Photography & Lighting setups
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A magazine I work for a lot sent me to a clinic where they are specialized in x-raying dogs, and the vet above is well known in Sweden for being very good at positioning the dogs right, which is important, I have learned.
The assignment was for an article, and usually I try to deliver realistic photos using only available light. But, for some photos, it is nice to bring your own light and not have to rely on the dark skies of Sweden or the un-flattering light from fluorescent lamps.
Some of my assignments are for magazines and newsletters, and they mostly consists of “go there and there, take a portrait of him and her, and send us the picture soon”. In this case it was two people working at a animals hospital together with their latest addition, a X-ray computed tomography machine.
Hearing that I would take photos inside a hospital made me think twice about going there with just my D700 and a Speedlight (which I mostly do otherwise) together with some lenses.
Instead I also packed a light stand, my Profoto AcuteB 600R, a PocketWizard, some ND-filter and duct tape.
Shaun Tan is the Australian illustrator and winner of the ALMA award (The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award) 2011, this week he is in Stockholm a couple of days, then off to Munich, Lillehammer and Vimmerby. After that, back again for more events, interviews and finally the ceremony were he will recieve the award from H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria.
My job is to produce press photos from all the events in Stockholm this year for the award office and their PR department. We started today on a small island in the middle of Stockholm called Skeppsholmen, photographing portraits in different locations of the island.
One of my latest assignments was taking some portraits of the director of The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA). I have worked for them during the last three years, mostly documenting their winners visiting Sweden for the award week and ceremony. Now it was just some publicity portraits we did.
It is nice to get outside the studio and try to do simple portraits on location with as little equipment as possible. I brought only one light this time (a Profoto AcuteB 600R and a large 5 foot softbox Octa), but we managed to get good portraits from three different “stations” without having to spend too much time on setups and preparations.
I must admit, even if I have learned so much reading the Strobist blog the last couple of years, I have not once tried adding a Speedlight to the mix when shooting outdoors. Don’t really know why.
But, when the stand-up comedian I had helped with studio portraits earlier this year called and had an idea for new photos to market his new show, it was time. But not Speedlights, just one Profoto AcuteB 600R and a flash head.
