Workshop at Cameranu, Antwerp with Kedist Deltour

On April 29th I gave a workshop at Cameranu in Antwerp. Former Miss Belgium 2021, the lovely and beautiful Kedist Deltour was so kind to be the model of the day. There was an overbooking so in consultation with cameranu we decided the keep the amount of attendees at a maximum of 10 to make sure that the quality of the workshop would not suffer.

It was an intense workshop and I am very happy with the feedback afterwards: “It was a lovely and very instructive day.”

To be honest I was very tired back home but that also had to do with the fact that I had a bad cold that week.

At 10:00 I started with a shortened version of my general lecture about beauty & fashion photography but first I gave my fellow photographers a note book to write things down.

The main subject throughout the workshop was the added value of ‘off-camera’ flash both in the studio as outdoors. Because the workshop was indoors I could not demonstrate the power of using flash outdoors live, but showed some examples of off-camera flash outdoors.

If anyone is interested in a workshop using off-camera flash outdoors please let me know.

In the slide below you can clearly see the difference between the second photo and the third. Exposure for the ambient light and add the right amount of flash power to make a well balanced lit photo.

As a Godox ambassador I explained the different Godox strobes and provided info about the different Godox triggers.

The gear you need depends on your assignements. You can already do a lot with just one or two AD200’s (or a AD300) but when +1500 photos a day are required you need more power to get the job done.

Here are a few slides from the presentation.

Here is my personal recommendation when starting out with off-camera flash. Better to have two flashes instead of one. One can act as the main light and the other as fill light. If you need more power just combine the flashes in a AD-B2 dual head for 400 Ws.

A very informative topic was flash duration. Godox is very good at it to freeze motion in dark environments.

Here is an example of making use of flash duration outdoors in the early morning when the sun is rising.

The photo on the right on the slide below was shot at 1/50, ISO800 at f/2.8, 129mm on a tripod. Because the ambient light was very dark I used a slow shutterspeed to maintain quality. You can only do this when your flash is capable of delivering short flash durations! Thank you Godox.

I can assure you there was a lot of wind but there was no motion blur visible at all in none of the photos.

If I would have used a shutterspeed of 1/400 the ISO would have been 6400 decreasing quality a lot. High ISO is less quality. It is as simple as that.
During sunrise you only have 10-15 minutes and then it is over and out. Increase the shutterspeed and lower the ISO when more sunlight is hitting your subject.

I also showed some examples about composition and female and male posing.

A lot more topics were covered. Join me on other lectures and workshops to find out!

After the lecture we took a break and started the wokshop.

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During the lecture I already talked about adapting to the environment. The cameranu store is painted in violet so I decided to use as much grids as I could to make sure the reflected (purple) light would not hit the model. You can fix this in post by adding green but better to prevent than to cure.

I wish the ceiling would have been white and the walls in natural grey. Then you can bounce some light to fill the shadows and reflection of the walls would be minimal.

The goal of the workshop was beauty & fashion with off-camera flash so I decided to start with my signature light setup for beauty. I demonstrated the added value of using a Sekonic Lightmeter with integrated wireless Godox module.

I used a total of 6 flashes for this setup. We started with one flash and expanded our lighting setup further. Because I photographed tethered I showed the result of each individual light. I mainly used AD200’s to demonstrate you do not need AD600’s or AD1200’s for this kind of work.

Don’t get me wrong! You can do a lot with only 1 or 2 flashes but I wanted to demonstrate the different light modifiers and what they do. It is a workshop and you have to make sure people learn and not go home with a feeling the workshop was not useful at all.

Using a godox ad200 with a mini reflector creates this beautiful vignet light and two small stripboxes with grid create rim light on the arms for an extra 3D feeling.

For this beautyshot I decided to go for monochromatic colors. In this case we used variations of beige/brown.

I only took a few photos myself to make sure everyone had the time to capture the beautiful Kedist.

Here is my version. (slightly edited in post processing)

Some behind the scenes photos by Nancy Vrancken who did the make-up too.

Because of the low ceiling I asked Kedist to sit down to make this light setup possible.

Here I showed the added value of using a light meter.

When using one flash you can use TTL and then by using the GODOX TCM method you get consistant light but once you start using more flashes, manual is the way to go.

For the next light setup I decided to go for analogus colors. This means we use a part of the colorwheel as shown below.

I choose the background colors according to the colors of the clothing and accessories.

Shooting with a (short) telelens (85 mm - 135mm ) from low to the ground makes the model more elegant. One of the tips I gave during the demo.

The light setup used here was a sport reflector with a 30° grid, a 165cm Godox umbrella without diffuser to brighten the shadows and a SMDV 512 stripbox to make sure her right side was also lit but it also softened the shadows on the paper. If you want harder shadows you can put a grid on it.

Below is a finished photo.

Last but not least I demonstrated a quick workflow in post processing. Because we shoot in RAW it is necessary to post process the image. I showed the power of FS2.0 to blend hard transitions but also how it is very effective to iron clothing in satin fabric.

Conclusion:

I had a lovely day and everything went smooth.

Thank you cameranu for the excellent support, Kedist for being our model (you did fantastic).

Other feedback I received was it made a difference working with a professional model that was also very friendly and open.

Thank you Nancy for the make-up and helping out.

Thank you Bart Boodts for some of the behind the scenes footage and all participants for not only being there but for the excellent cooporation and feedback.

Shoot for Rana hair extensions in Antwerp.

On Monday I had a shoot in Antwerp for Rana Hair extensions until very late in the evening. I cannot share the result yet but I am very happy with the result.

For the indoor shots I used a Godox AD1200 Pro with a 180 cm silver reflector umbrella behind me.

To whiten the background I used two AD-B2’s (dual head with 2x a Godox AD200) with a standard reflector.

I did not have enough room to make the background pure white but I adjusted the flash power as much as possible without much reflection on the model.

All pictures were done using the Sony A1, Sony G 24-105 between f/8 and f/11 at a shutter speed of 1/200 and ISO 100.

For the pictures outside I used 2x a Godox AD1200 Pro, one with a SMDV 518 stripbox (double diffused) and on the other a Small-Rig Parabolic 85cm was attached that was also double diffused but wit a grid.

For the individual shots the SMDV was placed vertically and for the group shots it was in hortizontal position.

I used a low light cheap stand for this so I the softbox nearly reached the ground in vertical postion.

Here are some pictures of behind the scenes straight from the camera without any post processing.

Below is a close up at the end of the shoot.

Godox Triggers: Which one?

Over the years Godox released several triggers but which one is the best?

The four Godox triggers (photo smartphone)

This is not an indepth review of each triggerindividually but my personal experience in every day use.

From left to right

• X1T

• X2T

• Xpro

• Xpro II

Both X1T and X2T have a hotshoe. This makes it possible to attach an extra flash trigger from another manufactor on top of it and this works just fine. If you happen to own flash gear from another manufactor you need one of these two.

You can also use the hotshoe to attach a smartphone.

Using a Smalrig hot shoe mount and a smartphoneholder (neewer) you can use your phone as an extra screen.

A Manfrotto smartphone holder attached on the Smallrig L-Plate. (I personally think the samrtphone holder by neewer is better)

The X1T is the cheapest.

The X1T is the cheapest and costs 40 Euro. I don't really recommend this one. The trigger is not really user-friendly, but it can serve perfectly in combination with the Sekonic L-858D with built-in godox wireless module. You put the trigger in dumb mode (app) and you use the light meter to control the strength of the individual strobes.

The LCD screen is not very bright in comparison with the other triggers.

Don’t get me wrong. The trigger does the job and is very well build and reliable but the menu structure is cumbersome. If you only have one wireless flash then you will have no issues but switching between flash A & B is not state of the art.

The X2T costs 90 Euro and has build in Bluetooth.With bluetooth activated you are able to control the values of the trigger using the Godox APP.

Personally I do not use the app at all. The reason is I generally use my light meter and rather have deticated hardware.

I can imagine it is very useful when you are into product photography and you shoot tehtered. With this setup you can control both the camera and flash values remotely.

In my experience this trigger does not work well in combination with my Sekonic Lightmeter.

The X2T has the quick lock mechanism. It is a faster way to attach and detach the trigger but I never found the older mechanism a problem.

I also experienced problems with the battery door. It does not stay in place and sometimes falls of so I used some tape to avoid this.

Then menu though is user friendly. It is easy to adjust individual flash settings because of the individual buttons A,B,C,D & E.

The XPro is the trigger I use most of the time. Street price is about 80 Euro. The angle of the screen makes it easy to read and adjust the values and settings. The screen is bright but prone to scratches so make sure to store it in a soft bag when not in use.

The Xpro does not have bluetooth like the X2T. As I wrote before this is not a big deal.

The Xpro has the old screwing mount but personally I never found this to be a problem. Maybe I even prefer this.

The XPro has a TCM button not availabe on both X1T and X2T.

TCM stands for (TTL convert to manual). I already wrote a blog about it. In a nutshell you shoot in TTL mode and then switch to manual by pressing the TCM button for consistant values and flash power.

https://www.joeripeeters.com/blog/godox-tcm-what-does-it-do

I found the Xpro very user friendly and the best trigger Godox available but….

The Xpro II is even better! The street price is about 120 Euro, the most expensive trigger out of four. What makes it better?

It has the new quick mount (called quick release lock by godox) and buttons feel more professional compared to the previous version.

A second improvement is the menu system. It is very easy to scroll and modified the desired function.

A third improvement is the scanning function. The trigger scans for spare channels to avoid interference from others. Very useful when you are in the same room with several Godox users.

Scanning for interference. Thank you Godox!

Godox also added Legacy hotshoe making it possible to use a Canon trigger on a Nikon camera or any other brand. TTL and HSS will not work this way but that is understandable. I tried a Nikon trigger on my Sony A1 but sadly it did not work at all.

Legacy hotshoe. Making the trigger useable on a lot of camerabrands.

Another added extra is you can now adjust the power of each modelling lamp.

The TCM knob is gone but don’t panic. The function is still there. When you switch from TTL to manual the TTL measured value is converted to a manual value. There is just not a deticated knob anymore.

The USB C port is not protected anymore but Godox says it is water resistant.

Conclusion:

The XproII is the best Godox trigger available yet. If you need a new trigger this is the one to buy. The mark I version is still a good choice. The Mark II version is more expensive (you can get the X1T + Xpro version I for the approximately the same price as the Xpro mark II)

Godox X1T: 6/10

Godox X2t: 7/10

Godox X Pro: 9/10

Godox X Pro: 10/10

Shoot with Emilie Vansteenkiste (Miss Belgium 2023)

(photos behind the scenes straight from the iphone without any modification like straightening the horizon)

For the third time in a row I did the traditional shoot with the new Miss Belgium 2023, Emilie Vansteenkiste on the beach of De Panne. The shoot always takes place the next day after the election and we all had very little sleep. It was in the news there was an attack planned against the Miss Belgium contest but due to the excellent work of police the attacker was caught beforehand.

I never felt unsafe and was happy the show could go on with an hour delay. We had a party afterwards and we slept at the wonderful Plopsa Hotel.

Thank you Darline Devos for asking me & Emilie Vansteenkiste for the wonderful afternoon.

First Emilie did the traditional shoot in bath for the press but that is not my thing. Too crowdy…

The new Miss Belgium 2023 and me but this time I am also the model and not the photograper:

Photo: Bjorn Vanryckeghem

My wife Nancy Vrancken did the make-up and kept it very natural. It was perfect for Emilie because she is already beautiful without make-up.

Below is a photo of Emilie when she was waiting for the make-over at the shoot I did for the 32 finalists in October 2022.

I thought Emilie looked cute that way and asked to take place for a quick photo because I was waiting for the next contestant. I only needed to press my shutter button once to get this shot. Personally I like this picture very much.

From the shoot of all Miss Belgium finalists Emilie quickly posed while she was waiting. I only needed to press the shutter button one time to get this shot. (only some minor dodge and burn was done)

For the picture above I used this setup:

- Godox AD1200 Pro with Godox Parabolic 128 with D1 diffuse to soften the light.

- Lasoltite triflector to brighten the shadows

- Godox AD200 with small round reflector on a manfrotto nanopole to create some vignet light on the back

- A hair blower

It was 8° Celsius in De Panne. I always have a warm blanket in the car. I know from experience that this is often forgotten and the model appreciates this very much.

The blancket comes in handy when the weather is cold. Always take care of your models.

Most of the time I use flash. The reason is simple and is explained in more detail during my lectures and workshops. Using flash I have full control over the light, can determine its quality and direction, and therefore have more options in comparison with natural light and/or reflectors. It is an extra parameter to reckon with out of the lightning triangle.

I will be giving a workshop at Cameranu in Antwerp on April 29 with Miss Belgium 2021, Kedist Deltour if you are interested in my working method from preparation to the finished product.

WORKSHOP AT CAMERANU

Although I am an avid user of the Godox Parabolic 128, it is not always possible to use it due to its size and weight. So I took a small parabola from the brand "Smallrig". This brand is mainly known for making housings for cameras and all kinds of accessories. I regularly use their L-Plate for my Sony A1.

The Smallrig L plate with Arca Swiss attached to my Sony A1. Easy to switch on a tripod between shooting horizontally or vertically.

The Smallrig RA-D55 parabolic softbox

There is also a larger RA-D85 version. Here shown with included grid (and double diffuse)

These softboxes come in a beautiful and sturdy bag and both inner and outer diffuse is included and you don’t need to buy the grid seperately as it is also included!

The softbox is easy to open and close. Numbers are provided where to start.

The inner diffuse is double layered in the middle so there is no hot spot. The light spreads more evenly. Good thinking Smallrig!

Don’t use the outer diffusion when using the flash outdoors and from a further distance. Too much light is lost. (Inverse square of law)

I will make a separate extensive review for the small rig RA-D55 and RA-D85. I can already say that the build quality is top and the light quality very good. You will quickly find other light shapers with this quality at this price.

I also used the newly released Godox Xpro II for Sony. It is the successor of the popular Xpro with some improvements. Especially the lock mechanism has improved, but I also think the menu structure is a welcome improvement. If you use a Sekonic L858D with godox module, there is now an L858D option that puts the trigger in dumb mode when you need it. In the previous trigger, this function was called "app". The separate TCM button disappeared. As soon as you switch from TTL to manual, the measured value is automatically converted.

I do not use the bluetooth function with which you can control the strength of the flash via the trigger. It makes no sense in my opinion as the Xpro II is very user friendly. I haven't fully went to all functions of the trigger yet, but there aren't many changes to make a detailed review. Still, I would choose the new version over the old one which is still a good trigger.

The RA-D55 is a small parabola with a diameter of 55 cm. You cannot compare this 55cm parabolic with a real parabola with a movable rod. Yet these small parabolas are very useful since the light can also bridge a greater distance. I only place the indoor diffuse because I place the lightmodifier at some distance from the model.

Here's a short video of the shoot recorded with a smartphone.

I attach my Godox AD600 Pro via a Manfrotto clamp on a standard light stand. The weight and low postion of the Godox AD600 Pro ensures that it cannot fall over that easily. You need the extension cable to make this possible. This setup is very practical. I can carry it myself or a helper can do it for you.

The Godox AD600Pro attached on a lightstand. I often use the SMDV 70cm speedbox but the smallrig RA-D55 is a great alternative. Good build quality & beautiful light.

Unfortunately it was very cloudy that day, so you have to deal with flat light. I absolutely don't like it. There are no shadows and this results in less vivid images. Still, the clothing will come to life and it makes sense to use flash.

I'm not allowed to post the result with the pink dress yet, but this photo with Caroline Biss's clothing is.

(update 20/02/2023): Pictures are posted on the MB Instagram page.

Bad weather, zero sunlight makes photos a bit flat.

Using flash I made her “pop”.

For this photo I placed my Godox AD600Pro at an angle from the model so I could simulate some sunlight. It's a technique I use regularly.

Miss Belgium 2023, Emilie Vansteenkiste. Use flash to simulate sunlight. The light quality of the RA-D55 is excellent! Build quality is on par with SMDV but the SMDV mechanism to open and close remains better.

Settings:

1/320

ISO 100

f/2.8

Flash with Smallrig RA-D55 with inner diffuse

A close up picture of Emilie where I used a faster shutterspeed to darken the surroundings.

Measure the light. 2.80 on my lightmeter is f/2.8 on my camera.

Just add the ISO and shutterspeed and set the power of the flash. It is as easy as that.

Here you can see that I measure the light to make sure that the light of all the images I take is consistent. The advantage is mainly that I save time. The first photo I take after the measurement and adjustment is therefore always good. In my workshops I also show the importance of a light meter in the digital age.

The new GODOX XPROII for SONY. An improved already good flash trigger.

Camera: Sony A1

Lens: Sony GM2 70-200

With the Legacy hotshoe function you can use a Nikon trigger on a Canon or Fuji and vica versa but without intelligence. HSS and TTL will not work!

The new improved locking mechanism. Sadly the foot of the sony version is still made of plastic.

The new Godox X pro II has a new scan button to check for interferences.

We had a great time and another shoot is already planned at Rana Hair Extensions in March.

We went for a hot chocolate and scrolled through the pictures.

Miss Belgium 2023, Emilie Vansteenkiste, Me and president of Miss Belgium Comité Darline Devos.

Because of the ugly light we decided to postpone the shoot and we plan for another shoot in De Panne.

Fashion workshop at Cameranu with Kedist Deltour!

Happy to announce I will give a fashion workshop with Kedist Deltour on April 29th at Cameranu in Antwerp.

Workshop at CameraNU

Lecture @cameranu.be

Yesterday I gave a lecture at the “www.cameranu.be” shop in the heart of Antwerp. I talked about my work as a photographer and afterwards the feedback was very positive. Thank you.

It was a two-hour lecture where topics such as knowledge, experience, material, preparation, the day of the photo shoot and the post-processing were discussed.

I also showed some before & after pictures and light setups. See screenshot below.

The video below was presented too how you can “iron” cloth in Photoshop using FS 2.0

Thank you cameranu & everyone who showed up.