Tag Archive for: Lindsay Adler

Lois vs the Gobo projector

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The Gobo Projector, Westcott Optical Spot by Lindsay Adler

Some images are special

In this blog I tell you more about the Westcott Optical Spot by Linsday Adler and how I use it.

Creative images are without a doubt my favorite kind.
Of course, we also shoot families and events. But when I have the chance to have a bit more freedom I love to use light shapers that give something special to the shoot. One of my favorite light shapers is the Lindsay Adler Westcott optical spot, sometimes also called a Gobo projector.

The Gobo projector projects patterns on your subject or background via metal plates.

Westcott Optical Spot by Linsday Adler

Westcott Optical Spot by Linsday Adler the Gobos. But you can also use the blades

By using a lens in front of the gobo it’s possible to focus the shadows. In other words, you can easily create razor-sharp or super soft shadows in all kinds of patterns. And even when you don’t want to use the metal gobo’s the spot also has blades which are great to create more straight shapes.

During the recent Digital classroom I used the spot for most of the sets.
Today the results.
Do take into account that these were shot during a live stream with video lights, so they are a bit “rough” with the lighting, it’s very hard to see in a bright studio 😀

Set 1 with the Westcott Optical Spot by Linsday Adler

With the stars Gobo on a Geekoto GT400
As an accent light a Geekoto GT250 with the Rogue magnetic system and a blue gel.

Westcott Optical Spot by Linsday Adler Westcott Optical Spot by Linsday Adler

Set 2 Westcott Optical Spot by Linsday Adler

For the second set, I’m using the same Geekoto GT400 with the spot only this time I’m using the diagonal lines.
During the setup, I added a red gel on our Rogue magnetic system in different positions giving it different lens flares and looks.

Westcott Optical Spot by Linsday Adler Westcott Optical Spot by Linsday Adler

Set 3 Using only the blades of the Westcott Optical Spot by Lindsay Adler

For this set, I’m not using a gobo but the blades inside the optical spot.
As an accent a red gel from the side which I varied in output and angle during the shoot.

Westcott Optical Spot by Linsday Adler Westcott Optical Spot by Linsday Adler used on model Lois

Set 4 not with the Spot, but with the Frank Doorhof FlashBender v3 XL Pro

We always get a lot of questions about the Rogue FlashBender (Frank Doorhof edition), so also this time during the digital classroom I did an extra set with the FlashBender. I’m using it on a Geekoto GT200 in the striplight configuration.

Want to see the live stream again, and see all the setups?

 

Digital Classroom

Every month we stream a live broadcast from our studio in Emmeloord. Most of the time with a model, but sometimes also about street and travel photography (my other passion) or just retouching tips and tricks). But also from our workshops, we make short “how did I shot this” videos. 

We don’t sell the Lindsay Adler Projector but you can buy it from our friends at B&H 

Check out this video when we used the Westcott Optical Spot by Lindsay Adler for a pregnancy shoot with Nadine

 

Working with the optical spot from Westcott to create stunning images

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Creative light shapers are awesome

When you want to create something different than the standard photo there are a lot of options.
You can add some props, add a nice backdrop, maybe add some smoke and accent lights etc.

But something that will really spice up your shoot is without a doubt an Gobo projector, or optical spot.
In this video tutorial I’m using the Westcott Lindsay Adler optical spot for three completely different sets with our model Lois.

You get to see the lighting setups, all the photos I shoot and of course the technique is explained in depth.

As an extra bonus I also demonstrate the Rogue (Frank Doorhof) Flashbender.

Digital classroom is made possible by :
BenQ
Rogue
Cascable
Calibrite

Using a gobo projector with different colors

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Its fun

To experiment with different solutions to get cool looks.
As you probably know I’m a big fan of focussed light sources, and the gobo projector is of course an awesome light shaper that does this and so much more.
The Gobo projector I’m using is the Westcott Lindsay Adler version.


Standard it’s delivered with a 135mm lens but I’m mostly using a 50mm 1.8 lens on it to get the light spread out more over a larger area.

With this Gobo projector you can choose to just use the blades to create shapes and really focus the light with one small beam on your model, or you can use the gobos themselves, small metal plates with patterns that you place between the lens and your lightsource. The cool thing about a gobo projector is that with the lens you can focus the patterns on y0ur subject or background.

Adding some colors

Normally you use the gobos as they are, but during the workshops I love to experiment so for this setup I’m using two gels I put on the gobo.
As you can see it still needs some work, but the effect is very cool
You do have to take into account that this will REALLY eat your light, a gobo projector is not very bright, but when adding gels into the game means that in this case I’m shooting at slightly higher ISO’s than I would normally use with strobes. Luckily the Geekoto strobes I’m using can also be turned down to a really low output, meaning they mix perfectly with the projector.

Model : Felisa

Adding some smoke made the image complete for me.
But also always walk around your model and try different positions, it has happend countless times during workshops, events and commercial jobs, me and the client think one angle or position is best, and I always try to include some different positions at the end of the session, and in some cases I actually prefer the alternatives. So always make sure you shoot from as many different positions and angles as time and space allows.

 

 

 

Adding something really special to a photoshoot with a gobo projector

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I love my Westcott gobo projector

I love the old fashioned photography, think about photographers like George Hurrell or for example the world famous Harcourt studios.
In the 30’s and 40’s you often saw harsh light combined with hard shadows, this can be for example a plant, branches, chair, ladder or whatever you want to project on the background.

Quick tip.
If you want really hard shadows, make sure your lightsource is far away from the object that will cast the shadow, and the object is as close to the background as possible. The further you move the light away the harder the edge transfer (shadow)

But although those shadows are nice I love to go one step further, and this is where a gobo projector comes in.
As mentioned I’m using the Westcott Lindsay Adler version, but in essence they all work the same.
You mount the projector to your strobe and you can place different gobo’s (metal discs) between a lens (in my case a Canon mount lens) and the strobe, by focussing the lens you can create a sharper or softer pattern on your subject/set. It’s an awesome light modifier to create stunning images.

You can use the projector on your model to create very sharp areas of light or to light the whole set and use fill in lights for extra detail or mood.
During a recent workshop with Felisa I used the projector exactly for that.

In these images I’m using the projector with a standard gobo with lines on our Geekoto GT400 aimed at Felissa, for the accent light I’m using one Geekoto GT250 with the Rogue Magnetic system and a blue gel. By adding a bit of smoke the blue nicely smeared out over the set.

We build a small set by using 2 of our Clickbackdrops backgrounds.
Of course the fur is fake.

A few tips for the Gobo projector

On the Westcott you can mount lenses with the Canon mount.
The lens that was delivered with my set was for me too long and made it impossible to throw the light over a complete set, it does work great for portraits.
So when you want to start using a gobo projector I would advise to get some extra lenses.
Now this is where you have to be careful.
The projector eats light, so make sure that when you get a lens you get the widest possible aperture you can afford, the nice thing is that you don’t need to get a super high quality lens, you could for example use old M42 lenses with a Canon convertor and make it possible to experiment with different lenses.

One of the things I love about the Westcott version is that you don’t need to use the gobos, but you can also use the blades to get some really striking patterns on your model.

And you can of course combine it with some colors for extra stunning effects.

Want to visit one of our workshops?
visit www.fotografie-workshops.nl for the new agenda.
The workshops are in Dutch, but if you let us know a few weeks in advance we can switch the to English.