Open Doors at Nanlite with Nikolay Pandev
At the end of February, Dynaphos studio hosted a Nanlite Open Day, for which we invited Nikolay Pandev to conduct a lighting demonstration, which he successfully did. He works primarily with Nanlite, likes the brand, and we know that in his hands, different types of lighting are a powerful tool in his daily work.
On site, he prepared several shooting setups: simpler or more creative, with different lighting solutions. The theme was product photography, and Niki had arranged various objects, initially lit according to his vision, and during the event, visitors had the opportunity to adjust the lighting according to their ideas.
The creation of different lighting schemes for each product, according to its specifics, aimed to show that with different budget solutions, various creative results can be achieved by approaching the available lighting creatively.
The first set was the most artistic. The object Niki chose was an interesting carving by the talented Veselina Slavcheva. You can see more about how the set looked from the photos in the gallery.
Here, directed lighting was used to illuminate the background, and artistic lighting was achieved with Nanlite RGB LED tubes.
Nanlite PavoTube II 30C RGBWW LED Tube Light 2-Kit
Nanlite PavoTube II 6C RGB LED Tube Light
For the second set, Niki used a simple setup – with a bottle. Which cannot be said for the chosen lighting combination. Here, he decided to achieve an impressive result with 2 directed LED lights and 1 RGB panel. We show you the setup here, and you can see more photos and the final result in the gallery.
The alcohol used in the product set was provided by Maxxium.
See the lighting used for it:
Nanlite FS-200 Daylight LED Light
NanLite MixPanel 150 RGBWW LED Panel
Nanlite Forza 300B II Bi-color LED Spot Light
For the background light effect, a gobo mask was used with
Nanlite PJ-FMM-19 Optical Spot - 19 degrees
The third set that Niki prepared for the event was a more budget-friendly solution. Here he used only 2 lights, respectively for illuminating the object and the background, and under the lights were Marshall speakers. In the gallery, you can see a shot where Niki conveyed the idea of the product's water resistance and achieved the desired look with the help of water droplets.
Nanlite FS-200 Daylight LED Light
Nanlite Forza 60C RGBLAC LED Light
NanLite FL-11 Fresnel Lens for Forza 60 (with barndoors)
A characteristic of Niki's working style is that he likes to create an unforced atmosphere. From the very beginning, he made sure everyone felt comfortable and enthusiastically explained to anyone who needed clarification on a specific Nanlite light, lighting setup, or advice on shooting. Those present at the event quickly caught on to his enthusiasm and began testing and experimenting.
All participants had enough time to adjust the lighting themselves and experiment in the different sets, and often around the three sets, there were enough confident photographers who perfected their results through the lens.
For the Nanlite light inscription on the wall, a gobo mask was used with Nanlite Forza 150 LED Light and Nanlite PJ-FMM-36 Optical Spot - 36 degrees.
Participants also had access to shooting equipment from Canon, which was available during the event for those who hadn't brought their own or simply wanted to test the latest Canon camera models.
We invite you to peek into the studio during the event through the gallery, where you can see photos from the preparation, the event itself, and the final results of the three sets.
Thanks to Niki Pandev, who did a great job and managed to pay attention to everyone present, even though at times there were quite a few and it seemed an impossible task. We hope that everyone was able to experience his enthusiasm, the Nanlite lights, and left inspired by the possibilities they offer.
You can see Nikolay Pandev's work on his Instagram and Facebook profiles.
