On Location: High-Angle Rock Climbing Photography Shoot

Step Three

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a gearhead, and one of my favorite pieces of gear is the Manfrotto 269HDBU light stand. This stand extends to 24′, allowing me to use battery-powered Elinchrom Quadras high on a cliff face. Why use larger Quadras instead of smaller TTL flashes? The Quadras give me more power, faster recycling, and the ability to use a wide range of light modifiers on the heads. I decided to try a 27″ square Rotalux softbox attached to the Quadra to light the climber. I placed the necessary adapter ring on the flash head to accept the softbox and, as a last thought, I put a grid on the softbox to control the spill of light. The Quadra was clipped into the light stand using webbing and a carabiner.