Day 24 - Project 365

On The Edge of Innocence...

Ashlee joined me for my adventure today. We found ourselves out at the Jensen beach pier over looking the indian river. It was cool and a slight bit windier than I was comfortable with. She was to be standing on the rail a good 4 feet up. This meant the beauty Dish would have to be boomed well over 9 feet high. With a stiff 13mph breeze this made for one wobbly tower of metal and plastic. I watched as it swayed from side to side, praying that it would not give out and come crashing down. Or worse go into the water or hit Ashlee (thus knocking her into the water also). Ashlee was worried about falling into the cold black water, and quickly pointed out that i had chose the weakest and most unsecure plank for her to step on. I assured her that she wouldn't fall in, but if she did that the water wasn't that deep. Despite the wind I had neither Ashlee or the Over extended Beauty Dish fall, only one light fell today.

About half way through the shoot the Medium Softbox AB just couldn't hold its ground and toppled over. I have the utmost faith in Paul C. Buff gear and was confident that the light would not suffer and damage, either cosmetic or mechanical. Once again, I was right as I picked the light up, fixed the C-stand and went about shooting like nothing happened. That shows you how strong the wind is and how much of a sail the soft box is. I had a 25lb sand bag on my 15lb metal C-Stand. I could only imagine what a light weight aluminum stand would have done. I'd of been fishing the light out of the river about 100 yards down. We set up the AB800 with a Medium soft box, far camera left and cranked it up to 3/4 power, the beauty dish was set at 1/2. By far the highest combined power I used thus far for a night shoot. We shot the railing shot first, followed by the running shot and finally the 5 exposure background shot which later was used to create a HDR image for the background.

Between the wind, the lack of an assistant and my indecisive post workflow, I'd have to say that day 24 was a challenge. Funny thing is, the setup and shooting was a breeze (no pun intended). It wasn't until I got home and started editing the shot did I have issues. I wasn't sure what I wanted for the final look. Washed out, Blue tones, Bleach Bypass look, gritty or soft and surreal. I must have went through a hundred or so setting combinations in lightroom. Most of which, Ashlee couldn't even tell the difference. Your eye really gets trained to spot the minut details shifts when working the sliders in lightroom. I often find myself sitting inches from the screen going from before to after and back.

All in all I'd say I'm still a bit shaky on the final outcome of day 24. The detail, clarity and overall flawless look just didn't get achieved. However, I don't want to give the wrong impression, I am happy with the final outcome as I think that even with more time the difference would have been nominal. So day 24, I'm glad that you accepted plan A as the one and only plan to be needed. I appreciate the break and will not take it for granted. Until Day 25… I bid you all farewell and happy shooting. Or whatever else you as a loyal reader does for a living or hobby. Hey… If you enjoy the blog, let me know in the comments below. I appreciate hearing from people as it makes the blog come alive. - Michael

AB800 Beauty Dish Boomed approx. 9 feet up @ 3:00 set at 1/2 power
AB800 Med Softbox Approx. 5 feet up. @ 9:00 set at 3/4 power

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