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All Images © Mike Corrado
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The day I'd seen Phil I knew I'd be shooting him at some point. Not knowing him, the first challenge was to find the right opportunity to approach him. Working out at the same gym, it was important to find a time to speak to him without disrupting his training. I got lucky and put the word out to a friend of his at the gym and told him that I was interested in doing some shooting. As it turned out, so was Phil. He'd been the subject of photographers already so I knew his experience would come in handy. The next struggle was getting in sync on a time to shoot which took quite a few months, maybe even closer to a year. It was well worth the wait.
the idea: To find a way to precisely position lights with a narrow path of light that would sweep across the subject in specific areas of the frame. the motivation: The never ending desire to master Nikon's extrodinary Creative Lighting System while implimenting the new SB-R200 Close-up remote Speedlight into the mix of SB-800 units, while commanding the lights with the new SU-800 Wireless Commander. the challenge: Pacing myself slowly in an extremely low light situation while being very patient with the positioning of the lights. Making the subject as comfortable as possible whil keeping him patiend as well, was critical. Lots of good conversation and simple explanations of what I was doing did the trick. In many of these situations, I like to educate the subject while trying to keep them locked in on what we're trying to accomplish together. Working with lens at a 1.4 f/stop was also something to be sure to watch. With a limited depth of field, I had to be sure focus was perfect on every frame. Autofocus with specific targeting helped quite a bit. the key to making it work: Taking my time and being meticulous about every move I made. By slowing down and constantly positioning lights as needed reviewing every image one at a time until I hit my mark. You have to be patient enough to realize that your subject will move so reviewing is key. Checking for focus and sharpness is also critical since the light is so low. By turning on a feature of the SB-800 and camera known as FP-High Speed Sync, I was able to push the shutter to 1/500th of a second or higher to keep the output down. After I scored several that I really wanted, I experimented with other lighting schemes. The ultimate compliment: Phil felt I was the most meticulous, technical photographer he worked with to date. He'd never seen someone light so precisely. I personally feel great when a plan of attack is executed well. To see more end result images from the entire shoot, click here the gear: camera: Nikon D2x D-SLR lens: 85mm 1.4 AF Nikkor accessories: Nikon SB-800 and SB-600 Speedlights, Nikon SB-R200 Speedlight, Lasolite 3 x 3 ft translucent light panel and Lumiquest snoots, light stands, Bogen Justin clamps for Speedlights |
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