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John Denton's Lighting Lab - The Algarve Safari - part 2 of 1 2 3

Published 01/12/2015

One of the guilty pleasures of the trip is the eBay shopping for props before we go. It's amazing what you can come up with and when I first saw Tilly's long white hair I had this set in mind. The hat and strappy bikini came in at less than a tenner and we were good to go. The sun was shining from the opposite side of the pool so again backlighting or side lighting the model. A meter reading from the water gave f18 at 1/200s. I took this to f20 to underexpose it slightly and saturate the colours. Two Elinchrom Quadra ELB's were used to provide the light on Tilly. One was a simple shoot-through umbrella to give a soft light and that was held over her. The second was a 70cm deep Octa with it's diffuser panels removed and a reflector cap placed inside, effectively turning it into a beauty dish. I love my dishes but taking a big lump of metal on a plane isn't practical so this is an effective solution. The mix of soft and hard light helps to emphasise the features of the model. We shot a few different looks from this set-up, adjusting her position and mine, and adding a few different props in to change the look a little. IMAGE C, D, E and F

Then it was time for her to get wet! Fortunately Tilly is something of a water baby and loved the set. We kept the lighting set-up and moved to get the sun right on the back of her and giving the beautiful trail of twinklies behind her as it hit the waves on the water. My first idea was to have her coming out of the water and shooting from low. IMAGE G. However, the background didn't work and was too cluttered. I stood tall and isolated her against the water giving a much more satisfying result. IMAGE H and I. The new Elinchrom ELBs worked hard in this set, but brilliantly. One battery delivered loads of full-power shots and the recycle time is lightning fast compared to the old sets.

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1st Published 01/12/2015
last update 09/12/2022 14:55:27

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