Often at Awamu Moja we take advantage of Fashion Photography to denounce endemic social and environmental problems of our civilization which is constantly crushing everything in its path.
This shooting is part of a campaign of two shooting sessions on environmental issues.
Environmental disasters are becoming so widespread that they start threatening the future of humankind on earth. Absurdly, they are due to the terrible damages caused to our planet by humanity itself, always looking for more: more comfort, more wealth, more choice, more… more… more. Where will this inextinguishable thirst lead us? Nobody knows. But the environmental consequences are already dreadful.
This specific Shooting Session targets Petrol Catastrophes. The ERIKA sailed out of Dunkerque, bound for Livorno with a cargo of around 31,000 tons of heavy fuel oil. She sunk on December 8, 1999. (20 YEARS AGO). The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded on April 20, 2010, 40 miles southeast off the Louisiana coast (10 YEARS AGO). Two of the major environmental disasters. Did we learn something?
This session has been done in my studio in Luxembourg that has given us such a fabulous playground.
I think the quality of a good studio is mainly measured by the quality of the lighting it offers to the photographer. The physical environment is important, but the capabilities of the lighting equipment gives all its pedigree. Photographers paint with light first. All other tools come second. This is why I did not want to skimp and decided to work with what I think is the best light equipment available on the market, broncolor.
For these 2 days of shooting, my team and I worked with six b roncolor 3200 S WiFi / RFS 2 Power Packs, 18 Pulso G Heads, 3 Picolites with ad-ons, 1 Pulso Spot 4, and a great bunch of modifiers, including a few Paras and a Flooter.
We were able to install four sets at the time, speeding the shooting process greatly. 14 different sets have been photographed in two days. The usability interface of the Scoro is so easy and naturally obvious to use that short thinking times were needed to get ready for the next shot. Speed is financially appreciated when you work with a few models at the same time and a reasonable sized team.
Regarding the Scoros, I could come up with: extremely fast recycling, very fast flash durations, very rapid flash sequences. Everything great, but the most important for my photography is the Enhanced Color Temperature Control Technology (ECTC), which gives a constant colour temperature over the entire variation range. No matter how you shoot, colour temperature remains constant, that spares so much post-production time. Colour Temperature is crucial in Fashion and Beauty Photography.
The BronControl desktop software allowed me to save time as well, controlling my six Scoross on different channels/studios.
I used all sorts of broncolor modifiers that gave me widely all the solutions I needed. For me, these modifiers work two ways: I can choose a specific modifier because its shape will give me the solution to shoot a picture I have in mind. Though, sometimes it is the shape of the modifier who inspires me to shoot a specific picture. And this is why it is crucial to choose a brand that produces a very large number of modifiers – this is what broncolor does.
Regarding lamps, my most favorite are the broncolor Picolites. Picolites are to light what surgeons are to medicine. An extremely versatile and accurate light, that solves 99% of all my tricky issues. I use all the available attachments for Picolites: attachment with honeycomb grids, Fresnel attachment, Projection attachment and the Picobox.
Above all this, the cherry on the cake that makes me so proud and blessed, is my amazing dream team. People who never balk at spending the time it takes to achieve a good image and to go the extra mile. I could never take these photos if they were not with me before, during and after the shooting session. So blessed.
Watch the video for this photoshoot:
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Credits:
Lighting : broncolor
Photographer and Concept : Moja
Photo Assistant : Yasmine Sweetlove
Creative Director : Cassandre Lebrun
Fashion Designers Anne Deprez – Huiqin Peng – Fraise au Loup Costumes
Production Manager Anne-Sophie Van den Bogaert
Lighting Assistant : Ainhoa Querejeta
Logistic : Florian Strée
Models : Riona Neve – Valeryia Hulidzina
Make-up artist : PADDY MCGURGAN MAKE UP ARTIST
Hairstylist : Natalia Goff
Acquisition and retouching : Ruslana Kedria
Video : François Schmitt
