On Reflection

On Reflection

For most of us using reflectors is such an integral part of the way we light our sets and subjects everyday that it becomes easy to disregard the possibilities for experimentation and innovation.

I’ve always liked the quality from bounced or reflected light, from buildings, glass, water and from vehicle bodywork and chrome (come back 1974) and I enjoy replicating it when lighting sets. 

The progress of photographic sensor design and expansion of useable ISO range is ever opening new possibilities for photography and I’ve become very interested in a technique that Cinematographer Christian Berger has been developing since 1999. It’s a system for lighting films that utilises reflected light almost exclusively. Dubbed Cine Reflect Lighting System (CRLS) the technique involves reflecting beams from a light source that produces a parallel and concentrated beam of light as close as possible to the parallel light produced by the sun.  The RLS 70, specially developed for this purpose, uses a 1200W HMI lamp and is manufactured by Pani Projection of Austria together with a range of reflectors also designed by Berger and creative partner Christian Bartenbach for the CRLS. In association, Dedolight have also created a Parallel beam lens attachment for their 200,400 and 1000 series of lampsmaking them more suitable for use with the CRLS range of reflectors. Competition comes from Kaczek Visuals with their KFLECT system.

I’ve yet to get my hands on any CRLS kit but I continue to use reflection a lot and at the moment it’s the ideal way to pick outsome black leather boots on a moodily lit set without spoilingthe contrast and feel of the overall picture. 

Aside from the usual pop-up reflectors, California Sunbounce, Scrim Jim and mirror board options I often carry celotex insulation board (other brands are available) Lee Mirror Silver (No. 271) and Soft Silver Reflector (No. 273) both useful for making hard / soft reflectors of whatever size and shape you need. Mirror, or silver-backed acrylic can be cut to any size and I favour using small piecesfor still life sets adding accents of light when direct light doesn’t have the right feel or the set is just too crowded to squeeze another lamp in. 

Adjusting the quality of light from a reflector is achievable with diffusion gels, I usually carry 1/16th white diff and Hampshire frost.  When time allows applying dulling spray is a good way to make very fine adjustments. I also have a range of nets, both black and white, to soften the reflection from harder reflectors. These can be standard double or single nets as carried on all our Gripvans, but I’ve often found the local haberdashers a great place to pick up a wide range of different mesh, perfect for diffusing mirrorboards, household mirrors or any other hard reflector.

In the past I’ve custom mounted reflectors to armature wire or fixed them to baby pins to make it easier to Grip them, now I’m excited to explore the versatility that the magnet based systems offered by Pani and Kflect have to offer. Much as I’m looking forward to working with a full set of Paniflectors or K-flectors in the near future, I cant ever imagine not needing to improvise at some point. You can use so many materials as reflectors and often on set I’m scrounging mirrors from make-up artists or raiding location kitchens for shiny saucepans, silver trays or the old favourite bacofoil. I’ve used shaving mirrors, stainless steel plate, glass windows, aluminium of various finishes and the case of my Macbook Pro in the past and who knows what I’ll use in the future, I knew I kept those old CDs for good reason...

You can now rent the Dedo Lightbridge CRLS system, as well as the Lightstream CRLS Move / Drive kit and CRLS 100 kit from Gripvan alongside our grip packages or as part of a bespoke kit list.

Get in touch with our rental team to discuss your requirements and find out how Gripvan can support your film or photo shoot with everything from lighting and grip rental, through to crew and production equipment.

Fast as a Greyhound

We're handing over to Gripvan crew member Sam Benard for this account of a recent personal project shot on location with Gripvan.

Being born and bred in London, I’ve had the privilege of working for Gripvan since starting my assisting career 4 years ago.  I’ve had the chance to work on some fantastic shoots, many of which have been massive productions, giving me first had experience of Gripvan’s potential.  So it was amazing to finally have an opportunity to have a van on one of my own shoots. 

I’ve always taken pictures, but it’s over the past year or two that I’ve been shooting in a more considered manner, slowly building my portfolio.  The shoots I enjoy assisting on the most are sports advertising campaigns. The productions are huge and there’s always an interesting and different lighting set up to get my head around.  If all goes to plan, sports advertising is hopefully the route I’ll be going down.  That’s why I feel this test shoot was a huge step in the right direction.  I’d been thinking about this shoot for such a long time, so I was delighted when It finally came together.

The concept behind this test shoot was a combination of producing some stunning images as well as a testing my technical skills.  I also understand that there is a huge amount of controversy around the sport of greyhound racing.  But I chose to put that to one side and not take on any political views when shooting this project.  I simply wanted to show these beautiful animals in all their glory.  Their power and elegance.  On the technical side of things I wanted test myself and see if I could sync three cameras to shoot at exactly the same time, as well as freezing the motion of the dogs.  Not an easy task on an animals that can hit 45mph and reaches full speed in only a couple strides.

The day proved to be much trickier than I could even had planned for.  The initial plan was to use a laser trigger to fire cameras and flash at the same time, but there were some unforeseen technical issues with the trigger which meant I had to rethink my whole approach on the day.  In addition to that, we had very heavy fog to deal with.  This meant that it interfered with the remote flash transmissions and showed up heavily in shot for the head on angle, shot on a 600mm lens.  Meaning we had to shoot at night time with no ambient light, so not to light up the fog.  Trying to freeze the motion at that speed, meant pushing the cameras and Broncolor flash to their limits. We were given 6 dogs to work with, but with only a couple runs per dog, meaning there was very little room for error.

Having a Gripvan on the day was simply awesome.  It proved to be the safety net it has been so many times before.  This was the biggest production I’d done to date and I’d have been in stranded without it.  We ended up using almost everything on the van in one way or another.  The team at Gripvan were amazing in helping me put this shoot together, from locating specialised equipment like the laser trigger and 600mm lens, to giving valuable technical advice.  If I could have a van on all my future shoots I’d be a very happy man.

This shoot was a fantastic yet trying experience and I can’t wait to do another... hopefully with another Gripvan on my kit list. 

Shoot Spotlight: Aviva

Gripvan have been working with award winning Photographer and Director Sophie Ebrard since 2011. You may have seen the recent publication of her project “It’s just Love” in the Creative Review Annual . In the past we’ve scaled the Derbyshire peaks in Gale force winds, turned gloomy January Streatham into sunny Surburbia and chased Gabrielle Aplin round the Kent countryside, umbrellas balloons and all. This time GV's Andrew Howe headed to sunny Wales with Sophie and Shoot Logistics:

We were happy to be called on again to help Sophie with a campaign for Aviva insurance in December. The shoot was commissioned by Adam&Eve DDB to provide the stills content for their "Good Thinking Drive Challenge"  campaign. Challenging was definitely the word for the conditions on the day with high winds and driving rain lashing the location at Tredegar House, Newport. Production from Jesse Stagg of Shoot Logistics was, as ever, seamless and crew and cast were kept warm and well-catered for despite the weather.

Sophie’s brief was to shoot real people in their own cars in her natural and unobtrusive style. The shots were a combination of stationary cars and tracking, shot from inside the cars. Faultless planning, diligent scouting and careful choice of location ensured that Shoot Logistics organized an ideal working environment to achieve some difficult objectives safely. Sophie also had to shoot a short moving image piece that Gripvan were involved in lighting.

Gripvan consulted on the lighting requirements for the shoot and supplied M series Arri HMIs and Litepanels Astra Led Panels. I use the Arri M series a lot these days. The M18 was the perfect lamp on this occasion for rigging on the low-loader for the Moving Image shoot but I particularly like the M40 for the flexibility it gives running from a single Honda EU65is while giving the sort of light output I could only have got from a 6K in the past. Similarly the Astra Led panels are surprisingly powerful for a lamp that can run from a V-Lok battery. The Astras were invaluable for lighting the car interiors on a wet and gloomy day in Wales.

Another area where Gripvan's expertise was called upon was camera rigging. The tight spaces demanded that Sophie position the camera on the dashboard of some of the cars for certain shots. Gripvan used limpet mounts and micro grip from Matthews and Filmtools to mount Sophie's Canon 1DX.  I find the microgrip range useful for a lot of different applications: Rigging cameras, rigging lighting and building still life sets being the main ones. This ‘fly on the wall’ technique complimented Sophies candid directorial style perfectly.

Another great crew, Another successful shoot, looking forward to the next one.

New Kit at Gripvan

New arrivals at Gripvan, ready for your next shoot.

APC UPS

Shown above in 700, 1000 and 1500 models, the APC Back-UPS Pro series are the industry standard for uninterruptible power supplies. Whether you're working on the street or in a warehouse, if you're running an iMac or other equipment that needs to remain powered at all times, the APC is a must. Gripvan have added the 1500 model to our rental stock as it offers the most power and flexibility of the range.

Litepanels Astra Bicolour LED

The Litepanels Astra 1x1 BiColour LED panel is one of the most versatile light fixtures we've encountered. Slim and light enough to be mounted almost anywhere and with an impressive output .....

The ASTRA 1x1 Bi-Color panel builds on the legacy of the original 1x1 fixture, which revolutionized the lighting industry. This innovative daylight to tungsten tunable color model was years in the making, with every design element of this next generation panel being meticulously crafted. Following the Litepanels tradition of a one square foot form factor, the ASTRA series is designed with select premium quality, high CRI, surface mount LEDs and paired with custom designed TIR optics. These tightly binned LEDs and fine-tuned optics provide the ASTRA 1x1 with superior color reproduction and a light output that is up to four times brighter than traditional LED panels. This higher intensity results in a longer throw and illuminates a wider area, allowing the panel to compete with strong exterior light sources or illuminate a large area effectively with just a single fixture.

New Honda EU70is Generator

We’re pleased to be able to offer the latest generator from Honda. Very similar to the Honda EU65is generators already in stock the new EU70is portable generator matches it for its near-silent operation but has the added ability of being able to link together with another unit to deliver around 11kW of constant power. This gives the ability to run a huge light source from two portable generators where previously a large trailer mounted generator would have been required.

The Honda EU70is Deluxe Series Generator offers 6500 watts of portable, inverter power. The EU70is is ready to join you on your next location shoot. Location owners will love its ultra quiet operating sounds level (52 to 60 dBA) and so will your team.

The i-Deluxe Series is the first to use Honda's proprietary "i-Monitor" technology which provides information for hours of operation, wattage and engine speed; as well as diagnostics for convenient servicing.

Standard features include electric starting, Honda's patented Eco-Throttle for extended run time, two-wheel transport kit and folding handles. 

Location & Styling Equipment available at Gripvan

Whilst we're best known for our Grip and Lighting gear, Gripvan also offer a comprehensive range of location & production equipment and styling equipment. When taken as a package these offer a significant saving compared against list price and are available in different sizes to suit your shoot or production.

Launching March our Standard Location Package will pack a huge amount of kit in to one of our Renault Master Gripvans and includes Van Hire, Driver*, mileage allowance and congestion charge in addition to all the listed kit. Until then check out the list of equipment we can offer and build your own bespoke selection.

The Styling Package is aimed at the busy stylist working on location. Neatly packed the package comes with hangers, rails, make up mirror, steamer and much more. 

Check out both packages on our new Services page.

As if all of that wasn't tempting enough, we are are offering all new and existing clients a 20% discount on the Standard Location Package and Styling Package throughout February & March.

*Based on a 10 hour day door to door 

Kit Focus: The Aquatech Meridian Sport Housing for Phase One 645 Cameras

At Gripvan we like to answer the impossible asks with a "sure, we can do that!" So when a client asked whether it was possible to rent a medium format underwater housing to take his 645DF+ and Phase IQ260 for a swim we looked in to the options.

Having tried on several occasions over many years to rent a medium format underwater housing in the UK it was no surprise to Andrew when he was unable to find one at any other rental house.

Gripvan decided to invest and added the Aquatech to our rental stock. Aquatech define the Meridian as a Sport housing rather than an underwater housing as it is only rated to a depth of 10 metres and is therefore unsuitable for diving.  Andrew's never been asked to go deeper than one or two metres and most of the ‘wet’ shoots we've been involved with over the last 20 years have called for the lens to be half in and half out of the water. For this sort of work the Aquatech is ideal.

It can take either the Phase One 645DF or the DF+ body and the Phase One IQ series of digital backs. Gripvan stock a range of lens ports from the P100 to the PD85 that will take the Schneider LS lenses 28mm f4.5 up to the 150mm f3.5.

Operation is simple with the housing needing only four catches to snap-shut and interchangeable lens ports screwing on at the front. Camera controls are very user friendly allowing change of aperture, shutter and all of the digital back functions except the touchscreen. 

Andrew's been lucky enough to use this housing in the Maldives as well as the UK and it makes shooting a breeze. The ease and speed of taking the camera in and out of the housing facilitates stress free lens changes and regular review of the images.

There are also options for flash syncing both in and out of the water. With no underwater housing currently available for the Phase One XF we think this is still the best bet for high resolution underwater photography.

If you've got an impossible ask why not use Gripvan's consultancy service? 

NEWS: Dylan Collard's Ages of Us

Dylan Collard ‘Ages of Us’ Exhibition opening night

The amazing Sue Odell co-photographed by Chris Jelley at Dylan's #agesofus exhibition Private View. See the full collection of images shot on the night + 125 portraits, audio clips, film and transcript of the project at http://agesofus.com

A selection of images from Dylan Collards’ recent project ‘Ages of Us’ will be hanging in the reception of advertising agency Mother until February 13th The Project involved travelling with the same Green bench to different locations in the USA and for the opening night of his exhibition Dylan wanted to recreate the feel of his project for the exhibition-goers and capture their portraits on the same green seating he had brought back from America.

Gripvan were called on to rig the painted canvas desert background for the set and solve the issue of having to light the set without using any floorspace.

We opted to rig a lighting bar from eyebolts in the 6.5M ceiling and light the set with two Litepanels Astra LED panels balanced to the same colour temperature as the existing tungsten lighting at Mother.

We finished off with tungsten Dedo 150’sand Arri 1kw fresnels lighting Dylans work from any suitable spots we were able to rig to.

Cassie Thistle, 29, Yosemite National Park, from the series 'Ages of Us' by Dylan Collard. "Cassie was travelling with her family and we met her, her brother Luke and her mom at a picnic area just off the main road. Much friendlier than her Chawawa, Cassie told us about a childhood interest in horses that had turned into a respect / love for animals and a current job working with them."

Keegan Donovan, 29, Death Valley, from the series 'Ages of Us' by Dylan Collard. "A ranger since he was 19 years old Keegan talk to us about his background in theatre / public history and how he sees the primary role of a ranger being to protect the memory of a country. We were only allowed to shoot in Death Valley between sunrise (about 5.30 - 6am) and 9am OR until the temperature hit 100f. As the sun came up Keegan and Matt old us tales about rescuing people from the desert, about those who didn’t make it like “Beef Jerky man” and about the beauty of the valley and living in such a remote location."

Yanna In’tveld, 19, Red Rock Canyon (Blue Diamond Road), from the series 'Ages of Us' by Dylan Collard. "Yanna was part of a school / university trip from Sweden that had been travelling the US. We’d pulled in and set up at another Gas Station and a bus pulled in and I’d noticed a couple of people who turned out to be the teachers / group leaders. I told them what we were doing and persuaded a couple of the guys to come and sit of me. At this stage I didn’t realise they were travelling with a bus full of teenagers, so I wandered back over to see who else I could round up."

Maliea Stewart, 25, Red Rock Canyon Overlook, from the series 'Ages of US' by Dylan Collard. "We met Maliea and a few of her friends in Red Rock Canyon as the sun was setting. It was Maliea’s 25th Birthday that day and they were full of beans and excitement about our shoot and Maliea’s tiara! We shot another couple here who turned up with an Elvis impersonator vicar (who arrived in a red Cadillac and was wearing a Hawaiian shirt) as they were about to get married right here at Red Rock Canyon." 

Dan Blacksmith, age unknown, Ludlow CA, from the series 'Ages of US' by Dylan Collard. "Dan was a truck driver who wandered past our bench, chatted to Greg about his rig and then agreed to sit for me. He wasn’t interested in seeing or having any of his shots but was calmly happy to help us out. As we left I looked at the map to see where sat nav was taking us and realised that the road we’d set up on was the very end / start of route 66 before it became the dirt track that is Crucero Road. The yellow lines that lead into the bench are the centre lines of Route 66."

Heidi and Jane Grunt, 33, 53, 74, Joshua Tree, from the series 'Ages of US' by Dylan Collard. "This is 3 generations of the Grunt family who run and own the 29 Palms Inn at Joshua Tree National Park. When I was a student I won the Ilford Student Awards, the prize being a trip around California with a photographer. One of the places we stayed at on that trip was the 29 Palms Inn and its a place I loved and always wanted to return to. So I made their hotel one of the focal points of my trip and arranged with them that I’d photograph each generation of their family as part of the project." 

About Ages of Us:

‘Ages of Us’ is a documentary project by photographer Dylan Collard. The series explores the process of ageing; the effects of that unstoppable process on our physical being and how our attitude, conscience, hopes, aspirations and desires change as we go through the stages of life. Age is one of the great and incurable mysteries of science – we are told that lotions, potions, diets and lifestyle changes can slow, change and increase the effects and duration of this process, but nothing can halt the inevitable destination.

For ‘Ages of Us’, 165 participants were photographed and recorded in 23 locations during a 3000 mile trip through one of the ‘So Cal’ tourist loops in California in 18 day days, beginning and finishing in LA. Audio recordings accompany the photographs, printed as Lambda C-type prints for the exhibition, questioning perceptions of age, generations, the journey of life and how our priorities change as we travel through the three stages of Youth, Middle and Old Age.

Throughout the series, the bench that the participants were seated on remained the same distance, angle and height to the camera at all times. In the left seat (to camera) we find the 0-25 years olds, in the middle seat the subjects were 25 – 50 years old, and in the right seat 50 + year olds.

The bench will be displayed at the Private View  of the exhibition, set against a backdrop of an American landscape. Visitors will be encouraged to sit and have their photos taken and these will be added to the project website and social media platforms to become a part of the project.

Where possible, and when willing, participants were asked the following three questions about their Past, Present and Future and their answers were documented to accompany the photographs:

Past: When you were a child what did you want to be when you grew up? What was important to you when you were young?

Present: What do you do now? What sort of things does your life involve now? What kind of work do you do , family, relationships? What’s important to you now?

Future: What would you like to do in the future, what’s left, what plans do you have for the future?

About Dylan Collard:

Following college in The North and a few years as a bass player, Dylan Collard moved to London 1998 and started assisting. Since becoming a commercial photographer, Dylan has shot work for the likes of Pfizer, Adidas, O2, Santander, and The Discovery Channel. Much of his work involves shooting real people on location using lighting and details to convey a sense of narrative about his subject. He works from his studio in South London and is a much better photographer than he was a bass player.

Ages of Us:

1 – 13 February 2016

Downstairs at Mother

10 Redchurch Street

London

E2 7DD

Welcome to the family

As Gripvan grows so too does our four-wheeled family. Joining us for 2016 is Gripvan 05, an updated version of the Renault Loloader seen in Gripvan 01. The new van features innovative mobile racking, allowing it to be used as a traditional Gripvan or as a delivery van for bulky props and equipment.

Keeping mindful of the environment the new van is also one of the most efficient available in its class with Eco mode, stop start technology and improved aerodynamics all helping to reduce the carbon footprint of your shoot. 

To book this, or any of the fleet, or your next job, email info@gripvan.com or call 020 3002 9130

Introducing the newest member of Team Gripvan

Aaron joined us at the beginning of October as our Kit Room Technician, which is a fancy way of saying he hangs out in the store and makes sure all Gripvan kit is 100%, 100% of the time. You may well come across him in one of our vans as he gets out and about delivering and collecting photographic equipment to shoots across the country.

A mad snowsports enthusiast, Aaron is a qualified ski instructor and volunteers part of his holidays to leading ski trips for a youth charity. 

Aaron is a graduate of Ravensbourne's BA in Digital Photography, his own work covers sports, travel and portrait photography. Check it out over at aaronmintophotography.co.uk