I'm James Quantz and I'm a commercial, advertising photographer with a RU-vid channel and not a "RU-vidr" with a photography channel. If you're interested in seeing insights and real behind the scenes from photoshoots please feel free to subscribe!
Hi James, Thank you for the videos. Great content. I stack lights a fair bit, I also place them next to each others stacked horizontally to provide a smaller main for the contrast and a larger fill. Use it for shooting active wear e-commerce. A very flexible setup and can be adjusted to needs or taste. Also a fan of using a hard main light with a soft chaser.
Thanks for the video. Would a profoto b10 (250 watts) have been powerful enough for the shoot? Did you draw up a shot list before the shoot or are you now so experienced that you knew what you would get as you want along? The teaching element to the video is very high.
Hey Simon, I could've easily used 200w strobes! For this shoot I did not have a "shot list" but I knew the important components (details) we needed to capture as I mention in the video. From there it was just about trying to create some cool stuff.
I’ve been wanting to go with a lighter yet smaller setup without sacrificing dramatic lighting. So I switched to the two light setup going into this year’s media days. Thanks for your amazing content!!
I didn't get into the retouching part of this shoot but if that's something y'all would be interested in please let me know! I even had to PS the correct emblems onto the helmet from a vector file...😱
So glad to see this! Headed to a shoot in Minnesota tomorrow and want to travel light…no pun intended! I have 4 FJ400 strobes but needed this to realize I don’t need all of them. Thank you!!
So do you not use the Cambo RD-1201 Redwing Standard Light Boom anymore? This new Westcott boom reminds me of the c-stand and arm on it. I don't see a use for it since I have my Cambo Boom.
I've been using an Avenger D600 for a decade now as my main boom arm but these look way better in terms of ease of use. My only concern would be how they work with an internally monted softbox where the light is inside the softbox, do you find that the mechanism ends up being problematic in that case? I never understood why people use those awful little grip arms that come with c-stands. I remember way back when I got my first c-stand the first time I tried to use the arm my first thought was: "You have got to be kidding me". I bought the D600 a week later. ;)
That C stand is a grip arm, not a light boom! Gave me an ulcer just watching it! They do make proper boom arms for stands with counter weights, etc. But still nowhere as nice as this Easy Boom!
I tried to do continuous shots but my westcott recycle is not as good as you showed. Can you show more info about the setting you do? Like what is the power level of transmitter (nor or max)?
I hope everyone enjoys the video. Just a FYI, it does help me when you use my link in the description. I get a few bucks and it lets Westcott know where you're coming from. Thanks!
Tbh not sure about Westcott’s grip gear quality, especially their internal parts. Not possible to extrapolate broadly but anecdotally one of their tilting bracket grip accessories got stuck. The handle no longer loosens the bracket and spins freely. Disappointing quality and thus far, haven’t had a similar experience even with lower priced brands. For grip that’s holding gear potentially costing 10-100x more and overhead, there’s some apprehension
Absolutely love your videos. They are absolutely fantastic. Thank you! I also have a question.... Recently I did a portrait photo shoot outside with an athlete. It was broad daylight, but I underexposed the background to add a sense of drama, and used two off cameras flashes to light the scene. When I was focusing on the subject, my viewfinder and monitor were very dark. I was bumping up the ISO temporarily to see, focusing manually like that, then lowering the ISO back down to 100. When reviewing my shots on the camera monitor after, they looked good. But when I got home and enlarged them, I saw that I had actually very slightly missed focus on a few shots. I was mainly shooting F4, ISO 100, 1/125 with an ND filter, using a Sony A7S3. Is there a better way to focus images in this situation? Like I say, I could barely see anything through the viewfinder or on the monitor, just an outline of my subject. Any advice would be great appreciated!
Great video James! I bought a Cambo boom about 6 months ago because of your videos and love it! And bought a fantastic Flashpoint roller stand to go with it. I might have to look at adding this too, especially for the price.
Excellent review- after seeing you use your larger boom I placed an order immediately and will never go back to the c-stand options. BUT the size does limit the larger boom - this westcot smaller option seams to hit that sweet spot. I’m ordering one for sure 👍
I have a similar one for years now. It has a "junior" light stand mount, though. I tried using an adapter from junior to "baby" and it's too wobbly. The junior connection is great. I would be afraid that the baby connection (5/8" spigot) is not strong enough. My version doesn't have the friction adjustment in the connection of the last rod to the light/modifier on the parallelogram side and that sucks - I'm using a superclamp to arrest it.. Yes, the lightstand on wheels combined with this type of boom is ideal.
Nice work James; I’m still using an old Manfrotto super boom (12ft)for the past 25+, a RedWing, and (2) C’s boomed. They handle everything well …except storage and airlines!
With that crazy credit pricing scheme, open your wallet to if you edit & export a large number of images....Prior to paying these prices, I will enjoy the images taken right out of My camera.
