Hansen Imagery

The forth dimension of light.

Mariana's family are really into taekwondo so our lighting workshop started with head shots but then turned to how to make dramatic images of her husband and son. Now you see the results!

We started with one strobe in the key light position which indeed lit the scene, but it had little drama. We played with the position of the backlight which included a blue gel. We finally settled on placing the back light above and behind the backdrop. Then we added in fog from our fog machine. There you have it!

Now, for those who are interested, there's a lot of discussion about the exposure triangle to help conceptualize how you manage light in your images. There's nothing wrong with that concept but we prefer to think of it as the exposure square because when you use a strobe you have an added dimension and can control the amount of light with the strobe. The power level of your strobe will affect your ISO, and aperture. What about shutter speed? The strobe will not affect that because the strobe fires for a very short duration. That duration can be variable but it can be as fast as 1/10,000 of a second. So what's left to control? It is the ambient light.

The process we used was to first test our exposure with no strobe firing. We had ambient light in the room (we need to see what we're doing and it helps the camera focus), but we select a combination of ISO, aperture, and shutter speed that makes the image black. We have removed the ambient light in our shot and then we lock in our camera settings. Next we like to start with the back light to dial in the power setting to where we like it. Then turn on the key light and dial that in all without changing the camera settings. This is how to make the entire background black and properly expose the image!

Shot at ISO 100, 1/1000s, and f2.8. Don't recall the key light settings but my recollection is somewhere around 1/32-1/64 power.

Flashpoint Strobe and Triggers, Westcott Modifiers, Nikon Z8, Z24-70 f/2.8 shot at 38mm. COLBOR CineFlare

We'd like to welcome to the Hansen Imagery team, Mariana Kobal, our newest photographer!

Mariana has been a professional photographer for a few years and we’re impressed with her attention to detail and perfectionism with photography.

Mariana is in the Crystal Lake area and helps to expand the Hansen Imagery footprint. Mariana has some ambitious goals and we're excited to support her with our business systems and training as she continues to grow her business!

Our first project together was to update our head shots and it was a chance to turn it into a strobe workshop

Thank you for the new head shot, Mariana! You are a great addition to the team! So looking forward to a bright future together!

This mom and her daughter thought a great Christmas present would be to have good quality photos for Chirstmas and I am glad they reached out to me. We focused on a stretch of the Magnificent Mile that provided plenty of opportunities for dramatic backgrounds and holiday scenes. We picked a time of day that provided the transition from twilight to darkness. While it is easy to see the resemblance between mom and daughter, we laughed at how different their tastes and personalities are. Yet it is those differences that bind them together in a stronger way. A very fun time putting together their perfect Christmas present!

Z8, Z 35 f/1.9 Plena and Z 50 f/1.2 S, X100 TTL, edited using Capture One.