Nice to see Rob again. He had an american friend in company.His name Klaus clearly suggested German roots. However the German language did not survive the generations. Klaus definitely is a nice guy with a long time photographic experience. So the three of us would be a perfect team..
The schedule was landscape photography in the morning and the Historical Park in Sukhothai. An overcast sky did not provide the best light for landscapes. At 6.30 am we left the rice fields in front of the mountains and went to see the ruins in and around the Historical Park. With gentle rain every now and then we where almost alone in the whole area. A really rare condition and perfect for photography. and the diffuse light through the cloudy sky had its very own charm.
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| © Andreas Minge 2014 |
Tomorrow we wanted to shoot a model and get the flashlights in action. I was on location search 2 days before the tour. After the Park we went to select the locations and developed a strategy for the next day until it became time to go for our evening shooting.
Beside the lake where I produced my
"atmosphere" series are several small water reservoirs in the area. Perfect for a landscape with reflections and sundown. Sometimes you are lucky. Two fisherman where just about to pack their gear to go home. I persuade them to stay to be our model in the scene. We managed to create a great picture a la
Steve Mc Curry. A large part of his photographs are contrieved even you probably would not notice it at all. I guess we did a great job.
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| © Rob Collins 2014 |
the next day:
Beside his new
Sony Alpha 7R Camera Rob brought a new flash system along. The three
YN-560III Yongnuo flashlights are controlled by the
Yongnuo 560 TX transmitter. Operating these flash lights with the transmitter is very simple and intuitive. With regards to the price this Chinese product puts all leading brands in the shade. A long lifetime is not a matter of concern. It does not provide TTL but when you work with 3 lights on a set you switch to manual mode anyway.
We decided to work with Rob´s Sony only. Avoiding everybody to be busy with ones gear we where able to focus on the optimum composition of the photograph and the work with the model. It felt a little bit like on a film set. This kind of team work not only was a lot of fun but very constructive as well. Working just on your own one hardly achieve such results.
Dinner at the hotel became a long stretch in to the night. We all had very little sleep when we met at 6.00 in the morning with our model. A traditional cloth has already be ordered at the week end at the local costume rental store. So early the Historical Park still was abandonment. Despite the overcast sky it was very hot and humid. Our shirts where soaked in sweat. Within such an diffuse light one would think not to need any flash light at all. Instead the difference is clearly visible. We did a shooting at 3 different ruins and had variable light conditions at each of it.
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| © Rob Collins 2014 |
For the reason of the very wet conditions at the rice fields we decided to skip the landscape for one more time. Plan B took place: the motorcycle garage of my local friend Djugg. Our model brought a friend along and Djugg became an actor himself. A few bike buddies with a Harley where expected to stop by. Since you never know what is really become to happen we decided to start which what we have got. We moved some bikes and built up the setting. It was pretty dark inside the garage and to get the light right was a challenge. Three busy hours, a couple of beers and a lot of laughter until we´ve got our picture in the can. I would say it was the highlight of these two days. We where all very happy.
Kind of exhausted we dined extensively again. After a short night Rob and Klaus went to the Pitsanulok Airport to fly back to Bangkok. I guess they had a nice nap at the plane.
