The Hot Photographer

Perth's entry into autumn via a heatwave - and didn't we all just love it when it got over 40º... raised the question about what we should do ...when it gets above 40º.

As householders we should go inside, turn on the A/C, get a cold drink, and read a book - or type a weblog column. As photographers we should get get out there and capture the blazing sun, sticky asphalt, and overbearing UV. Nothing should stop us from being artists, including the car steering wheel being at welding temperature. I mean, what are oven gloves for anyway? If suffering for art is required, Perth can provide the raw material.

Well, art is all very well but artists at 40º plus are not a pretty sight. The wisest amongst them will adjourn to the darkroom to develop film or the not-so-dark room to work on their computer files. The very fortunate will disappear into the studio and decide to do something with chiaroscuro - something that doesn't use tungsten lights turned up high.

Here is where Camera Electronic come in. Lighting the studio with a lot of heat and electricity is okay in winter but summer needs a smarter solution. If you can get away with a smaller set of studio strobes, both the temperature and the cost go down. Studio flashes do have modelling lights to let you see approximately where the final illumination will go but once you know that you can turn them off and work just with the momentary flash. And fortunately the more modest mono-blocks draw very little electricity and do not heat up the  body of the flash in the stand-by mode.

I can say this with confidence, having bought one of the tiny ones myself - The 125 W/S Elinchrom RX One. I got it to serve as a hair light, and it does that job admirably when slung from a rail above the shooting area. Small, light, but with the standard Elinchrom bayonet fitting that takes all the other light modifiers I own. It even has an integral fan for hot weather.

I did not realise how useful it could be until I took it off the ceiling and put it on a boom arm over the shooting table. It is so light that it can be supported by a very simple arm, and no counterweight needed. It has an in-built radio trigger that responds to the Skyport transmitter on the camera and I need not remember to attach a separate receiver. And best of all, when the power is buttoned down from a higher setting it has an auto-dump circuit that reduces the resultant initial flash.

I have been progressively more impressed with the lower-power Elinchrom units as time goes on - the 500/500 W/S setup that was used with the film cameras gave way to a 250/250 W/S standard and now I am down to 125 W/S for individual product illustration. It means that I feel people can look at the D-lite 2 sets with as much enthusiasm as the D-Lite 4's for small studio use.

When Perth swelters, that has to be a good thing.

Elinchrom D-lite and Rx sets are available in the Camera Electronic Stirling Street shop and in the on-line inventory too. Don't forget to get some additional light shapers and some spare globes.

Stand Up For Your Lights! With Kupo And Promaster!

Studio light stands come in many sizes but only two types; too flimsy or too massive.

The former are usually cheaper than the latter but you tend to spend more money on them - they fail early and drop your expensive lights or backdrops onto the studio floor. Sometimes they drop your expensive lights or backdrops onto your even-more-expensive studio models and clients.

It is wise to remember the old studio maxim: Be prepared to either light carefully or to light out...for Queensland.

The too massive ones will not collapse on the customers nearly as often, but will take their toll when you try to move them up and down stairs. Chiropractors and physios love massive equipment, particularly if it has no handles or wheels to move it around. It is good business...

All the above said, consider the middle road for studio light stands - the "C"stand. It is a large and heavy device that has a standard 1'2" spigot on top, about 2.5 metres of height, and a set of three metal legs that can be splayed out at 120º each to secure it. The legs are different lengths, but finish up able to hold the central shaft upright - whilst tucking into the corner of the studio.

The central shaft unplugs from the legs for storage and handling.

You can get the stands in black or polished silver. The former is a help when you want to avoid unwanted reflections in a dark studio, but the latter is easier to avoid running into in that same studio. Walk into a lamp post at full-stride on the street and see what I mean.

Some stands are available with an adjustable boom arm that can hold a pretty substantial head and light shaper on the end. This can be the way to do product down-lighting when you want the effect to come from directly over the subject but do not have overhead suspension for the lights. Just suspend it over the set like a building crane.

Kupo and Promaster both make "C" stands that are well worth considering for your studio - you may not want to replace all your folders with them but there should be a space for at least one in the lighting setup.

Profoto B1 - Industrial Safety Hero Product

You all know the Profoto B1 500 Air - the monohead that has the lithium-ion rechargeable battery pack clicked to the side of it - the one that fires incredibly short bursts of light. The one that takes all the Profoto light shapers and sits on the top of a standard light stand.

Well I want one. No. I want four of them.

I shoot in a darkened studio so that I can see the effect of the light positioning on the models. It does not have to be stygian in there but it is dim - as is my eyesight these days. Currently I have a set of lights that run off the mains power, with proper three-core AC cords and plugs. Because of the power socket position in the studio there are two feed points an two distributor blocks to split this electricity.

That makes six power power cords in total. Yesterday I managed to unplug, tangle, and trip over all six at some point in the afternoon. One occasion nearly brought down a main light stand on top of me- fortunately the model's assistant caught it. Thank goodness. Nothing would say "professional" like sitting on the floor in a pile of broken equipment...

The Profoto's on the other hand are cord free. There is no synch cord to deal with either, so your chance of clotheslining yourself is nil. Of course you have to go charge the batteries later but the darn things will fire over 200 shots full power anyway and my studio uses lights at their lowest settings so I cannot imagine running out of power.

I also want a camera that i can find in the dark after I have set it down somewhere - oddly enough this will probably be easy to do - a small LED and a tiny battery attached to and accessory bar will signal it. If I get two LED packs I can attach one to a coffee cup and life would be perfect.