articles/Lighting/bigdog13-page1

Rolling with the BIG Dog Part 13 - part 1 of 1 2 3

by Damian McGillicuddy Published 01/02/2012

So another fantastic Convention over and the year marches on. I'm sure if you attended you will have had not only a fabulous time but your brain must be chock full of thoughts and new ideas. Thank you once more to the Societies for putting on such a premier league show.

Team McGillicuddy had a great Convention! Jam-packed classrooms, the traditional Friday night BIG Dog event was oversubscribed by a factor of three (perhaps we should run one on every night of the 2013 convention!), we met old friends and made new; people I'm proud to have helped and mentored achieved recognition with L, A, and even F level accreditation...very, very well done guys ;0)

From a personal point of view this is the first time I'm writing my piece as an inaugural Grand Master of the Societies, this is the highest accolade that can be bestowed and therefore I'm rightly proud and ever so pleased.

The Societies are also 'testing' the McGillicuddy Portaflex kit as a new member's gift so I thought it most appropriate to write this first piece of the new year and highlight what this 'little bag of tricks' can do.

So firstly, what is a Portaflex kit? This is my 'Hail Mary' modifier kit, small and lightweight, enough to fit in any camera bag, and versatile enough to save the day on many a commission...why Portaflex? - simple, it's portable and flexible ;0)

So what's in the bag? The kit comprises a rubberised Velcro strap to wrap around your flash head so you can attach the modifiers...I use mine mostly with my speedlights and Qflash, but I have used them with my Ranger Quadra as well, and three modifiers. There is a 'bare bulb' enhancer, a variable aperture snoot and a barn door/reflector. It weighs nothing and is flat to pack...bonus

Now, much more importantly, what can you do with it?

Let's use the bare bulb enhancer on a speedlight as a 'key' and see where we go...

Visually my intention was to create a slightly sexy, edgy, grungy, urban, fashion edged environmental study with as little fuss as possible. Just the way I like it.

My 'key' light, the light that creates the main direction of the prevailing light and adds shape and depth to the image, was a simple third party speedlight - Nissin's Di 866 to be precise.

As you can see in my 'behind the scenes' equipment picture (pic 1) the speedlight was fitted to a stand to enable me to place the unit precisely.

The 'bare bulb' enhancer from the Damian McGillicuddy Portaflex kit was the modifier of choice and fitted to the speedlight courtesy of the kit's rubberised Velcro strap. You can also see from this image that the speedlight is to be triggered with Elinchrom's universal Skyport, I've found this to be a very useful, reliable and cost effective combination.

• Rolling with the BIG Dog Part 13 page 1
  
• Rolling with the BIG Dog Part 13 page 2
  
• Rolling with the BIG Dog Part 13 page 3
  

There are 55 days to get ready for The Society of Photographers Convention and Trade Show at The Novotel London West, Hammersmith ...
which starts on Wednesday 15th January 2025