I recently decided to buy myself a full size dummy to able to learn and experiment more with different lights. Yes, she has in fact a name. I call her Dolly :-) Being an amateur as I am it´s not always easy to find real models out there so working with a dummy gives fantastic opportunities to try out new ideas and also to get some practice. I can do it in my own pace and she never gets tired or bored :-) And, how I love working with my Profoto B1 kit! Actually, all these test shots were done with a mix of both B1s and D1s in manual mode using the Canon TTL Air Remote. Super-easy, super-fast and fully compatible. On location outdoor the B1s are my number one choise but I also find them fantastic to use indoor in manual mode as well since I get rid of all coords and cables and they integrate very easy with my D1s.

My idea of the day was to try different things just using my standard Zoom reflectors with grids. I really appreciate working with grids as I can control the light spill on the background much better. Especially since I don’t have a fancy spacious studio of my own. I also combined with the Spot Small gear to create some special effects and played with a few gobos and color gels. I was truly amazed how fast I could try different combinations and that the Zoom reflector could be such a versatile tool. E.g. I found that using a grid directed slightly off the subject would create a very even and nice fall-off shadow. See picture lower left.

Anyway, I could really recommend using a dummy to experiment with different lighting techniques to improve on your photography. I also find it very useful to really get acquainted with all my gears and cameras in a non stressful environment. So, from this first session I will definitely continue trying my other light shaping tools one by one as well as in combination. More to come ....