THE BANKER

A Portrait Shoot Using 2:1 Ratio Lighting

I tell you all this so you might understand what a typical newspaper photographers life is like. We have to jam out photos of mundane things. On the flip side, we are often rewarded with golden opportunities that few others are blessed to experience. So, as in all jobs, you take the good with the bad. Anyway, back to the assignment in hand, the banker during an interview.

I walk into the room. The reporter was their ahead of me and well into his interview. I look around. A book shelf on one side looks like a good place for one of the flash units. I set the zoom head to 50mm to narrow the spread of the light falling on the subjects left side. The other flash, also a 5400, I stand on the desk next to him with a Stofen Dome. This flash is set for 1/3rd the light.

I place the Stofen Dome on the desk because the flash is so close to the subject and I want to be sure the light gets spread around enough to illuminate the right side of his face and body. The position of the other flash was just a momentary decision. I looked around and the bookcase looked like a convenient spot to place a flash. In fact, it was because of the bookcase position that I decided to use the 2:1 lighting ratio. The flash on the bookcase was set to provide 2/3rds of the light. The Stofen Domed flash on the desk set to provide 1/3rd of the light. The lights were positioned on either side of the subject so that very little of the light from one flashe overlapped with light from the other. Thus one side of the banker is obviously brighter lit than the other side. The result is rather pleasant.

As the banker was being interviewed I shot him with a 28mm lens, an 85mm lens, & a 200mm lens. All were hand held.

The Technical Stuff

What is remarkable about this photo that seperates it from the same situation if it had been shot with a competitors product? I'll tell you. The fact that I shot it in program mode, both flashes going off in the photo & the EXPOSURE IS PERFECT!!! The meter was not fooled into a massive under-exposure because two flash units were going off IN THE PHOTO. Try that with the other guys flash systems and see what happens!!

Now then, the tight photo of the banker (at top of page) was shot with the 200mm f2.8 lens, hand held at 1/30th of a second. Let me make something clear here: Usually I try to never hand hold a 200mm lens at anything less than a 1/125th sec. When I have to use 1/60th sec. or slower I like to use a tripod. However, because the flash burst is generally of such a short duration you can get away with hand holding at a slow shutter speed. The flash freezes the subject and as long as no ambient light pollutes the photo then it can come out quite sharp. I must re-iterate, this was unusual for me to hand hold the 200 at 1/30th sec. This brings me to one point of criticism I have about the Minolta wireless flash system: You are limited to a maximum of 1/60th of a second synch speed. I wish we could get it up to 1/125th. In ratio mode with the 9xi & the 7xi you are limited to 1/30th sec. maximum synch speed. The newer si series of cameras allow ratio lighting to synch at 1/60th sec. That is a nice improvement. I was very happy to see that when it came out. And in reality I shouldn't criticize this limited synch speed because I remember when ALL 35mm slr cameras were limited to a normal flash synch speed of 1/60th sec. What a great day in the morning it was when we first got synch speeds to 1/90th and 1/125th sec. Anyway, other than that, the Minolta wireless flash system is just an unbelievable, wonderful tool for this photographer.

DISCLAIMER

I really would like everyone out there to know that I do not work for and have never worked for, or been hired by the Minolta Corporation in any capacity. I simply stumbled onto their Maxxum camera system almost by accident and I cannot believe how fantastic it works for me. I know it sounds like I am doing a commercial for them every time I put up one of these pages, but, honestly, I just get carried away because the system is so good, so under-rated, and so unknown to so many professionals. I have been using it every day for about eight years. Now, finally, the Canon folks appear to have a similar system. Minolta is like Apple Computers (which I also LOVE!!). They had something that was light years ahead of all the competition but somehow failed to capitalize on it. Now, years later, the competition is starting to catch up. The sad part is most of those Canon users will think they are the first ones to have a TTL wireless flash system, oblivious to the fact that Minolta pros like myself have been ther and done that!

OK! With all that said is the Minolta Corp. listening? Hire me! I'll be your spokesman. I'll show the world just how superior the Maxxum system is! You guys need me!

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