Archive 2014 · Location lighting for portraits with animals

brandonshawca
Offline
•
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Location lighting for portraits with animals

Does anyone have any experience or ideas how flash might affect animals such as reindeer, or if there's a better alternative to strobes?

Over the last month I have been involved in a holiday photography gig that involved photographing live reindeer and families together on location (think photos with Santa's reindeer). I was using two strobes (Alien Bees) with umbrellas which worked fine as far as quality goes.

The reindeer didn't seem to be affected by the flash at the beginning of the days, but towards the end of the day the reindeer would tend to prefer to face away from the lights, which makes for less than ideal portraits. We couldn't really decide if it was because of the flash or some other reason, but we obviously want these animals to be as comfortable as possible. The reindeer move around the set often so the lighting needs to be fairly broad, about 10 feet by 30 feet or so.

Thanks!

Jan 02, 2014 at 01:38 AM

cbbr
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Location lighting for portraits with animals

Did you have the modeling lights on?

Jan 02, 2014 at 07:58 AM

brandonshawca
Offline
•
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Location lighting for portraits with animals

Yes, the modeling lights were on all day. It helps attract people when they see the big lights and they're the only indicator that the lights had recycled.

Chad Berry wrote:
Did you have the modeling lights on?

Jan 02, 2014 at 05:23 PM

Ravitej
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Location lighting for portraits with animals

Even professional models can only give about 2 straight hours of being on. It's tiring. Reindeer probably get tired as well. And an animals' way of telling they have had enough is to turn their backs. Herding some in for early and others for later might be a good idea. The later Reindeer can see the attention the early ones are getting and be more ready to step up.

Jan 02, 2014 at 08:22 PM

brandonshawca
Offline
•
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Location lighting for portraits with animals

Good points Ravitej, thank you. The handler has committed to having more animals available next season for cycling. Any thoughts on continuous lighting for this type of work? I'm not sure there would be enough power, and I would think bright continuous light would be even harder on everyone's eyes.

Jan 02, 2014 at 11:24 PM


FM Forums \| People Photography \| Join Upload & Sell

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.