I didn’t know at the time, but Rosella was building her company, Dair Entertainment. She asked me about doing a couple of shoots with a net and cloud and I was happy to oblige, as it would be good lighting practice for me. She eventually got to use the photos to promote her act and company. A win win situation.
The shoots took place at Room to Move, Edinburgh. Given how cluttered the place is, the only lighting option is going for totally underexposed backgrounds that look black. We first started with simple net set ups.
The next set up took me a while to figure out, as my lights would always spill onto the background revealing a mess behind my subject. I really like the way it turned out.
I always asked her before the pose if she was going to be high or low, so I could raise or lower my lights accordingly. In the next sequence her head was at the bottom of the net. I used three speedlights on my subject.
Adjusting the lights according to the height of Rosella’s face in the frame, we got a few more shots in the bag.
We then went on to shoot some poses on the cloud (or cloud swing). According to Wikipedia: “The apparatus itself is a soft rope about 25-30mm thick. It can be made from a single rope, or from a cotton-filled sheath. On its simplest level the cloud swing resembles a Spanish web in length and width, with each end braided and spliced-lashed with a thimble, forming a loop. Two high-caliber swivels are required to support the weight; the swivels are anchored to a crane bar or a stationary rig, with the swing itself hanging in a ‘V’ shape. Generally, the motion provided to swing the performer is supplied by an assistant pulling on a tether at the bottom of the ‘V’.”
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