Every photographer has their own preferences as to where to place their strobe(s) when setting up a shot. Now although there are no firm rules to this, I would like to introduce you to a simple theory in which “you” can choose what is best for you in every situation.
Start by remembering OCD. Not OCD as in obsessive-compulsive disorder, but instead by O.C.D. – The O’Clock Diagram (or Drawing, Display, Design). With OCD, you can have any number of strobes to illuminate your subject or scene. The goal however isn’t to strictly light your subject, but to actually balance the strobes with whatever ambient light that exists. The true benefit of OCD is apparent in the placement of only a single strobe, in relation to the source(s) of ambient light. This essentially means that one well-placed strobe may be all that you need in many cases.

Here are the Instructions:
* Each number represents a strobe position, including “12” of which might be a ringflash, or a strobe over/under the camera, or a strobe that is on the same point of view as the camera.
* The camera is always represented by the number “12” position.
* The subject is always represented by the dot in the center.
* The number “3”position will always be to the left of the photographer, the number “6” position is always facing the photographer on the opposite side of your subject, while the number “9” position will always be to the right of the photographer.
* The foreground is the area between the camera (“12” position) and the subject (dot). This area is always represented within view of the numbers “9”, “10”, “11”, “12”, “1”, “2”, and “3”.
* The background is the area behind the subject (dot). This area is always represented within the view of numbers “3”, “4”, “5”, “6”, “7”, “8”, and “9”.

¬In this scenario, the sun is at “7 o’clock” while the strobe is at the “11 o’clock” position, placed at a very high 12 ft. height. The ambient reading (of which is always taken first) was ISO 200, 1/250 sec @ f/16. Since the sun is gazing straight into the lens, there is a notable amount of flare. Also, as you might imagine, the front of the subject is therefore cast within a shadow. This gives the strobe the responsibility of illuminating the entire subject from the cameras point of view. The strobe was metered to the exact same reading as the ambient in order to maintain the natural contrast and color that comes with the ambient reading.
The strobe was placed high in order to spread the light wider for a greater angle of coverage. The 15ft. distance of the strobe from the subject also contributes to the spread of light in the overall foreground. I chose a P65 reflector (hard modifier) in order to maintain the same harshness of light and shadow as the sun itself. Moving the light to any other position within the foreground (“2”, “10” or “12” for example) would not impact the shot much differently considering the overall height and angle of the strobe. The P65 is lightweight and easy to handle. Additional choices I might have considered are the P50 at a slightly greater distance or the Mini Satellite for more efficiency and contrast of my subject.

Andre Rowe is the featured speaker at the upcoming Atlanta broncolor/Hasselblad/Sandisk event on June 24th.

Registration is free, please click here!

Andre Rowe Photography

From the Fotocare Twitter Feed:

“I’m @FotoCare at a Photo/Video seminar presented by Amber Gray… wonderful!” – Robert Holley

“The Broncolor/Fotocare HMI event was good last night. Now I’d like to give hmi’s a try. Anyone want to let me borrow some (Fotocare)? ” – William Brinson

What a great night at Fotocare rentals. Thanks to Fred Blake from the Fotocare rental department for hosting. Thanks to Jim Reed from Bron Imaging group for MC’ing and giving us all an education on the science behind the lights.

Most of all we’d like to thank Amber Gray and Julian Bernstein, two very talented individuals with an unprecedented creative vision and the technical where with all to produce it.

A very successful night for the presenters and the attendees, the later walking away with a better understanding of the medium, and an expanded tool box to aid in the creation of their own visions.

Contact Fred Blake at Fotocare for rentals 212 741-2 991 or Jim Reed of Bron Imaging in NYC  917 40 27550 for additional product information.

Stayed tuned for the upcoming summer series of workshops from Bron Imaging Group and its partners across the country!

http://www.ambergrayphotography.com/

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· How do you travel “with” lighting in a lightweight manner? This is to further ask, how specifically does one accomplish the task so as to make single trips all “single-handedly”?

· How does one prepare and plan to shoot in cloudy/ seldom-sunny weather? Which then begs the additional question as to how does one “not” make the weather seem cloudy?

How did I manage to travel in a lightweight manner? Well, it starts with knowing your limits on how much weight you are able to carry “on foot” over reasonable distances. My capacity is about 50 lbs. – 60 lbs. when properly balanced. The next step is determining what you “must” have with you at all times, and trim the weight of everything else that is in excess of those needs. Besides the obvious camera and camera-related items (all of which I keep in a backpack camera case), I must have a power pack, at least one lampbase, lightstand, modifier, and tripod.

This is all that I brought and worked with:

* Nikon D3

* 85mm f/1.4

* 24-70mm f/2.8

* 80-200mm f/2.8

* Sekonic L758DR lightmeter

* Mobil Pack

* Mobilite 2 Lampbase (x2)

* Pulso Adapter for Mobilite 2

* Transmitter RFS

* Generic 3ft. Octa Softbox

* Manfrotto STACKER lightstand

* Gitzo 5 Series Systematic Carbon Fiber Tripod

* Tenba TTP34 TriPak case

My total camera case weight was less than 20 lbs carried on my back. The Broncolor Mobil “kit” had a total weight less than 35 lbs. considering that there were two lamps included (one of which I actually didn’t use). The Mobil kit comes in it’s own lightweight attaché style case that easily fits into any airline overhead compartment. The Tenba TriPak had a total weight of about15 lbs. due mostly to the fact that the Gitzo tripod was a 9 lb. (total weight) carbon fiber tripod and the Manfrotto lightstand was a lightweight “fold-flat” aluminum design weighing only 2.5 lbs. The 3 ft. Octa when collapsed also fit into the TriPack with a total weight of 3 lbs.. My total carry weight was about 60 lbs. in all, easily enough fit on a golf cart, small boat, and carry on foot.

How does one prepare and plan to shoot in cloudy/ seldom-sunny weather? The first thing to do is not panic. I heard the story of one photographer who fly in from out of town to work on a catalog down in the Florida Keys during the rainy season. Unfortunately, he was stuck with clouds all day, and rain all evening. He was unable to use his reflectors of which he depended upon. He was also resistant towards using a dedicated flash for fear of cheapening the expected results. He panicked, and told the client that the shoot could not happen due to the weather. On the flip side of that, I actually live in Florida, and have done numerous shoots during cloudy/rainy weather, and have always gotten unique & attractive results such as this cover shot of Wakeboarding Magazine.

So what do you do when the clouds set in and linger? Grab your lightmeter, take an ambient reading of your scene (with greater emphasis on the background area), and prepare to soften your light source with a softbox, umbrella or direct bounce). The most assured thing to expect when conditions are cloudy is that all of the shadows within the image area will be extremely soft and or diffused. With such insufficient light so as to properly use a reflector, you are left with strobe lighting as a wonderful alternative. The intent now however is to keep all of the shadows produced by your strobe to an extreme minimum, mirroring the shadows in the scene. The use of my softbox was one important factor in achieving that shadow-diffusion, however, it was my initial ambient reading that was truly the key.

I wanted to use only enough light from the Mobil kit to not only illuminate my subject, but also enrich the scene with color by way of the light itself. We all know how dull and lifeless a cloudy scene can be, well that all changes when Mobil kit comes out. I meter my subject for the proper Mobil light intensity, and I lengthen my shutter speed to allow for greater influence of the ambient light. Here is an example:

The ambient when cloudy measured 1/250th @ f/4.5 at ISO 200. This is also the same as 1/60th @ f/9.5 at ISO 200. I therefore only need enough light from the Mobil kit to change the 1/250th @ f/4.5 at ISO 200 reading to 1/250th @ f/6.3 at ISO 200 reading. This is a specific increase of 1-stop on the aperture, which under those conditions equated to approximately 60% of my exposure being the Mobil kit. I would then lengthen my shutter speed by changing my exposure to 1/60th @ f/9.5 at ISO 200 WITHOUT adjusting the light output. This change alters the light ratio to approximately 30% of my exposure being that of the Mobil kit. Under this condition, I have both increased my image saturation (which diminished the dullness of the cloudy day) and still maintained softened shadow detail.

Now another interesting point to note, or even a “tip” if you will, is to consider keeping your subject in the shade when using the Mobil kit on a cloudy day. This is recommended despite the fact that there is no direct sunlight to begin with. This action has two benefits:

* The first is that you will have total influence over the light illuminating your subject. This is very important due to the fact if you decide to drag the shutter for an extended period of time (2+ stops more than necessary) just to brighten your scene, then at least you will still retain some control over the light illuminating the subject.

* The second is that should the ambient light within the scene change during your shooting (i.e. the sun pokes in and out), then at least the light on your subject will remain constant.

Here are a few additional tips to consider when shooting on a cloudy day with the sun poking in and out of the clouds:

· Try to keep your scene as open as possible to record as “much” natural light as you can, especially when the sun is actively moving in and out.

· When you know that you the sun is gone, meter of the ambient and expose only for the ambient. Keep your power pack levels to a minimum.

· Also, when the you know that the sun is gone for an extended period, and when you are using lamps, keep your scene as tight as possible, so as to have your lamps illuminate your scene as well as the subject(s).

· Avoid wide-angle lenses on cloudy days. Wide-angle lenses allow the viewer to survey more of the image than may be desired. So if the background scene is dull or dark compared to the subject, then the image may seem depressed.

· If you are shooting at a comfortable shutter speed, and have the patience to do so, wait for the sun to break when shooting. With a power pack, you will only need the least amount of natural lighting to keep a proper balance throughout your exposure.

· Even though you may be using a power pack, you can still control it’s influence on the shot by merely bouncing it off of the surroundings. This often solves two recurring issues: 1) Addressing the harshness that comes with direct light and 2) How to seamlessly blend artificial light with natural light.

· Whenever your meter tells you, overexpose by up to 2/3 of a stop. If it’s cloudy, clipping in non-existent shadows is a pointless concern.

Andre Rowe
www.rowephotographyonline.com

Andre divides his time between NYC and Miami. Andre kicks off a traveling seminar series starting in the North East this month. For more information please email us at events@bronimaging.com

We caught up with Elias Wessel on a shoot this week.  Here’s what he had to say:

CK: How did you become a photographer?  Describe your career development?

EW: I would have to say that graffiti was the catalyst for my love of art. At the age of 16 meeting Sigmar Polke at his huge retrospective in Bonn, Germany made me even more interested in fine arts. Following that, I started to draw and then  had paintings exhibited about 2 years later.   Also during that time, my best friend, who I had a crush on, moved to London.    Our only source of communication was through mail. I wanted my mails to look good and make her feel special on top of what I wrote to her.   I created my own envelopes by cutting out my favorite pictures out of hundreds of magazines.   I collected thousands of tearsheets and still remember vividly pictures by David La Chapelle,  Guy Bourdin,  Jeff Koons and others who caught my breath.   Since then I have always wanted to be able to re-create these wonderful feelings that those pictures gave me and started to draw pictures and take photographs of everything I loved.

CK:  More specifically, was there one or more life changing moments that helped you move to the next level and become the photographer that you are now?  Perhaps a big break, a perfect mentor, a movie, a mystical moment?

EW:  What incredibly changed me and my work was the break up after 8 years with my former personal and professional friend and partner in 2008.   I had to start all over and ask myself what makes me unique as a photographer.   I figured the only possible answer can be:  Myself!   Beginning with my “Falling Up” story my work tells so much about me and that what makes it special.   However I am very often asked how I consider myself as a photographer and my style. There’s no straight answer which feels totally adequate to me.   You can say it is the way I play with time and freeze a moment or a motion.   V magazine recently published a selection of my work and wrote “When time stops, your pose had better be fierce”.   You can mention the saturated colors or the sort of magical realism.   It can be cheeky happiness,  subliminal concepts,  beauty or sensitiveness.   It always depends on the content of the story I am working on.   Those who know me can say it may be my personal experiences which are always somehow reflected in my photographs. I would say as everything changes and develops in life all this can change and develop from picture to picture as well.   There are moments every day which make me and my work more and more sophisticated.   You just have to be aware of them.

CK: How do you learn your techniques?

EW: Working at advertising agencies, design bureaus as well as assistant, production and studio manager made me understand the different parties who are involved in the process of creating photographs.   I know about their expectations, their thinking, their needs, their fears and about the whole process from the point of view of all participating sides.   Studying with a huge focus on theory helped me to achieve a general idea about any field of the arts, a basic knowledge about anything which deals with art, visual communication and its reception.   It can be a deep source for new ideas. Schooling didn’t really teach me about the technical side of photography or lighting.   That is something I learned by assisting and working in the fields of photography but even more by realizing one personal project after another.   It taught me how to create, communicate and realize ideas. And it can give you the time to experiment and to develop.   A while ago I met David La Chapelle here in New York and I remember how he reminded me how fortunate I can be of being able to do my own thing.   Even if it is not without a struggle.   Studying also taught me to get up and motivate myself every single day to work on my ideas because nobody really cared about what I did.   It can be dangerous depending of what kind of character you are but it also can teach you confidence in what you do and that you are the only one who is responsible for anything you do.

CK:  Who are your photo heroes? Or who has inspired your career?

EW:  There are so many.   It wouldn’t make sense to drop names.   Most of all I´m inspired by the reason why I´m doing this. I want to experience a feeling, that goes into bowels.   But I also want to create a transcendency so that this feeling reaches the viewer.   I also find very interesting the intersection between fashion and fine art photography and how to merge those genres. Typical fashion images focus on beauty and clothing as their central elements.   To me it is not fashion itself but the image that suppose to fascinate the viewer.   I believe that this is what appeals to clients who really care about being exclusive. At the end it all comes to the feeling you get from the picture you are looking at, not just the picture of the product.

CK: What is the worst part about doing what you do?

EW: If I could I would be out there taking pictures everyday. A huge part of photography deals with everything else than creating and taking pictures.

CK: What is the best part?

EW: All my works you see in this story have given me the most satisfaction because there are a lot of photographs that don’t make it. Every picture I’ve taken is from the past but it is the ones in the future that I’m looking forward to taking most.

Learning from the Pro

EW:  What are we going to shoot today?

“Falling Up”. A personal project which will be exhibited in New York and also be published as editorial. Falling is something involuntarily. Something threatening you get forced to.   In contrast “Up” is a synonym for success.   This aporia results out of the two contrary moving directions: Down = falling and Up = Up.   A conflict which was indissoluble at that current period of my life.   “Falling” as well as “Up” relate to my very private and professional areas of life which were strongly linked over 9 years.   “Falling Up” is based on personal experiences, thoughts, symbols and metaphors. Analogies to “Mary Poppins”, “Rumpelstiltskin” and the “Shock Headed Peter” finally allow to express my emotions as well as making a statement about the current art and fashion industry.  “Falling Up” is a modern fairy tale out of my personal past, present and future.

CK: How did you learn how to do what you are about to show us?

EW: It’s probably the same answer I gave when asking me how I learned my techniques. To sum it up in one word I would have to say it’s experience.

CK: What tools are you using to make this image?

EW:  503 CW Hasselblad with a Leaf Aptus II – 7 with lenses from 25mm to 150mm. SBI ParaFb 170, Pulsoflex 80×80, Verso A4 and A2, beauty dish and P70 reflector, 2 Pulso heads, Ringflash P, the sun, clouds as well as my heart and my brain.

CK: Why did you choose these tools?

EW: “Falling Up” was shot on location in Long Island City, New York with a great mix out of different set ups including day and night shots. So being flexible without sacrificing quality and to be able to control every situation on set
was my first priority.   I took advantage of the para 170 using it as a soft filling light. With the heads and reflectors I was able to adapt to every single situation, setting highlights, focus on different parts of the scene. The Verso allowed me to add crunch and a little magic at the best possible speed.

CK: Did you use competing products in the past? What made you change?

EW: I worked with pretty much all available lighting and camera equipment and used everything from 35mm to large format cameras – film and digital.   I’m in the lucky position that I got into photography by using film and digital equipment at the same time. The experience of working in the dark room, processing my own films, making my own contact sheets and prints help me to understand what happens in digital photography and post production. Same with the lighting gear.   I always like to test all equipment which might be of any interest.   Currently I prefer working with the 503CW Hasselblad and the Leaf Aptus II always in combination with broncolor lights.   It just works for me and gives me the consistency and flexibility I need. The decision of the equipment I use as well as the decision of shooting in studio or on location depends on the pictures I have in mind. Not the other way around. The cooperation with Bron Imaging Group is based on how I use my lighting which plays a big role in my work and gives it it’s consistency.   No matter if I have a huge set up of lights or just a bare bulb in combination with available light. It always defines the look of my pictures and bron recognizes this.   But this cooperation is more than that.   The guys from bron are part of my team, part of my photo-family and they care about my work and about photography just as much as I do.   That is what really matters to me.

ELIAS WESSEL
VISUAL ARTIST / PHOTOGRAPHER
www.eliaswessel.com

And to beat the aberration of the Buggles ’79 hit right away with one breath to death: No, definitely not! Digital didn’t kill the Photo-Star! So if you’re one of them, don’t bother reading further, your status quo is secured! Take a break and enjoy the park!

I have had several talks recently during which I was told that the time of the high rollers were over particularly taking into consideration the omnipresence of the internet and the economic realities. I don’t believe it. There are always going to be shooting stars. We want them, we need them, and they are the lighthouses of our industry.

It is intriguing that the guys on the top are almost always the first in line who adapt new technology into the field. This doesn’t just happen because the high-rollers have better means or that they are favored in their exposure to the latest. At the end it is simply intelligence and vision, motivated by whatever brought them up-front in the race!

So what is the rest of the crowd doing? How did working-life for photographers change in general since the color-pixels kicked the silver-grains butt and how can we live positively with these changes?

Changes have side effects; the dinosaurs could play a great tune on that theme.
What also happened to the profession of the photographer during and with the digital revolution is that it has indeed lost its power (assuming that it ever had some).
Nowadays a lot of people who love photography (and I am the first to admit this) have a nostalgic look back. In the past more money was spent on actual photo-production; in today’s world budgets tend to shift into post-production. Common knowledge dictates that if you want to control your “look” and your “end-product”, you better control the post.
A lot of shooters have to bargain for this control with “free” retouching and to make a long story short – often our profession replaces the work that was executed by photo-labs back in the good old celluloid times.
Also, the “oh, we fix it later”-mentality is not just encouraging a drop of the involved crafts-levels such as lighting, make-up etc.
It degraded the photographer’s position. If the person at the camera doesn’t know how to rule the digital technology the art-director might as well direct the talent while watching closely the computer-screen. We all have seen it: Entitled or not, suddenly everybody who can grasp a look on the screen comes up with a judgmental opinion which doesn’t necessarily always have a positive, constructive effect on the work-flow and focus on set.
It might be a little bit too rough to say that our profession is in danger to degenerate to an armada of botton-pushing space-monkeys whose raison d’être is limited to the production of page-filling content. But it is more obvious than ever before that more and more “content over quality” can be found in all media-outlets.

In his teaching on Samurai Philosophy Miyamoto Musashi explains very diligently that they are TWO ways to look at every situation and that the same correct principle is valuable for both “Small Scale” and “Big Scale”. Neglect of these principles will be punished with defeat; it is that simple!
As an example for “Small Scale” the ever-so popular look for reassurance on the screen of the digital backs comes to my mind. It has already changed the instinctive “shooting-with-the-guts” approach. The number of “magical mistakes” is reduced.
Plus – with digital a lot of photographers really mutated to machine gun shooters and tend to produce higher quantities of images. Why? Obviously because the first superficial thought is that pixels cost less money and naturally everybody, young or old, grace to the boost of inexpensive photo-Viagra loves to keep the finger on the trigger while the model is doing her job! More and longer is better! Well, at least the probability to catch one good frame is bigger!
Maybe I am getting hold of the wrong end of our stick. So let’s swing over to the “Big Scale”.

First, let’s be honest the popularization of photography to the masses through digital didn’t help us to conserve our “special” status.
Secondly on broadband the smaller quality requirements of the Internet combined with the fast development and pushing of ISO numbers over ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND still appeals utopist but in reality it represents a threat to artificial quality lighting. Why spend money on lighting equipment rental if we can shoot available light and anyway the photographs are so small on the internet-page, who cares?
The next photographer who intends to light beautifully with Strobe, HMI, Tungsten or Flourescent must be a master-hustler or has to own his own equipment which sets us back to the cave-days before rental.
Beside this I believe firmly that we will see a stronger polarization of photography in the future; the writing is on the wall! Much more fast food for the majority of photographers and just a smaller number of us will have the opportunities to dine in wonderful French Restaurants and enjoy the exquisite privileges of great productions.
On a side-note: Will printed paper/magazines as THE most important outlet die and disappear?
I am not convinced that this is the case but before its total extinction paper will certainly take more and more hits – the closing of magazine titles of the leading publishing-houses during the last month is the best witness.
The newspaper industry, as we knew it, is certainly dead – tomorrow’s paper with today’s news has no chance to compete with the instant gratification of the electronic media.
It might be right that very specialized magazines on paper will still continue to exists and sell well but I myself know for a fact that my fashion-shots will be used for the ecommerce-business of on-line-magazines.

The deadly sin that we creative people commit, is that we see ourselves as far too important in the general commercial view! Bitter truth is that at the end of the day it comes down to business. Numbers talk and decide our faith!

Are your feelings hurt? Harsh words? Too hard? I don’t think so! A taste of sarcasm and exaggeration could help for once, no? Absolutely!
Please, show some self-irony and gallows humor, nobody else than a handful of other shooters are reading this blog anyway, so it stays between us.
Recently I was confronted with a situation where I had to give away all my photo-files right at wrap-time on an editorial shoot. Total loss of my editing/postproduction/“director’s cut” privileges.
All I can say is that it all worked out to my advantage. There are always ways to turn a bad situation into a good. Read Doctor Wayne Dyer.

It does not help at all to digress into some “in the old days everything was better” talk – if you want to do this on an exhibition opening night with a glass of champagne in your hand, be my guest and know that this will only gain you some false compassion from your competitors.
If you want to survive in the jungle of the competitive New York photo-industry you have to be part of the evolution.

Let’s face it – the way that we photographers were sold on digital was a big mind-blow. Our life didn’t become easier; it became more complicate and complex, even more expensive! If you want it or not – we are slaves to the machine!
That’s why it is imperative to find the right balance with all the other side shows and to stay in the loop BUT it has to happen intelligently, efficiently – knowing where the state of the arts is, how to adapt it to your personal needs and not taking every technical progress as a “Do or Die”, that’s amateur.

Last November I assisted a great Seminar featuring the Canon 7D presented by Jeff Fuller of Canon at Fotocare on West 22nd Street. I was particularly curious about the video-capacities of the new body.
It is amazing how fast the developments run but what I find more relevant regarding the new video-capable camera-systems is the question what affect the overwhelming hype around video for photographers, particularly for the Internet, has on our work.
Is it really true that photographers must provide video in the future or is this just another way to sell me a feature in a camera that I don’t really need? As a war correspondent in a conflict-zone it becomes handy not having to carry around both a stills and a video camera, but how about the advertising-battle-field of Manhattan?!
What makes us believe that video is the savior of our hurting profession?
What makes photographers believe that they could save their skin with video after the inflationary appearance of images has devaluated the stock-image market for example (there exist also other reasons for this development but that’s a different story)?

One day when I picked up some gear at T.R.E.C. Rental, I discussed the issue briefly with Ken Kobayashi, a great guy and one of the best veterans of the Rental-Industry here in New York City. He showed me some little video on the website of a big retail fashion-brand where jeans were featured with a model’s 360º-turn.
Ken’s point made sense! Why hire a separate video-crew if it is more cost-effective to let the still-photographer shoot both?!

The moral of the tale is that Video most definitely has to be part in the package of any successful commercial photographer in the future. Why not – who knows what’s waiting down the road!

Which finally allows me to close the circle:
Even though with digital our photo-life has become more complex we have no choice, we need to stay in the process of development, creatively and technically!
Plus there are so many strategies and tricks to regain control and make you important as the leading man/woman on the “Small and Big Scale”.

If you are getting tired of spending so much time in editing because you over-shot just let it be a lesson and fall back again on your shooting-instincts. Shoot less but better!

If the focus of your team is sabotaged by its own curiosity, choose to shoot into card or hide your digital technician and computer in a corner or behind a V-Flat (if the situation and your client allows it).

If the photography-market will polarize more and more between fast food and fine dining and you don’t like to eat at McDonalds you better develop a distinguished photography-style that makes you out-standing and recognizable. This will make the negotiations around post-production much easier. You will have much more clout to place your editing and your preferred retoucher on the job!

And to summarize > Let’s not cry about past glory! Like a prize-fighter we are only as good as our last fight. In commercial photography, whoever wants to be successful has to be part of the technical and creative evolution. And if you don’t want to make the extra effort, somebody else will do it and fill the gap you left. Rule the technique so your creativity can unfold!
Because that’s what the big boys are always doing . . . and at the end, remember – that is why Digital won’t kill the Photo-Star . . . and that’s what you are . . .

Thorsten Roth’s website: www.thorstenroth.net

Photos: Editorial “Bare Essentials” for WhatsWear © 2009 All rights reserved by Thorsten Roth

How did you become a photographer? Describe your career development?

My father was a photographer, a commercial photographer in fact. He did weddings as long as I can remember, but it was his portraits that interested me most. I sort of “tripped” into photography with all the photographic gear that surrounded me. What started as an ongoing hobby, turned very serious in high school when I was brought on to the Correspondent Staff of the Sun Sentinel, a major newspaper in the South Florida area. It was there that I saw my future, and paid keen attention to my desire to create images.

2. More specifically, was there one or more life changing moments that helped you move to the next level and become the photographer that you are now? Perhaps a big break, a perfect mentor, a movie, a mystical moment?

I had two muses from high school who from their abundance of images came an abundant flow of requests from people in their network. A network that grow to over hundred individual “models” durning my five year wedding spree. And “that” is where my creativity grew.

3. How do you learn your techniques?

The answer to that question both plain and still PRICELESS. I’ve learned virtually EVERY technique from actually making mistakes. Real mistakes that ended with me posing the questions: “Why did that happen?” and “What should I do instead?”. The latter question leads me to trial and error. Trial as in “intentionally” re-creating the mistakes (and any variance on them), and taking the time to identify the circumstances. Error as in directly avoiding the mistakes by doing perhaps the opposite when the circumstances arise once more.

In essence, my techniques come readily, easily, and successfully from a wealth of understanding “what not to do”.

4. Who are your photo heroes? Or who has inspired your career?

Easy – Patrick Demarchelier. His work is uncomplicated and beautiful. His images are achieved seemingly without effort. He seems to quickly establish a rapport with his subjects and is blessed with their best moods at the time of shooting. The end results are as minimalistic (in terms of editing) as the original state to begin with.

5. What is the worst part about doing what you do?

Editing. Yes, I could share my workflow with a retoucher, but that often means that the last hand to touch the work is not that of the original photographer. I have always questioned the merits of that. None the less, I do edit my own work, and because I dislike it so, I have developed several methods for streamlining my work flow so that I take equal to if not less time at the computer than during the actual shoot itself.

6. What is the best part?

The best part is either my actually “seeing” the image in the seconds before touching the camera, or “seeing” the reaction that the subject(s) have afterwards when showing them why I was so happy in the first place.

1. What are we going to shoot today?

Four poster images over two days for SR Perrott, Inc. who is the distributor of Miller Lite and Coors Light beers in the Daytona Beach, Florida area. The posters are promotional pieces for the 2010 Daytona 500 NASCAR event of which SR Perrott is also a sponsor.

2. How did you learn how to do what you are about to show us?

The simple answer is that I learned through years of experience. The more creative answer is that I learned through patience and the basic premise of focusing the lighting and camera on only what is important to the client, and leave the rest to the viewers imagination.

3.What tools are you using to make this image?

*Nikon D3 with a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens
*Verso A4 (x1)
*Topas A2 (x2)
*Pulso G2 lampbase (x2)
*Ringflash C
*Beauty Dish with diffuser (x2)
*Para 220 Soft with Ringflash P
*RFS Transmitter
*Sekonic L-758dr lightmeter
*Gitzo Systematic tripod
*Really Right Stuff Ballhead with bracket & various plates

4. Why did you choose these tools?

Because I don’t yet own any Scoro packs! The Ringflash C was essential to give me even light coverage across the surface of the image, with emphasis on the areas that the models encompass. Also, in order to remain softly lit throughout the image area, I had to use the beauty dishes in relation to the PARA 220 Soft. The reason that I chose the PARA 220 Soft is because despite the nature of the poster, the main subjects are the models of which are on a large canvas (the NASCAR). Otherwise, I would have used a greater number of heads with P65 reflectors to compliment a single Ringflash C as my my main light.

5. What features of the equipment that you use make it easier to do your job?

The PARA 220 Soft has a distinctly wide spread of light that works favorably with wide-angle lenses. The Ringflash C is just one of my favorites as an all-in-one light source. I love the robust nature of the Verso A4 and if only by appearance & audible sounds, lends itself to establish the feel of an intense photoshoot.

6. Did you use competing products in the past? What made you change?

This could lead to short novel. Yes, I started with Norman (over a decade of use and familiarity), then moved over to the Pro-7 line of Profoto (six solid years of use), before switching vigorously to Broncolor. I really would need a great deal of time to explain the decisions and nuances as to why I switched, but to sum it up – drawing from my years of experience and knowledge, Broncolor offered a superior product, and NOT by a marginal amount.

Andre Rowe
www.rowephotographyonline.com

Andre divides his time between NYC and Miami. Andre kicks off a traveling seminar series starting in the North East this month. For more information please email us at events@bronimaging.com

I remember very well one of the key-moments that I had at the age of fifteen – on T.V. I was watching a documentary about Oliviero Toscani shooting and creative directing for Benetton It just made click in my guts and I knew which direction I wanted to take. Ten years later (meanwhile I had graduated from one of the best Photo/Film/Design Schools in Germany, the FH Bielefeld and had moved to Paris right afterwards) I had the pleasure to assist Toscani on a two weeklong Benetton production in the renowned PIN UP Studios. For me it was a dream coming true, just like walking on clouds. And then again very funny coincidence, another 11 years later – I hadn’t seen Oliviero for a long time, just a week before my move from Paris to New York I ran into him in a lab, we had a good laugh. Photographically he didn’t really influence me that much but I admire his game in advertising – a real psychological master: A) he’s talking the gospel B) he always knows when and how to push the right buttons. I think Toscani is a genius in his own right; he has a great sense of humor, too. Ha-ha

Well, since my college-time I was shooting little ad-jobs and worked as a photojournalist for different papers. My technical foundation as a photographer I certainly acquired from my long time as an assistant – my first job in Paris was a freelance position at Condé Nast, working on VOGUE, VOGUE HOMME and GLAMOUR productions, I worked with many of the big boys. At the beginning here in New York I free-lanced around like crazy and assisted for example Patrick Demarchelier for a couple of years. Later on I got around as a hired gun particularly because of my good knowledge of light. So make a long story short, I guess I can say without pretension that I learnt from the best.

In these times of “sometime” over-post-production I remain a strong believer of doing as much as possible “on camera” – I think the right high-standard approach and mix between old-school shooting-style and cutting edge digital technologies will bring me the best results.

If you ask me for my photo heroes, there are so many but the most important ones are certainly the following: Guy Bourdin, Chris Von Wangenheim, Helmut Newton, WeeGee, August Sander and E.J. Bellocq.

I remember having a moment back in Paris at a point when my career looked liked anything that would ever happen. My apartment in the 18th Arrondissement faced a nice backyard, the night was just about to fall and a beautiful pink moon was lighting the scene. I had one more Polaroid in my old SX70 and said to myself: “What the heck, probably it won’t work, but just try it!” In the scene was a small, brightly shining window and the little, technical voice in the back of my head started to lament: “It’s going to burn out, it’s going to burn out!” It turned out that the exposure-time was proximately 3 seconds, handhold! – and I swear to God after one second of exposure the window-light went off and I had my perfect shot, in Polaroid, unique! That was such a magical moment, almost religious. The beautiful, framed photograph hangs on the wall in my apartment, it’s my personnel, little treasure and often before a shooting when I walk by, I feel gratitude and it reminds me of the fact that talent is just a borrowed gift that needs to be taken care of. When Lady Muse shows up around the corner and is ready for a date, never second-guess, just grab her by the hand and go for it. I also try to approach every shoot almost as if it could be my last, this way there is a good chance that I’ll be fine and do great work! For me being a photographer is one of the best jobs in this world, it’s living the dream!

In Paris I shot for many years famous and not so famous American Jazz Musicians. In 2002 the Smithsonian Institution in D.C accepted right after my arrival in New York my portfolio of these photographs. I learnt a lot from these guys but most importantly I developed one very important component of my style and that is the mix of inspired improvisation and well-prepared structure. As an artist you MUST know your technique inside out/second nature so you kind of be able to “forget” it and to get loose. Let inspiration and the moment take over!

The last five years I was a member of the famous Boxing Gym GLEASON’s in Brooklyn, at the very beginning just to shoot and then to become a boxer myself and to give my take from the inside. Boxing is a great meditation and a balance to the professional photo-world. I had an exhibition during the Dumbo Art Festival in 2006 and Everlast featured my work in their Magazine in 2007. But most importantly boxing strengthened my back-bone, my stamina and it emphasized a virtue that every photographer must have in order to make it, no matter on which level he/she is: Exercise, train and never give up!

The featured fashion-story “Luxe Generation” for MR Magazine just came out. I developed the autumn 2010 men’s story with my fashion-director John Jones. We shot in studio and I used the BRONCOLOR Ring flash C. I love that light because it perfectly fits in with my other lighting techniques and helps me to keep a consistent style in my photography, an edgy look that represents my vision and makes my work recognizable. I modified the Ring flash a little bit, put a grid up-front and intensified the fall-off with black-foil paper. This is where the instinctive feel for each shot kicks in. Shooting this story just felt like a dance.

Depending on distance, the featured fashion, my frame, the angle etc. I modified the fall-off also to get away from too much uniformity. There is one feature on the Ring flash C that I like; the ten 20-Watts Halogen model-lights help tremendously with the auto-focus of the camera. In my shoot the Ring flash was powered by the SCORO AS 4, a real Formula One racing-machine, perfect for fashion if you like to go fast! Ha-ha

Thanks again to Sean Moser from Scheimpflug for the great service!

Altogether I honestly have to say that broncolor-packs are my favorite strobe-packs and this is not just some PR talk. I grew up with them back in Germany during my college-time; it was the lighting equipment we were trained on. As an assistant I loved them, because they were very reliable and that took away a lot of heat from us especially when we were shooting chrome-film. Everybody knew that we absolutely needed to be on, if not no food for the assistants or when you were on production out of town you could spend the night somewhere in a yard in the doghouse. Ha-ha
Now I am using them for my own work and I adore the precision and features of the packs. As a photographer they give me a lot of technical freedom and various options particularly in more complex lighting situations.

Do I really need to mention that broncolor is a Suisse company; I think that we shouldn’t expect anything less than the best in lighting equipment from a region that builds the world’s best watches, should we?!

Thorsten Roth
www.thorstenroth.net

This is a portrait I was commissioned to do for new clients Joanne and Fred. I always want to have the final product reflect the people’s personalities and after getting to know the two of them… they like to have fun, they’re quirky and they both love to sing and dance. They are truly in love with each other so we wanted to do something intimate, but keep it light, so we went with a fun bubble bath.

What tools are you using to make this image?

For this image, I used one Unilite with a medium softbox to light Fred and one Unilite with the Beauty Dish to light Joanne. I put a third Unilite with a softbox in front to light the bathtub and to kick a little bit more light on their faces. The two side Unilites were powered by a 2400w Verso A4 and the third bathtub Unilite was powered by a Nano A2. I shoot with Nikon and I do my post in Photoshop.

Props and setting always play a big part in my shoots. So now we needed lots of constant foam and bubbles. We rented a bubble machine for bubbles in the air and we used an air compressor rig to keep the bathtub water constantly full of foam. Joanne and Fred were in that bathtub for a good hour and they were definitely prunes by the time they got out… but they were good sports about it!

Why did you choose these tools?

For me, it was an obvious choice. I’ve always been the type of person to buy the absolute best tool for the job… and I only like to buy once. That was the reasoning behind me going with Broncolor. I knew that broncolor was the best in the industry, so it was an obvious choice. Investing in my broncolor system has blown my photography through the roof!

What features of the equipment that you use make it easier to do your job?

I love the short recycle times of my Verso A4 and Nano A2… that is critical for when I’m shooting portraits. That really allows me to just keep firing away so I know I’m not missing any great moments or expressions!

Melissa Marie Hernandez
melissamariehernandez.com

Thanks to Wayne Cozzolino for introducing us to Melissa! Wayne works for Calumet Photographic out of the Philadelphia location.

Reminder! Shinichi Maruyama himself will be appearing at Biwa Studios in Long Island City this Thursday.
If you thought his work was gorgeous looking at it from a computer screen or in a gallery, imagine seeing liquid splash intensely right before your eyes. How many chances do you get to see such an artist demostrate his style and work in person?

Date: Thursday, July 16, 2009
Time: 6:00pm – 10:00pm
Location: BIWA STUDIOS
Street: 2141 45th Road
City/Town: Long Island City, NY

See our facebook event page and please take a second to RSVP at the Netsuite link. See you there!

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=116393852386

This demo, which showcased broncolor power packs and other broncolor lighting tools, was hosted by  Dodd Camera Professional on Armitage Ave in Chicago.  Check it out.
Broncolor at Dodd

video by John Cole (jcolemedia.com)