Assignment, Gear

Playing with snakes amongst bamboo

Arielle with boa constrictor-- I shot down on Arielle as she laid on the ground which was on a slope inside this bamboo growth. 3 strobes were used
Arielle with boa constrictor– I shot down on Arielle as she laid on the ground which was on a slope inside this bamboo growth. 3 strobes were used

I started 2015 with a self-assignment.

I reached out to my Facebook connections and got a hold of Nikkal Feyrouz, a professional belly dancer who happens to have boa constrictors as pets.

I had seen her posting featuring her snakes on Vyper Vixen on Facebook so I thought first about a location or setting.

 

Keni, Arielle with their snakes amongst the bamboo. We had to take quite a few breaks as the snakes needed to be brought out to the sunlight to get their temperature up. They didn't like the cold.
Keni, Arielle with their snakes amongst the bamboo. We had to take quite a few breaks as the snakes needed to be brought out to the sunlight to get their temperature up. They didn’t like the cold.

Bamboo

IMG_3094If you’ve never seen bamboo from up close, you should know they grow in thick clusters.

In some places it is so thick, you can barely walk inside the growth.

That means it’s dark within the growth so lighting is essential but problematic.

I couldn’t maneuver my light stands into position once inside the bamboo growth.

Arielle with her boa constrictor amongst bamboo. I used 3 lights on this. 2 Speedlites in a small Octodome, 1 Speedlite directly behind her and a 3 flash on the left to light the surrounding bamboo.
Arielle with her boa constrictor amongst bamboo. I used 3 lights on this. 2 Speedlites in a small Octodome, 1 Speedlite directly behind her and a 3 flash on the left to light the surrounding bamboo.
Combining 3 speedlites for faster recycling.The combo was fired into a shoot through white umbrella. As you can see, it was a battle to maneuver this into the exact position and location once inside the growth
Combining 3 speedlites for faster recycling.The combo was fired into a shoot through white umbrella. As you can see, it was a battle to maneuver this into the exact position and location once inside the growth

It was a battle.

Picture fighting an enemy using a long spear inside the stand of bamboo.

Keep in mind, I couldn’t hack away wily-nily with a machete.

After all I was at a public park.

Boa Constrictors

Lighting inside the bamboo stand. I used 3 sets of flash units. 2 Speedlites inside the small Octodome, a Yongnuo YN-600EX-RT fitted with a CTO gel directly behind her. The 3rd flash was 800XL white lightning head (330w/s) set to the lowest power. All flash units had color temperature orange gels over the heads. Behind the scene photo taken with Powershot G11 triggered by Canon STE-3-RT transmitter.
Lighting inside the bamboo stand. I used 3 sets of flash units. 2 Speedlites inside the small Octodome, a Yongnuo YN-600EX-RT fitted with a CTO gel directly behind her. The 3rd flash was 800XL white lightning head (330w/s) set to the lowest power is on the left. All flash units had color temperature orange gels over the heads. Behind the scene photo taken with Powershot G11 triggered by Canon STE-3-RT transmitter.

Props are important in any photo shoot.

Sometimes ‘live’ props aren’t the easiest to manage as I found out.

Snakes do their own thing like cats.

If I had to do this shoot over, I would probably get more snakes and have someone specifically dedicated to handling them.

It was difficult to try and get them in place and hope they stayed where I wanted them.

Peter Phun Photography

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