On the tour of Dubai we have our new onesStudio flashes HS Freeze 6s and4s tested in different places. Among other things, during a photo shoot at a lost place in the desert of Dubai, where it was 42 degrees Celsius and due to the lack of electricity we were also dependent on the strong battery power of the flashes.
But the endurance test that the lightning bolts had to endure was still not over. Even the 42 degrees were extremely challenging for us humans, but it was supposed to get even more intense. Because as a grande finale we had chosen two very special locations for the Blitze.
One of the two was Lebanon Island, also simply called The Island. The island is part of the truly impressive development The World, in which artificial islands have been raised off the coast of Dubai, which are intended to symbolize different countries of the world. These islands can be booked for events and are only accessible by plane or boat.chbar.
We had imagined a photo shoot at the pool and at the harbor. There was only one tiny problem: Such a photo shoot with a model in a bikini is very, very unwelcome in very Muslim Dubai and would have meant problems. So we rented the entire island for the shoot and had ourselves picked up at the marina.
On our way from the mainland to the island, we first had to show our passport. Overall, the controls in Dubai are particularly large, because they want to prevent immigrants. This means that every boat in the harbor is checked.
When we arrived on Lebanon Island at 6 a.m., it was once again extremely hot (as is naturally the case so often on this trip). However, the most strenuous part of it was then taken over by the sea. Because of the high humidity, not even sweat could provide the much-needed cooling. So the great heat was even more exhausting with humidity than without it.
So that our model wouldn't immediately have wet hair, we first took a few normal photos with interesting architecture in the background. Unfortunately the pool didn't look very attractive. Every now and then we used a keylight to slightly improve small shadows from the sun while our new onesstudio flashes did a fantastic job even in the extremely high humidity.
In this case we worked with an aperture of 4 and HSS and flashed the model from the front.
Before we took pictures at the pool, we took the test to the extreme. Because in the middle of the pool there was a plateau on which we placed the flash so that we could capture the model in a really great pose at the pool edge.
For this, Felix Göbel from Rollei Product Management swam through the pool with lightning bolt in hand. Spray water was not a problem on the way, but if the flash had fallen into the water, both the flash unit and the product manager would have felt it painfully, because even these flashes are not waterproof. We would also like to warn you once again not to work with the lightning bolts in the water - there is a risk of death! And yet: This would definitely not have been possible with a wired device or Porty. In any case, the pictures we took were excellent..
We used the flash from the right, working at full power and with the standard reflector. This is how we lightened the shadow.
The second of the two exciting shootings took place on Mount Mleiha the next morning, which is why we got up at 3 a.m. to be able to see and photograph the sunrise at 5 a.m. there.
You take photos with a flash (yourself or when it is sunny) because the sun sometimes casts a very strong shadow that you want to compensate for.
Our photographer worked with a particularly wide angle on this picture because we wanted to capture the mountains in the picture. We gave some light from behind and hard light from the side with the included reflector.
We also had to be there very early because the model had to prepare and we had to set up the equipment ourselves. As with all other shoots in Dubai, we have with the twoFlash 6s and4s photographed. And there, as with the other locations, our guide proved to be extremely useful because he was able to tell us exactly where the sun would rise, which is exactly what happened.
In this case we used a soft light (parabolic soft box) from behind. The Freeze 4s fired from the right side and we emphasized the contours with the 6s with hard light (standard reflector).
It is important to align the exposure and shutter aperture with the background so that the background still looks dramatic enough, which is what you want to achieve at sunrise. So you take just as much light as you absolutely need to illuminate the model well. Preparation is the be-all and end-all on location. Because everything happens incredibly fast and the circumstances change very quickly in a very short time. That's why you have to keep an eye on the exposure all the time, otherwise the photos can quickly be overexposed. And sometimes there is only one opportunity for the perfect photo.
Another challenge: We (and above all the model and photographer) had to be extremely careful with the stones because some of them were razor sharp. So you had to know exactly where you were and where you could go. Because as a photographer you sometimes go back a bit so that you get a different perspective. However, if you stumbled there and fell on one of those ancient and sharp-edged stones, it could have ended very, very badly. Accordingly, you should also place the equipment before the shoot.
We used a different focal length and wanted a different lighting atmosphere, so the shutter speed was increased to 1/125.