Interview with Robert R Sanders
July 2005
Professional Digital Photographer
Samy's series of articles and interviews featuring professional photographers brings us this month, the award winning, commercial and fine arts digital photographer, Robert R Sanders.
Good afternoon and thank you very much for allowing me to interview you on behalf of Samy's Camera's readers & customers. Visiting your website was a thrill. The images are perfect and gorgeous, creative and adventurous. The detail and color is so vibrant and tactile that it left me with the feeling that I could almost smell a fragrance, taste a taste. I especially like your bio and was impressed by your history in digital photography. The organization of the bio is a lot of fun and left me with more questions.
Samys Camera : Let's start by asking you to tell us a little about yourself and your work.
Robert Sanders : I have been in the world of the creative communication arts since the early '70s when I was given my first camera, a Hasselblad. I am educated in design, illustration, and photography with a lifetime commitment to the new age of digital and the digital darkroom. I have had a very successful career shooting commercially for catalog and advertising, with an ongoing commitment to teaching the digital workflow since the mid '90s; affiliations with Mac User Groups, the Learning Tree University in Los Angeles, Academy of Art University in San Francisco (my alma mater), Palomar College in San Marcos, several independent photographic groups, and individual photo seminar workshops nationwide.
I have been shooting digitally since 1995 and exclusively since 1998, in fact I made my last bulk film purchase in May of the 1997, much of which I ended up giving away because I knew it was never going to used by me. I had several bricks of Scala, and quite a few boxes of 4x5 film that went to a good friend who believed digital was nothing more than a bad trend: In fact, he compared digital photography to CB radios.
My greatest focus is always about creating the shot, not just getting the shot or taking the picture that is in the camera; I'd rather take the one that is in my mind. Lighting is the primary concentration in my professional obsession at the moment and I am trying to document and develop a greater understanding of using tools and methods to achieve extremely gratifying results. I guess this is why an image of only using two lights shooting Kelly yelling ended up in the pages of the Hensel Lighting Guide, "less is more" and with the blend of a great model, good communication, and the lighting fully established, the image was there to be created.
SC : What were a couple of your favorite shoots and why?
RS : A couple come to mind immediately, one in studio using five heads and several reflectors, a latex fashion shoot where skin tight black latex was the model's wardrobe; A Japanese kabuki/geisha makeup and hairstyle mixed with modern latex and corsetry fashion (I know, you had to be there). But the difficulty was in the latex, having it reflect shape and form, a material of high reflective quality, almost like lighting a black shiny car per se. So I approached the project with that thought and work-through... and it was effective. Using four 4x8' foamcore panels as reflectors surrounding the model, I lit them fully rather than just lighting the model. The white panels created wonderful planes of light that reflected the shape and form of the latex.
My other more exciting discovery was the first time I used the Hensel Porty on location... in the middle of the Nevada desert on a dry lake bed. I had to counter the sun setting behind my model and I found the balance and began shooting, I moved around until I achieved the composition I looked for and then adjusted light and camera settings while shooting, the results were extremely exciting. (see pic below) I didn't realize the creative utility of remote portable lighting equivalent to what I used inside the studio, all with the power and flexibility of the higher strobe output. It was extremely cool to not have to worry about sync cords or generators, while learning this was serious portable horsepower.
SC : Everyone, from the serious amateur to the professional photographer, knows that the right lighting can make a huge difference in the quality of your photos. But a lot of people are dismayed by the wide variety of choices. Why did you choose Hensel?
RS : I can only say you really have to do your homework and then you will see why a system is everything you need and WANT it to be. I was a BronColor user for over a decade and had a belief that nothing would ever be as good or better, but I just could no longer afford it. My budget was an extremely strong factor as it is with so many photographers... the problem is, cheaper is NOT a solution nor good direction to pursue. When you understand - back to homework - how the lighting power-pack works you will understand why cheap is wasted money. Hensel was my answer to an affordable quality dilemma.
Hensel was a combined solution for me because I was exclusively digital and needed consistency as well as digital control - the quality I was used to in the higher end system. When shooting product using a four shot digital back, each pop of the lights has got to be dead on. You must have technology that performs. I will do catalog shoots sometimes where we shoot 100 products or more in a day, this will end up being over a thousand pops of the strobes, I need performance and confidence that the equipment will hold up. When clients are in the house they need to feel everything is completely secure, they don't want to hear, "we have a problem." Hensel has been everything and more that I expect and want from a lighting system.
The quality in craftsmanship as well as portability, design and engineering of the heads and modifiers, and the durability of the construction, were all factors in my selecting Hensel. The price is very competitive with all brands, but exceptionally competitive with the brands that cost 2-3 times as much. What amazes me most at times is the Vela pack is 1500ws [true] and weighs almost nothing; it is uncanny how they get such power, lightning fast recycle, and three channel asymmetrical control, all into a small and light digital power supply.
SC : What Hensel products do you use and why? Do you use different products for different jobs?
RS : My Vela kits are my most important Hensel tools, I love them and can't imagine using anything else now. I take them when I travel, on flights or on the road, and I use them just as religiously in the studio. My intention is to create my entire system around my Vela units so that I can fulfill any job challenge by pulling out the Vela kits and getting busy; self contained, ready to go to work, and easy to carry. My primary Vela 1500ws kit has two heads, two stands, all my grids, two 7" reflectors, and an extra softbox with speed ring so I can do just about anything with two lights from one travel bag. it is always packed and ready to go.
I also carry my Porty in my car about 90% of the time, just in case and always on standby. Rather than putting the Porty in the equipment room at the studio, the portable power supply is always charged (both batteries), and always just a few feet away. I never know when I am going to need this resource.
SC : Do you think of yourself as a techie type when it comes to lighting and photography?
RS : Funny you should ask that, I don't but other people do. Haha... I am like anyone in this business, always struggling with what is in my head, I am constantly asking the question "what are you doing and are you sure this will work?" I know what I know, but I also grieve in the old saying, "the more I learn, the more I seem to forget." But I am sure I know enough to get myself in and out of trouble, I am always confident in my technical space and I am very aware of the digital side of production, I just jump into lighting with both feet. Right now I am spending more time in methods of diffusion using scrims and large reflectors, I love this stuff... another wonderful relationship with the Hensel power, cutting and shaping light has never been so much fun.
SC : How has Hensel helped you?
RS : The company listens, they hear what needs to be addressed to make the product perform more for the working photographer. For a company in another country, they are very aware that each market has to deal with different issues and they respond to those requirements. The Porty is a great example of this, they knew that photographers needed more control and power, so rather than just fixing the problem, they went beyond and made the Porty the very best you can buy... I never have to worry about my lighting, I now can focus more on just creating.
SC : Do you use any light modifiers?
RS : My favorite Hensel lighting modifier is my Hensel Beauty Dish, it is awesome. I shoot with it every chance I get simply because of the versatility and unique control. I know of no other beauty dish where you can pop out the damper and replace it with grids, diffusers, or gels... it is just too cool and creatively fun. On the overall though I am always shaping light with my grids and it is another very wonderful detail that you can put two grids in one 7" reflector, so you can seriously straighten light with these effects; I again know of no other brand that offers this control.
SC : Do you have any advice for someone trying to decide what type of lighting to get?
RS : Do your homework. I said this before and I really mean it, I see so many people spending a few hundred dollars on monolight systems off of internet sources, only to realize had they spent a few hundred more they could have had what they dreamed about having in a better system (one that grows) with company and store support. I made my first purchase from Samy's back in the early 1980s and I have been one of the best fans since; simply because I have more than just the brand of the product behind me, I have a store with people there as well.
Just because something is cheaper doesn't mean that it will cost you less... it has always amazed me that a photographer will spend thousands and thousands of dollars on cameras, extra bodies, a multitude of lenses, cases for the camera, filters, etc., and then turn around and pinch pennies and short change on lighting. Lighting is photography! Why would you have a cheap lighting system with a great camera system? That makes as much sense as putting regular unleaded gas in the fuel tank of a Nascar racer. My lighting is not the weakest link in my chain, I leave that up to other elements, the human or natural kind [me], but it sure isn't going to be light.
All images are Copyright ©
Robert R Sanders.
www.robertrsanders.com
