Strobist - SYD-SA7.5 and the Ray Flash

Today saw me attending the 7th and a halfth (latest, whatever) installment of the Sydney Strobist meet, SYD-SA7.5.


Every chance I got - mostly while the other guys in my group were setting up lights (sorry guys) - I'd take out the Ray flash and snap off a few shots... giving the models something to do rather than just stand around while photographers talked softboxes and lighting ratios.

With the gorgeous models we had, I loved the ease of getting a nice looking shot, with an absolute minimum of thought/effort on the lighting, throwing the flash in either ETTL or manual mode, and sticking the Ray flash on.

Adding a voice activated wind machine (a.k.a. a group member waving a reflector around) to the mix, just added that extra something, and worked wonders with the Rayflash.

Of course, headshots against a wall get pretty boring pretty quickly, so I tried something different when I could...


It seems that this kind of on-axis fill is where the Ray flash seems to really excel - just get your directional key light set up, then dial the Ray flash up or down to fill the shadows to taste. Easy!

Strobist - SYD-SA6

Sunday saw me attending the latest (6th) installment of the Sydney Strobist events, SYD-SA6.

For those that aren't in the know, many moons ago a guy called David Hobby aka Strobist started a blog called Strobist. This was a place where people could learn to use inexpensive flashes ("strobes") to acheive studio-like lighting results.

Little did David know, this blog would spiral ever and ever bigger, gathering dust along the way, pulling in people from all continents. Groups all over the world now organize events where budding "strobists" can meet, greet, practice their lighting and share their knowledge with others.

From my experience with these, you can't go there expecting to take a killer shot. Even if you do, you'll probably end up with at least 5 other people who have exactly the same killer shot (I've heard plenty of comments like "can you do that pose you were doing before for him" and "how were the other guys lighting you?").

As a photographer, what you CAN expect is to be able to chat with like-minded individuals... have a beer at the pub afterwards, learn something, get a chance to practice, and maybe get to play with extra gear you'd have to rent otherwise.


As a model, you can expect to spend a lot of time waiting for people to set up lights around you, but at the end of it, you can expect a lot of good shots of you... many almost the same, but on a proper shoot, you'll end up with tons of shots almost the same, just from one photographer instead of 30.

On both sides, you might just find that person who's perfect for an idea you've got in mind, and you can arrange another shoot afterwards... and who knows, you might just end up with that killer shot!