Fun with 650 watt Fresnel spot outside

The Photographing People Part 2 class last Saturday was a blast. We went through so many different light sources and ways to use them. The craziest moment was photographing a wedding couple a few feet from a train passing by full speed ( Image 1). You can also see in image 2 the same technique under more normal circumstances. This lamp is a Lowel 650 watts Fresnel spot, one of many great things about fresnel spots is that they can be focused. It’s so excellent to use in cloudy weather to replace a nice evening sun. The color temperature on the lamp is 3200 Kelvin. Sometimes we clip on different blue foils if we want colder light, but real sunsets are very warm. The lamp gives a VERY even light and being powered from the car it last almost forever. We hook it up to a car battery with the car running using a power inverter( image 3) this you get for under $100 from a car parts store like Checkers. Sadly enough Lowel discontinued this lamp due to high production cost, but Arri have one just as good.I used Arri for years in Europe. Have fun playing with the huge amount of different light sources out there. The International School of Photography site is now up www.intsop.com not all the way done, but worth a visit.

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