Test of the new Elinchrom D-Lite's...

[theMusicMan]

Had to purchase a new set of flash units over the weekend - for an important job I had on Tuesday. As I often shoot peoples pets, I thought I should also do some test shots with our dogs.

With studio flash equipment - especially when this is mobile and one sets it up in different environments, I feel it's mainly a question of testing out in an attempt to get to know the kit... much the same as we do with our cameras.

Here's a few shots I liked; not perfect as we were a little limited for space and the dogs were a tad too close to the backlighting (see right of images) which caused some burn out. Have to say though, these Elinchrom D-Lite's are super...

Comments welcome...

1 - Poppy, Jim and Rosie led down.



2 - Jim stood, Rosie led down

[Garrie]

Re: Test of the new Elinchrom D-Lite's...

John,

The sharpness of your shots never fails to impress me, Nice one

I think lighting is something we aim to purchase (used as we are skint ) probs in the future for Susan to do portraits etc.

[threadhighjack]any tips on equipment etc would be handy[/threadhighjack]

Cheers
G

[Rod Souter]

Re: Test of the new Elinchrom D-Lite's...

I like the high key approach,
the colour of the coats seems to have changed between the two images.
I wish I could get my cats to co-operate as well as your trio

Rod

[theMusicMan]

Re: Test of the new Elinchrom D-Lite's...

John,

The sharpness of your shots never fails to impress me, Nice one

I think lighting is something we aim to purchase (used as we are skint ) probs in the future for Susan to do portraits etc.

[threadhighjack]any tips on equipment etc would be handy[/threadhighjack]

Cheers
G

Thanks Garrie... I purchased my first lighting setup second hand from someone on another forum and to be honest, it has been a superb education using it. It has served me exceptionally well up to now, and it may only be the bulb that has gone that caused it not to fire last weekend. I guess the choice of lighting depends on what you want to achieve with your images. I have found that with my initial set up I used two lights on the background set a stop above the main key light - which ensured that the background (if, of course, white was required) was lighter than the subject. This is the setup I used to use...



I think the notes explain a little more about the positions of the lamps etc. Hope this helps Garrie.

I like the high key approach,
the colour of the coats seems to have changed between the two images.
I wish I could get my cats to co-operate as well as your trio

Rod

Thanks Rod - they are quite cooperative I must say...

The different colours are due to testing the processing from each of my images. I want to see which PP settings provide the most accurate results and when I am satisfied with these, I'll save them as a Preset in Lightroom and use them for all my studio flash shots. That's the beauty of Lightroom, it is excellent for processing batches of images.

Hope this helps...

[emirpprime]

Re: Test of the new Elinchrom D-Lite's...

Nice shots John, looks like the lights worked out ok for you? You certainly know how to use them. I've got a pair of D-Lite 4s and they are great. Much better than the old Bowens and Jessops prolites I've used in the past. I hope Tuesday went well. Out of interest, what do you ise for a background? Do you have a proper stand? Or a home rigged set-up?

All the best,
Phil

[Who's_E]

Re: Test of the new Elinchrom D-Lite's...

Great shots. Most impressive is that you get them to sit still!

Dad's dogs are exceptionally well trained but even they look away, shuffle about and try and lick the camera.

Nick

[Zuiko]

Re: Test of the new Elinchrom D-Lite's...

Hi John,

You've got a real talent for portraits of both humans and animals. Have been looking at your set from the recent vets open day on your website and thought they were exceptionally good. I bet the owners of the pets, in particular, were absolutely thrilled! Thanks for sharing your lighting set up.

Great stuff, you deserve to be successful!

Cheers,

[theMusicMan]

Re: Test of the new Elinchrom D-Lite's...

Well what a wonderful thing to say John, thanks so very much indeed.

To be honest, I am still learning an awful lot, and believe I have a long long way to go yet before I class myself as you do! Re the portrait shots with studio lighting - these are certainly the ones that when parents see what I can do - they want a sitting for their child or pet. I have had numerous enquiries from folk who attended the Vets Open Day wanting further prints or products... all excellent stuff, I love it!

I have two jobs this weekend as well - one is going to be extrememly interesting. A good family friend works with an Indian lady who together with her husband (obviously) recently celebrated their 30th Wedding Anniversary. Hazel (our friend) pointed her to my gallery, and she immediately asked Hazel to see if I would be willing to arrange a portrait session where she and her husband can dress up in all their ceremonial regalia, and have their portraits done. I admit to really looking forward to this job - it's on Sunday morning and I am hoping to get some really good portraits. Then on Sunday afternoon I have been asked to attend the presentation ceremonies of my daughters rugby teams; from the U9's, right up to the Youth and Senior teams... a long day ahead I guess.

I really should advertise more in the right places because I'd so love to be able to do this full time. You never know...

Some may think I am nuts by saying this... but I'd especially love to do weddings...!!

[Malcolm Cousins]

Re: Test of the new Elinchrom D-Lite's...

These are really good John. You should be very proud of these. Not just saying it. They really are good.

all the best