Still recovering from a NHS operation and it is raining outside. So rather than watch more Judge Judy I decided to start the challenge I set myself before Christmas. This challenge started when I came across a lonely discounted Stormtrooper sitting on a shop shelf. I started to wonder how I could light it so it stood out. So in exchange for a few pennies I accepted the challenge...
Now since my mobility is currently limited I decided to wreck the lounge trying to create this masterpiece. Luckily our lamp shade fitted the mood of the image so I used that and placed the Stormtrooper within the window frame (a frame within a frame).
My tools of choice were the Yongnuo YN-560 IV Manual Flashes all controlled via a central trigger mounted on top of the Nikon D800. I used a couple of Bessel strip boxes (with grids) on either side to provide a little kicker light. The central light was modified with a Barn Door to provide a very small amount of light down the middle. Then the background was lit with four more manual flashes (with gels) to help provide the blue (walls), red (window) and orange (light shade & stormtrooper) colouring. The camera was set to 1/250s (sync speed) at ISO 100 with an aperture of f/4.0 (to provide some separation from the background).
The secret to doing this whilst having a poorly leg is by having the Yongnuo flash system that you can control centrally (power & zoom) and the camera being connected (tethered) to the laptop. I could just sit back and tinker until I got the effect I wanted.
So whilst I wait for my leg to recover from this little exercise I thought I would share the out of camera preview image. This is the unedited version with no Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop trickery. What do you think? Was it worth the effort?
Links;
Flashgun: Yongnuo YN-560 IV
Trigger: Yongnuo YN-560 TX
Soft box: Bessel Softbox 120x30cm S-Fit