Visuals > The Dirt: Wireless Flash

Behind the Scenes

Photographer: Andy Kawa
Website: http://www.andykawa.com

Camera: Nikon D300
Lenses: Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 VRII, Tokina 12-24 f/4, Nikon 10.5 f/2.8 Fisheye
Lighting: (2) Nikon SB-800, (1) Nikon SB-600
Accessories: PocketWizard Plus II, lightstands, light modifiers

The Dirt: Shooting at the Parmeter MX Ranch is always a good time, it’s an opportunity for me to try new techniques and hone my skills. Anytime I get a new toy I give LP (Luke Parmeter, the brains behind LP Motocross) a call and we figure out how to put new equipment through its paces.

This particular visit to the Parmeter MX Ranch was fueled by my acquisition of my PocketWizard Plus II radio transmitters. I had them for a while already and put them to some use but I was looking for an opportunity to get things dialed in (see S&B V.3 for my first experience).

The PocketWizard transmitters are essentially wireless triggers; they can be used to fire flashes and cameras remotely. This particular model, Plus II’s, are capable of up to 1,600 feet of distance between transmitters and are able to fire through all sorts of materials be it dirt, metal or concrete. They also have dual capabilities to both send and receive signals unlike previous versions. It’s as simple as putting one on top of your camera and connect one to each remote flash unit being used, set them to the appropriate channels, aim and fire! The only downside to this particular model is that they are not TT-L capable so the flash units must be used in manual mode; if you consider that a downfall. Visit www.pocketwizard.com for full details, but suffice it to say these things are sweet!

What I wanted to accomplish this day was to create striking images using remote, wireless flash. To be completely honest I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. I had a pretty solid understanding of how these things worked on paper, and a general idea of where to start, but this was my first time actually playing with them to see what I can achieve; they worked great at Shred & Breakfast but what could I get them to do? Using these can be as simple or as complicated as you want, it depends a lot on how many flashes you want to use. I consider myself to be somewhat of a “strobist,” what we photographers call other photographers who love using strobe units; sometimes even when unnecessary. I can’t help it, it’s cool! It’s challenging and presents a lot of opportunities to take some photos from neat to gnarly! However, it’s just as important to recognize when strobes shouldn’t be use. Use your best judgement.

The Parmeter MX Ranch was the perfect place to do this. Nestled in a calm, wooded, hollow next to a lazy creek, the track has a variety of turns and jumps. The owners of the facility are always more than generous with allowing me to do what I need and the riders are always willing to work with me. After-all, who doesn’t like getting a sweet photo of themselves riding their dirt scooter?

First I started off with taking non-flash shots in order to meter the ambient light so I had an idea what kind of exposure to start with and see what kind of light I had to work with. This is so I can balance the ambient light exposure with the flashes exposure so I end up with a nicely balanced overall exposure..basically so I don’t end up with a brightly lit subject frozen in an ocean of black. The first shot is without flash, the second is with one flash on camera right.

The exposures are identical minus the flash; 12mm, 1/250th, f/9, ISO400

I then made a few adjustments to my position and set up a few lights for the next series. I camped on the outside of a corner, near the exit, that had a small jump in it. I put one light on the inside of the corner (camera right) and one more light on the outside of the corner (camera left). This set-up produced some really nice images. Depending on my position I could have just trees and grass in my background and balancing the flash with the ambient light I was able to get a good overall exposure throughout the frame.

125mm, 1/250th, f/8, ISO400 & 135mm, 1/250th, f/8, ISO400

What happens when you’re a bit off on your timing. If you’re just a split second too early or late you can miss the light. Timing is crucial when you’re using precisely aimed strobes without broadening light modifiers (softboxes/umbrellas/domes).

112mm, 1/250th, f/8, ISO400

Next we moved to a dip that was near the exit of a long left-handed sweeper that was before the approach of decent sized triple. I assessed things by taking a few test shots from different vantage points with different focal lengths to see what worked best. It turned out that more than one vantage point proved to be fruitful.

Here is a test shot of the exit of the corner, just before the face of the triple. There is a large hole that riders would wheelie over making for some very fast paced looking photos.

14mm, 1/500th, f/4, ISO800

These next few shots are of the lighting arrangement being assembled by yours truly . I decided to start with a two light set-up and try something that I never have before in MX photography; put an overhead light diffused by and umbrella just above the riders where I wanted the action captured.

LP does a stand-in lighting test, a bit hot perhaps?


Here’s a shot from this configuration, pretty sweet! 12mm, 1/250th, f/5.6, ISO400

I was really digging the results, but the rear of the bike was kind of dark, so since I had one more flash laying around I figured we might as well put it up and see what it does.

12mm, 1/250th, f/5.6, ISO320

A side-by-side comparison of what I was trying to change.

14mm, 1/250th, f/5.6, ISO400

This was working out great. Leaving the lighting set as is, I swapped my wide-angle for my telephoto. Instead of sitting on the inside of the corner now I moved further down the track near the face of the jump the riders were approaching.

78mm, 1/250th, f/5, ISO500

Ben came around for another pass.

92mm, 1/250th, f/5, ISO500

What!?! I was loving this! Completely digging what was happening we continued to shoot this way for a little longer. I moved to the left a bit for this one.

75mm, 1/250th, f/5, ISO500

One more shot of the set up.

I’m sure you’ve also noticed the the background is starting to fall to almost all black now, even after mentioning not doing this before hand. At this point I was going for that, sometimes for dramatic effect or subject isolation it works really well. Another light for the background or a slight exposure adjustment could help get rid of this if you don’t like it.

Then, for kicks of course I had to dig out the fisheye. What’s a moto shoot without a fisheye anyway, right? I don’t go anywhere without it.

10.5mm, 1/250th, f/5.6, ISO500

As much as I love my fisheye I didn’t feel like it was doing as well as the other shots. That’s okay, sometimes it’s a winner, sometimes not. But, you never know if you don’t try.

In summary, I learned a lot that day, and had a lot of fun in doing so. I feel like things went really well and I continue to implement the techniques I learned that day with everything else I shoot. The world of off camera lighting used to be a pretty big and scary world to me, but with time and a LOT of practice I feel like I’m getting the hang of it now. It really is a beast but it can really step up your photo game and add that extra punch to your work. If you have any questions for me after reading this please feel free to contact me at . I would like to thank Rick, Luke, Ben, and Tod Parmeter for letting me blind them with my lights and use their facility, I always enjoy going to the Parmeter MX Ranch.

To see more of my personal work please visit www.andykawa.com as well as my facebook page, www.facebook.com/andykawaphotography