Colour theory - Project two: Creative techniques

Mike Harris uses multi-coloured lighting panels for a science fiction-styled shoot that's off the planet

- Mike Harris

This month the good ship N-Photo blasted off into an uncharted area of East Sussex for a sci-fi-themed portrait shoot, courtesy of The Creativity Hub (see www.creativity hub events. com for upcoming events). As we photographed a series of futuristic scenes – which wouldn’t look out of place in a Philip K Dick novel – we had some of the very best lighting kit Rotolight has to offer at our disposal. Most exciting of all were the lighting outfit’s new AEOS 2 and NEO 3 LED panels. These both provide continuous lighting (which we used) and high-speed RGB flash, making them ideal solutions for filmmakers and photographers alike.

Each light can be controlled via a neat little touchscreen and a pair of command wheels, allowing you to cycle through a whopping 2500 digital filters with ease. In fact, these lights can emit almost any colour you can think of (16.7 million colours to be exact). This completely removes the need to lug around gels – and since you can change the colour of the lighting at the tap of a screen, it’s much easier to experiment with your lighting on the fly.

If you’re just getting into portrait photography, pro-grade lighting equipment probably isn’t practical. Fortunately, lighting skills are entirely transferable, so just use what’s available to you. You can purchase affordable gel attachments for flashguns and heads, and some particularly resourceful photographers swear by making their own, or you could try using a regular desk lamp to create a low-key portrait.