Sunset B-Boy Omen | Behind the Scenes

    I have had an overwhelming email response to my instagram photo of B-Boy Omen I did recently.  I had originally done the shoot for a Kupo Grip Behind the scenes Video with Photographer Erik Valind, that is going live early next month.  Thanks to my non stop "is that really not photoshopped" inbox, I thought I might do a quick behind the scenes preview of the shoot!  This will be straight down and dirty as the video has all the information.  My portion was also shot in 15 minutes max so we had enough time for Erik to get 3 different style shots done through sunset and into dark!

My Shot

Nikon D3s 35mm 1.4 1/400th a sec at F 2.2 with a Hoya ND16 filter

3 Elinchrom Ranger Speed AS packs and S-heads and Elinchrom Modifiers

PocketWizard Flexx TT5 and St4 receivers

All Kupo Light stand and Grips

Erik's Shot

NIkon D800 24-70mm 2.8 at 1/250th a sec at F5.6

2 Elinchrom Rangers Speed AS packs and A-heads with Beauty Dish from behind and Strip from Front Left.

PocketWizard Plus III as transmitter and ST4 as receivers

Kupo Turtle Base C-stands and Boom Arms

    I had met Omen a few months before the shoot at the RedBull BCOne in Tampa, Florida.  He actually won the even and went on to the world finales.  It was super awesome working with Omen who has performed all over the world from Japan to Broadway!
    Long story short on this one I had some down time around new years and Erik Valind was in Florida for vacation.  We both wanted to get some video work done while he was here, and Omen said he would be in Orlando for the week before he hit the road again.  I called Erik up and we pitched some ideas back and forth and he was in Orlando the next day!

Here are the 3 Elinchrom Ranger Speed AS 's I used for the shoot charging waiting for Erik to arrive.

We went to the local hardware store and got some cabinet grade wood that was smooth enough for Omen to dance, and spin on.  Always wear safety glass when working with powerful tools.

I framed the wood sheet out with 2 by 4's for stability.  When the chalk line goes mia form the tool box, pink duct tape can fix it!

Then I added pre-measured legs to get the platform to sit just below the water line.

Here is the final platform and some of the Kupo Grip stands and grip arms used for the shoot.

It was also about 50 degrees out that day with 30 mph wind gust!  I originally had planned to use an Elinchrom Octabank with Westcott Scrims for the shoot, but that was not going to happen without an army of assistants.

Erik and I carrying the large platform into the water. #frostytoes

I used F-stop Loka bags to hold the Elinchrom Ranger packs in the water.

This is the High over head stand from Kupo and a last minute Ranger holder to keep the pack out of the water.  (kupo makes J-hooks that you can attach to the stands to hold the flash packs)

The Elinchrom 51inch Strip attached to the Kupo Grip arm and Adjustable C-stand for uneven surfaces.

Here is the Key light setup with the beauty dish, and strip down low.  This will give really solid even lighting for upright and upside dow positions Omen would be throwing down.  You can also see the Kupo boom arm being used to extend the light far over the water.  This is also before the High Overhead got moved into the water.

This is me on the platform checking out light positioning before Omen comes out into the cold.  You can also see one of the rim lights to the back well out in the water.  The F-stop Loka was attached to a ladder and the Ranger S-Head was secured with a Max Arm instead of a light stand to the ladder.

The final setup with Omen warming up on the platform.  You can see the Kupo High Over Head stand in the water, and the other rim light well out in the water to the right.

Omen getting into position for the buddha shot.

Omen just before the final position.

One of the other "freezes" I shot.

A nice view of most of the setup and open doing a spinning freeze.

Imediately after the water shoot, we moved everything to a different sport for a single and then a 2 light set up for Erik Valind to shoot.

One Erik's final shots again.

     Thans for checking out the #BTS of the Omen Buddha shoot and be sure to watch out for the video in the coming month!  Big thanks go out to Erik Valind for the help, shooting with, and video work!