01. An urban jungle in the heart of Singapore city was our first location. I lit Josie with an Elinchrom Quadra on ¼ power (power 4) into a silver umbrella on a Lovegrove boom arm. The sunlight provided the back light in this shot.
The day after my Urban portraits with Speedlights workshop I was at it again only this time we used an Elinchrom Quadra to create soft light. By the time you reflect a light source it becomes more diffused and less intense as a result. This is why we used the Quadra kit as our light generator. There is no faffing with AA batteries either. The Quadra recycles quickly and delivers a punch 8 times as powerful as a top end Speedlight. Here are twenty of our day’s pictures.
Model: Josie G from Basic Models SG.
Camera: Fujifilm X-Pro1, 14mm, 35mm primes and 18-55mm, 55-200mm zooms
Lighting: One two head Elinchrom Quadra kit supplied by Cathay Photo plus two Speedlights. One Lupolux LED 1000 with a Scattergel.
Event coordinator: Karen Lucas at Baobab Photo
02. The sun came and went so I popped up a Speedlight as a back light to give this set of pictures some pop. The Quadra was still serving us well as the key light.
03. Josie was perfect for our workshop. She is kind, patient, beautiful and younger than my daughter, Gulp!
04. I found this old tomb and it looked like a great place to practice my portraiture for Cambodia. This shot was again lit with an Elinchrom Quadra.
05. After the jungle experience avoiding snakes and biting insects we moved on to the relative calm of the world famous Raffles Hotel. The Quadra was getting a lot of use as I explained the process of setting and balancing the exposures for the ambient and flash lighting.
06. Raffles was a great place to shoot in. Karen from Baobab had once again done us proud by obtaining the necessary permissions and licences etc.
07. I taught the group how to see the light. It’s not what you look at that matters it’s what you see.
08. Angles, shapes, curves and beauty set against the rhythm of pillars. 55-200mm zoom on the X-Pro1
09. I used the 55-200mm zoom at full aperture to isolate Josie and render the background out of focus.
10. The Fuji long zoom lens produces a delicate, calm bokeh and is bitingly sharp where it matters.
11. Perfect wedges placed by hand. It’s the detail that matters in shots like this.
12. I set the Quadra up on this staircase to light Josie. The pilasters at the bottom of the frame have benefited from the Quadra light too.
13. Location 3 was Karen’s studio. I showed the group how to create simple one light portraits using a single studio flash head. Karen’s studio is equipped with the fabulous Elinchrom BRX heads. I used an 18cm reflector and a 20 degree grid for this shot of Josie.
14. We then shot with two heads and used the black wall as a background. I added extra heads to complete the look but unfortunately I forgot to shoot a frame for the blog. It is far more important that the delegates get their pictures and I like to use their cameras from time to time during the demonstrations. This helps me establish any issues with the settings and camera set up that might be making life hard for my delegate.
15. Soon it was time to demonstrate what can be achieved with a single Lupolux 1000 and a Scattergel. Nothing is quite as straightforward as continuous light. What you see is what you get and creating beautiful photographs is easy. I’m all for easy when it comes to image making.
16. My travel Venetian blind was the gobo (go between) and I coupled it with a Scattergel.
17. Still using just one Lupolux light we had some fun with shadows. This would look great as a magazine spread with text reversed out of the right in white.
18. Single light head shot with a difference. I used a Lupolux LED 1000 with a Scattergel.
19. I then demonstrated my magic water reflector again with one light. My role was to show new concepts and non standard ways of creating beautiful images with a value. No low value high key white pictures were allowed.
20. Josie really got into the swing of things by the end of the session. The day went so quickly. It was soon time for a freshen up and a cool beer.
From the jungle to the studio. This day was a diverse learning experience for all of us.
I am available for 1:1 and small group training tailored to suit your needs. I love to travel and in 2014 I expect to be touring the USA, South East Asia, Norway, Sweden, Cambodia, and Fuerteventura. If you want to help me arrange workshops in your country please get in touch with Blaise or Laura.
Please feel free to ask questions or comment on these pictures below.
Magic Water reflector. Who makes or what is it made of
Hi Charles,
It’s a mirrored silver plastic sheet and comes in 30m rolls from Lee filters.
Kind regards,
Damien.