Profoto B10 and Elisa in Rome
Recently I made a trip to Rome and thought it would be a good opportunity to do a photoshoot while I as out there. The main concern for me was knowing that I needed to travel light as it would just be me and Georgina travelling together for her birthday. As much as I love my Broncolor Siros 800L’s and the quality of light they produce the strobes are heavy and quite cumbersome especially when planning to shoot around a busy city and so I had a look at the Profoto B10 which I have had my eye on for a little while now. Without going into detail about the comparisons and other contenders I decided to go for it and ordered one unit along with a spare battery. As soon as it arrived I knew I had made the right decision, the size and weight is perfect for travelling not to mention my back :) all that was left to see was wether the quality of light and flash output would be enough for my needs, I quickly found out I had nothing to worry about in either category.
Here are some images of the light and packaging below:
With keeping things as simple as possible in mind I decided to leave my octabanks behind and instead brought with me a small 85cm silver umbrella and diffusion. The umbrella came with my Broncolor Siros L lights, I had never used it and was glad to see it fit the Profoto B10 perfectly, the diffusion is a small profoto umbrella diffusion which fit the same dimensions as the bronoclor umbrella, see below:
The next challenge was finding a bag suitable for all my gear, I already own two pelican cases and one that is approved for the cabin size of most aeroplanes but if anyone owns a pelican case you know that even empty they weigh quite a bit, not to mention the pelican case I own only gives the option for a shoulder strap and not a double backpack style strap, so I had a look at a few alternatives and settled on the Think Tank Airport Take Off V2.0.
Now, I am not the best packer but this bag fit my Phase One XF camera, the Profoto B10 light, an extra lens, spare batteries and all the other accessories I was bringing along for the trip, it also had a compartment on the front for my laptop, all in all I was very satisfied with my choice.
Elisa De Caro and the end of my new Profoto B10
Once we arrived in Rome on the Monday we had half a day to scout some locations unfortunately when we arrived the weather was not good.
It was raining quite a bit, even so I remained calm as the weather forecast still predicted a drier Tuesday and a very hot Wednesday fortunately for us it was right.
Wednesday came and with it a very hot and sunny start to the day.
Elisa De Caro
When searching for models for the shoot I came across Elisa De Caro an Italian nurse who had only done one photoshoot previously but had a big passion for becoming a model, from the images I saw of her I could tell she would suit the mood perfectly and so I reached out to her with my idea and thankfully she was more than happy to work with me on this shoot. Elisa had a great spirit and energy, she did not speak much english but came along with a friend who helped to translate for us.
After hair and makeup we headed up to the roof terrace of the hotel we were staying at for the first shot.
Here you can see that we used the Profoto B10 with no modifier aimed directly at the model to strengthen the harsh light coming from the sun.
After this we stayed on the roof but moved around the corner to a wall that was being hit directly by sunlight.
This time I attached the umbrella with diffusion and placed the light to the right of the model to even out some of the shadows being cast by the sun.
Here is a diagram of the set up and the final images:
After capturing these images we headed back to the room and got ready for the next look.
Once we were all ready we headed down to a street not far from the hotel which I had seen the day before and thought would be great. I explained what I was looking for and for Elisa that was enough, here’s a little video clip and the final images below (The guy watching is Elisa’s friend and translator for the day).
It was here that my light was dropped (without naming names, she knows who she is) resulting in it no longer firing luckily I had been approached by a gentleman moments before I started shooting this setup, he had seen my Phase One XF camera and informed me that he worked for a company who supplied Phase One and other photographic equipment, he gave me his card and told me to come and see them if I needed anything. It came in handy and I was able to procure a replacement Profoto light quickly before they had finished makeup and changed into the next outfit.
If you’re ever in town I highly recommend them:
http://www.allucinazione.net
We then made our way over to a bridge we had come across on Monday when it was raining, with the sun now hitting it the scene was perfect.
We quickly went over the mood board once more and Elisa fell into the role and confidently walked back and forth along the street allowing me to capture some natural movements and poses.
For the shots above Georgina moved along side Elisa holding the light while she walked towards the camera. Here is another diagram showing the one light set up.
For the last set up we headed to a view point overlooking the city. The sunlight was very strong here and so I just used the the strobe to fill in some of the shadows again using the umbrella with diffusion.
I had incredible time shooting in Rome, it was a great experience and using the B10 has made me more confident to travel light with confidence that I can still create the images I want to create.
P.s. Since returning back to the UK I have now had the Profoto B10 repaired and it’s ready for it’s next trip :)
Model: Elisa De Caro
Hair/MUA: Georgina Davies