Memories
of a geisha
AP, Photocrowd and Sigma recently ran a
competition to photograph genuine geisha.
Geoff Harris reports on a great day
A
t the end of June, Sigma
organised a three-day event
in London called Made in Aizu.
It gave dealers and journalists
the chance to learn more about the
company’s new L-mount lenses and
adapters, as well as the culture of Aizu,
the historic region of Japan where the
company is based. Along with getting to
see some of Sigma’s hottest lenses,
an essential part of Made in Aizu was the
appearance of two traditional geisha: Mai
Watanabe and Chiyono Watanabe (no
relation). Together with Sigma and
photo-competition site Photocrowd, we
ran a very popular competition to give 10
photographers the chance to photograph
Mai and Chiyono in their full regalia –
along with guidance from professional
portrait and fashion photographer Dave Kai
Piper. It was one of the hottest days of the
year, which was great – with a caveat.
‘Harshsunlightis a challenge,’Dave
explains.‘I broughtalongtwoBroncolor
Siros400-wattflashheadsplustwo
30x180Broncolorsoftboxes,combined
witha rangeof gridsanddiffusionpanels.
Whenaddingadditionallighttoambient
light,myfirstprioritywastofindthe
ambientexposureonthecamerasettingsand then adjust to underexpose it. I tend
to adjust to about two stops under the
natural light, depending on the style of
the image. If I get everyone on the same
setting, I know how to adjust to a very
different range of cameras. As a rough
setting, the group used ISO 100 and
the fastest fl ash sync of 1/160 or 1/250.
People then worked out a good aperture.’Three-point lighting
Dave and his assistants set up the two
Broncolour lights to work as the fi ll and
main lights, ending up with a three-point
lighting system. ‘Within the two 30x180
strip lights, we wrapped double diffusion
panels on one half of the softbox and just
a single panel with the grid on the other
half. This helped us to shape the light and
control the light quickly. Three-point
lighting set-ups are great for working
quickly on location. As the sun moved we
hadtokeepa closeeyeonhighlights,
ensuringthelightingbalancedeverything
out.Mixed-lightingset-upsareallabout
controllingthecamerasettingsand
understandinghowadditivelightcan
blendwithambientlight.’Seehowsome
of thewinnersgotonusinga rangeof
lenses,withmoreonourwebsite...Julie Cavell
Worksop, Nottinghamshire
Canon EOS 7D Mark II
‘Having the opportunity to photograph
the Aizu geisha, Mai-san and Chiyono-
san was fantastic! They were brilliant
subjects, with their lovely clothes and
beautifully applied make-up, and it was
great to learn about Japanese culture
and see them dance in their traditional
performances. Along with Dave Kai Piper’s help on
how to use fl ash lighting in an outdoor portrait session,
I learnt how to set up the lighting system gradually,
allowing the fi nal image to be perfectly lit. This reduced
any shadows from the overhead sun, which was strong
on the day, and enabled the subject to stand out while
minimising the highlights. I got so much out of the day
and came home with some really memorable images
and memories.’Beforethe
winnersstarted
photographing
thegeisha,Dave
gave some
expert tips© JJULIE CAVELL
© GEOFF HARRIS