Sunday February 10 Quaywest Hotel in The Rocks was the venue booked in for the second Sydney Strobist meet which was organised by J - of whom fronted the costs out of his own pocket to book a conference room which was used for indoor/studio style photos.
5 models agreed to come along on a TFP basis, all of which appeared to have a fun day & had some amazing shots produced by some 30 photographers who attended, most of which brought there own Strobe lighting, Pocket Wizards, Backdrops, Reflectors, Stands & a huge amount of lenses. All in all I think there would of had to of been close to $400,000 worth of equipment.
Council approval needed be seeked, waivers drawn up & model releases to protect from commercial use. A huge amount of organisation was done before the day, however things went along quite smoothly...everyone kept to the deadlines - of which was 1hr to move between indoor/outdoor locations, setup lighting & shoot before packing up & switching to the next location/model.
I'd advise anyone that wants to learn the fundamentals of studio lighting setup to attend one of these events. While things move along quite fast, there are a number of individuals with a vast amount of experience which can help you with any questions/techniques. Everyone that I had talked to was friendly & even went as far as to lending me a pocket wizard so I could try produce some shots of my own.
I was only able to stay for a couple of hours, so while my time was limited, I think I learned a fair bit which will help me in future. I'll definitely have to try and start attending future meets as they are a great way to improve & learn new lighting techniques, create cheap but awesome Ring Flash's with cardboard or even just to socialise with those who share the same interests.
Here are a few of the shots I got from the day, head over to the Flickr Sydney Strobists Group to view other shots from the day & updates for upcoming meets.
Dan.
Thea
Sarah
