Saturday, May 29, 2010

Dancing at Dawn


The last 4 weeks have been a very interesting time for me.
7 months have passed since my last post here, and though I am kicking myself for letting things slip, I am also feeling a lot more positive than I have in a long while.

I am now at the end of a 4 week hiatus from medicine; time I took off to evaluate my direction and work on the business aspect of photography.
Plenty has happened, and a lot of big decisions have been made.
However, most importantly, I have taken a lot of photographs!
Case in point, my dawn shoot with Savannah, a local girl with a passion for dancing.

More info and a few important lessons learnt after the jump.




Under normal circumstances I am not a morning person, I wake up with my bed-clothes securely nailed to the mattress.
The only time I feel any different is when I'm heading out in the pitch black with a camera around my neck.
Invariably it's to make the drive south to one of my favourite beaches for some landscape work.
Lately though, I've been concentrating on my location lighting and environmental portraiture, and had been looking for a dancer to shoot at dawn for some time.

As lucky breaks go, running into Savannah's mom at a business expo was quite serendipitous.
We got to talking, I made the offer, and 2 weeks later we had an appointment at dawn to hopefully make some magic.

I pride myself on thorough preparation and planning, and made time before-hand to discuss what we'd be doing, costume choices and get an idea what they hoped to achieve.

But as they say, the best laid plans of mice and men...

Basically, the setup was quite simple: Myself and one assistant with a light-stand - 2 x 580EX II flashes shot through a translucent umbrella - bread and butter off-camera flash work which doesn't deserve much space here.

But,as the purpose of this post is to offer a few insights and pearls of wisdom for fellow photographers planning a shoot like this, I will avoid talking about the lighting, and focus more on the logistics, as this is where things often fall flat.

I usually have a 1 man debrief after every shoot, and write down the things I fet could improve the outcome next time.

So here are a few pieces of advice.

1) Pick your time wisely.
I have a list of tide times which also give accurate times for sunrise and sunset.
I planned on meeting up at the beach 30 minutes before sunrise, as this would give us time to set up, find a spot and go through the brief before the light started showing.
Trust me, if you've never shot at dawn or dusk, you'll have no idea how brief your window is for getting that sumptious warm light.
You don't want to waste it.
Planning on being there well before you intend to start shooting is a wise plan. (And it allows for late starts and difficulty getting out of bed)

2) Pick your meeting spot, and carry a (charged) mobile phone
Murphy decided that this would be the first slip up of the day.
Ocean beach, where we were shooting has 2 car parks, 1 of which I never notice because it's always pitch dark when I get there.
Needless to say, we were waiting at different spots, and a 6:30 start turned into a 6:50 start.
Luckily not too much of a problem as sunrise was at 7:05, but the prep time I had envisioned got drastically reduced.

The mobile phone suggestion is also a smart one. The last thing you want is to be stuck somewhere for legitimate reasons with a model trying hard to get hold of you, or vice-versa.


3) Fake eyelashes and nice catch lights don't mix too well.
Savannah's mom did an awesome job with her costume and make-up.
I had asked for flowing, bright clothing and she had delivered.
Not only that, but she had done a great job with the make up.
However, it was only back home later, whilst editing, that I noticed her fake lashes and our lighting position had robbed the eyes of light and detail. (as the photo below will demonstrate)
Granted, this may be fixable by simply lowering the position of the light (It was slightly high and angled down at her), but I'll try both options when next I get a chance and see how things go.




4)A REAL waterproof groundsheet.
This little pearl is probably the one that frustrated me most on the day.
My intention was to shoot Savannah leaping gracefully through the air. I knew that I would be on wet beach sand, so I admit I felt pretty smug when I thought of packing in an apparently waterproof groundsheet. (Thanks Kathmandu)
Long story short - it wasn't waterproof, I got soaked to the skin from chest to knees and got far fewer attempts at the shot I wanted and ultimately never got.

Now I know some of you are thinking, "Hey you were wet already, why not just carry on?"
Fair point, but we'll talk again when you're working with soaked undies and the shoot hasn't really got started yet.



5) Don't forget the little stuff!
Packing the night before is crucial, but this is useless if you forget to pack something.
In my case it was my Petzl headlamp.
I love it, and want to say that it goes everywhere with me, but then I wouldn't be writing this, would I?

6) Know you gear.
For small location work I use my Pocketwizard Flex TT5 and Mini TT1 radio triggers. I love the freedom to use high speed sync when I want it.
On this occasion, they were misfiring at times. VERY annoying when you've got a jumping dancer getting impatient at having to "try it again".
It took no time to ascertain the flash battery packs were fine, and my only conclusion was a battery problem with the transmitter. I wasn't carrying a spare on the day, as they are meant to last for months. (Note to self...)

Instead of struggling on, I opted to switch to my back-up transmitter (Elinchrom skyport) which allowed me to complete the shoot without issues.

The important point here is to not get flustered when things go wrong. Keeping control is good for yourself AND your subject.
Knowing your gear, how it works, what issues to expect and how to fix them is very important.

Incidentally, the pocketwizards worked fine back at home without any battery changes. I am working with Pocketwizard's tech support to figure out if the problem is related to a known issue with radio intereference from the flash units themselves, but it has taught me to carry a good supply of spare batteries wherever I go

Which brings me to my next point...

7) Have a backup plan
Redundancy is good. Knowing what to fall back on when things get sticky saves headaches and time.

8) End on a high note
The whole point of a shoot like this is to make it fun for your subject.
Truth be told, every shoot is a chance to refine your technique and approach.
But NEVER forget that without a subject you have no shoot.
Look after them, make them laugh if you can, and keep them interested in whatever way you need to.
Looking after your talent is good karma, and the right thing to do.



My thanks to Kymm and Savannah for their time.
I look forward to our next shoot, and the opportunity to improve on the work we've done. (And to using a REAL waterproof ground sheet)


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