For some time now, I’ve been planning a certain photo shoot. It’s pretty conceptual in nature, not what you’d expect… and the resulting image is going to be amazing.
As with so many large-scale shoots which require lots of planning in advance, I have various notes and mock-up images that I am working from – but alas, I won’t be sharing those here (you’ll just have to wait for the behind-the-scenes write-up for that)!
So…
At the end of last week, I headed off to the location in question, to iron-out a few logistical details and conduct a few lighting tests.
Multi-storey car park and tents? Absolutely!
In the car was a basic kit of camera gear; as it turns out, I ended up using just the D3 with 24-70mm f/2.8 attached. This was mounted to a tripod, along with a Pocket Wizard for firing the flashes.
Lighting turned out to be a simple affair – two SB-800 flash guns, each connected to a Pocket Wizard (see picture further down).
The star of the final picture ultimately comes courtesy of Vango – in the shape of the iconic Force Ten Standard Mk3 tent.
But for the sake of this test day, I wanted to make sure this model was the right choice, so also took along a Spindrift 300 for good measure…
Both lovely tents, but it soon became clear that the Mk3 had to be the way forward, as I’d suspected.
It all worked very well.
I know a lot of you will be intrigued by my antics on this one, so here are a few behind-the-scenes snaps taken on my phone.
Below: Of course, the day had to begin with a cuppa!
Below: The Mk3 taking shape. Sand bags were used to anchor instead of pegs (obviously). A simple frame will be used in the final shoot itself.
Below: Setting up the lights… This is actually inside the Spindrift 300.
Below: Two SB-800 flash guns did the job nicely!
Below: First test shot of the day – and the Mk3 looked magnificent!
Below: Matt was on hand to speed things along a bit.
Below: The Spindrift 300 taking shape.
Below: Second test shot of the day.
Thoughts? Questions? Feel free to tippety-tap in the Comments!
