It’s #TravelTuesday and I, Dave Williams, am here as always, reporting this week from Lofoten, Norway with Russell Preston Brown. Russell has joined me from his Adobe office in California for a week of madness in the Arctic, creating all we possibly can with the time we have here with adventures in Adobe Lightroom Mobile and Photoshop for iPad. For those that may not know, Russell has been at Adobe since 1985 and has been involved in many major projects and the development of many creative applications. His photography is unique, incredibly powerful, and his hallucinations are created with mobile devices.
One of the projects we undertook here was to transform Russell into a Norwegian fisherman, putting him in character inside a 195 year old cabin at Svinøya Rorbuer. Just while I’ve mentioned the location, I’ll take the opportunity to let you all know that this coming Winter I’ll be running a series of workshops here which feature some unique photographic opportunities. Keep an eye on my website for details of that, coming very soon.
I’ve been using Profoto strobes for some time now, but Russell truly has them mastered. I had the opportunity to take my own iPhone shots or Russell in the cabin with the Profoto strobes and the Platypod eXtreme and Platyball Elite. The Profoto C1 gave a kiss of light to accentuate some of the features in the back room, which is the wet room where all the fishing tackle is stored. Russell was sat at the table in the dry room with some candles lighting him, gazing out through the window, pipe in hand, and I was able to capture the moment in timeless style. Here’s what I got: –
With the Masking Tool in Adobe Lightroom Mobile I added a Linear Gradient to darken the Exposure, giving less focus to the objects on the table and a Radial Gradient to bring up the highlights of the lamp on the back wall, all that was left was a Radial Gradient to direct some Clarity to Russells face and a Brush to lower the highlights on his arm. I finished off by using the Color Grading Tool to set my Shadows, Midtones and Highlights, and I was ready to export. The White Balance from the original Raw file straight from the Profoto Camera application was exactly as I wanted it, giving a blend of tones from the strobes, the natural light through the window, and the candles.
I’ll go over this image in more detail during my class, The Correct Settings for Epic iPhone Photos, at the iPhone Photography Conference next month.
In the more immediate future, dive into my Instagram Story to see exactly what Russell and I are up to here in Norway. Perhaps you’ll find some inspiration for your own mobile photography. One thing I can say for certain is that as well as shooting all the iconic Lofoten locations, Russell is a master at dealing with the Eiffel Tower Effect and has shot some incredible, truly unique photos up here.
Much love
Dave
(Happy Valentines Day)
