Recently I've been looking at ways to provide imaging services to local businesses. I approached a local laser combat company with a view to providing them with new imagery for advertising etc.
The initial talks went well and last week I finally had some spare time (which is not a
bundant for me these days) to make a start. I browsed the internet for sources of this kin
d of imagery and found that there is very little and what there is
amateurish and somewhat cheesy.
I began with photographing some simple interiors, however I soon realised that any flash
would certainly ruin the ambience of the place. Many rooms
/areas were covered with neon or reflective paint and would look quite harsh. In the end I opted for the use of gels to add to whatwas already there.
I went back in the evening to photograph the front of the building, lit up at night the place
looks great. I was then offered the opportunity of photographing a few games in process.
The combat arena itself is quite difficult to photograph in. It is very dark with minimal li
ghting, most of which is UV/black lighting for the neon and reflective strips. My initial plan was to rig flashes in the arena which would hopefully be fired by the SU800 however this failed to fire so I switched to the Pocket Wizards. This fired off one of the flashes. With more time I may have perfected the setup however th
e game was about to begin.
To start with I tried to get in on the action with the hope that the flash with blue gel would provide the extra ambient to my action images. I failed to get a single shot, it was just too dark. I needed a 'Plan B'.
So, with the guys on a debrief, I had about 5 minutes to rig a new setup.
This time I looked for 'action areas' for me to have a good ambush point. A few test shots and I was good
to go by the next game. Even so it was still quite difficult and I adjusted the positioning of the flash a few times to try and get a shot. As with all action you may take many shots just to get the one!
In the end my patience was rewarded with this image.
The job isn't finished though, I plan to practice some more with the flashes to obtain the killer Laser Combat Shot!
