Over the last few months I’ve been experimenting more and more with using Constant / LED Light when taking portraits as opposed to solely using a traditional strobe, and early thoughts are that I’m really liking it.
What I’m REALLY liking about using the LED Lighting is the WYSIWYG … What You See Is What You Get
Because of this, it’s so incredibly quick and easy to set up.
Controling the power output and temperature using the manual dials and touch screen on the L60-B is super easy with the non-fussy interfce, but I could even use the Westcott App on my iPhone; to do the same. this in turn means more focus on the subject and the matter at hand i.e. capturing a great portrait.
For the portrait above that I took of my friend Anthony Crothers, here’s a screen grab from some video that was taken to give you an idea of how the studio looked …
KIT USED
Camera: Sony A7RIV
Lens: Zeiss 55mm (FE 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS)
Light Source: Westcott L60-B Bi-Color COB LED (60W)
Modifier: Westcott Rapid Box Switch Oct (Large)
Westcott
Background: Westcott X-Drop Pro + Vintage Grey Canvas by Glyn Dewis
MODIFIERS
The L60-B can be used with all of the Westcott Modifiers I use which straight away is a HUGE bonus, but interestingly I spoke with friends at Westcott about the L60-B prior to this photo shoot and was advised to use it with the Westcott Rapid Box Switch Medium Octa as opposed to the Large as the light output “might” not fill it; however my experience was that in close as I was using it, the Large Octa worked out great.
The quality of thre light is VERY impressive … especially how easily it is to change the power output and temperature.
I genuinely love how you see exactly what you’re going to get; this alone made it such a different experience for me as a the Photographer (in a positive way) for a whole host of reasons, but interestingly this was also something Anthony commented on …
“Having a constant light source made for a far more relaxed, natural and anxiety free experience”
COLOUR CHECKER
To ensure colours (skin tone etc) were as accurate as possible, for this shoot I used a Colour Checker Passport from Calibrite.
Only needing to take one additional shot of Anthony holding the Colour Checker, the process then in Lightroom to create a profile from it was / is incredibly quick and easy. The new Colour Checker doesn’t seem to need a tighter crop to enable the softwre to generate a profile, so really seeing how seamless it was and how little time it took, I can’t justify NOT using it, and to add to that, this is the happiest I’ve been with resulting skin tones in a LONG time!
TIMELESS COURSE
Taking this portrait, using the Colour Checker and more is for part of a BIG update I’m adding into my TIMELESS Photography & Retouching Course which will also include an update the to the Retouching Workflow taking advantage of updates in both Lightroom and Photoshop have been added since the course was first released.
Anyone that has enrolled in my TIMELESS Course receives Lifetime Updates so will be getting all this new content added into the curriculum once it’s ready (expected very early March).
*Note:
Once the update has been added, the price of enrolling in the course will be increasing for new Students …
Current Price: $32.40 / £27.60 / €32.35
New Price: $45 / £35.40 / €41.50
I’ll be sharing more from using the L60-B over the coming weeks as I do intend to invest in a 2nd unit (invest sounds so much better than buy) so that I can create a different look to the lighting and will give more options.
I’ll be testing out different enviorments, both indoors and outdoors and will make sure to share all the experience with you here and in videos that I’ll likely post up on my YouTube Channel.