Doug Kerr
Well-known member
. . . but then you don't have to go to Ottowa".
So read the sign at the entrance to atelier dak, our little photo studio in Dallas.
Here at the New World Headquarters in Weatherford, Texas, we are a little more cramped for space, and haven't done much studio work. But today we had a task, so we developed a workable configuration. The project was a promo shot of Carla to be used on the back of her forthcoming book, The Cherokee Advantage.
Here's the "client proof":
Douglas A Kerr: Carla F14570
Here we see the studio setup:
Douglas A Kerr: Atelier dak 406
The background is a white Impact 8' x 16' collapsible muslin unit (much like the Botero units but, in my opinion, better made). The 8' x 8' forecloth portion was furled behind for this shoot. The background is supported along the sides by a pair of old light stands (the kind made rather like a student music stand of a very nice kind). It has a very sturdy spring steel rim, which holds up the top very well without any supports above.
The key light and fill light are Vivitar 283HV shoe-mounted flash units, shot into Bosh Eclipse+ reflective umbrellas (silver surface). The units are powered by 6 V motorcycle batteries.
The background light (seen near the bottom of the posing stool) is also a Vivitar 283HV, this one run today by a Vivitar AC adapter. Its job was to drive the entire background into full saturation. Reflection from the background also served as a hair light.
On the camera (an EOS 40D) is a Canon Speedlite 299T, used in the manual mode to provide triggering for the three lights (all of which are equipped with optical trigger receivers) and also to provide catchlights.
On the blue anodized tripod (a genuine Graflex) we see Stella, our lighting stand-in. (Carla served many hours as a lighting stand-in - called a "light walker" - at The Dallas Opera, and doesn't care to do that much here, especially when she is also the model!)
On the left, under the table lamp, we see our faithful Colored Parrot. He is very handy for doing white balance measurement: he patiently holds a WhiBal neutral target in his beak (he's "off the clock" in this shot.).
So read the sign at the entrance to atelier dak, our little photo studio in Dallas.
Here at the New World Headquarters in Weatherford, Texas, we are a little more cramped for space, and haven't done much studio work. But today we had a task, so we developed a workable configuration. The project was a promo shot of Carla to be used on the back of her forthcoming book, The Cherokee Advantage.
Here's the "client proof":
Douglas A Kerr: Carla F14570
Here we see the studio setup:
Douglas A Kerr: Atelier dak 406
The background is a white Impact 8' x 16' collapsible muslin unit (much like the Botero units but, in my opinion, better made). The 8' x 8' forecloth portion was furled behind for this shoot. The background is supported along the sides by a pair of old light stands (the kind made rather like a student music stand of a very nice kind). It has a very sturdy spring steel rim, which holds up the top very well without any supports above.
The key light and fill light are Vivitar 283HV shoe-mounted flash units, shot into Bosh Eclipse+ reflective umbrellas (silver surface). The units are powered by 6 V motorcycle batteries.
The background light (seen near the bottom of the posing stool) is also a Vivitar 283HV, this one run today by a Vivitar AC adapter. Its job was to drive the entire background into full saturation. Reflection from the background also served as a hair light.
On the camera (an EOS 40D) is a Canon Speedlite 299T, used in the manual mode to provide triggering for the three lights (all of which are equipped with optical trigger receivers) and also to provide catchlights.
On the blue anodized tripod (a genuine Graflex) we see Stella, our lighting stand-in. (Carla served many hours as a lighting stand-in - called a "light walker" - at The Dallas Opera, and doesn't care to do that much here, especially when she is also the model!)
On the left, under the table lamp, we see our faithful Colored Parrot. He is very handy for doing white balance measurement: he patiently holds a WhiBal neutral target in his beak (he's "off the clock" in this shot.).
