Portraits: DragonForce

DragonForce Promos

April 24, 2009 – I caught up with the guys of DragonForce for a quick portrait session on their Ultra Beatdown World Tour. 10 minutes start to finish: here are the shots.

DragonForce Promos

Photographer’s Notes:

For this shoot, I used four Nikon SB-600 flashes as remotes controlled by one Nikon SB-900 as the commander on-camera.

This was the first shoot that I used the Lastolite Softbox, a 15″ collapsible softbox designed to use with shoe-mounted flashes. I used this light modifier mounted on a monopod and boomed out over the guys. The down-light approach is most readily seen in the lead shot, with deep shadows and largely directional lighting.

In addition to the softbox, one SB-600 was used as a sidelight on subjects in these shots, while the other speedlight was fired into a 45″ reflective umbrella for fill.

End Notes:

Big thanks to Jeremy and Amy at Roadrunner for setting this up. Thanks to my assistants Dave and Susie as well, who made this quick shoot all that much easier.

Also, to anyone shooting portraits of DragonForce, let it be known: there’s a moratorium on Guitar Hero controllers and metal claws. You’ve been warned.

About the author: Todd Owyoung is an internationally published music photographer specializing in concert photography and band portraits. He also grills a mean steak.

Contact Todd for image licensing and assignments wherever the rock show lives. You can also get in touch with Todd via Twitter.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 at 6:00 pm and is filed under Portrait Photography and tagged with 2009, concert photographer, dragonforce, music, music photography, portrait, promo. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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Craig Ferguson says:

April 29, 2009 at 9:41 pm

I was looking at one of those Lastolite EZYboxes in a camera store a couple of weeks ago. Didn’t get one because all the staff were busy and I didn’t have time to wait. I might go back this weekend and take another look – it would have been really handy for a shoot yesterday with my model in a tree and not enough space for the umbrella I was using.

Todd says:

April 30, 2009 at 8:30 am

Hey Craig,

The jury is still out on the EZYbox, but I’ll definitely be using it as an option in the future to see how it fits into my kit.

At the very least, it catches a little less wind than a 45″ umbrella, which is always a good thing.

Thomas D. says:

April 30, 2009 at 3:04 am

I’ve been looking at that EZYbox too. What are your thoughts on it?

10 min sounds hard, but I guess one might as well get used to it! In the first shot, I enjoyed seeing more darks/shadows than usual. Fits the subject, I think. The blue of the sky coming through in the second shot is good. I also like how these guys come across with attitude!

A signed Guitar Hero controller would be a good bonus!

Todd says:

April 30, 2009 at 8:35 am

Hey Thomas,

So far, I thought the EZYbox did a pretty good job. With the doubled-up SB-600s in the speedring, I had plenty of power for what I wanted to do. The quality of light was pretty good, though I have to do more testing.

For DragonForce, I did want to give them a bit more of a moody treatment with regard to lighting. 10 minutes isn’t a lot of time, but the band was perfectly happy to stand around looking tough! They did not, however, want to get down with the Guitar Hero controllers or anything like that.

Clint Gilders says:

April 30, 2009 at 2:41 pm

Hey Todd
I really like these (the last shot is my favorite). I’m definitely seeing a consistent style coming through in all your portraits. And kudos to you for banging these out in 10 minutes.

I’m curious where the softbox and the umbrella were positioned. It’d be cool if you could snap a wide setup shot when you start a shoot.

Clint

Todd says:

April 30, 2009 at 3:31 pm

Hey Clint, thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it. You’d be surprised how often a 10-15 minute shooting schedule happens – anything longer is gravy.

For the first inline shot, the softbox was camera left, boomed up over the band. The umbrella was just to the right of the band, almost perpendicular to the lens-axis.

For the second shot, the softbox was held up, but not pointing down as much as in the previous setup; roughly something that could be done if it were mounted on a lightstand. Umbrella camera right, closer to 45º off-axis this time. The kicker was roughly 110-120º from the lens.

Chris says:

April 30, 2009 at 3:18 pm

Nice setup.. I am really diggin the boom and the softbox. Much better spread and softness. Gotta love the kicker lighting.. probably my favorite part of a portrait setup. These guys look tough!

Im sellin some stuff when I get back, SBs included, and hittin up the Alien Bees to see what they can provide.. we’ll definitely have to schedule a play date with them.

Todd says:

April 30, 2009 at 3:35 pm

Hey Chris, thanks for the comment. The area of the softbox is really quite small, so I do think it’s throwing out a harder, hotter light than the 45″ umbrellas I use. I think a lot of the look is due to the position of the modifier in relation to the band. Anyway, I have to do some more testing pound for pound to see how I’ll be using the EZYbox in the future.

What I do like about the Lastolite softbox is that it’s small and easy to break down. The softbox also doesn’t catch as much wind due to it’s shape, size, and construction.

I’m considering going with a powerpack or monolight setup, but I’m still loving the ease of speedlights. Not having to lug around a battery pack and mind about wires is nice for now.

Songy says:

May 2, 2009 at 7:43 pm

I love all those shots. Thank you so much for sharing the light setup. I always wondered how! I do shoot shows not concerts but mainly fashion shows. My challenge is not having controll over lighting source. Having had very little experience with using flash your posts help me a lot to understand. Cheers.