Lighting Twin Planes

My circumstances don't always allow me to experiment with lighting on the grand stage. So when an opportunity presents itself, I take advantage of the situation. In this case, the subject was the director of a local theater production, and my editor wanted a photo to accompany an upcoming article.

Sometimes the Ghosts of Past Assignments come back to haunt me. In this case, I photographed a theater coach who was maximizing the visual impact of a fight scene in a modern urban remake of Macbeth. As it turned out, I couldn't achieve the look I was trying for, and my placement of the subjects (three total) looked ungainly and contrived. I scrapped the image and went instead with this photo of the Combat Coach isolated on the stage. I made the photo during a lighting test, and was never meant to be submitted. It turned out to be a lifesaver when my planned group photo failed to deliver. I learned a valuable lesson: Always make a second shot with a different pose in case the planned image doesn't deliver.

For the record, the lighting on this shot was complex. For the subject in the background I used two gridded speedlights, one serving as the key light and the other the kicker from behind. Once the output was locked in, I alter the exposure by simply moving the lightstands nearer or farther from the subject. In this shot I was able to conceal the particular key light by aligning it behind my main subject's head. For the record, I could have placed a low-output speedlight on the floor in front of my secondary subject and given  her some "legs to stand on", My main subject had the usually gridded kick light, in addition to a silver umbrella collapsed around the speedlight to give a more directional key light. Finally, a speedlight with a small Lumiquest softbox was placed at my eye live to provide some fill light.

When it came time to make the solo shot, I simply opened the umbrella and used in a  conventional manner. Normally I do not use umbrellas as a reflector, and did not expect the hard highlights on my subject's head. I could have eliminated one of those hot spots by re-positioning the kick light more to camera left while keeping it out of the frame. The lights that were used to light the background were now positioned to provide a wrap around highlight to my subject's head.

For this shot I located one of the rolling storage cases and pushed it onto the set. To simplify matters, I kept my subject in the same place and rolled the case up to meet him. This simplified the placement of the lights, since they were already in position from the first shot.

I was able to salvage some of the "double exposure" shots by changing to a square format and completely cropping out my second subject. Some of the shots had some empty space separating the binders, so the cropping  borders were pretty obvious.

Homework: My lighting equipment is still in the trunk of my car, so I may take my main lighting kit to a quiet parking lot and do some serious experimenting. Among those points to ponder:

• How much light do I really lose when using single or multiple grid spots? I had always used them to contain my light spread, but  never thought about how much the grids decreased the flash output.
• How bad (or good) are umbrellas used in the conventional reflected manner? I have several silver umbrellas, and frankly, I never use them because I much prefer the light provided by a shoot-through umbrella. 
• Finally, I need to better organize the contents of my main rolling lighting case. The zippered pockets in the case lid are really helpful, but I may need to organize the contents for the umpteenth time.

Martin Luther King Day - 2026

All Aboard! I've covered the annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration and the boarding of the Freedom Train for many years now. I did miss the event in 2025 when I arrived shortly after the Train left for San Francisco and the presenters were packing up. The train's early arrival , the passengers early boarding , and subsequently early departure conspired against me.

This year the makeshift stage was now in the shadow of the train station building, so a custom white balance setting was created. AI took a reading off of the seat of a white plastic chair. Next came finding a suitable position where I could photograph while obstructing the views of as few spectators as possible. Ultimately, the best location would be behind the VIP seating. I would need a slightly longer focal length lens to get the framing I wanted, but also had to contend with the potential of heads bobbing up and down in the foreground.

Click On A Stick: During my last assignment, I was faced with the possibility of photographing a performer balanced while high up on a ladder. I worked out a solution for making the photo, which I discussed in my last post. With the equipment I brought, I could photograph him at a height of ten about ten feet off the ground. I had some light stands that could easily extend to twelve feet, and a sturdy monopod that would add four feet to my already ample height. As I mentioned, it all went south when the designated location for the shot wouldn't accommodate the ladder or any elevated subject placement. so the shot I finally made was taken at ground level.

I was still curious about whether I could use an extension to elevate my camera above my subject. I had a short Canon "Waist Pod) in my camera bag that I occasionally use to re-position my off-camera flash for a more pleasing effect. After screwing the Waist Pod into the camera's tripod socket, I made the following adjustments:

• LCD Panel: I rotated the LCD so that I could view it from below. This is necessary to achieve a reasonable composition.
• Increase The ISO Setting: You will need short exposure times to minimize the effects of camera motion, and you'll benefit from the increased depth of field provided by a smaller aperture.
• Interval Timer Shooting: This setting has the advantage of focusing the moment before the shot is made. When using the Self Timer, you get only one shot and the focus is set at the moment of activation. When using the Interval Timer, focus is set before each exposure, so if you subject moves between shots, the camera will re-focus on your subject as long as it's properly aligned within the designated focusing area.

Interval Timer Menus: Three numbers need to be determined. In Menu #1, you'll be asked to select the Interval (time between shots) and Number Of Times which is self explanatory. Advancing to the next menu, you will see Start Waiting Time (the delay between actuation and the first exposure). Since the shortest available delay is one minute, I opted for a setting of "0" and accepted the fact that my first exposure would be blurred mess taken while getting the camera into position.

In this collage, the first five shots (left to right, top to bottom) were taken at 5-secnd intervals. Notice that shots three, four, and five have my subject with her arm raised. Notice that shot four has the gentleman in the background holding a book at waist level. This was the most neutral pose for him, so I chose this shot. The sixth shot shows the final cropping. While not a Pulitzer contender, it's a clean shot with sufficient context for the occasion.

This wasn't a technique of monumental importance, but would have worked well when shooting from behind a crowd of people. From its higher vantage point, the foreground distractions would be minimized should you find yourself shooting in a mosh-pit of spectators. Just remember to have a focusing strategy (manual of careful auto-focus) and control cameras motion with a faster-than-normal shutter speed.