New at the studio. Savage Ultramarine seamless & 5-in-1 Port-a-scrim

Going to start off by apologizing, last few months have been pretty hectic in and around the studio. Just around Christmas I developed pneumonia which lasted for about a month, maybe a little bit more. Plagued by some car and truck issues and some studio repairs everything just seemed to stack on top of each other for a while. Setting this aside we’re posting a “new at the studio" blog installment. (better late than never, right?)

 Our incredibly patient Sponsor Savage Universal corporation was kind enough to send us some new gear to try out here in the studio. Once we got the news they were shipping the products we started to put together a plan featuring model Kelly McCarthy and make up artist Gianna Joy Bass
 Savage sent the #5 ultramarine seamless background. We’ve been itching to try out the color, incredibly versatile and mood setting tone.

 Savage also sent their Freestanding 5-in-1 Port-a-Scrim,  (large 55“ x 79“) version. It's comes with your standard 5 in 1 set-up with white, gold, silver, black and diffuser. A lightweight aluminum collapsible frame makes easy to manage.

  It comes with a stand to position it in a number angles and orientations. A handle is also included that attaches to the stand if you want to have an assistant hold it up and over a model to diffuse or block sunlight outside the studio...for this I've always referred to scrims as "model swatters" as it looks like the assistant is holding a giant fly swatter over the model...."didn't nail the pose?... give em' the swatter!" Kidding!

 We’ve been trying to hunt down a great large scrim for quite a while. Not only are they versatile for the studio but for outdoor shooting they're almost a necessity.

With the ultramarine color and consulting with M.U.A Gianna for the makeup color and Kelly about the clothing we decided to keep the shoot sleek and stylish for a strong fashion look in a dramatic mood. Kelly has no problem pulling that off.

 We did a two light set up at first as we had a lot of reflective coverage happening with the scrim. We implemented our Bowens Gemini series monolights triggered by the new Pocketwizard PlusIV transceivers. Moving on to a more "flowy" feel we added an additional light and had Kelly switch to a looser fitting outfit.

Though the session was pre- visualized through some planning we still did use the elixxier set a light 3-D software to have better lay out the lighting and floor plan before the shoot.

The shoot came off without a hitch, the seamless background color just gave an instant mood to the shots. Kelly matched her posing and expression to the tone of the shoot, Gianna did a great job with the make up, she really set the tone and attitude with some stunning eye makeup. She really transformed Kelly.

 The moody #5 Ultramarine seamless background is one of my favorite colors in the studio at the moment and I'm really looking forward to trying it out with some different lighting scenarios.
As far as the model swatter...um, scrim I could not be happier. Warmer weather around the corner I can't wait to use it to it's full potential outside the studio or on location!

Some of the other gear used.
Nikon D4
Sigma lenses, 24/70mm f/2.8 and 70-200mm F/2.8
3 Legged Thing Frank Tripod

Kelly McCarthy (model) Gianna Joy Bass (MUA & Hair)

 Well I hope to update the blog more often, lot of things happening here and the business is headed into a few new directions so I hope you stay tuned
.
Rob Lopshire

New at the Studio: Savage Drop Stand® Easy Set Light Stand

For our second installment of "New at the Studio" we're featuring a new light stand by our sponsor Savage Universal, Savage sent the Drop Stand® Easy Set Light Stands to our studio last week for us to try out. When our contact notified me of the new stand I really did not know what to think, I've heard of quick stands but never heard anything good about them, I also did not think I would ever use one as it seemed the few on the market were on the low quality end with flimsy construction and the only high end ones I found were similar to what was used by a friend of mine who is an electrician, they were expensive and no way to convert in for photographic attachments.

Happy to say the stands Savage sent me fit the bill, a good quality, well built sturdy stand with the feature I never thought I would use. Once I made a quick adjustment to the "collar limiter" I was picking up and dropping the stand with ease all over the studio. the stand is incredibly handy for a number of situations, the main situation being those days I may not have an assistant for the day.
   I never liked asking a client or model if they could "give me a hand" (though most are willing to lend a hand). Some photo shoots call for a change of scene or even just a changing of the light set-up, this proved to be pretty easy task with the Drop Stand even with gear or camera in my other hand. This may not sound like a big deal to some of you but moving a light stand in a locked position makes for a hazardous tripping situation if you don't fold the legs away before moving it.
  I found it worked very well on most hard surfaces in and around the studio, other indoor surfaces such as deep carpeting you may need to place the legs manually after placing it...same with a few outdoor surfaces but the legs dropped into position with no issues, just a minor adjustment after the legs unfold.

Up there with Bowens Gemini monolight (extended to full height)

On to the other features and specs, Savage sent us the 13' stands which are great for studio or you need to get that light way up there, the stand actually expanded a bit higher than 13' but I really don't think I would like to have anything that high unless I really had to, though it was pretty stable that high I would probably station an assistant near it or load some sand bags at the feet for safety. 

How's the weather up there?

 Back at ground level the stand has one of our favorite features the 1/4 20-3/8 reversible spigot stud that can be mounted vertically or horizontally, this comes in handy with a few continuous lights and speed lights that we use in and out of the studio. 

Other Specs:
 These are air-cushioned...so no gear comes crashing down when tension knob is loosened.
All Aluminum construction (4 section) with aluminum collars.
Supports up to 15lbs.
Max height 13' (400cm) (though ours extended close to 14' I refrain from extending to limit on all stands, but that's me being Mr. Safety).
Minimum height 47" (120cm).
Folded 45"

Sizes to be released in stores;
7'
9'
13' (the ones we had the pleasure of using)




 Another nice little feature is the blue leg connector joint...this makes it easy for me to spot my Drop stands across the studio among my other studio stands.

We'll probably post updates along the way but so far these stands are making life around the studio less hectic when we're on the move.
For more info on these stands head over to the Savage site Savage Universal Drop Stand

New at the Studio: Savage Universal Macro Art Adjustable Dual Arm LED Light

Well we wanted to call this (and some upcoming) blog post(s) "Equipment Review" or "Field Test" but we are sponsored by Savage Universal so it really would not be right to give a product review, Savage sends us some awesome gear and we wanted to share with you some of the cool things we get to use in and around the studio...so instead of "gear test" or "product review" we're just going to share some photos, our experiences and maybe some cool tips or tricks that might help you if are looking into the products.
       You might know Savage for their seamless paper backgrounds, backdrops, support stands and other studio equipment but recently they started promoting their Macro Art line up including extension tubes and the Dual Arm LED light we are featuring in our write up today.
Not going to lie...being sponsored is pretty cool and it's something we never thought would happen (more on that later in an upcoming post) so when packages show up it's like Christmas morning, we grab the boxes, run into the studio and immediately open the boxes to gaze on the gear with wide open eyes. After that we start thinking of all the different shoots and cool projects we will do with the gear. Most of the time we head right out and start shooting but it was later in the day so I decided to venture out first thing in the morning.
 It was no different when the LED light arrived but when you open the box you have gear that looks like it's gazing back at you, anything with a science fiction looking appearance is good in our book especially when it almost looks like one our favorite subjects to shoot in our spare time...insects.  I exaggerate a bit but the dual arms do resemble some bug antennae, these antennae...excuse me I mean arms are flexible articulated covered extensions which can be positioned in many ways for pinpointing lighting on your macro subject.  You can attach the light right to the hot shoe of your camera or secure it to a light stand or tripod via a cold shoe such as the enlight photo frio.
The easy to read control panel on the back has options for Flash or Continuous and each arm light can be operated separately, the lights at the end of the arms are surrounded by a cooling fin like casing.

The bug view

The other gear for the session.

 Camera Nikon D4

 Lens Sigma APO 180mm Macro f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM

 3 Legged Thing Frank tripod.

 The LED light arms measure about 23" so that was plenty of length to reach around the Sigma 180mm lens (w/hood).
We were able to go above, under and around the lens for multiple lighting angles and more importantly stayed in place. If shooting insects you might want to position the lights in the desired orientation first as with most articulated arms they make a squeaky sound when you bend them...which could startle your multi legged subject. Also because the arms are pretty long you might want to remove the light if you are picking up your gear to relocate, the arms could bounce up and down when walking and you don't want to have the light hit the front of your lens...those light casings are metal.
Here are some shots we took with the dual Arm LED light starting with the image of a wild carrot called Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota).

1/125sec, f/11, ISO1600

 Here are some thistle. Love the way we were able to aim these lights.

1/200sec, f/16, ISO140

1/200sec, f/16, ISO140

1/200sec, f/16, ISO140

The great thing about thistle is they attract butterflies, butterflies can be pretty skittish at least around here in the rural parts of New Jersey so it's best to focus on the flower and wait until they land while remaining quiet and still. We were lucky enough to have these Eastern Tiger Swallow Tails fluttering around the thistle all morning. We had one arm pointed underneath to get some light under the thistle as well as under the wings and the other arm coming down at a 45 degree angle to get some catch lights in the eyes.

Hi There!

awww, shy butterfly. ButterShy?

1/125sec, f/16, ISO400

Sharing the thistle with a bumble bee

Slurp!

Some insects I will actually approach without my gear and gently move in closer to see if they will "bug out", if they take off I pretty much know they won't stick around for me to set up my camera. Butterflies will usually return multiple times to the same flower so as mentioned before you just want to get set up, focus and wait. Don't try chasing butterflies from flower to flower it's near impossible to capture anything that way. I've actually watched photographers chase bugs when they switch flowers or fly away and the only thing you might get doing that is exercise, not that there is anything wrong with that but I enjoy relaxing behind the camera and sometimes with a tasty cool beverage while the bugs do all the work. We will have another post on photographing insects and even hummingbirds which explains in more detail on our set-up and method.
 That's pretty much it for our little write up, still testing the waters on blogging so I hope you at least enjoyed the photos. Again hoping it did not come across as a review, more shots soon when things settle down a bit here at the studio. More than likely we will bring it inside the studio to check it out during a product shoot or two.
For more on the Macro Art Dual Arm light or other Savage gear just head over to their site HERE.

Coming up on a year...

I wanted to make sure we posted our press release from our sponsorship, pulling it up on the Savage Universal site we realized it's almost a year ago.
 Though it was not our first sponsorship it was a major one as it's by a company that is the world leader in photographic backgrounds and equipment. It's been an honor to be a part of such fantastic company, they have supported us tremendously. Our main company contact Alyssa has been an absolute pleasure to work with.
Here is the official press release  Savage Announces Sponsorship of Lopshire Photography, LLC 

pretty snazzy graphic they made for us huh?

 So if you are poking around on their site you're going to come across quite a few of our photos in the ads as well as the features.
Recently they have been using our photos for the specialty Translum background in ads appearing in Shutterbug magazine and images are being printed on their packaging, I have to say nothing beats that feeling. When I was younger I always thought  the coolest thing was to see my photos in a major publication and Savage is one of the reasons that has happened.

Model Becca Allison

set-up diagram