Tag Archives: Elinchrom

Behind-the-scenes of the rooftop pool shoot

A week or so ago posted a picture of a lady in a blue dress next to a swimming pool and in this post, I wanted to go along give some insight into the background and the behind-the-scenes of making that shot.

I had with me my Elinchrom Quadra along with my Elinchrom 100 cm x 100 cm softbox hoisted up high on a light stand. Luckily for me, I had an assistant holding the light as the wind was blowing a gale without their assistance there was no way I could use any sort of like fodder modifier like a softbox as a thing was turned into Mary Poppins and flown off the roof.

In the shop below you can see that I had softbox roughly about 3 m away from the model. The placement of the softbox was as close as I can get without having the shot and I did this on purpose to ensure that had soft as possible light. Because of the high winds, I removed both external and internal diffusers as there was a high chance they were going to blow off the roof, and I really didn’t want to go collect them. 🙂

Behind-the-scenes of the pool shoot
Behind-the-scenes of the pool shoot

As you can see shot was taken in full sun’s on the left side of the model without the artificial lighting that part of her body would have been incomplete shadow and to be honest would have looked like crap, so the only way to get around that is to punch a light into the shadows to reduce the contrast between the left side of her body and the right side that was in the sun.

The light itself is fired by a remote trigger that sits on top of my camera gives me about 70 m range so was able to get back a considerable way and take the shot using a 200 mm lens.

After a little bit of mucking around and getting the exposure right to rest, you could say is history.

Model by the pool
Model by the Pool

Strange Birthday Party and Birthday Party Lights.

I must say as an event photographer that gets to also travel where ever the events are, I attend all sorts of parties but yesterday was a first for me.   While it was  a party it wasn’t for anyone but for the 1st birthday of FRoC (Female Riders of Canberra).

These are a bunch of motorcycle riders that just wanted to have a club for the ladies and it was their first birthday yesterday so why not get a portrait photographer to come along and get photos of the ladies with their bikes as a way to celebrate?

So that is what I did. 🙂

This shoot was different, though.  I knew the ladies wanted to get shots with their bikes and I know they would want the best lighting possible and I knew that my largest softbox was only 90cm x 90cm that is great for single or couple shots it isn’t really big enough for things like people and bikes unless I gang a few of them together.

Having done that a heap I wanted to avoid it as it brings in its only problems and as I also want to start to photograph the larger object or using a single light source I bit the bullet and bought a new 190cm Elinchrom Litemotiv and to say it is huge is an understatement.

Elinchrom Litemotiv 190cm used to photograph multiple motorbikes in full midday sun.
Elinchrom Litemotiv 190cm used to photograph multiple motorbikes in full midday sun.

It is fair to say after using it for this shoot and the amount of light and quality that this  pushes out in full midday sun, this is now a valuable part of my portrait and event arsenal.

Throwing my assistant in to be my model while setup the lights.
Throwing my assistant in to be my model while setup the lights.

As you can see from the image above there is very little shadow and it is almost impossible to see any bright patches on the grass from the massive 190cm Octa.  Very nice I must say.

Some more playing with this new softbox is on the card in the coming weeks to see where I can push it, which I will add should be a lot of fun. 🙂

New Bulbs Will Help!

You ever get that feeling when you are out on location shooting and your studio lights stop doing that flash and POP thing that you have grown to love????

I have and it’s not a  nice feeling especially when you have people standing  in front of said studio light waiting for the blinding flash…

Lucky for me (ok ok ok not really luck but more planning as I like to be prepared for just about anything and have a backup plan for my backup plan) I have backup lights so I can swap them out for new ones. 🙂

The trick to this little plan is that you have buy replacement bulbs and when they are 200$ each you tend to put it off for as long as you can. So with the splash of 800$ I now can replace my old bulbs and have some spare as a backup plan. 🙂

All I can say due to the cost of each of these bulbs I am glad they last more than a few shots.

Elinchrom Replacement Bulbs
Elinchrom Replacement Bulbs

What Does The Smell Of New Studio Lights Smell Like?

Bloody awesome I would say. 🙂

Last year one of the schools I teach Photoshop, Lightroom and photography at asked for my advice on what they should get in the way of new studio lighting as their existing equipment was aging and needed replacement.

I gave them a shopping list that included 3 x Elinchrom 500, with some light modifiers that included med softboxes, umbrellas, and grids.   With stands and remote triggers I also recommend Canon 600 speedites with remote controllers, collour correction and theatrical gels.

When all the gear arrived the other week they asked me out to help them set it up and give them a quick run down of what was what and I would hate to leave them in the lurch, so I jumped at the chance. hahahahahaha

It didnt take too long to get the stuff out and put it all together giving them some tips along the way..  I did learn one tip

Where you are setting these types of lights up dont look directly into one when it is on full power from only 30cm away and make it pop…

If you are interested in lighting, Photoshop, Lightroom and photography shoot me a message as I know we can work something out. 🙂

New Elinchrom Lights With Modifiers
New Elinchrom Lights With Modifiers

SSSSSSSSS is for Snake!!!!!

I must say I am a bit of a fan of snakes.  I like the way they look and their skins is sooo soft and smooth.  They also demand respect especially here in Australia where we have the most deadly snakes in the world.

Luckily for us this snake is not venomous all and was relatively well behaved. 🙂

I must say I really like the effects on the pupils for this shot when shooting in the dark… I makes her eyes almost look like black holes where you can get lost in.

Snake eyes
Snake eyes

Indiana Jones comes to mind when I look at this image.. Its like she has a whip in her hand and is ready to cracking it.

Whip snake
Whip snake

A nice close up shot of our snake friend… 🙂

Diamond python
Diamond python

Off setting the image to the left gives the image some extra interest.

Medusa and her snake
Medusa and her snake