Rolando Lopez Photoblog

The first meeting of the Strobist DC meetup group was a total sucess.  We had a mixed crowd, from folks with lots of baggage in photography to those who are just starting, but we all had one thing in common, we want to learn more about off camera lighting techniques.

As each member entered the room they were greet by us (me and my wife), then asked to take a sit at the hot couch.  The hot couch was surrounded by 3 flashes; each one with a different purpose. One to the left of the subject looking downwards lighting only the face by using a snoot. One behind the subject, lighting only the fireplace using two gels (orange and red) simulating that it was on. Another flash mounted on the camera (front of subject) pointing to the ceiling used for fill-in flash. Here are some if the results:

Self portrait @ Strobist DC kickoff

Dianne's portrait @ Strobist DC Kickoff

Todd's Portrait @ Strobist DC kickoff

Girls' Portrait @ Strobist DC Kickoff

The meeting went for about 3 hours.  We broke the ice by talking over Hors d’oeuvres & wine (soda for the speaker).  Then I presented on basic lighting tools, techniques & concepts. The presentation was very dynamic as members contributed to some of the topics and I was able to show most of the tools I mentioned. From there we procedded to build the snoot, which took us about 15-20 average to build using cereal boxes and/or foam sheets. Then everyone put it to the test right on the spot. Some of the results will be posted at the Strobist DC meetup group page (http://www.meetup.com/strobist/photos/). I have posted more of the hot couch pictures there as well.

I look forward for the next meeting which I’ll be scheduling soon. Thanks to all of those who attended, shared and learned with us!

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