Hacostadium Lighting Bible Vol. 4: Ball Pit Edition

Hacostadium Lighting Bible

Vol. 4: Ball Pit Edition

Nissin Japan visited the cosplay amusement spaces
"HACOSTADIUM OSAKA" and "HACOSTADIUM cosset Osaka Nipponbashi"!
We conducted a photoshoot using Nissin strobes at Hacostadium, where you can take pictures in a variety of situations!
We will be introducing the photos we took and the methods used to shoot them in a series.
For this fourth installment, we will introduce photos taken in the ball pit at "HACOSTADIUM cosset Osaka Nipponbashi".

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▼Click here for this installment's photo!▼
Models: Kokona, Aine Photography: Ai Ehara
(Click the image to view a larger version)
The balls are floating! It has a fun and energetic feel to it!
Using a strobe, you can easily take photos that freeze the movement of objects in motion.
Let's take a look at the shooting method right away.
Shooting MethodThis time, the lighting setup itself is very simple.
One translucent umbrella is used from the front-top position.
(1) Di700, Umbrella (translucent), Wide panel, Power 1/8
Translucent umbrellas (also called shoot-through umbrellas) are different from reflective umbrellas in that they transmit and diffuse the light.
By pointing the outside of the umbrella toward the subject, you light them with the light passing through the umbrella.
This creates soft, yet directional light.
This is what it looks like when it fires.
You can see the entire umbrella glowing white.
Because strobe light is instantaneous, you can freeze the movement of the subject regardless of the shutter speed.
However, if you set the shutter speed too slow in a bright environment with ambient light, the camera may pick up the ambient light, causing blur or making moving objects look like a trail.
Please be careful not to make the shutter speed too slow if you want to freeze the motion completely.
By the way, when shooting this photo, we turned off the studio lights just in case, to avoid picking up the ambient light.
All that's left is to have someone throw the balls at the right timing to match the shutter!
We called out cues and had them throw the balls repeatedly so they would reach the perfect position.
For this session, it took about 15 tries to get the "OK" shot.
Try to challenge yourself without tiring out the models too much!
【Request from HACOSTADIUM】
※The size of reflectors, softboxes, umbrellas, etc., must be 125cm or less when fully extended.
※Please be very careful about the height of your lighting equipment, as there are low-hanging lights and chandeliers in the shooting area.

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The location we shot at this time was the ball pit at HACOSTADIUM cosset Osaka Nipponbashi.
Some of you may have thought that photos with floating objects or frozen motion could only be taken outdoors in bright light where you can use a fast shutter speed.
Even indoors where it is not that bright, you can easily achieve this by using a strobe, as we did here. While we used balls this time, you could scatter flower petals or capture the moment a model jumps... there are many things you can do depending on your ideas.
Please give it a try and challenge yourself to take photos with motion using a strobe♪
(2014/11/19 Photography/Text: Ai Ehara)
Shooting Data[Camera Settings]
ISO 400
Aperture F 4
Shutter Speed 1/200
[Lighting Settings]
(1) Di700, Umbrella (translucent), Wide panel, Power 1/8