Mixing 1970's Polaroid Land-Cam with a 2010 PCB Einstein on Gypsy shoot with @DaejaFallas and @DallasNagata!
Those of you that know me know that I usually find my brain tickled by marrages of opposites, which I think is best illustrated by my small collection of look-disposable-yet-are-not Starbucks cups. Recently I got a chance to apply this to photography on a Gypsy Lingerie and Swimwear shoot with Daeja Fallas and my wonderful bride, Dallas.
Dallas and I are pretty well equipped with a variety of photographic equipment at this point. Amongst our various tools, we have a few Pocketwizards and two Paul C. Buff Einsteins, which we brought to the shoot. The pocketwizards are pretty new, but the current version of Paul C. Buff's Einstein was only finished in very late 2010...late enough that I'd really call it 2011 tech. I know this is random, but bear with me, it'll make sense in a minute.
So, after shooting the first look, Daeja all of a sudden breaks out a POL 195 land camera, a professional-grade, $700 Polariod camera manufactured in the 1970's! She starts shooting, and I suddenly realize...this thing has a hot-shoe! I get to thinking maybe we can use a Pocketwizard to trigger the Einstein and add pro-lighting to the mix, to increase the overall quality of the shoot...well, I guess that's not entirely true. I was really thinking "how rad it would be if I could get this old stuff and this new stuff to work together!?!?!"
So, I ask Daeja if I can stick a Pocketwizard on there to see whether it'll work. She agrees, slips on the radio telemetry module, and....
Click!
Nothing.
Disappointment :(
Undeterred, however, I sneak over to the camera when Daeja isn't using it to inspect just how this hot-shoe works, and I notice something: a familiar-looking hole.
At this point my dude instincts kick in...there is a hole, so something belongs in this hole, and I think I have just the thing! This hole seems to be an earlier version of the cable trigger slot on our Canon 580EX II, and we have said cable on set! I scurry over to see whether the peg will fit in this particular hole, which it does, but not all the way due to the screw-lock which holds it in modern speedlights. Nontheless, I'm encouraged by early tests with other equipment, I bring Daeja the rig I just cobbled together for her next set of Polariods.
"Is this gonna work?" Daeja asks, still tender from her earlier heartbreak.
"Well, let's try and see." I reply.
She studiously, expertly composes her shot.
Click!
Pop!
We erupt into incredulous cheers and laughter! Our Einstein just worked, taking the afternoon's instant shooting to a whole new level!
Of course, I'm just giggling because of the contrast: our top-of-the-line, modern strobe was just set off by a camera made in the 70's. That was pretty rad. ;)
Here are my celebratory photos, where you can see how the setup worked. Make sure you keep an eye out on Daeja's page, and Gypsy's website for the polaroids, and all the other film photography which was taken that day...I can tell you now that it'll be awesome!
Keep an eye out for my next zany opposites project--linking up our PCB Einstein wireless light setup to Dallas' Lomo Diana Camera! Tightly controlled digital lighting on a camera you can't fully control ever! :3
Best,
Ed
