As a working photographer you’re essentially hired to solve problems. These can include any number of variables like the weather, location, deadline, budget, all the way down to the energy of everyone on set and in front of the lens. With that in mind, it is quite a dance some days to keep everything in a “controlled state of chaos” and still maintain the connection with your subject. This is probably why some of the most talented people photographers of all time kept their gear load light.

There is a great documentary on Helmut Newton that the guys over at Fstoppers.com shared recently. Helmut Newton: Portrait Of A Fashion Icon (NSFW). I’ve queued up a 30 second clip of it below. His approach to image making was technically simple most of the time, but everlastingly impactful, if not controversial. “Helmut Newton was a prolific, widely imitated fashion photographer whose provocative, erotically charged black-and-white photos were a mainstay of Vogue and other publications.” *

I am still a tech guy at heart though, and I love new gear, especially when it makes my life easier. One of the great parts of my job is that these shiny new toys are also the tools I use to make a living. This dual purpose allows me to rationalize away some splurging on new toys, err tools, on occasion. That cool new iPad for instance is fun to play around with, but has also become a key component in marketing my photography. It allows me to share extended portfolios and video clips that previously would have been left at home.

There are also plenty of positive byproducts, of today’s intense manufacturing competition. We as consumers get better, lighter, faster gear and occasionally a new technology that really enhances our ability to do what we do. I am a people photographer and my rapport with the people I photograph is something that I pride myself on. At the same time I am a technical lighting photographer too. In the video Helmut stated that’d he rather limit the gear he used to focus on what was most important, the subject. Nowadays new products can dial in the exposures we need automatically some times, getting us back to our subjects, without the need to leave our lights behind.

I have been using various triggers from the company Pocketwizard for years now, to fire my flashes remotely and reliably when out shooting. Recently I got my hands on their latest line of triggers, the Mini TT1 & Flex TT5. These new triggers are just the kind of game changing technology I was talking about. I rely heavily on my speedlights for shooting on location, but once I take them off the camera they become as “dumb” as your average studio strobe. When I couple my speedlights with the Pocketwizard FlexTT5 all of a sudden they are talking to my camera again. This means that using the TTL metering from my camera they can automatically choose the proper output I need and do so wirelessly and without the need for a line of sight. This saves me precious time on set that would be usually spent metering, dialing in exposures and tweaking them. MOST importantly I am able to devote my attention back to the subject, working with them to produce the best possible image, rather than just a nicely lit image with no connection. When you are working with another human being, communication is key.

Now there are a ton of other great features built into these things, that have become indispensable over the last month or two of using them. While I was down in Orlando last month for Photoshop World I decided to really put them to the test. At past Tweetups I’ve kept things rather simple, running 2-3 light setups, just because of how crazy things can get. Well this year we had 300-400 people flood out onto the pool deck of the Rosen Center Hotel, and in front of my lens. On top of that I was using 6 different lights this time, all wirelessly triggered with a combination of Pocketizard MiniTT1, FlexTT5, and PlusII units. In the end I’m surprised only one person ended up in the pool, good times!

Enter Sarah’s Seaside Resort. The property is one of three owned by a local architect, whose aesthetic is to capture the spirit and atmosphere of “Old Florida”. Well, he succeeded. From the beautiful palm tree flanked pool deck, the tin roofed and their back patios opening onto the Gulf of Mexico I couldn’t imagine a more ideal location. After a quick phone call, and a promise not to disturb any guests with our pretty model and flashy photo gear, we got the go-ahead to shoot. When shooting on a location like this it is always a good idea to get a property release as well as the usual model release. In addition I made sure to offer use of select images to the owner for their website.

I was fortunate enough to work with an amazing team on this shoot, which allowed us to keep the number of people on set down, but still offer a high production value. This also meant for a smaller footprint insuring we did not disturb anyone at the location. It was my first time working with Shelley Giard and she wore a number of hats that day, and wore them all well. The day of the shoot she offered us a variety of looks through hair styling and makeup on top of pulling all the wardrobe together weeks before. Above and beyond that Shelley offers a different perspective on set, picking up on minor details in the scene or pose that will sometimes get overlooked by the photographer. Two sets of eyes are better than one when the devil’s in the details.

Another exciting part of the equation was the opportunity to work with our model Brynna Nolte. We had worked together on productions in the past and with such an awesome up beat energy, I was excited to get her in front of the camera lens. Having built a good body of work in Miami, primarily in the fashion and editorial industries, she transitioned well into the more carefree catalog looks of the day. Just the shear number of goofy faces she pulls off in the short BTS video I included are a testament to her versatility.

The last leg of the tripod falls to my good buddy Adam Rohrmann. Somehow this man stood in as my first assistant all day, did battle with a giant sail aka Scrim Jim, and still managed to shoot and edit this great Behind the Scenes video. There’s no doubt this is why he is such a key component to the Kelby Media Group’s video department. It really is a pleasure getting to work with such a talented group of people some days! Make sure to check out more of Adam’s video work and other great instruction over at Kelby Training Online.

With all the pieces in place the weather even decided cooperated with us. One benefit of shooting on location in Florida is that if you don’t like the weather you’re working with you can always wait 5 minutes and it’ll probably change. We lucked out though and other than some wind out on the beach, things stayed pretty even keeled. This allowed me to work with a lot more natural light than I usually do and still produce consistent results. I am always prepared to walk into a scene and light every aspect of it, giving me the control I need. Instead of using flashes I was able to get this control on a couple shots through the use of different reflectors. Primarily a large Scrim Jim (used both as a reflector and then as a diffuser) and the highly versatile Lastolite TriGrip.

For the bathing suit image below we relied on all three of the previously mentioned tools at our disposal. I would never advise someone try to shoot a model in direct midday sunlight in Florida, but sometimes you have no choice and it’s good to know how to deal. I’m no stranger to harsh light, having grown up on the beach, so I knew the key would lie in taming our direct sunlight first. To do this I had Adam fly our large Scrim Jim wearing a diffusion panel to soften the hot spots on Brynna’s left side, hoping that he wouldn’t be blown away in the process. Now that our exposure had been evened out a little I built some light back into Brynna’s front side with a strobe and 5′ Octabank. I removed the front baffle to produce a crisper light to mimic the sun we just knocked back. The icing on the cake was one final reflector on Brynna’s right side to fill in whatever shadows we had left and add a little sparkle to her eyes. These last few images show a quick before and after we stepped in and controlled the light.

Check out this quick video from Day One of our shoot. I quickly go over some of the gear we used at the beginning, then jump into the shooting. (FastForward to 1:11 if you’re just here for the pretty pictures!)

The whole production took place in one large field by my old house. I had been driving by this field forever and finally decided one day to pull over to take a better look. By this time it was quite over grown after standing unattended for the better part of a year. I ended up trekking in a ways and found that an old railroad used to cut across the field and there were the remains of a loading dock and what was a rock quarry at one time. What a perfect place to setup a base camp! The whole shoot really did feel like we were isolated on a location much more remote than we really were. Each direction you looked the landscape and plant life changed and blocked off the outside world. It turned out to be the perfect place to show off a number of looks without the need to move shop once.

I had initially planned to shoot just one day, starting at sunrise and going on until the midday heat said otherwise. Only after seeing the beautiful sunset over that field the evening I scouted it, I made the call to split the shoot over two days, to take advantage of the great light twice. I don’t think Raylin is any more a morning person than I am, but come the day of the shoot, she arrived on set ready for Safari. We don’t have to worry about lions or anything lurking in the undergrowth here in Florida but nonetheless Raylin exhibited bravery just jumping in with us and immediately falling into poses. After two days of crawling through the Florida scrub to get the shot(s) you’d think I had just returned from a safari myself, but every scratch and scrape was a price happily paid for what we came away with.

For this dramatic sunset shot we used two Westcott Strip Light Kits. They gave us a softer light yet still allowed for a lot of control, which I used to selectivity light the greenery around Raylin, producing a cool natural vignette. The back light received a full stop CTO gel to warm it up and mimic the temperature you would expect from the setting sun. Keep reading to see the lighting diagram and some BTS shots from the day.

It’s a good thing we got out there when we did too, because not even a week later I drove by, and apparently the management company had found a lawn mower big enough to level the whole field down again. Talk about perfect timing. Peace!

This brought something to mind concerning experimentation and getting stuck in a stylistic rut. Looking back over some of my work and conversations I’ve had with fellow photographers I realized how easy it is to get attached to a certain lighting style or technique. We work so hard to perfect the technical side of your craft that sometimes we lose sight of why we light.

“What light is light, if Silvia be not seen?
What joy is joy, if Silvia be not by?
Unless it be to think that she is by
And feed upon the shadow of perfection
Except I be by Silvia in the night,
There is no music in the nightingale;
Unless I look on Silvia in the day,
There is no day for me to look upon;”

- Two Gentlemen of Verona (Act 3, Scene I)

Light is light. Don’t light for the sake of lighting, light for your subject. Love the techniques but don’t marry yourself to just one style. In the end they’re just tools in our belt.

Lighting diagrams and setup shots after the jump.

Belleair Beach is one of those places that people work for. They work their entire lives to be able to afford a home on the edge of these sands, and everyday thereafter is a pleasant reminder of how beautiful life can be here. For anyone that hasn’t made that purchase yet there exists the issue of how to physically get from the street you drove in on, past these dream homes, to the beach itself. Normally the city provides some sort of paved gash in the pillars and palisades for people to traverse, but Belleair really did it right. You walk a path pleasantly shaded by overhanging sea oates and palm trees which opens to a boardwalk over the dunes expanding out onto the seashore.

I found this cut-through while riding my bike around searching for a classic beach location to photograph. The approach here struck me as so pretty that I decided to setup a shoot around someone’s trek to the beach rather than the ever popular “girl on the beach” shot we see so much of where I live. When it came to casting someone for the shoot I immediately thought of Liz. She is a local girl working in the Surf / Swimwear retail industry so there was nothing far fetched about shooting her on a skateboard in a bikini on her way to the beach. Now the light quality from the Westcott 50″ Apollo I was using is beautiful regardless, but it was simply breathtaking the way her skin shone under it. She’s the kind of girl with a sun-kissed golden tan in the dead of winter (although winter doesn’t really get too serious here in paradise).

At this point all that was left was to style the shoot. I couldn’t think of anyone better to help out on this than Larry, over at The Island “Surf” Shop on Indian Rocks Beach. It doesn’t hurt that he and his dog, Mojo, are my surf-side neighbors and have a long history of outfitting this stretch of beach with everything from flip flops to paddle boards. We quickly put together a collection of hats, beach bags, sunglasses, and lastly a long board for transportation. Then off we went to make the photographs, with the skate board doubling as a handy way to haul the gear.

One major challenge when building up a shot in a location like this is the sun. At midday it doesn’t always cast the most flattering light, and if you position your subject in the shade to combat this, everything else will probably be quite over exposed. There is an upside though, if you know how to get there. The sun makes for one heck of an accent light in a number of capacities and when properly balanced with other lighting, the sky reveals that deep blue we love it for. After framing up a couple spots I took a reading for the ambient light needed to pull out that beautiful blue I just mentioned. With this set, we began the process of building in the light needed to make Liz pop. This was accomplished with a strobe light controlled through a Westcott 50″ Apollo softbox with some fill light kicked back in using a Westcott 72″ Scrim Jim. Another light was used to bring out the green in the foliage behind Liz, as it fell into some pretty heavy shadow from the sunlight. Make sure to check out the Lighting Diagram for a better look at the setup. After working through a few different looks under this lighting we migrated down towards the beach shedding modifiers as we went.

In the end there’s nothing quite like that soft glow left lingering on the horizon just as the sun sets into the Gulf of Mexico. The last few images below were taken after successfully chasing the fading daylight and enjoying another unadulterated sunset here in paradise. Enjoy!

Liz Beachwear Shoot – BTS – Belleair Beach, FL from Erik Valind on Vimeo.

Abby couldn’t have picked a more beautiful animal to ride that day; I was amazed at the personality our horse exhibited too. He reminded me of the family dog at times, only this guy weighed in at +1,000lbs. Abby on the other hand, much less than a 10th his size, exerted a firm yet gentle control you’d expect from a rider many years her senior.

After making our rounds and getting some of the great shots above, Abby changed into her riding gear and we got down to the shot I was really excited to create… the JUMP!

Click here to view the Lighting Diagram for this shot.

When I finally arrived Ryan was just wrapping up a portfolio shoot for Jennifer Kirkpatrick, a local fitness model and yoga instructor. Jennifer is incredibly fit and has an awesome energy to her, which is exciting to find in a subject, as it isn’t often that I find someone that can match my own energy.  After kicking around the idea of shooting something down the road and finding that they were both free the following morning we decided to reconvene the next day and knock out some fun running / lifestyle shots.

Above are some of the photographs we made and here is a fast paced look behind the scenes. Enjoy!

Run Run Run Photoshoot – Behind the Scenes from Erik Valind on Vimeo.

Click here to view the Lighting Diagram for this shot.

Sahara Smith Photoshoot – Behind The Scenes from Erik Valind on Vimeo.

Click here to view the Lighting Diagram for this shot.