{"id":161922,"date":"2022-03-08T11:12:54","date_gmt":"2022-03-08T11:12:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/?p=161922"},"modified":"2022-03-08T11:26:00","modified_gmt":"2022-03-08T11:26:00","slug":"sam-nash-constant-perfection-with-rotolight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/photo-news\/sam-nash-constant-perfection-with-rotolight\/","title":{"rendered":"Sam Nash – Constant Perfection with Rotolight"},"content":{"rendered":"

ADVERTORIAL FEATURE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Constant perfection –\u00a0Sam Nash is a commercial photographer specialising in portraiture and fashion, whose clients include Cond\u00e9 Nast, Vogue, and Audi. He tells AP why the new Rotolights are a gamechanger for him.<\/h3>\n\n

Why use lighting?<\/h3>\n

Lighting is the most important part of what I do, the fundamental ingredient of photography. For commercial work your subject has to pop. I need to grab viewers\u2019 attention immediately, whether it\u2019s on a billboard or on Instagram. Available light probably won\u2019t do that. With lighting, I can make my subject really stand out from the background and get that 3D look. I can change every aspect of the shot.<\/p>\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t\"Sam\t\t\t

Lit with one Rotolight AEOS 2. Location: Shoreditch. Client: London Fashion Week. Designer: @nsgaia Model: @tessastannard, Sony Alpha 1, 50mm G Master<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n

Why continuous LED lighting?<\/h3>\n

I started out using flash. It\u2019s a nightmare to set up and you get through a lot of batteries. Then I tried the Rotolight NEO 2 because it\u2019s so small and I\u2019m always out on location. To have like 100,000 flashes on one battery was just crazy. Over the years I\u2019ve learned how to perfect my work with constant lighting.<\/p>\n

Are Rotolights powerful enough?<\/h3>\n

They aren\u2019t as powerful as a flashgun but you don\u2019t use them the same way. It\u2019s a completely different technique. I just did a shoot for London Fashion Week with just one AEOS 2<\/a> on constant from a metre away, and that was midday in Shoreditch so I really don\u2019t need any more power than that. The thing is that a lot of photographers don\u2019t set the lighting properly. Beauty and fashion shooters will always try to get the light as close as possible to get the best quality of light. So you really don\u2019t need the power of flash.<\/p>\n

The advantages of LED lighting, and having so much more flexibility with the temperature \u2013 and now with the new lights, the colours too \u2013 absolutely outweighs any disadvantages. With the additional power of the new NEO 3 and AEOS 2 it has just surpassed flash in every way. We have reached the turning point now.<\/p>\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t\"Lit\t\t\t

Lit with one Rotolight AEOS 2. Location: Queensway, London. Client: Base Models. Model: @mxce Sony Alpha 1, 50mm G Master<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n

Do you mostly use the NEO or AEOS?<\/h3>\n

If I\u2019m on a commercial shoot I\u2019ll use AEOS. But if I\u2019m out on a street shoot, or doing a test shoot, and it\u2019s just myself, I\u2019ll just put a couple of NEOs in my bag because they\u2019re so small.<\/p>\n

What were your first impressions of the new NEO 3 and AEOS 2?<\/h3>\n

I started with Rotolight as a customer, using them commercially for years. Then the firm messaged me to say it had these new lights and did I want to shoot some promo material? So I had the first prototypes. We went around London with some models and these lights that I\u2019d never used, with no instructions. That touchscreen is so intuitive. Anybody can just pick them up and use them straight away. It was crazy the amount of shots that I could achieve with those lights.<\/p>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t\"Sam\t\t\t

Lit using a single Rotolight NEO 2. Location: EL&N, London. Model: @tessastannard, Sony Alpha 1, 50mm G Master<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\n

What do you like best about them?<\/h3>\n

The 16.7 million colours. I\u2019ve got 2,500 digital gels at my fingertips \u2013 so that\u2019s already saved me a fortune. Rechargeable batteries that last all day. I can just stick a battery on and I don\u2019t have to worry about carrying loads of spares. And the power \u2013 the fact that I\u2019ve now got a constant LED light that can overpower the sun!<\/p>\n

How do you like to use them?<\/h3>\n

The colours are mainly used for backgrounds or accent lighting. I try not to colour the subject with RGB because it\u2019s not my style. If I\u2019m outdoors, in the sun, I\u2019ll use them bare. But I\u2019ll use diffusers in the evening or indoors. The new diffuser domes make a huge difference and now with the new S Mount adaptor you can attach any S mount modifier to them.<\/p>\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t\"Sam\t\t\t

The main light was a Rotolight AEOS 2 plus a NEO 3 for the turquoise accent lighting. Location: Soho, London. Model: @alba.sanchezx, Sony Alpha 1, 50mm G Master<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n

What are your top five lighting tips?<\/h3>\n