Wlada Schüler in Dusseldorf

Nov 21, 2013 | Continuous Lighting, Flash, Studio

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Every time I get the chance to photograph Wlada Schüler I take it. I’ve shot with her in Berlin, Munich and now Dusseldorf. We have fun, get a little bit crazy and make pictures with simple energy.

I was invited to teach my lighting techniques to a group of 50 top professional photographers in Germany by FotoWerkstatt. Here is a selection of our pictures

Camera: Nikon D4 with 50mm f/1.4 and 85mm f/1.4 lenses
Flash lighting: Multiblitz 1000 and 500 studio monoblocks with striplight softbox, 21mm grid reflectors and a 70mm beauty dish with grid
Continuous lighting: Lupolux LED 1000 x2 and a LED 650 with Scattergels and frost diffuser
Styling: Damien Lovegrove and Wlada Schüler
Backgrounds: Hotel curtain, a mid grey background roll and a white background roll

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I started the day with a talk about lighting and composition in portraiture before demonstrating some simple portraiture using studio flash. After lunch we moved onto working with the three Lupolux lights I had taken with me in checked in baggage. The Lupo LED lights are tough, lightweight units without delicate bulbs that can get smashed so taking them to shoots abroad is quite straightforward.

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These pictures are virtually straight from camera without modification. I shot the Nikon D4 in auto white balance mode and used the LCD screen to asses my exposures. All the pictures with the flash were taken at ISO 200, 1/200th second and f/11. All the pictures shot using continuous light were taken at ISO 200, 1/125th second and at f/1.4 – f/2.8.

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My smoke in a can went down well with the delegates and Wlada. Wlada now has it as a souvenir of our shoot.

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I showed how to work with hard light using Scattergels and frost gels to break up and soften the light.

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I showed how to create classic Hollywood cheek triangles and to control contrast using reflectors.

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I even had space in my bag for my Venetian blind.

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Magic happens with the right rapport.

Many thanks to the support team in Germany with special mentions for Nadine for her organisation and logistics, Wolfgang for technical wizardry and Thomas for translating my talk and my jokes :) I’ll be back in Germany soon.

If your organisation would like me to deliver a workshop on lighting, wherever you happen to be in the world, please email Laura or Blaise.

Please feel free to comment on these pictures or the event if you were with me in Dusseldorf.

4 Comments

    • Damien

      Thanks Philip :)

      Reply
  1. Michael Kleinespel

    Hi Damien,

    thanks again for your great workshop yesterday in Düsseldorf.

    You’re a very talented teacher!

    Wlada is a beautiful model and you photographed her perfectly…

    Best regards, Michael

    Reply
    • Damien

      Thank you Michael. Our paths will cross again I’m sure.

      Great fun :)

      Damien.

      Reply

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