We are in the best part of winter in Colorado right now. Daylight is increasing, temps are warming up, and conditions are great for skiing and ice climbing. I broke out the crampons and ice tools the other day for an ice climbing shoot with a lighting twist.
We found a climb that had a ice cave created by the ice curtain in front and the cliff behind. Why not put a light back there to project through the ice? The Elinchrom Quadra is perfect for this task, lightweight yet powerful enough and controlled by a radio wireless system, no line of sight needed. We used ice screws to attach the pack and keep it off the wet ice below.
I decided to choose a white balance of incandscent to make the daylight go blue, including the flash since it has a daylight balance. After adjusting the power a few times we got a nice glow. Now all I had to do was light the ice climber.
Out came a second Quadra, also attached to the ice using an ice screw and lightstand. We added a full CTO gel to render this light daylight balanced, countering the incandescent white balance set in-camera. The top image was our final shot for the day.
I often use my Quadras on ice and in the snow. Since output is controlled at the camera by the Elinchrom Skyport, I can put the Quadras in waterproof bags in a blizzard or hang them out of sight as done here. This works great shooting in harsh weather and nasty conditions.
Tech: Nikon D300s, 14-24mm lens, ISO 100, 1/200 at f16. Two Elincrhom Quadra packs used for flash, trigger by a Skyport at the camera.