60 Seconds with David Tejada
If you showed up at a photo shoot and all of your modifiers were missing, except for one, which would you hope it would be?
I would hope that one of my 5-in-1s showed up. With that I could pump light through the diffusion panel, as well as use it as a reflector if need be. I might add, one of my favorite modifiers is the bounce technique, where I can bounce a light off an adjacent wall or ceiling.
Which do you prefer to work with on location: off-camera flashes or strobes with battery packs?
Off-camera flashes, hands down.
When you shoot off-camera flash, do you use Manual mode or TTL?
I shoot almost exclusively on Manual mode. The majority of my setups are lit using stands. If I were more of an event or wedding shooter, TTL would make sense to me.
Is there a particular lighting accessory that you use a lot these days?
I really like my FourSquare softbox (www.lightwaredirect.com). It packs small and has a beautiful quality of light. I like the fact that I can mount four flashes to it, which allows me to do some high-speed sync.
If you could go back to the beginning of your career and tell yourself something about lighting, what would it be?
Work really hard at producing natural-looking light. It’s all about subject-driven light!
What’s the average number of flashes (or strobes) you use for a location portrait shoot?
I travel with six flashes. A typical portrait might take as few as three lights; however, I have used as many as six.