Warrior Angel & Stained Glass

On August 3, I had a session with Anastasia in Red to do a second test run of my new stained glass concept. For this test run, I went with a warrior-angle look, which gave me a chance to break out the foam armor once again.

For this session, I used:

Photography Equipment	Props/Miscellaneous
Cannon R6 24-105 mm Lens Transmitter/Trigger 4 Cannon Speed Lights 1 rectangular soft box 1 Beauty Dish with sock 2 Phottix Strobe 2 C-stands 1 boom arm Sandbags Bell reflector plus grid Backdrop stand Grey backdrop	Table Bench 4 plexiglass sheets Window wrap 8 2x4 foot insulation panels Gaff tape Aluminum foil Electric candles Smoke Genie

The set up

I modified the construction of the stained glass windows from that outlined in my previous blog, “Stained Glass Angel.”  As I was not working with the light bars and speed lights, I added a piece of white Styrofoam to the top with a square hole cut out that I placed the head of the speed light into. I then set the whole setup on top of a piece of aluminum foil to bounce the light back up.  As you will see in the images, the light now comes from the top instead of the bottom of the panel.

For the actual set, I started by putting up a grey backdrop and draping it over a table and bench to create layers.  I then placed two stained glass panels on top of the table, ensuring that I could not see the white insulation panels.  I then placed two stained glass panels on the floor to create an alcove type space.  I then placed a speed light on top of each panel pointed down.   I then placed my candles and a smoke genie at the far edge of the panels on the floor. 

For my starting light set up placed a strobe with a rectangular soft box to camera right at about 45-degrees which would act as my fill light.  I then set up a C-stand and attached a boom arm.  At the end of the boom arm, I placed a beauty dish with a sock that would be centered on the set and pointing down onto my subject at about a 45-degree angle.  This light would be my main light.  Later in the shoot I would change the beauty dish out for a bell reflector with a grid to get more of a spotlight look.

Camera Settings

The previous times I used this setup, I had mixed continuous and flash lighting.  For this session it was all flash lighting except for the light from the candles.  For this session, I used two primary ISO, ISO 100 and ISO 200 and took two low light images at ISO 2500 and ISO 3200.  I also used two aperture settings, F4 and F8.  My shutter speed varied between 1/100s to 1/250s, with the most predominant speeds being 1/125s and 1/200s.  My focal length ranged from 29mm to 47mm, with my most common focal length being 35mm.

The Photos

Let's start with my favorite image from the session.  I like this image because it is dark and moody, yet there is a sense of calm about the image. I think of this image as the prayer before the battle.   In this image, the speed lights, which are supposed to light the panes, were not set to similar power levels; thus, the top two panes look brighter.  In Lightroom, I first adjusted the white balance, exposure, and tone curves.  For this image and most of the images in the set, I specifically pulled down the overall vibrancy and saturation of the image to give it a moodier feel.  I then added two radial gradients, one to brighten the model’s face and the second to darken the area around the model.  I then added some blue undertones to the shadows via a light color grade.  I then transferred the image to Photoshop, adding glow to the candles, cleaning up some minor blemishes, and doing a little dodge-and-burn work.

 

ISO 200, Aperture F8, Shutter Speed 1/200, Focal Length 42mm

This second image follows the first and is brighter.  This, you could say, is the looking-for-guidance image.  I followed all the same steps to edit this image as I did the first image. The only significant difference between the two is the flash power used.

 

ISO 200, Aperture F8, Shutter Speed 1/200, Focal Length 43mm

This image was a bit of a happy accident. I was adjusting the ISO from 200 to 2500 and the shutter speed to 1/60s and forgot to change the flash power of the speedlights lighting the panes, resulting in an almost blown out look.  What is nice about the brightness of the panes is that they backlight the smoke coming from the Smoke Genie, giving the image an extra pop.  Also, at this ISO and shutter speed, I could pick up the natural glow of the candles; however, it also resulted in outside light from a window filtering through the backdrop.  In Lightroom, I did all the basic edits and then added a radial gradient to the model’s face to brighten it slightly.  I then added a blue (shadow) / orange (highlight) color grade to the image.  Then in Photoshop I fixed the light leak coming through the backdrop by darkening using a mix of content aware fill and burning.  I also enhanced the glow of the candles and removed the Smoke Genies from the image.  Note that using two Smoke Genies for prolonged periods inside the house sets off the Google Home smoke detectors. 

 

ISO 2500, Aperture F8, Shutter Speed 1/60, Focal Length 35mm

Final Thoughts:

I think using the speed lights to light the panes works well and gives me a bit more control than the continuous light bars.  However, since I have been running into connection issues between my speed lights and the trigger, they don’t always fire, resulting in me having to continuously reset them.  I think it is time to buy new speed lights.  The question is, do I buy the new Cannon ones with the new trigger especially designed for my camera, or go all Westcott?   In general, I’m happy with how the images turned out.  I’m also glad I did test shoots using both continuous and flash lighting I think there is a place for both, and what I use will depend on the shoot.

You can see all the final images from the session here: Stained Glass Warrior Angel.

Credits:

Model: Anastasia in Red (IG: @anastasia_in_red)

Wings: 

Black wings purchased from Zucker Feather Place (IG: @thefeatherplace)

White wings rented from Book a Looker (IG: @bookalooker)

Armor: Maker Fishmeal (IG: @makerfishmeal)

Set Design: Heather (IG: @munchkin_photos_by_heather)