Like many of you, I spent most of Wednesday and Thursday last week at the annual BUILDEX Vancouver seminar/tradeshow/networking event at the Vancouver Convention Centre. In the usual way, we had really excellent outdoor weather for the whole thing, which led to wishing that one could hold seminars outside or at least in non-windowless rooms, but alas. I did end up taking a few photos for one of my media contacts at the show, and discovered something interesting: the building has perfect lightstands around its perimeter about every 6 feet.
"What?" you're asking? Yes, seriously. If you've been there, you've possibly noticed the window mullions that nicely frame some wonderful views. For possibly aesthetic and functional reasons known only to the architects (they're welcome to comment…), there's a vertical glass mullion between each window that extends about six inches into the space. Mount a flash on a Justin clamp, clamp on…and you have a perfect height-adjustable stand that can actually hold a fair amount of weight if you need it to. I wouldn't trust this with much more than a few speed lights and a light umbrella, but this makes it the perfect way to rig a light or two for informal portraits that feature the view in behind. Put the flash on a Magic Arm and mount a Rogue FlashBender or other softening attachment to it, and you have a nifty fill to take care of what would otherwise be some pretty harsh backlight. Take a look:
So, kudos to LMN Architects and DA Architecture + Planners for doing something that not only looks cool, but makes the job of local photographers a lot easier.