After almost a year of planning, 7 grand in equipment and training, and almost 3 months into my ArtStart grant, here is the culmination – the first completed typical photo from my studio setup.
The chain of tools for this is pretty epic – the Nikon D800 camera is tethered via USB to the computer, which is able to activate the shutter and capture images directly to Aperture. The camera has an Elinchrom Skyport plugged in which fires off the RX4 monobloc flashes. The other bit of kit that kindof closes the loop on setting and measuring the lighting is a Gossen Digisky lightmeter. This little marvel not only measures the light put out by the RX4s, but uniquely, it can speak the Elinchrom Skyport protocol. So, when making a meter reading you can dial up or down on the power from the lights using the meter, without having to round the back of the lights to adjust them, and importantly without having to go over to the skyport on the camera, where I could potentially bump it.
Other things that happened this week, I had an in-studio consult with my lighting teacher, to get all the lights configured, did some web consulting with an old high school buddy about his new business venture, and spent the rest of the time putting my SketchUp skills to good use, continuing with Surfing The Deathine.