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ProfotoB10
About Rory Lewis
Rory Lewis has spent the better part of two decades as a professional photographer, capturing famous faces and highly important individuals. Combining his love for history, fine art, cinema and photography, he’s perfected his shooting and lighting to create compelling and powerful images. His work has culminated in sizable projects including Northerners , Soldiery and Portraitist , and as well as working with The Times and The Guardian , he’s had several pictures acquired by the National Portrait Gallery. • rorylewis.studio
Just a little larger than theA1, but still no bigger thanmany camera lenses, the B10 is a lightweight battery-powered monolight that opens up all sorts of possibilities on location. For instance, its small size and lowweight mean you canmore easily usemultiple lights for a more complex arrangement. With amaximumoutput of 250Ws, it has five times the power of the average speedlight, and light is delivered in a versatile fashion through ten stops of control. But that’s not all.The B10 also packs in a powerful and highly controllable, flicker-free continuous light, allowing you to set the brightness and colour, so it’s perfect for shootingmovies or adding constant ambient light to a scene. Evenmore control is provided by the B10’s range of light shapers, as it’s compatible with over 120 Profotomodifiers, including umbrellas and the full OCF, which has softboxes, beauty dishes andmore. With clean and simple interface, the B10 is versatile and easy to use, even for beginners. Compatible with all Profoto’s AirTTL remotes, including Connect and theA1 andA1X as triggers, the B10 can be controlled using the Profoto app, where you can set everything from themode to the power.
Jamie Lomas This shot of actor Jamie Lomas was again captured using a single B10 head and a small translucent umbrella. Positioned to camera left and about 60º from the subject’s nose, and placed slightly above his head, it made for short lighting and allowed for a three-dimensional and vivid portrait, which Rory says is important for photographing actors who favour theatrical lighting set-ups.
As well as those, I have Profoto’s OCF grids and snoots, which help to provide rim lighting and backdrop lighting if I think it’s necessary.” Simplicity in posing is also important to Rory, with the lack of artifice in his sessions helping to coax his subjects out of their shells. “The people I work with – the most famous andmost recognisable – are often guarded,” he says, “and very reluctant to reveal themselves. Part of the joy of portraiture is getting them to a point where they feel safe to let that guard drop.” Fussing around with overcomplicated lighting set-ups would only prevent those moments, he explains. Surprisingly for some, simplicity isn’t easy to come by. It has to be worked at and refined. It’s about removing complications and minimising the unnecessary. This is why Rory loves using his Profoto B10 lights. “Choosing the right equipment for your photo shoots canmake your life much easier,” he says, “so, for me, portability and handling are key. More than half my portrait sittings take place on location, so as soon as I saw the B10s, I knew they were a vital upgrade. I’d been using Profoto B2 Air TTL Pack and Heads for three years – and they were excellent and an essential part of my work – but, seeing the B10s in action at The Photography Show, I just had to upgrade. They are ultra portable and, as a photographer
Robert Browski as AbrahamLincoln In this portrait of the actor Robert Browski portraying Abraham Lincoln, Rory wanted to create a similar look to the poster of Steven Spielberg’s movie, Lincoln . He set up one B10 head fitted with a Profoto OCF Octa softbox and simply had Robert look directly into it, so the softbox provided a subtle amount of directional light, but the back of his head was lost in shadow.
who’s always on the move, lightweight equipment is a must for me.” Build quality is therefore also vital, he says and, as a professional photographer, “I’ve found the more lower-end lighting is less durable, needing regular repairs andmaintenance”. For Rory, the B10’s 250Ws output is ample power, too. “For the portraiture I create, the B10 has all the power I need. I’mnot a fashion photographer and so I don’t usually need a great deal of wattage. But if I need to shoot a location portrait or light bigger group portraits and full-length shots – as I can do when working with the military – I know I can switch to the newer B10 Plus heads and get twice the power in a form that’s not much bigger than before,” he enthuses.
› Power 250Ws across 10 f/stops › Recycle time 0.05-2s › Modelling light 2500lm, dimmable 100-10%, adjustable 3000-6500K (+/-500K) › Wireless Yes, up to 300m › HSS/TTL Yes, up to 100m › Measurements (wxlxh) 11x17.5x10cm › Weight 1.5kg SPECS
Issue 71 | Photography News 37
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