The Ascention of Hope
This night time shot in Stephens Gap was a real undertaking by everyone involved. Normally this place is shot in the daytime and the light shining in the pit entrance above the models illuminates this grand place. Thought the years I have admired many works shot here. These images all shared one thing in common, they were all taken during the daylight hours. My goal for this shot was to take all the natural light away and add my own - not in a way to compete with the beauty of the daylight shots but to capture a moment of wonder at night in a different light. In order to pull this off we had to place lights in some unique places. Lets take a look at what was used to light The Ascention of Hope. Starting at the top of the shot and working clockwise. First we rigged a part of the pit referred to as the Keyhole with two ropes. One rope would support one of our illuminators. He used a 15 million candle power halogen spotlight pointed straight down to cover the tops of our models with a warm glow. This light remained on for six seconds during this shot. The second rope rigged in the keyhole was used as a highline stretching all the way over the camera position to the back of the cave and rigged to a pulley in order to lift a slaved Lumedyne strobe to a height of about 70 feet. This strobe would wash over the models and the rocks to the right of them heading back towards the camera. At the two o' clock position is another illuminator firing a large 22B flashbulb. This light brightened up the back wall of the cave from about the top of the models heads on up and out of the shot. In the six o' clock position is another illuminator. This light is a CF-SIT that exposed for 15 seconds and produces much of the back lighting for this shot. It also pushes shadows up in a different direction than you get with the top down sunlight of day shots offering a little different look. Finally in the ten o'clock position is another illuminator firing a No2B flashbulb. These bulbs burn for about 1/30 of a second. Radio communication was used for all the illuminators and models to time out everything. The teamwork for this trip was amazing. We were hit with severe weather on our hike to the cave hauling massive amounts of gear and didn't arrive back to camp until 3 am yet everyone on the crew was all smiles. As I do these shots I am constantly reminded of how an amazing project takes an amazing team composed of amazing people...for this glimpse into my dream...I had only the very best. My hats off to everyone.
The Ascention of Hope
This night time shot in Stephens Gap was a real undertaking by everyone involved. Normally this place is shot in the daytime and the light shining in the pit entrance above the models illuminates this grand place. Thought the years I have admired many works shot here. These images all shared one thing in common, they were all taken during the daylight hours. My goal for this shot was to take all the natural light away and add my own - not in a way to compete with the beauty of the daylight shots but to capture a moment of wonder at night in a different light. In order to pull this off we had to place lights in some unique places. Lets take a look at what was used to light The Ascention of Hope. Starting at the top of the shot and working clockwise. First we rigged a part of the pit referred to as the Keyhole with two ropes. One rope would support one of our illuminators. He used a 15 million candle power halogen spotlight pointed straight down to cover the tops of our models with a warm glow. This light remained on for six seconds during this shot. The second rope rigged in the keyhole was used as a highline stretching all the way over the camera position to the back of the cave and rigged to a pulley in order to lift a slaved Lumedyne strobe to a height of about 70 feet. This strobe would wash over the models and the rocks to the right of them heading back towards the camera. At the two o' clock position is another illuminator firing a large 22B flashbulb. This light brightened up the back wall of the cave from about the top of the models heads on up and out of the shot. In the six o' clock position is another illuminator. This light is a CF-SIT that exposed for 15 seconds and produces much of the back lighting for this shot. It also pushes shadows up in a different direction than you get with the top down sunlight of day shots offering a little different look. Finally in the ten o'clock position is another illuminator firing a No2B flashbulb. These bulbs burn for about 1/30 of a second. Radio communication was used for all the illuminators and models to time out everything. The teamwork for this trip was amazing. We were hit with severe weather on our hike to the cave hauling massive amounts of gear and didn't arrive back to camp until 3 am yet everyone on the crew was all smiles. As I do these shots I am constantly reminded of how an amazing project takes an amazing team composed of amazing people...for this glimpse into my dream...I had only the very best. My hats off to everyone.