“Hey, I’m supposed to photograph my daughter for her prom at 4 but I’ll be flying. Can you do it?” When my good friend and partner in crime Brian asked me, what choice did I have? Of course, folks were out doin air to air photography and I was shooting a portrait. That seems perfectly normal. “I would like a plane in the photo, the Stearman. That OK?” Again, what choice did I have. The only choice I had was where the plane and portrait would be staged. I picked a spot where some afternoon light would be bounced off the hangar doors. The sun was still up, we had bald skies and I had not scrims, so to control the light, I put the couple in the shade and flash filled. Lucky for me, I had my new tool with me.
I brought the new Profoto B2 kit with me just in case. And this comes under the category of just in case. While I had tested the entire system, this would be the first field shoot with it. I set up one B2 head with the 2′ Octa (which I really like) and waited. I took a quick shot without the flash turned on to determine my ambient light exposure and had -1 dialed in the body and then -1 when for the flash. Shooting with the D750 / 24-70AFS, with everything dialed in, when the couple arrived I put them in the frame, made some clicks and sent them on their evening of fun. As you can see (above is with flash, bottom without), the B2 knocked out the exposure beautifully. I’m falling in love with the small, light size with the big power. mtc.