We recently came across a lovely shoot by talented Indianapolis fashion photographer, Polina Osherov. Here Polina uses a speedlight mounted on the Mola Lumi bracket with the 22″ Demi.
“For lighting, I used my Mola beauty dish as the key light and filled either with available light or one of my speedlights bounced off a reflector. The hair light was either John’s video light or one of my AB800s with the snoot modifier.”
One of the advantages of using a speedlight with a softlight, such as the 22″ Demi, is the ability to produce really low lighting (without the need to use ND {neutral density} filters over more powerful lights) and the compact, portable nature of such a setup.
Our fantastic friends at Llumm Studios, Valencia Spain, recently teamed up with the Spanish Mola distributor, Innovafoto, to create a comprehensive Mola test. There intention was to recreate the same conditions for each softlight, so they could appreciate the differences that exist among the different Mola range.
“I am just excited about the new Mola reflectors. My company, Llumm Studios, in collaboration with Innovafoto, has collected each Mola reflector model to arrange a comprehensive test of their differences and peculiarities. … I hope this analysis helps you in choosing your Mola. Although the tests are very exhaustively done, you know results can be changed simply by zooming in or out any on these light sources.”
“The test has two parts: First, focused on the model, Charles, and secondly we took general shots where we could see the light effect over a large area. We will check the differences in shadows and contrast and also the range and light fall-off of each Mola reflector.”
New Zealand photographer, Fiona Quinn, is back to bring us the quinn-tesential look in her recent beauty editorial shoots. The first utterly gorgeous shoot is care of an editorial Fiona shot for M2 Woman’s Magazine, titled ‘A Brighter Shade of Pale’. This was shot with the 28″ Mola Setti…
+ you can read Fiona’s thoughts on her blog post here from this shoot.
the second shoot was titled “Model Muse – Casey Lee” and was shot with the 22″ Mola Demi…
+ you can read Fiona’s thoughts on her blog post here from this second shoot.
WORKSHOP: Fiona will be running a photographic workshop next month at the end of October in Auckland, New Zealand. A few more details are available here on her blog.
We head back into the Southern Hemisphere again to catchup on some work by Sydney fashion and wedding photographer Jonathan Dear. Catching the last remaining autumn colours before they fade into winter, he organises a personal shoot with his model / muse, Nicole.
“I love the softness I can pull out of the Demi. It makes one amazing modifier for moving around a lot on location due to its size and weight. I find it is super efficient which allows me to shoot with lighter less powerful equipment which my assistants love!”
Here he is using a white Mola 22″ demi with stacked OPAL + PAD central diffusers with a white diffusion sock to compliment his ambient background. The demi and strobe-head was mounted on a boomstick for his assistant to walk around with.
and in this next shot, Jonathan turns the lights off and uses the white socked face of the demi as a small reflector to bounce natural light back into the model’s face.
Fiona Quinn is back to bring us some stunning images from what she calls “…one of the most favourite shoot I have done”. Working with animals is never easy, especially with noisy equipment like smoke machines but “Othello was so chilled out we got away with it”. In this ethereal shoot, Fiona uses a socked 22″ Mola Demi as a gorgeous subtle fill light.
“I wanted the shoot to evoke the crisp chilly mornings of Spring when there is mist and magic in the air and a colour palette of light neutral tones with accents of metallics and peach.” If that was the brief a photographer was given, then Fiona nailed it and beyond!
Read up on Fiona’s personal thoughts and process behind this surreal shoot on her blogpost here.
and thanks Fiona for a behind-the-scenes pullback from the shoot…
Fiona Quinn and Team
(Model: Anmari, Makeup: Amber Haldane, Hair: Miguel lledo, Styling: Courtney Sanders, Retouching: Monica Chamorro) www.fionaquinn.co.nz
We spot a mola 22″ demi used by super NY photographer Brad Trent as he lights up Terry Lundgren, CEO of Macy’s. What we love to see here is Brad’s ingenuity in finding and setting up Mr Lundgren in an unsual backdrop, a pleasant escape from the typical commercial stand-in-amongst-your-business shots that a lot of execs have.
Here we see Brad use a big fill light to illuminate the scene and a gridded mola demi to provide the key light on the subject. In this way he puts the shadows where he wants them (i.e. on the subjects face) and has even soft illumination for his background and rest of the subject. Keeping the lights at a similar angle and distance helps eliminate competing shadows.
You can read about his thought processes from this shoot on his own blog post here and visit www.bradtrent.com.
Heading back to New Zealand we check up on some more of Fiona Quinn’s latest beautiful work. Recently Fiona’s been very busy shooting outdoor editorials before the NZ winter sets in.
The shoot below was for M2 Woman’s Magazine. Fiona calling this editorial shoot ‘The Distance’, drawing on inspiration from a location she sourced literally by the side of the road. Head over to her blogpost on this shoot to read her thoughts and process.
Fiona uses a white 22″ demi up high with double diffusion (i.e. 2 diffusion socks) as some subtle fill for these shots. She shoots with the Hensel Porty Lithium 12.
Toronto based fashion photographer Matt Baxter has done a quick test using the 2 different FlxGrids, we have developed, showing the difference in light quality and output.
Using a 22″ white Mola Demi with OPAL glass deflector the only changes were to the front of the grid;
First frame is just with the standard nylon diffuser sock, no grid
2nd frame is modified with the Black 25° FlxGrid
Last frame is modified with the White 25° FlxGrid
As you can see the new white Flxgrid not only grids the light but also softens the edges as well vs the black FlxGrid’s light. The white construction of the White FlxGrid makes it unlike any other grid on the market.
The Black FlxGrid’s are currently available from B&H and Adorama and the White FlxGrid will be available by the end of September.
Today we look at some more gorgeous images from Toronto based fashion photographer Matt Baxter. Matt is a freelance photographer specialising in beauty, fashion and editorial work. He has a long list of clients spanning from over a decade of creating amazing imagery.
This time the following images were produced using both the white 22″ Mola Demi and the 33″ Mola Euro together.
Today we feature Toronto based fashion photographer Matt Baxter. Matt is a freelance photographer specialising in beauty, fashion and editorial work. He has a long list of clients spanning from over a decade of creating amazing imagery. His portfolio includes clients such as Sony, Bell, CIBC and Thermos. Matt produces award winning fashion work with the white Mola 22″ Demi. Below are some examples of his work. Visit his website – www.mattbaxerphoto.com to see more of his stunning imagery.
