Ok, after a day at the Penitentiary, I am feeling pretty lucky to be among the free. So where do we go next to study light? Well, to Algodones, New Mexico and an abandon Power Plant, some forty miles south of Santa Fe. Interesting enough, this location was a complete challenge for its absence of light, its rich perspectives of pipes and stairs and a chance to really exercise some lighting control.
My first setup was of Rachel against a wall of glass tiles. I used a single large softbox to create a soft light as my primary source with a reflector to fill on the opposite side.
For the next setup, I went for the mad scientist setup, using three Canon Speedlites with red, blue and yellow gels to give the walls and the pipes and stairs a funky industrial look. I was using the Canon Speedlite ST-E2 IR Transmitter on top of the camera to trigger the Speedlites. That meant that all the of the remote Speedlites had to see the transmitter, thus forced my composition. The shot below shows the initial setup.
When I placed the model, Garry, into the frame, I leveraged my fellow photographer, Thomas, holding a Lastolite EZbox softbox flown out on the end of painter’s pole (w/ Kasey Pole Adaptor) to provide the principal light for him to become Electric Man. Great fun with a four light setup.
