Photogenic Eclipse 60 Umbrella Sample Pictures

These kids really are three little angels!
 
More about this shot ...
The main light was provided by a Canon 580ex Flash fired into a Photogenic Eclipse 60" Umbrella. The background light was from a Canon 550ex Flash. Both flashes were triggered by a Canon ST-E2 Transmitter. The background is a very large piece of white muslin fabric. The background flash is not large/powerful enough to make the entire background completely white - Adobe Photoshop to the rescue.

Three kids together.
 
More about this shot ...
The main light was provided by a Canon 580ex Flash fired into a Photogenic Eclipse 60" Umbrella. The background light was from a Canon 550ex Flash. Both flashes were triggered by a Canon ST-E2 Transmitter. The background is a very large piece of white muslin fabric. The background flash is not large/powerful enough to make the entire background completely white - Adobe Photoshop to the rescue.

A Canon Speedlite 430EX II was triggered by a Canon ST-E2 Remote Transmitter and fired into a white umbrella for this portrait. The out-of-the-camera gray background was made white in Photoshop.

Brianna, my high school senior, has had a very successful high school track career from multiple perspectives including having her name on three school records. This success did not come without a huge effort on her part, and we had discussed shooting a more-formal senior picture highlighting her passion for mid-distance running. Track season became busy and I shot many images of her competing, but time got away from us and suddenly we had only one evening remaining before she had to turn in her uniform.
 
The weather forecast for that evening called for scattered showers and we were watching the radar very closely. I was packed and ready, and we decided to go for it. After determining the ideal location on the track to shoot at, I began unpacking.
 
I had three Canon 600EX-RT Speedlites and a Canon ST-E3-RT Speedlite Transmitter to control them with. Two Speedlites were mounted on background light stands (small, light and simple) with Justin Clamps used to hold the Speedlites to the poles at any height I wanted. The third Speedlite was mounted to a weighted light stand with a 60" reversed/shoot-through umbrella mounted to a Manfrotto umbrella adapter.
 
I first mounted the umbrella to the stand and almost immediately a light rain began to fall. I quickly put Brianna, who feared that her hair and makeup would be ruined, under the Photogenic "umbrella". The rain mostly passed within 10 minutes or so and we went to work.
 
The two flashes on background light stands were set to group B and used as rim lights, placed to the side or slightly behind the subject as composition allowed. The shoot-through umbrella's flash was set to group A and used as the main light. Ambient light (for the entire background) was controlled through a manually-set camera exposure. The flashes were in E-TTL mode and +/- exposure for the two groups was controlled by the ST-E3-RT's Group mode.
 
While this may all sound complicated, it was not. Setup was very simple and I was able to quickly and easily adjust/balance the ambient, main and background light levels from the camera. While the rain stayed away for much of the two hours we were shooting, it did not fully stay away. Fortunately, this entire kit, including the Canon EOS 5D Mark III and Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L II USM Lens, was weather-sealed and we were able to make many great images in this time.
 
I had planned this shoot for an evening so that the flashes would be able to overpower the ambient light levels, though I had hoped for a bit more light than we had. The aperture was wide and the ISO was moving up by the end of the evening. Still, the shoot was a big success for us.
 
Even selecting this particular image from the many shots of just this pose was difficult. With lighting dialed in, I had Brianna repetitively start from specific position on the track and take one big stride with her left knee and right arm (with the baton) forward. I timed the shutter release (a short shutter lag is extremely useful in this situation) for a near-top-of-stride subject position that coincided with the lighting setup. The composition was arranged to take advantage of the lines on the track.
 
With a wireless flash system and a little effort, we created the images we had envisioned.

Three cute kids on stools. I wish I would have noticed the oldest's feet switch.
 
More about this shot ...
The main light was provided by a Canon 580ex Flash fired into a Photogenic Eclipse 60" Umbrella. The background light was from a Canon 550ex Flash. Both flashes were triggered by a Canon ST-E2 Transmitter. The background is a very large piece of white muslin fabric. The background flash is not large/powerful enough to make the entire background completely white - Adobe Photoshop to the rescue.

A portrait of a cute girl.
 
More about this shot ...
The main light was provided by a Canon 580ex Flash fired into a Photogenic Eclipse 60" Umbrella. The background light was from a Canon 550ex Flash. Both flashes were triggered by a Canon ST-E2 Transmitter. The background is a very large piece of white muslin fabric. The background flash is not large/powerful enough to make the entire background completely white - Adobe Photoshop to the rescue.

A little girl posing for her portrait.
 
More about this shot ...
The main light was provided by a Canon 580ex Flash fired into a Photogenic Eclipse 60" Umbrella. The background light was from a Canon 550ex Flash. Both flashes were triggered by a Canon ST-E2 Transmitter. The background is a very large piece of white muslin fabric. The background flash is not large/powerful enough to make the entire background completely white - Adobe Photoshop to the rescue.

A young girl portrait.
 
More about this shot ...
The main light was provided by a Canon 580ex Flash fired into a Photogenic Eclipse 60" Umbrella. The background light was from a Canon 550ex Flash. Both flashes were triggered by a Canon ST-E2 Transmitter. The background is a very large piece of white muslin fabric. The background flash is not large/powerful enough to make the entire background completely white - Adobe Photoshop to the rescue.

Shot from a stool - a picture looking down at three girls.
 
More about this shot ...
The main light was provided by a Canon 580ex Flash fired into a Photogenic Eclipse 60" Umbrella. The background light was from a Canon 550ex Flash. Both flashes were triggered by a Canon ST-E2 Transmitter. The background is a very large piece of white muslin fabric. The background flash is not large/powerful enough to make the entire background completely white - Adobe Photoshop to the rescue.

Three kids on three stools.
 
More about this shot ...
The main light was provided by a Canon 580ex Flash fired into a Photogenic Eclipse 60" Umbrella. The background light was from a Canon 550ex Flash. Both flashes were triggered by a Canon ST-E2 Transmitter. The background is a very large piece of white muslin fabric. The background flash is not large/powerful enough to make the entire background completely white - Adobe Photoshop to the rescue.

A little girl balances on a stool in this picture.
 
More about this shot ...
The main light was provided by a Canon 580ex Flash fired into a Photogenic Eclipse 60" Umbrella. The background light was from a Canon 550ex Flash. Both flashes were triggered by a Canon ST-E2 Transmitter. The background is a very large piece of white muslin fabric. The background flash is not large/powerful enough to make the entire background completely white - Adobe Photoshop to the rescue.

Aim a Canon Speedlite 320EX into a 60" umbrella and this is the lighting you get. The subject is positioned near a white wall. The close distance to the wall prevents the light from falling off too much - keeping the wall relatively bright.
 
Good portraits do not require a straight-on look from your subject, but good portraits usually need both eyes in the frame. Do not let the subject turn their head far enough for the nose to block an eye. A white reflector was used to bounce some fill light into the picture.

The setup used for this portrait is about as simple as studio-grade lighting gets. One 60" umbrella with an inexpensive Canon Speedlite 320EX fired into it. The flash was remotely triggered by the Canon EOS 60D. The background is simply a white wall with the light feathered down over it. A white reflector was used to bounce some fill light into the picture.