Streaking in the Red Rocks with Bob Coates

Words by Bob Coates - A Platypod Pro
Edited by Doctor Larry Tiefenbrunn and Eryka Bagwell

Sedona personal fitness trainer Kim Hollenback running through the red rocks.

"This was an interesting photo assignment that I came up with for Platypod at the behest of inventor Dr. T. The concept was to show movement in the scene followed by a freeze of the subject using a rear curtain sync flash."

"To make this work, multiple images were blended together. To attain the streaks, night needs to have fallen, at least for the amount of light I was able to have on scene. I used an LED Panel Pro along with two LED cubes. They were deployed using a Platypod eXtreme mounted on a signpost with the Platypod 36" strap. A Platypod Handle was added, and two goosenecks were attached using the ¼" threaded sockets built into the eXtreme."

Camera is mounted with a Platypod Arca type QR disc on the Platyball Ergo. That is attached to the eXtreme to add a Platypod Elbow to hold my Pluto Trigger because the hot shoe was occupied with the remote trigger for the flash. FYI, I often add the eXtreme in between the camera setup and the tripod so I can quickly remove it and execute a very low angle without the tripod but with full camera support.

"The camera was mounted on a Platyball Ergo with a Platypod Arca compatible disc. I added an eXtreme between the Ergo and the tripod and a Platypod Elbow to the eXtreme to hold my Pluto Trigger. I needed to have the trigger off camera because the hot shoe was occupied by the remote trigger for the flash."

Litra lights are supported with a Platypod eXtreme, Handle and goosenecks attached to a signpost with the Platypod 36” strap.

"One image was made for the streaks of the jogger moving through the scene. Time was about three seconds with the flash going off following the run. I tapped Sedona personal trainer, Kim Hollenback of Solid Rock Fitness, to run through the scene multiple times until we felt good streaks were recorded."

An eXtreme was used with a Handle to mount the flash off to camera right of the scene to freeze the subject after running through the light with rear curtain sync flash.

"The other two images were for the middle ground and another capture for the starry skies."

"Adobe Photoshop was used with Layer Masks to blend these images together using a technique borrowed from Milky Way night scape photography. FYI, the light streak image was amplified by duplicating the layer and changing the Blend Mode of that layer to Screen. Screen mode makes the bright portions of the image become brighter. A mask and opacity tweaks allowed me to dial in exactly the brightness level I wanted."

Your in Creative Photography,
Bob Coates - A Platypod Pro

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You can view more of Bob Coates' delectable work by visiting his website and/or his Instagram page.

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