Friday 2 October 2009

Elinchrom Quadra off with the Fairies - Part 1

Extensive research and miles of walking was what it took to find the locations for the fairie and avenger series for the al-fresco shoot.

This was the first shot 100 ISO f8 at 1/125s

I found 2 (secret) locations that provide the opportunity for great texture, depth and creative lighting.

The brief was to provide several sets of images for Sarah that had a fairie and avenger theme. I knew that there was going to be some post-production, however it was all about lighting the sets to provide the mood and feel I was looking for.

So after several meetings with Sarah (the model) to determine outfits and props, as well as a visit to the local Party shop for a “plastic” Samuri sword which was to be post produced on the final image with a real sword, we set off to the magic and mystical forest.


A small addition

The plan was to use one of the locations for the morning and then the other for the afternoon shoot. So the fairie theme set for the morning was to be a 4 light set, main, background and a couple of texture lights.

When setting up more than one light I always set one light at a time. A light set needs to be built from the ground up so that you can see what each light is doing. I initially set the texture lights, one from the low right (at almost ground level), bringing out the root structure and texture. A sidelight at almost 90 degrees to the subject will always help to emphasise any texture that exists. I used an Elinchrom Quadra supplied by the “Flash Centre” with a 20-degree honeycomb grid to help control the direction and focus of the light. The root structure also needed a light from 45 degrees further round to the right and behind (90 degrees from the camera position) to create a little more depth and texture to the roots. Here I used my EOS 580EX with a Holne 1/4 grid. My shooting aperture was f8 at 1/125s on 100 ISO which was 3 stops above the under the tree canopy, therefore my lights would provide controllable lighting.

Sarah defending herself from the spiders

Once the side lights were set I wanted to light the stump in the background, to add further depth to the image so I set an Elinchrom Ranger, with a 20-degree grid to wash light over the stump in the background. It was important that all the secondary lights appear to come from the same direction and set to f8.

The main light was placed off to the left, elevated about 45 degrees and was another Elinchrom Ranger pack with a 20-degree grid. Grids proved a softer edge that snoots and have a tighter cone of light than reflectors or soft boxes. The plan was to light Sarah with the grid, providing a vignette to the light. The light was elevated, directing the cone of light down onto Sarah, but not spilling out on to the rest on the scene.

I was to shooting on a tripod with the Powerbook G4 and Capture One so that I could get a decent view of the final images. My 1D Mark 2 has a very small view screen and I wanted to view the largest image possible, incidentally the whole day consumed Powerbook batteries. A generator was considered but without a support team I needed to keep equipment to a minimum.


The concept was to create, as realistic as possible, a fairie image holding a butterfly and also an aggressive fairie defending her self. Why? - I have no idea, it was just one of those occasions when I tend to think outside the box. I did not want to create stereotype fairie images. I can’t say I am into fairies, its Sarah who has the passion for them, it was an opportunity to create interesting and more complex lighting sets.


Final Image

These images could well form part of my creative lighting course so if you are interested please email me.

Terry

terry@terryhewlett.com

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