The brand new Geekoto Lantern in action

July 23, 2024/0 Comments/in blog, Visions and technique/by Frank Doorhof

The New Geekoto Lantern

It’s always fun to play with new gear, and light shapers always have a special place.
And let’s be honest the light shaper defines a large part of how your image will look. This blog is about the new Geekoto Lantern.

Having new light shapers triggers creativity

The new Geekoto lantern has a few tricks up its sleeve.
First of all, like all Geekoto softboxes we use, the lantern is super easy to set up and collapse and also has the removable speedring you guys love.

What does the Geekoto Lantern do?

The big difference is in the way the lantern projects the light.
With a normal softbox, the light travels first through a diffuser which makes the light source softer and larger, after which it leaves the softbox through the front diffuser. If you want to narrow your light beam you can use a grid. But that’s about it.

Now let’s take a look at the Geekoto lantern.

The Geekoto Lantern on the Geekoto GT400

As you can see the lantern doesn’t just aim the light forwards, but it also lights from the sides.
Now this has some huge advantages.

At first, you might think that this is the perfect softbox for product photography.
Especially with product tables, you can super easily light your product and the background with a lantern.
But also for newborn photography, it’s great to create a beautiful floodlight effect.

So you might think that this is like an umbrella a softbox for the more “broad” lighting setups.
However, the lantern actually shines in the more high-contrast setups.

Let’s take a look at some examples.

Normal softbox with grid

One of my favorite setups is lighting the model from the side with a medium-sized softbox.
I often add an extra light source on the opposite side to open up the shadows and also to light the background.
With the main light, I cannot light the backdrop enough when it’s a more darker color. This is why I use the accent light often in a striplight configuration which I use horizontally or slightly horizontally. This makes it possible to light both the model and the background with one light source.

By aiming it slightly away from the background I get a very nice even light fall off on the background.

The first image is just with the main light.
The light used is a Geekoto GT 400 with the 36″ softbox + grid

As you can see adding the accent light creates not only a beautiful lens flare but also lights the model and the background (I love striplights).

But let’s switch to the Geekoto Lantern

The main reason I love the lantern is that it makes it possible to throw a lot more light on the background creating a totally different look.
So let’s take a look at how that works out.

Also here first a setup with just the lantern, and the second one is with the striplight on.

It’s no battle

Remember that it’s a matter of which one is better.
I like them both for their lighting.
The first setup is great for a more high-contrast look with a darker background.
The second setup has a much nicer wrap-around effect and “glues” the model and background nicer together.

The cool thing about the lantern is that it gives you a totally different kind of light shaper due to the translucent sides. And that is not just better for portraits but also when you shoot full body images. It makes it possible to place the light very close to the model and still light the bottom part. Something that with a normal softbox that close can be very tricky or even impossible. Now you can place your light super close and still light the background and bottom part of your model.

I would highly recommend getting one for your studio.
We added them to our webshop of course.
On the webshop you find all the gear I use and like.
The lantern can be found here.

We also used the Geekoto Lantarn on the Click Live show in the UK in juni. Check out the BTS video

How to photograph awesome guitars in the studio, and an alien ukulele

April 25, 2024/in blog, Visions and technique, Webinars and instructional videos/by Frank Doorhof

Awesome products to shoot

In todays blogpost it’s time to combine two of my passions, guitars and photography.
It’s always fun to do the Digital Classroom livestreams, and although most is aimed at model photography I also sometimes like to throw in something else.

In this episode I take some pictures of 2 of my favourite guitars and an alien ukulele
I show the lighting setups, how to use smoke, how things go wrong and a lot more.

But before I link to the episode, let’s show the results.

In these images you see the Ibanez Jem guitars.
The black one is the Jem 777VBK (Rosewood fingerboard)
The white one is the Jem 7V WH (ebony fingerboard)

Having some fun with a theme

The final photo is just for fun.
When I saw this Ukulele I just had to get it, not just to experiment with but also to use in a photoshoot, because let’s be honest… it’s cool 😀

During the broadcast I promised I would make a special version of this one.
It’s a bit cheesy, but somehow I like it 😀

Curious how I shot these?

Now you might wonder how I shot these?
Well you are lucky, because here is the link to the full almost 2 hour episode.
If you have questions feel free to ask.

The competition

During the broadcast we talked about the Tourbox give away, if you missed that part….
Create a cool video of you creating your art and tag it with the tags #photographer #photography #tourbox and we will select two winners who will win a Tourbox and a free Lightroom video from me. Make sure you also tag me of course.

The BenQ discount code

For the BenQ 10% discount code email me at [email protected]

everything you always wanted to know about light shapers

February 21, 2024/in blog, Visions and technique, Webinars and instructional videos/by Frank Doorhof

I know it’s a bold claim 😀
But I think in this episode of digital classroom we are combing close, I’m discussing all my favourite light shapers and I even show you the different lighting they create.

Digital classroom is a monthly live stream on our YouTube channel (we really appreciate a subscribe and like). During the broadcast the audience can interact with us and ask questions which will be answered during the broadcast. It’s a lot of fun 😀

Lightshapers

To control your light you need light shapers.
Do you need harsh shadows, or do you want a very soft quality of light?
Do you need to light a small area, or a very broad area?

All of these topics will be discussed, but we also talk about lightshapers that can be used in the studio vs light shapers for location work, and how you can mix them all together.

During the broadcast you get to see the shoot with our model Nadine via 3 studio cameras plus you can see the images coming in via the iPad Pro running Cascable.

If you have any questions feel free to leave them under the video, we check our channel every day for comments.

Results from one workshop….. probably more than you think

October 3, 2023/in blog, Visions and technique/by Frank Doorhof

Results from one workshop

We get a lot of questions about what I teach during workshops, but mostly about what you can expect for results. So I thought it would be fun to post all the images I retouched from ONE workshop. Let me show you the results of this workshop.

Before we start

Now to make one thing clear before we start. Some people call shooting images of a model a workshop. I don’t… I strongly feel a workshop should be an intense learning experience with loads of information, tips, questions answered, etc. So in every set, I try to add some things I know people struggle with.

During the workshops, I always try to do at least 3 to 4 totally different sets with their own problems and solutions 😀

The used products are linked to our webshop. If you have any questions, let me know. I am happy to answer them.

In today’s blog post the results from one workshop with our model Claudia.

For the first set, we used a box to pose our model in/on. The main idea was to get interesting effects in the background and how you can manipulate these.
Of course, the added element of the box triggers creativity.

I’m using a Geekoto GT400 with the small Geekoto softbox as the main light.
In the back, I’m using a Geekoto GT250 with the Rogue Magnetic Snoot. The main thing I love about this snoot is that you can use it not only in 4 different configurations but also can be used with or without a diffusion panel (this is without) which gives it a multitude of different looks. It’s one of my (many) favorite modifiers.

Now do remember these are WORKSHOP shots, so I shoot them while teaching, meaning they are okay, but far from perfect.

Set 1.

And of course, there are always more ways to shoot something than just one 😀

Motion

For the next set, it was all about styling colors and adding motion to a shot. To make sure you freeze motion it’s important to know on which setting your strobe has the fastest T01 value. I’m using a Sekonic 858 meter for this, which besides the exposure, also meters the flash duration.

And of course, coaching the model and getting the right moment is vital.

As a backdrop we used the the Rembrandt Brown vinyl 300x244cm

And of course, I couldn’t resist throwing in some different angles for a portrait.
It’s always fun to see the responses when I start shooting from “weird” angles and the attendees see the images coming in.

Clicki

For the next set, we are using the brand-new Clicki system from ClickBackdrops. This is a great solution for photographers shooting on location who are not willing to make any sacrifice in background quality.

I’m using a pro fabric version here. But vinyl is also an option (same price)
It’s great for portraits and 3/4 body. But I thought it would also be fun to use the backgrounds hanging in the back as a backdrop. So we placed the Clicki in between two other backgrounds, to create some more depth.

I mainly focussed on portraits and angles. Here are the results, and remember; this is still from one workshop.

What gear did I use to get these results?

For these images I’m using a Geekoto GT250 with my all-time favorite modifier, the Frank Doorhof Rogue FlashBender.
And of course, when it carries my name it should be my favorite right?
Yes and no.
The main reason I love the FlashBender so much is that it’s very easy to use a bounce card. You make background effects by bending the FlashBender. You can fold it as a snoot. And that is awesome during events to really make a couple or subject stand out, even if the available lighting is poor ( like on some weddings during the dance). Or use it as a small softbox…. but mostly I use it as you can see here, with the striplight attachment and grid.

The cool thing…. when you buy the Frank Doorhof FlashBender everything is in the box 😀

The next results

For the next set, we decided to play with “light in light” where we focused the light in the model. With for example a snoot or in this case a Fresnel, opening up the shadows with a fill-in flash, often with a colored gel. The main light is the Nanlite Fresnel on a Geekoto GT400. and the Rogue magnetic system on a Geekoto GT250 as a fill-in flash. I’m using a blue gel to very slightly open up the shadows.

Of course, we also shot some portraits.

But there are more results

After these images, I thought it would be cool to throw in a microphone as a prop. And explain some very powerful techniques where I combine feathering with “fake” reflections by angling the light just correctly around the model. This is a very powerful technique to create stunning almost silhouette-like shots.

In this setup, I’m still using the Nanlite Fresnel on a Geekoto GT400. But the blue gel was now moved to the opposite side. Depending on the effect I wanted (the angle I’m shooting from) we just angled the strobe aiming it toward the camera. Love the results from this technique. When walking around your model you get a lot of different looks.

By adding the blue gel into the frame the total look and feel of the shots change.

Frank Doorhof Workshops

If you like these results and are looking for a workshop that’s totally different from just shooting images (a shooting zoo), make sure to check out fotografie-workshops.nl Here you can find information about the Dutch workshops (and location workshops abroad). Most workshops in our studio are in Dutch, but if you let us know in advance we can switch to English, most Dutch people speak and/or understand English.

1:1 workshops are always possible

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