Once again, Detective Nik Night is on the case. Yet another ballerina has turned up, “deceased,” this one in the inglorious confines of a garbage can outside the famed Hollywood Diner in Manhattan. Jealousies amongst prima ballerinas run amok? Competitive fires stoked to a murderous temperature in the hearts of outwardly delicate, refined, tutu-clad dancers? A deadly pirouette to the dark side?
All in name of good fun, and playing with flash. My ever-tolerant, patient protagonists, Nik Pjeternikaj, Larena Danielle and Erica Lynn signed on again for another chapter of The Pointe Shoe Mysteries, featured now on Adorama TV.
Also notable in this adventure are Tether Tools, Profoto, Lastolite, and Capture One. Thirteen flashes were used, of various sizes, ranging from a Profoto A1X to B1X to B10 Plus to B4 to Acute 2400 packs….yikes. We lit the scene from back to front, starting with the diner and working our way towards the foreground, providing selective key lights for our upfront subjects. The main light for Nik, powered by two A1X units, is the Lastolite Ezybox Pro Square with a fabric grid installed. It’s over to camera right as you will see in the video. Gels galore, ’cause, why not? I’m living in the realm of my fractured imagination here, so I can make it any color I want. We were able to go from this, below.
To this below, with our characters and scene lit up.
People have many different descriptions of fun, and the above does fall into the realm of fun, in my head. It’s really like being a kid in the sandbox again, playing with blocks. One here, one there. Don’t like it? Change it. Play. Try a color, or a grid, or a bounce. Working with flash is ongoing experimentation.
Thanks all around on this effort. First to Adorama and the staff for supporting it. (Check out Adorama TV, a far reaching source of photo education in our industry.) And to Tether Tools who supported this edition. Their Air Direct system, supported by the D-Tap power supply, was key here in remaining wireless out there on the streets. The transfer of Nikon Z7 raw files, wirelessly, into Capture One Pro was flawless. Profoto is the go to in our industry for professional quality illumination. They just keep new stuff coming. Lastolite and I have collaborated for years, and their light shapers and location gear are second to none. The Pro Square used here was a perfect light for Nik.
And the folks who make it all go. Lynn DelMastro here in our studio, produced the whole shebang with her usual flawless determination. Mike Grippi, Andrew Tomasino and Christian Rodriguez comprised the stalwart crew. Fernando Martinez ran the show from the Adorama side, and John Luna was the one-man band shooting the video. And as always, Seth Miranda, aka LastXWitness, he of special effects fame, brought the blood.
Resplendent character actor Nik Pjeternikaj anchors the whole deal, with the detective glint in his eyes, suspecting everyone. Larena is our yet to be caught, innocent looking, doe-eyed perp. And the marvelous Erica. What can I say about an actress who will climb into a dryer and a garbage can for me? Thank you to all!
More tk…..
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Gee Joe, What runs through your mind is beyond most other’s comprehension. I believe Alfred Hitchcok and John Malkovich are also running around up there. All your work surpasses even my wildest dreams. So thank you for sharing your dreams with us.
Thank you Marco! Yes, the dreamscape in my head is occasionally a little, well, odd…..:-))
Very cinematic lighting, love the background colors ??????
Amazing shoot Joe, as usual. I would love to be in your head and see how you visualize all the scene and the lighting. One question, why you didn’t use sb5000’s instead of the A1X? I’m used to you using those. No problems with Nikon for that?
Hi Jorge….still use Speedlights, and the Nikon SB-5000. But this thing needed power, and the A1X units were a better complement to the rest of the lighting system.
I love watching these videos. For one thing you seem like a hoot to work with, but I really see how to work quickly and get great results.
That was an outstanding presentation, Joe. I enjoyed it immensely. Congratulations.
Great images as always Joe, and I’m loving the storyline too. I’m using the centralised red, green & blue directly behind Nik as a personal colour calibration for my own imagination. All the best, Simon
Thank you, Dave…we do try to have fun on the set. One of the best things you can do as a photog is laugh at yourself….
All Best back to you, Simon. Hoping you and your family are well. Yep, imagination is our refuge as photogs…..
What an incredibly fun thing for you to share with us! Awesome colour commentary – I confess I’m not gonna pass the quiz at the end about all the Profoto gear, but I’m happy to retest after watching it a few more times 🙂
You look like you’re still stylin’ your COVID hairdo, Joe – never seen you quite this shaggy before!
Joe, it never ceases to amaze me just how many strobes you can implement in nooks and crannies and corners, and yet simultaneously manage to get all those colors to effortlessly work together to build the scene. I use the word effortlessly tongue-in-cheek; I know full well it ain’t that. 😉
One thing in your description that did catch my eye: the use of the Lastolite Ezybox Pro Square (presumably instead of the Ezybox Hotshoe Softbox). Is that because the former has a bracket adaptor that more easily fits the round Profoto A1 head? (I’ve found that the A1 will actually fit through the Hotshoe Softbox’s rectangular bracket adaptor with a little coaxing…and some gentle, or not so gentle, words.)
Thankyou for your answer. I wonder what you could be able to do with an entry level Nikon and some speedlights, I loved your video with the D300s, it was a breath of fresh air to see what you can do with aps-c
I love to work with dancers when I get the opportunity. It’s pretty rare though. I’m not the greatest at networking to find models.
If you have a Craig’s List website for the metro area near you, you could place an ad (the cost is really low) looking for models who need work for their books, stressing of course that you’re legit. If you have a website or can email photos to respondents that could help convince them you’re not a weirdo, and the first session would ideally be in a public place so they’d feel at ease.
I have tried directly approaching some dance companies, but had no response. Your method may well be worth a go 🙂