Dermot Cleary and the new ‘Broncolor MOVE Outdoor Kit’ in Africa

by broncolor Canada · Published August 7, 2013 · Updated September 7, 2017

Behind the Scenes

http://player.vimeo.com/video/71571108

Dermot Cleary and the new ‘Broncolor MOVE Location Kit’ in Africa from Dermot Cleary on Vimeo.

I’ve always managed to find the excitement, challenges – and especially creativity, in just about any commercial assignment. But I do believe that creative growth and sustenance must be cultivated and respected as a separate and important thing all it’s own.

Though most of my work is now in the commercial arena, I started-out as a fine art photographer and am interested in a renewal of that part of my photography.

I thought, what better way to do this then by traveling to one of the most remote corners of the world and immersing myself in a place that is completely foreign to me?

Lower Omo Valley in southern Ethiopia :

6:30am	wakeup call
7:30am	car service arrives
8:00am	check in at Toronto Pearson airport (2 carry-on, 4 checked)
10:00am	flight delayed 30 min. (grab a bottle at Duty Free for ‘sundowners’
10:45am	takeoff
2:00am	8 hour flight, land 1 hour re-fueling (Rome)
9:30am	6 hour flight, land Adis Ababa!
10:00am	My fixer ‘Mr. Fix’ meets me in arrivals; visa,
10:30am	Parking lot, meet; Soloman (guide/translator/negotiator) and Danny (driver)
11:00am	quick stop for a machiato at Kaldis Coffee
12:00pm	begin two-day drive south

Stoked to be here. Travel thus far was aces, I have a killer Ethiopian crew for what I’m setting out to do.

Adis Ababa, – the smell was the first thing to hit me – burning wood? Charcoal?

Visual overload – people everywhere, jammed into little private buses, walking, no traffic lights. Eucalyptus poles (for scaffolding), and old reclaimed tires everywhere.

Soloman is on the phone constantly – confirming, and re-confirming arrangements for the coming days. During lunch he and Danny share guard duty of the Landcruiser / photo gear.
The main highway is a two lane road rammed with goats, donkeys, cattle and people walking all along the roadside with goods.

Stop overnight in Awassa. Trust Mr Fix to find a remarkable Italian restaurant for dinner in the middle of Ethiopia, Venezia, where the owner is shaven head, proud of his 4 packs a day habit, growing family, and impossible to get in Ethiopia.. steak!

I’m traveling with 300lbs distributed in 5 equipment bags; DSLR kit, Medium Format kit, Lighting kit, Grip, Accessories / Backup, Cable Management.

As I’m relying on ‘civilian’ assistance with my lighting and camera gear, I gradually introduce my workflow via a couple of short/impromptu roadside sessions; starting with camera-only, then adding lighting later.

Cameras
My oft-proven Contax/Phase combo performs admirably, even in the high heat and relentless dust of southern Ethiopia. Due to the (unforgivingly sharp) Zeiss lenses and high megapixel P65+ digital back I retrofit a Nikon DK-17M eyepiece with DK-19 rubber eye cup, to provide 1.2x magnification – a great way to ensure tack sharp focus at those times when it’s impractical to shoot tethered.

My walk-about camera is Nikon’s superb D800 and Nikkor 24-120 lens. Nikon D3X as a stellar backup, plus all the best Nikon glass. All lenses were micro-adjusted to both bodies before travel.

Lighting

Of everything I bring, Broncolor’s new MOVE Outdoor Kit is the standout product, totally fantastic in every way, it rocks. I can’t say enough about it – portable, practical and incredibly well designed, it just works. Due to the intensely bright light in Africa I use it full power on every shot. Combined with Sunbounce‘s small handheld boom I have a perfect lighting setup for this project.

One of the funnier moments of day 5 happened before we even start photography. A tribesmen was making Ethiopian style bee hives in the middle of the village. These hives resemble a long skinny drum made of tightly bound grasses. The finished hives are suspended high in trees where bees turn them into a hive. After some time the hive is taken down and the honey is harvested. In contrast to the rest of the village, this craftsman wanted nothing to do with us and basically told us to take a hike. He and Calè got into an argument, which ended with him being paid to allow us to shoot around him.

All of my equipment for this trip has been battle-proven over many shoots, with the exception of the Broncolor MOVE Outdoor Lighting Kit. Since the product has only just come to market mine was brand new. Sure I’ve been a proud Bron owner for years, I’d been given a thorough tutorial and had tested my new kit prior to travel, but I had not actually shot a project with it yet. Basically the MOVE is a battery powered portable lighting kit that fits in a backpack. It is also one of the most; elegant, smartly designed, functional products that I have ever used. It was a dream to work with, even in the dust and heat and Goat shit of southern Ethiopia

Hammer women are beautiful, they are adorned in shells, beads, and wear a hairstyle of clay mixed with water and cow butter, it lasts a month and as the butter gets old, is interesting to stand close-to.