Being ready for client changes and challenges means taking more gear, but also getting the shot.

There was a change of plans on a shoot I was doing for a client quite a ways from my city.

The changes happened while I was en-route, so I was not aware of it till I got there. And the changes were pretty big.

I had thought I was going down to make natural or nearly-natural light portraits of artists, but at the last minute they decided that they needed images of the product in the gallery more.

I packed a pretty good amount of gear - including my ProFoto 600's kit. Glad I did. If I had gone with only what I thought I would use, I would have had my speedlights, a couple of stands, and one small Dynalite head. That would not have been what was needed for this shooting.

I needed the power and the light dispersal of the bigger lights to make the shots pop. Adding the reflector to the front of the set brought out the color and kept the shots from being 'rimlit' instead of studio lit. I had enough stands, clamps and reflectors to make the shot look the way I needed it to - and that was great for my client.

A speedlight into one of these shoot-thrus create a bit of a hot-spot that falls off. The reflector on the ProFotos keep the light full on into the umbrellas and lessen the fall off dramatically.

As you can see, we had to bootstrap it a bit. I wish I had brought the softboxes as well, but the shoot-thru's did fine.

I am all about not over-packing, but I do make sure I have enough gear to cover all kinds of challenges and possibilities.

For more information on lighting and working as a photographer, see Lighting Essentials.

Don Giannatti: Designer / Photographer / Writer
www.dongiannatti.com / www.lighting-essentials.com / www.learntolight.com / 602 434 1765

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