Page 55 - NyghtVision Magazine Volume 2 #2
P. 55
48
LEFT:
AN EXAMPLE OF THE VERSA-
TILITY OF THE OCTO BEAUTY
DISH. THIS PHOTO WAS CRE-
ATED OUTSIDE, UNDER DEEP
SHADOWS IN THE AFTERNOON.
THE AREA BEHIND INNANA WAS
BACK LIGHT BY THE HARSH AF-
TERNOON SUNLIGHT, YET THE
IMAGE HAS THE SAME LOOK
AND FEEL OF ONE CREATED IN
A STUDIO USING STROBES.
The days of my being easily impressed ended a using ambient light. Frequently, that means I
long time ago. So, when a new product comes use my flashes – up to four – in manual, with
our way, it is always regarded with some meas- as little as 1/64 full power. Just enough to sof-
ure of scepticism. This is especially true when ten the shadows and highlight the emotionally
it comes to accessories for camera flashes. We powerful aspects of the image.
have a closet full. The ones that are really port- In February, when we attended WPPI, we
able don’t really function well, and the ones stopped at Chimera’s booth. All our soft box-
that are not very portable some times work bet- es are made by Chimera and the reasons are
ter, but the fact that they aren’t very portable simple: Quality, attention to detail, rugged,
means that we don’t use them terribly often. thoughtfully designed. The bulk of our work is
That’s especially true for most of my fine art done on site, not in the studio, so we tend to
work. While I use strobes on occasion, they of- push all our gear to the limit.
fer a measure of complexity that doesn’t often Add to that the seminars we do, and, well, only
suite the style of work I like to do. I find power the best gear survives. Chimera’s soft boxes
cords get in the way and moving from scene have proven themselves worthy of our confi-
to scene isn’t easy. Over the course of a shoot dence.
I might work in five rooms, or move from an
interior scene to the outside, or vice a versa. Frankly, I was surprised to see that Chimera
Flexibility is critically important. had released a beauty dish for use with flash-
es. My first reaction was to ignore it – as I said
To make matters worse, I prefer scenes that flash accessories rarely work. But as we looked
look “natural” – as though photographed only at it more closely, we decided to ask Chimera
nyghtvision magazine volume 2, number 2, summer 2012
