Very cool, Sid! Saw them on Facebook and I could tell from thumbnails they were going to be good.
Here's a quickie from me from earlier today...just a little sample before I head to bed. If people are interested I can write up a full narrative like I did earlier.
This is Jennifer from Ford Models. A pair of quick images we grabbed outdoors (second model of the day, 1st of 4 or 5 looks we did with her):
That's Evan, who was assisting for the day, hand-holding a Profoto AcuteB pack and head with Zoom reflector for a little kicker. Image on the left has a silver reflector kicking a little light back. We were going for something a little similar to recent John Varvatos campaigns, which I believe have been shot by Danny Clinch. The day's shooting was all done for Ford Models.
It's worth noting that, in heels, both of those models were taller than anyone else in the studio today...and Evan is, what, 6'4"? Welcome to the fashion biz.
what ap. were you shooting at in 1b? looks like relatively shallow DOF, and I was
wondering how you managed that (or does your camera body sync at a redonk
high speed?)
Hey Jason! Think I shot the first frame at f/1.4 @ 1/125th or so, then the second at f/8 @ 1/250th. That alley at my studio is so sheltered that it's commonly a 4-6 stop difference between it and the light out in the street 20' away. Those were shot with a D300, so I'm limited to a 1/250th sync...nothing too crazy there!
Have you ever had any problems tilting the Westscott Apollo softbox? The only reason I have not purchased it yet is because I hear its hard to tilt the softbox is this true? In your pic above it seems that you tilted it without any problems.
I can't thank you guys enough for going through your setups. I am just getting into portraiture and this has not only given me a lot of ideas but also a lot of inspiration to get out there and do it.
Have you ever had any problems tilting the Westscott Apollo softbox? The only reason I have not purchased it yet is because I hear its hard to tilt the softbox is this true? In your pic above it seems that you tilted it without any problems.
Dave
Not really. You need to tuck the bottom up a little but to get it to tilt, but nothing that 1. requires effort or 2. takes more than six seconds.
I use this sucker all the time. I'm always pointing it up or down, and just because the bottom is tucked up a bit, it doesn't change the light very much, if at all.
Alright great to know!! I am planning on getting one of these to use with my 580ex and I am also planning on using my alien bees when I get them with this softbox too. I have heard that they barely fit, but I think it would give off some awesome powerful light.
vidoprof wrote:
simon: In the shot of 2a with evan on the step above the models is that the same setup as 1b, but with only 1 model instead of 2?
Both of the left-side panels are the same, we just started it as 1-shots and then did a series of 2-shots before calling it a day on one of the models. I wasn't as happy with the 2-shots as I felt that one of the models totally overshadowed and stole the shot from the other, so I'm only using the solo images from that setup. Same light in all of them, though - we just let Evan hunker down up there and track Jennifer with the strobe as she moved. Since he was feathering it up off of her, it was as important that the strobe stayed aimed at the reflector as it moved where she moved.
All of those shots were just the AcuteB handheld from over the shoulder and behind, basically. It's a very easy way to spark up natural light shots and make them look just a little more interesting.
Will work with any standard speedlight (SB-28) and I believe Sid had already posted a pic (earlier in this thread) showing the use of an AB with this softbox.
Great piece of gear for the money. Basically light enough that you can pick it up and move it with one hand.
