A week back or so I received an email form a former client of mine. Ritesh, you may remember I photographed his E-Session and his Wedding Reception a few months back. He had emailed me asking if the “Milwaukee Strobist Group” was having anymore meetups and if he would be welcome to join. Of course my answer was yes, because thats what we had formed the group around. Teaching out what we know to others to help improve their skills in off camera lighting. I suppose you are thinking “What the heck is strobist? Why is there a group? and where do I find it?)
Ok… to back track a little bit here. In October of 2008 I was learning about off camera lighting from a good buddy of mine, Alvin. I had always not liked on camera flash, It was stupid and not creative. So I sold the SB600 I had at the time and thought good riddens! Until I met Alvin through flickr and started hanging out and shooting a few times a week with him. He eventually introduced me to the concept of Strobist. The concept of Strobist is easy, Off camera light, normally used with older flashes and Do it yourself equipment. Triggered remotely from the camera via wireless or optical slave triggers ( Basically something to send signal from point A to point B). If you have questions just ask.
So seeing that Milwaukee did not have a “Strobist” flickr group, and I had met alot of people in the area involved in it I thought I would created one. We our first meetup on Nov 8th 2008 at the Chancery in Wauwatosa. From there it became a monthly gathering. Some large (Over 50 people), some small (Maybe 5) but it was always a great time.
Recently due to myself and others being busy to the point that we had not had a meet up in a while. I thought I would offer a little shoot to show Ritesh some of the basic and have some fun out and about. I had emailed Melyssa, a model I had worked with before and she was definitely up for the task of modeling for us for a bit.
So here we are, 08.12.2010, 5th ward, My studio space, Great light, Strobes, Cameras, Pocket Wizards for all, and some hot humid weather ( 90’s at 6pm) Yuck!
I want to thank Patrick for inspiration for a shot or two!
Also the second image down is a Flash composite. I will post an other blog showing how this is done and explaining it a tag better.
Here are a few of my fav shots from the informative evening.
Please feel free to leave some comments on here and enjoy!
Rob
PS I forgot some stobist info for you guys
B800 Mono light
Paul C Buff large foldable softbox
4 Pocket Wizard Plus ll’s
Paul C Buff Vaga Bond portable battery pack
Nikon D700
Nikon D300s
50mm 1.4f G
50mm 1.2f MF
35-70mm
35mm 1.8F
70-200mm 2.8f VR
That is a list of all the wonderful items I used


Melyssa G | Rob Gustafson Photography

Melyssa G | Rob Gustafson Photography


Melyssa G | Rob Gustafson Photography



Melyssa G | Rob Gustafson Photography

Melyssa G | Rob Gustafson Photography

Melyssa G | Rob Gustafson Photography

Melyssa G | Rob Gustafson Photography
Great light, she looks so pretty!
You’ve really captured something precious that comes from within, a certain sweetness and gentleness.
Nice shots. She’s pretty. I like the large size of the images, too.
Yeah, that light is wonderful!! Great images.
She is gorgeous. Great job rocking the light.
Such gorgeous light and she looks so beautiful
I love that last shot the most- it has such a cool vibe to it.