I have been doing the "Dad Thing" lately, and teaching Drew to drive his semi-new car. He wasn't quite ready a year and a half ago to start driving, but recently he's been showing motivation to drive. So for today, I told him we would make the 35 mile round-trip drive to Hart Park with the condition that we stop and shoot him and his car.
I figured we would need a break for two reasons: 1) to go over the drive and talk about any events that happened along the way, and 2) to let me practice some Noon day sun shooting.
We made the trip safely with no close calls or with me pretending to press on an imaginary brake pedal. We parked in a dirt spot and I proceeded to unload my gear. I brought along my AB1600, 86"
PLM, Combi-Boom and my Vagabond 2, which weighs about 19lbs. I setup the PLM, attached the battery to the light stand and headed back to the car since there was no apparent wind. As I was looking in the trunk, Drew said "Dad, your light fell." I looked over to the spot and saw the light stand on the ground resting on the PLM. The shaft was bent at about 45 degrees. It was still usable, but couldn't be freely rotated. I realized I had placed the battery on the same side as the PLM. I usually make sure I place it opposite to counterbalance the stand, which means placing the battery on the windward side of the lightstand. At least the PLM cushioned the fall of the AB1600 and spared me an additional expense.
After propping up the light stand and adjusting the PLM, I proceeded to shoot. My metered settings were f/11, 1/125, ISO 200 with the AB1600 set to 1/16th power. I decide to use my 24mm - 70mm so I go wide, I used my Pocket Wizards trigger the set-up. I was also playing with my Sekonic Light Meter to get a mix of 70% Flash/Ambient . We shot for about 20 minutes and then wrapped as the sun never came out and the wind started getting stronger. We packed up the Scion and made the drive back home. Again, Drew did very well and we arrived safely home.
I checked the Paul C. Buff web-site and found out that replacing my PLM will cost $92 with S&H, but most likely I call Customer Support and see how much it'll be to repair it. I guess I'll have to use my 64" PLM for tomorrow's White Sheet shoot.
What Did I Learn:
- Even if there isn't any wind, always set-up your modifier opposite the battery - I knew that and had done it on four other shoots, but most likely I was still thinking about teaching Drew.
Hoping everyone had a Safe and Happy Thanksgiving, and thanks for reading. BTW, yes the car color looks different in each image, which is due to me playing with different warming and cooling filters. The middle image matches the car's actual color.
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