Playing with the micro mini

So I have a big photoshoot this coming weekend and I have ordered some new equipment to help me out on my shoot this weekend. Out of all the equipment that I have received my micromini has been my favorite. This device is made by California Sunbounce in Germany no less. I was originally drawn to the micro mini based on the work done by Bert Stephani ( http://www.bertstephani.com and http://www.squeezethelime.com/ ). I bought the micro mini from amazon ( The amazon prime is great for free 2 day shipping I also found the micro mini the cheapest there ). I got the silver and white fabric which I am finding to be very useful. The silver outside reflects the light very well and is quite directional while the white fabric diffuses the light better and for indoors as a main light I am finding the light more pleasing from the white background.

Yes, I said indoors! But, wait the micromini is a reflector how is it that I am using it as a main light? The Micro Mini has a cool adapter that allow the user to mount a speed light to the mircomini and bounce a flash rather than the sun off the micro mini. The adapter and then the clamp to mount the micromini to a light stand, add up and by the time you order all these things you could have bought a studio strobe and a softbox but I debated this for a long time and decided the micro mini is a better option for me. I don’t have a dedicated studio although my living room this weekend may make you think other wise. I really like the ability to be mobile. I have three speed lights and many light modifiers for those.

The first photo of Steven above was my first attempt with the micro mini. bouncing light from my strobe. I really liked the light that it created however there wasn’t a whole lot of separation in the photo so for the second photo I added a hair light and while it is a little hot on the side of his face I think it is a pleasing photo. In the photo he is playing with the Canon 1V a very nice film camera. Because my roommates are also photographers we each took turns getting our photos taken and checking out the micro mini.

Robert was up next. His darker hat and hair worked much better with the snooted strobe that was used to create the hair light. We all used the Canon 1V as a prop in our photos. All the flashes were set at fairly low power 1/32 or less and as such we used a fairly wide aperture 3.6 if I remember correctly.

I was up next. After this photo was taken I wanted to experiment some more so I decided to do a variant of a shot that I have been thinking about for a while. Using a chalk board I drew up the best graffiti art that I could for advertisement. This chalkboard is not a true chalkboard but a piece of plywood painted with chalkboard paint to protect the wall of my house from constant darting Anyways after I had that done I snooted a light to run from the top left to the lower right and illuminate the drawing. Additionally I set the micro mini to light the area where I would stand. The resulting photo is below.

If I am able to get my 5D here in time for the shoot this weekend I will be attempting to make a video so you can see all of this in action. But seeing as my camera has been on back order for more than a month I wouldn’t hold my breath.