When planning out the lighting design for a photoshoot there are many things to consider, but a smartphone app was never one of them, until now!

On this recent photoshoot with an amazing athlete from the Sports + Lifestyle Unlimited agency out of Portland, I used the bronControl app to not only control all of my lighting, but also to unlock some amazing features of the broncolor Siros L strobes that took this shoot to the next level.

*Read on to see what you can do with bronControl, Alternate Mode, & Sequence Mode

With every action or lifestyle shoot that I do, I always make sure to get a strong portrait of the subject. Its a key part of telling the visual story. We were photographing an accomplished sprinter, on an actual running track. While there were no stadium lights at this location I wanted to recreate that backlighting with strobes to give the same effect. We had a long cross bar behind the subject and mounted two Siros 800 L from the bar before cranking it up into the air. The fact that the Siros 800 L is battery powered was awesome. There were no cables to wrangle and we could put them as high as we wanted. But when a strobe is way up there how do you control it?

Enter the bronControl app! With the app I was able to remotely control the power of the lights from my phone and my laptop. Once the power was set I could even combine them in a group so that their power ratio would stay the same. Now we had that unique “stadium” rim light effect! Next we needed a key light on the subject, so I put the rim lights into Standby Mode from the app and brought out a third strobe.

I had an assistant boom in another Siros 800 L with a Octabox 75 attached. I was able to dial in the correct exposure for this strobe using the bronControl app as well. This let the assistant focus keep the light steady instead of bring it up and down repeatedly to adjust the power. Now with all three lights ready to go we were able to start capturing our Sportraits.

For the next shot we started to get more technical to create an animated image. GIFs have become very popular recently and are a great way to show motion. Combine a fast firing camera with some lights can keep up and the creative possibilities explode, like a sprinter exploding off the starting line. We started by adding a third light on the cross bar above the athlete.

Then digging into the “More” section within the bronControl app I activated the Alternate Mode. Normally your strobes fire all at the same time, but in Alternate mode you can set them to fire individually in a specific order.

After selecting the order I set my camera on a tripod and put it on burst mode at 11 frames per second. From there I had just had the athlete explode off the line and we let it rip! The Siros 800 L recycled blazingly fast and the alternating firing sequence made for an awesome animation tracking the runner across the frame.

For the final image of the shoot I wanted to distill all this action into a single frame. Simple in concept, immensely difficult to pull off technically. I wanted to create a multiple exposure, in-camera. Thankfully the Siros 800 L can fire in a rapid burst up to 50 times per second in Sequence Mode. Now combine that with the advanced control of the bronControl app and you’ve got Synchronized Sequence Mode. This allows you to have the lights make multiple exposures during a single frame, and they can all be timed individually in highly precise 1/100s increments.

After a little tweaking we were able to use the three Siros 800 L behind the athlete to fire at the beginning of his sprint, then pulse multiple times during his sprint, then have the last strobe fire brightly at the end of his sprint. This complex lighting all happened wirelessly as the strobes hung 10-15′ in the air, and my camera was locked down on the ground for a 2-second long exposure.

Thats as close to magic as you can get!

So now whenever I’m designing the lighting and gear list for a photoshoot, the bronControl app and what it can do, is at the front of my mind.

About Erik Valind
Erik Valind is a freelance photographer, born and raised on the Florida beaches, now living in New York City. Specializing in commercial lifestyle photography and environmental portraiture – airy and energetic imagery defines the style and vision of this top pro photographer. Inspired by the form, activity and diversity of people, Erik has lent his expertise to shape the public image of numerous personas and national brands. Erik also shares his visual approach, techniques and passion for photography internationally as a speaker at major photo conferences, as an author, and online as a CreativeLive and KelbyOne instructor.

www.erikvalind.com