 Adapter by Jason Lanier

WOW! This was a FUN SHOOT! While I usually spend the vast majority of my time teaching and not shooting at my workshops, I’ve learned to do a demo shoot at every workshop to help my students understand exactly what I’m teaching. I’ve also received feedback over the years that for some of my students who are visual learners, the demo session of the workshop is invaluable to their learning experience.

The other thing that’s so much fun at my workshops is when I have fellow photographers who are attending bring lenses that I haven’t had the chance to use before. At my Houston workshop in December 2018 a photographer named Jose brought the Canon 300mm f/2.8. I was thrilled to be able to borrow it and see how it worked with my Sony A7Riii using the Metabones Mark 5 Adapter.

As an early adopter to the Sony Mirrorless system, I am very accustomed to using Canon lenses on my Sony bodies to be able to supplement the Sony lens lineup that was lacking when I first switched over. I currently own 7 Canon L lenses and have used the 400mm f/2.8 and the Canon 200mm f/1.8 on my Sony bodies….BUT, the 300mm f/2.8 was one I hadn’t gotten my hands on yet.

Until Houston.

Jose was so kind to let me borrow the lens and his Metabones Mark 5 Adapter. In the past I’ve always used the Metabones Mark 4 Adapter or the Sigma MC11 Adapter. To answer the easy question for those reading this and wondering…did I notice a difference using the Metabones Mark 5 over the others? No. So if you’re like me, you don’t need to rush out and spend money on it unless you currently don’t have an adapter.

But, back to the lens.

Yes, it’s heavy.

Yes, it requires an adapter to use.

But yes, it delivers some pretty stellar results. Check out the shots below from the shoot:

As you’ll see when you watch the video I tested this lens in a variety of ways. First I shot with it just doing portraits as most people would use it.

Then I decided to up the ante and added the Westcott Eyelighter to the equation with the Godox AD600 Pro light that I was using inside of the Westcott Rapid Box XXL.

And THEN I decided to add some ambience to the background of the shots by asking the photographers there to throw sand and leaves behind the model (@macanoniii). You’ll also see that I added a rim light to the back of the shot by having a photographer hold the light behind the model to illuminate not just the model, but also all of the particles flying in the air.

Throughout the shoot I used different focusing modes to be able to adequately acquire focus. Did the lens acquire focus as fast and reliably as using the Sony 400mm f/2.8 lens? No. It didn’t.

Is it more than usable in most circumstances if you have the lens and want to use it on a Sony? Yes.

I switched to manual focus and had the lens situated on my model for the last set of shots when a lot of stuff was flying in the air because I didn’t want the lens to hunt for focus and miss the eyes of my subject.

I hope this helps!

If you have any questions about the lens or how it performed make sure to notate it in the comment section below.

Thanks again for being here and if you like what you see, make sure to check out some more of our posts and videos!

If you’d like to join us at a workshop please visit www.jasonlanier.com/register.

We also do a podcast called Jason Lanier Unfiltered that you can find on iTunes, Spotify and more.

Thanks again for stopping by!

Jason

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What Pro Photographers Images Look Like Raw, Unedited or with Lightroom Edits Only

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What Pro Photographers Images Look Like Raw, Unedited or with Lightroom Edits Only

So I get asked a lot about my images and work.  People wanna know how much of it is editing vs. what I capture in camera.  While I'm not opposed to photographers editing their images, I do take great pride in what I'm able to capture and create in camera vs. relying on post processing wizardry.  There's something so old school about creating it in camera.  I personally feel it's more gratifying and is also a greater challenge.

Maybe I get this attitude due to the fact that my roots are based in being a landscape photographer.  That's why I've always incorporated so much of nature into my work.  So from time to time I'll create posts and videos where I not only show my finished work, but also my completely unedited raw and straight out of the camera work as well.  Now for those wondering I won't be posting my raw files onto these posts.  Why?  Because I don't want other people taking my work and editing it for their use or pleasure.

Sometimes folks post raw shots for others to see.  But those are for the viewer to get a look at how a lens or camera performs for example.  Or the shot is posted so people can download it and try a certain photoshop technique.  This isn't that kind of a post.  This post is about showing how much I capture in camera vs. what I create afterwards and I hope it helps to shed some light on what I do.

To start off I pretty much use Lightroom for ALL of my work.  This is largely in part to time.  I'm not opposed to Photoshop in any way and kudos to those who choose to use it for their work.   But with a full time photography company and full time Youtube Channel, I just need the streamlined workflow of Lightroom to get my work done quickly.  The only times I would use Photoshop would perhaps be for images being submitted to a competition etc.  The work you see on Youtube and on my website is all Lightroom only.

So I did this shoot with a beautiful model named Jazmen Parker in Oceanside, California.  I used the Sony A7Rii with the Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 lens.  I used the Flashpoint Xplor600 in High Speed Sync for off camera flash.

To be able to illustrate how my shots look in Raw I did screen captures of select images from the shoot while open in Lightroom.  These shots are seen in the gallery below:

I then exported these same shots as shown in the screen captures as completely unedited (SOOC) jpegs.  This gallery is below:

And here are my shots that were edited using Lightroom only

I truly hope this post helps to shed a little light on what images look like out of the camera for a professional photographer.  Links to gear are included below:

**Links to Gear:

*Sony A7Rii-  

*Rokinon 14mm f/2.8-  

*Flashpoint Xplor 600-  

*Westcott Rapid Box XL-  

Jason

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