It has been some time since I last posted a blog, a great deal has been happening since the Savernake shoot. What with weddings, christenings and course I have been a busy bunny. Fortunately I was able to find a late afternoon to photograph Laura in a Gothic style shoot.
Having received permission to shoot in a local church yard I took all my gear, Elinchrom Ranger as well as EX580 flash heads to photograph Laura in the graveyard. The theme was based upon Gothic, however for me it was all about the lighting and creating a dark feel to the images with 4 lights. The location offered a number of options, however I wanted to develop a theme from a painting I had seen which was painted in 1782 by an 18th century artist called Henry Fuseli titled the "Nightmare". I was not interested in doing a straight copy, just to develop the theme.
Setting up at dusk I wanted to shoot just before twilight so that there was enough light to work, despite having a head-light, and set an aperture that would render the background dark enough and use the Rangers to expose those parts of the graveyard and Laura that I wanted lit.
I had also intended to put a little smoke into the picture but did not have a suitable smoke machine that would work on batteries alone so I resorted to some smoke pellets from the local "Giant Party Shop". Never having used them before I was disappointed that they only provided about 10 seconds of smoke and the smell was just sickening - never use them again. I resigned myself to once again fall back on the trusty faithful - Photoshop©.
When I showed one of the final images to a fellow photographer he asked me if I had added the church window, well the emphatic answer was NO. It was all done with lighting. I must admit, however I did add the moon.
So with one light on the window, one light on the tomb behind Laura, one for the smoke (back lit) and finally one for Laura with a honeycomb I was ready to shoot.
It was an interesting shoot that I think produced some interesting images. I have been considering a night shoot for my courses using local ambient lighting combined with flash so if anyone is interested please feel free to email me with your suggestions.
Should you visit my website please look out for the new Flash course. It has proved so successful that I have added 4 more dates for next year.
PS: I have not forgotten about the Savernake Part 2 blog, that will be coming soon,just wanted to get these new images up first.
Terry
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