Adventure with Move 1200 L 1
2
In the summer of 2015, photographer and adventurer Jay Kolsch embarked on a special and unique project. Jay would spend one month trekking across Scandinavia documenting the adventure. Traveling by plane, road, rail, and on foot, Jay needed lighting equipment that would give him the same control and power of a studio flash pack, but lighter weight and portable. Only one option made perfect sense: The Move 1200 L. The Move 1200 L features a unique set of capabilities that allowed Jay Kolsch to create unique images in adverse situations. For over 50 years, broncolor has led the cutting edge in high performance strobe systems for professional image makers. Crossing tree countries and over 160km by foot, Jay documented the adventure along the way, we sat down with Jay to find out how the images were made. 3
broncolor: What led you to take on such an intensive project? JK: In many ways I wanted to prove that making beautiful images in the backcountry was possible. Taking the years of experience I have creating beautiful light in a studio, and putting it in a location where you normally wouldn t expect, large landscapes for example. This trip allowed me to explore parts of the world that as an adventurer were very challenging, and create storytelling photographs along the way. broncolor: Three countries in four weeks is quite a trip. Tell us about the travel... JK: We flew from New York to Stockholm. From there we hopped a train to Högalidsskolan, and then on road for the beginning of our hike in Nikkaluokta. For the first week of our adventure, we would hike from there to Abisko, a distance of 110km / 68 miles. The entire route is situated 250km / 155 mi. North of the Arctic Circle. After that, it was off to Reykjavík to meet a few mountain guides to explore the remote Southern regions of Iceland. The majority of our travels included staying in tents or cars. When combined with wet weather, massive temperature drops, and long journeys on foot, the equipment will be subject to some rather extreme conditions. broncolor: So why the Move 1200 L then? JK: I ve worked with broncolor, and nearly every other professional tool available in studio and on location. I needed something that was super light, but didn t sacrifice power and light quality. The Move is amazing because it really hits above its weight class with how much power it can output, but still be the fast, accurate tool that broncolor is legendary for. DISTANCE TRAVELED AIR: 17533 km FOOT: 451 km ROAD: 1967 km RAIL: 1300 km ELEVATION: +1135 km 4
broncolor: You mentioned legendary broncolor features, what exactly were you looking for? JK: I always turn to broncolor gear when I need it to be fast, accurate, and beautiful. The Move is exactly that. On the shot of the climbers getting ready to rappel (above), I really wanted to freeze the action of the rope. By setting the Move to t0.1 Minimum mode, I could get incredibly short flash durations, allowing me to really freeze the action and let the climbers work naturally. There have been times where I thought, there s no way this is going to be frozen sharp, but each time the Move really amazed me. There have been times where I thought, there s no way this is going to be frozen sharp, but each time, the Move really amazed me. broncolor: Do you have any special techniques for knowing what the best flash duration will be best for freezing action? JK: It can be tricky and depends on what the action is, and the situation. Thankfully, the LCD screen on the Move pack shows me the t0.1 flash duration as I change power levels, in either Color Opt(imum) or Flash Duration Min(imum) modes too - all the way down to 8 500 s. It really let me dial in the perfect balance of freezing action and powerful light that helped make the shot possible. The rubber exterior of the Move 1200 L allowed for rigging of the pack wherever the situation dictated. 5
Left: without flash Right: with flash. broncolor: The area you were shooting is beautiful, but not exactly known for its legendary sunlight. How did you tackle that challenge? JK: For many of the days, we were stuck with some heavy cloud cover. The rolling black clouds are great for a dramatic background, but terrible for lighting subjects. The Move was perfect because you can either pump a full 1200 watt-seconds out of it, or dial it all the way down to 4.7 watt-seconds. The high output of the Move really made a difference when I wanted to give the sense of sunlight, even though it would be cloudy all day. On the portrait of the ice climber (pictured above) we were battling huge bands of thick fog and heavy clouds covers all day. Rather than waiting for a weather window I used the full power of the Move to light both the climber, and the area around him. By putting the full 1200 watt-seconds through a single lamphead, I could easily match, and overpower the ambient light, and adding dimension to the scene. It really means something when these athletes and climbers are willing to challenge themselves so I can photograph them. It s only fair that I match their effort by having the tools that allow me to create powerful images. Its only fair that I match their effort by having the tools that allow me to create powerful images. broncolor: Battery power was pretty critical for this. How was working with the Move as a battery flash pack specifically? JK: I love that the Move uses a Lithium Ion battery, and there s a power gauge right on the battery itself. Being able to check the remaining power without having to put it into the pack saved me a lot of time back 6
at the camp. On the pack there s a detailed power gauge too, so I was never left guessing. broncolor: How many lampheads did you need for the entire trip? JK: I like adding just a bit of light so I only took one lamphead. The MobiLED is great because it s lighter weight than the traditional studio heads. I love the LED modeling light of the MobiLED too. I was able to use it, combined with the Octabox 75 to shoot a small video of the climbers after they set up camp for the night. Because the modeling lamp is daylight balanced, the color temperature perfectly matched the scene. The Continuous Light Adapter was perfect because I could plug the MobiLED directly into a Move 1200 L battery, bypassing the pack and keep the entire setup lightweight and easy to move around. Using the Modeling Light for short films. See more at bron.ch/adventurewithmove Having gear that does double duty is critical, especially when every pound and square inch can mean the difference of reaching your destination, or not. 7
broncolor: What light shapers did you use with the MobiLED lamphead? JK: For most of the images I used the Octabox 75cm. Its the perfect balance of light quality and size. For a close-up portrait, it s still wrapping light. For wide shots, its perfect for directing the light over a long distance. This could be done with larger metal reflectors, but would be a sacrifice in space. I love that the Octabox gave me both options depending on how far I placed the light from the subjects and using the front diffusion or not. Its cool that the MobiLED head uses the same modifier mount that broncolor has had for decades so I could really use any light shaper that I d used with the studio lampheads. The MobiLED has a fully exposed flash tube with protective glass dome. This makes a massive difference both with and without a light shaper on it. On the shot inside the ice cave (pages 2-3), it was nearly pitch black and I needed to fill the entire cave with light. At first I tried using the standard reflector for the MobiLED, which gives a pretty wide throw - but still not enough. By firing the flash, with a near omnidirectional flash tube, I was able to fill the cave with light, illuminating both the climber, and the cloudy ice structures too. This definitely wouldn t have been possible with any flash that had a recessed flash tube. Using the Octabox 75cm for the perfect sculpted light on two climbers. 8
9
JK: This trip was perfect to work with the Move 1200 L because the equipment really gave me a good challenge. Knowing that I had beautiful studio light anywhere I went, challenged me to create better images. Over 7,000km and nearly everything I could throw at it, the Move 1200 L really pulled through for me. It still proves to be more powerful, more accurate, more beautiful, yet still smaller and lighter that other battery powered packs. I m excited to get back out there, and create even more images with it now. See more behind the scenes pictures and videos at: bron.ch/adventurewithmove 10
Jay Kolsch has been a member of the professional image making community for over 10 years, coming up through the ranks in both cinematography and still photography. He has been integral on many major feature motion pictures, magazine stories, and the right-hand-man for a veritable list of who s who in photography. Jay s imagery focuses on documenting the stories and adventures of the outdoor lifestyle - taking the beautifully crafted light out of its studio comfort zone. He is currently based in New York City, but can be found wherever adventures and challenges await. www.jaykolsch.com Equipment Used broncolor Move 1200 L - Flash energy: 1200J - 4.7J - Flash duration minimum: 1/8500 s (t0.1) - Recycle time: 0.2 1.9 s - 2 outlets with flash cut-off and ECTC technology -Symmetrical and individually asymmetrical up to 9 stops from either outlet MobiLED Lamphead - 1600J flash maximum - 30W daylight LED modeling lamp - Compatible with all broncolor Pulsomount light shapers - Integrated pan/tilt head with locking lever for one-hand operation - Cooling fan and thermal protection Octabox ø75cm - 75cm / 2.5 foot front diameter - 2 Diffusers (interior and front, with optional front diffuser). - Compatibility: broncolor Pulso, Profoto, Hensel, Elinchrom, Bowens Multiblitz- Profilux, Multiblitz-Varilux, hot-shoe flash (with appropriate speed ring). 11
Hagmattstrasse 7 CH 4123 Allschwil www.bron.ch @broncolor 2015 by Bron Elektronik AG Allschwil All rights reserved All images owned and rights reserved by the photographers. Reprinting and reusing without the permission of the photographer is prohibited. broncolor and bron are registered trademarks. 12