Original subtitles

What I'm going to attempt to demonstrate here

is a reflection in artwork using off-camera

flash.

So to set the scene here, this is

in our kitchen, or our dining room, and

all I've done is moved the table out

of the way.

This is a piece of artwork that we've

got up on our wall that Eric and

I picked up when we were in China.

And it happens to be glass-covered, and

that's the key.

Because it's covered in shiny glass, it has

the potential of reflecting the scene, okay?

Now, one of the first things I need

to decide is if I'm going to reflect

my couple within this scene is where to

do so.

And just like any normal scene, in order

for them to pop on the landscape or

within the artwork, within the reflection, I have

to pick an area of darkness, because that's

where I can make them pop.

If I try to light them up somewhere

in this part of the reflection, they're gonna

be very low contrast and hard to see.

Whereas if I choose a dark area of

the art itself, that's a dark part in

which for me to light them up, okay?

So I can light them up within the

darkness.

So I need to choose my shooting position,

I need to choose which lens I'm gonna

use, and then where is my couple going

to be relative to my camera so that

I can hopefully make them fit within this

part.

So, and I also want you to know,

guys, I haven't done this shot yet.

This is my first attempt, because I want

you to see that there's a lot of

problem-solving that goes into making this work.

It's not like a one-click boom.

You need to work, you need to tweak,

you need to make adjustments, and it doesn't

always work.

More often than not, it doesn't work out.

I think I've got a good chance of

being able to make this one work.

So what we're gonna do is we're gonna

bring, Jesse and Jenny are gonna come in,

and they're gonna be my real couple for

this.

And I don't know where I want you

guys yet.

That's the tricky part.

So I've got my 85 millimeter lens on,

and right now I'm gonna basically figure out,

turn this on, first of all, my composition.

So where I'm going to be.

Now, right away I see my reflection, because

I've got quite a bit of natural light

coming in.

So I can see my reflection within the

artwork, but I'm quite dark.

So I think I'm gonna be able to

hide within this.

And then if I light my couple up,

they should reflect within the glass.

So with 85, I'm basically filling the frame

with the artwork itself.

And now, you guys need to be, and

actually I can see with my hand.

As I put my hand up here, I

can see exactly where they need to be.

So I need you guys about here.

But I need you smaller.

So can you go as far back towards

the glass as possible?

Okay.

Okay.

And you're already in the position I want.

Backwards spoon, okay?

And that's perfect, because what I'm seeing is,

I can actually, because there's enough natural light

on them right now.

And I will try this just with natural

light to start with.

I can see that they, the shape of

their upper bodies fits nicely within that dark

mountain top.

So I'm gonna do an ambient test shot

here.

And because I think I'm gonna need flash,

I'm going 1,200th of a second.

And I'm upping my aperture quite high.

I'm gonna start at F7.1. Because if

I go wide open on this, when I

focus on them, the artwork itself is gonna

be entirely blurry and out of focus.

You're not gonna be able to tell that

it's reflected in artwork.

So I need a high enough depth of

focus that I can see the artwork and

my couple.

So I'm gonna try 7.1, 1,200th

of a second.

So I'm up at, let's go ISO 1600.

Okay, and thankfully, because I've got that natural

light on them, I can actually autofocus on

them.

Often that's the crux.

You can't achieve focus.

So then I need to get a light

source on them in order to focus.

Or we can do the trick where we

bring in the iPhone flashlight and we hold

it right there.

And that gives me something to focus on

in the reflection.

But in this case, I can grab focus

on my couple.

And this is just a test shot, guys.

So don't stress out here.

Actually, it is struggling to focus.

Okay, I've got them right where I want

them, but there's not nearly enough light on

them.

So what we're gonna do now is I'm

gonna bring in a flash and I'm gonna

light them up.

The reason we're doing this, guys, instead of,

like, if you turn around and you come

around this side, Jesse, and then the backwards

spoon, okay?

This was my first instinct, but I realized

as soon as I light them, I'm gonna

light up this wall and this wall is

gonna be a big, distracting highlight.

Within the reflection.

So if you turn around back the way

that you were, I think I can have

the light coming from out here, which is

where it's already coming naturally, and not worry

about it hitting any walls and being distracting

elements in the reflection, okay?

So let's try this.

Flash, A1, gonna turn it on, and I'm

gonna turn up, I'm gonna start quite bright,

quite high power, because I'm basically trying to

overpower this bright natural light.

Transmitter for my flash.

I might be able to get away with

no grid, just because they don't have any

immediate walls right around them, and I'm coming

from outside, but if that's a problem, I'll

have my grid, can throw that on, and

I'm gonna start with just a quarter-cut

CTO gel.

This is the most subtle gel, and it

seems to get the skin temperature right.

Okay, so I'm gonna put that on the

flash.

That in.

Okay, and I'm coming up just a little

higher than their heads, and the angle of

this light should be nice in that it's

kind of a nice edgy side light coming

in from the short side.

Okay, I'm gonna aim it right at the

couple, and then my next test shot will

help me get the position perfect, and then

I can start dialing in the right flash

power.

Okay, I'm gonna turn the transmitter on.

Pop a test shot, yes.

Okay, so now here we go.

Okay, here we go, three, two, one.

Okay, I'm just eyeballing it for the flash

exposure now.

Okay, it totally changed my ambient exposure.

Is it just because I don't have a

grid, or did I mess up?

Okay, let's get a grid on there.

That changed the entire exposure, so I think

that light bounced off all these white walls

and ceiling and totally changed the ambient light.

Let's see if that grid solves that problem.

Okay, let me try just, I'm gonna go

ahead and go, oh, I'm at F4 now,

what happened?

I bumped my camera, that's what happened.

So I bumped my aperture setting, and the

aperture dropped down to four, which is why

now the ambient exposure is so bright.

So I'm getting that aperture back at 7

.1, which is where I had it, and

so now let's try it.

Here we go, guys.

Yes, okay, that's what we want.

So now we're gonna finesse this, and the

flash exposure is actually dead on right now,

and it is 9.0 or 1.5

power.

So it's a little bit too edgy, so

I'm gonna bring it out here, a little

bit shallower.

Okay, and the temperature's great with that gel,

so now we're gonna work it.

Okay, so we're gonna snugly now into each

other like that.

Okay, and I'm gonna leave my focus, because

I'm up at F7, so I'm okay here.

Get them positioned right where I want them.

And here we go, into each other, little

snickle there.

Okay, you can see it.

Wow.

Oh my goodness, that's so cool.

Okay, that is cool.

Let's, I really like this, let's work this.

Wow.

That's cool.

Okay, let's just get a few more frames

into each other.

I'm getting great, great light on Jenny.

Jesse, I need you to be a little

bit more like into her temple there, nuzzling

there, so that I can have this light

hitting more of your face.

So almost just like, yeah, yeah.

And angle your face a little bit more

left so I can get more light, yeah,

and now into each other like that.

That's great.

Checking.

Yes.

Okay, I like that.

I wanna try one other thing here, and

I actually really like that, but I wanna

try one more thing, and that's turning you

guys around into the penguin position, so facing

each other, okay?

And what I did there is essentially light

them up with hard light coming in from

the side within here.

This time, I'm gonna create, try to create

a bright spot within this dark area in

which to silhouette them, okay?

So I'm turning them to face each other,

and I'm going to try to light up

this wall behind them.

We'll see how that works.

So I'm gonna take the light.

I'm not gonna change anything with the light

output yet.

I'll use the same gel.

I'll try it without a grid first.

Actually, I'll leave the grid on.

Let's leave the grid on.

Angle it.

Okay.

So I'm hoping to light up this part

of the wall, and so now you guys

are gonna be silhouettes, so I need side

profiles, kind of forehead to forehead, but with

a little separation.

Okay, that's great.

And I can see it right in the

sweet spot.

Okay.

I'm gonna leave my focus, because I'm in

the same position, up at F7.1. First

test shot.

Ooh.

Okay.

Okay, so I got a nice, big, bright

spot behind them, and they're perfectly silhouetted.

It's a little bit too bright, and it's

just white, so I wanna get a warmer

gel on there, and I need to get

it tighter, because it's too big.

It's silhouetting my curly hair here as well.

So what we're gonna do is switch to,

we're gonna stack some gels.

Okay, so we'll try the half cut with

two grids.

So I'm hoping to make a smaller bright

spot and a warmer bright spot.

And right away, that's gonna hold back a

bunch of the power as well with those

grids and gels, so it might be where

I want it anyways, because it was too

bright.

Okay, perfect position, guys.

Okay, we're getting closer now.

And you know what?

I don't like it warmer.

So I'm gonna take those gels off, because

actually the white bright spot is kind of

monochromatic like this is, which is what I

want, or I'm just gonna go black and

white on it, so no gel.

The two grids is making it about the

right size, and I'm gonna turn it all

the way up now, because those grids hold

back a lot of light.

Okay, here we go.

The bright spot is not in the right

spot, so it's lighting up behind Jesse more

than Jenny, so I'm just gonna reposition it.

Left a bit, down a bit.

Tasting the soup, adjusting the salt.

Here we go.

Actually, can you guys go right together with

the hips?

Yeah, right in like that.

There we go.

And chin up, Jenny.

Perfect.

Oh, we're really close now.

The bright spot is just a little bit

too small, so I'm gonna just back it

up a bit.

Okay.

Perfect.

Okay, this is great.

Now, make it real, guys.

Give her a tickle there.

You're having a chuckle there, Jenny.

Yes.

A little more separation there.

Yes, that's better.

That's way better.

And again, we're trying to get that organic.

Okay.

Passion and lust.

There it is.

Good job.

You wanna see?

Let's see if we can.

Whoa.

Oh my goodness.

Those are in so, yeah.