2016.07.02 Max De Martino

Inside the bag of the X-Photographer -Max De Martino

Max De Martino

Max De Martino는 이탈리아 가수 에로스 라마초티(Eros Ramazzotti)의 유럽 공연 중 대형 화면 영상의 라이브 이미지 디렉터로 1990년부터 전문적으로 이미지를 취급하고 있습니다.
그는 마돈나(Madonna), 브루스 스프링스틴(Bruce Springsteen), 루 리드(Lou Reed)와의 인터뷰 중에 이들의 사진을 촬영했으며, 그 후 피노 다니엘(Pino Daniele), 안토넬로 벤디티(Antonello Venditti) 및 바스코 로시(Vasco Rossi)의 유럽 공연에 비디오 디렉터로 참여했습니다.
1996년에는 웹 선구자로 Apple 리뷰 "Applicando"에 인터넷 컬럼을 기고했습니다. 약 10년 동안 세일즈 매니저로서 120개 점포를 소유한 회사와 협업했습니다.
그는 26년 동안 사진을 촬영하고 있습니다. 그는 Fastweb과 Pininfarina와 같은 프레스 캠페인을 진행했으며 여러 이탈리아와 외국 배우의 인물 사진을 촬영했습니다. 그의 사진은 윌버 스미스(Wilbur Smith)와 같은 유명 작가의 책과 여러 리뷰 삽화에 사용되었습니다. 그는 전문 사진작가 협회인 "Tau Visual"의 회원이며 행동 강령과 행동 분위기를 준수합니다. 그는 유창한 영어 실력으로 개인 고객, 외국 고객과 상호 교감하면서 이탈리아 내외부에서 작업합니다.
그는 Tiziano Terzani에 헌정한 웹사이트를 제작하여 14년 동안 운영하고 있으며, 2006년에는 그가 편집한 책 "Dentro di noi, parlano i lettori di Tiziano Terzani"가 Tea, Longanesi Group에서 출간되었습니다. 그는 Bambini Nel Deserto와 L’Albero Della Vita와 같은 여러 NGO와 협업하고 있으며 기초 및 고급 사진 촬영 강의를 진행하고 있습니다. 그가 만족했던 프로젝트 중 하나는 75~94세 노인을 대상으로 한 강의였습니다. 이러한 작업으로 인해 그는 롬바르디아 주(Regione Lombardia), 밀라노 현(Provincia di Milano) 및 모든 관심있는 지방으로부터 후원을 받았으며 6가지 전시회를 열였습니다.
그가 기차나 비행기를 탈 수 있게 되자마자 자신의 자전거, 자동차 또는 구형 모터사이클 BMW GS를 타고 여행을 떠납니다. 그는 27개국을 방문했고, 2008년 6월에 서양 사진작가 최초로 이라크 쿠르드 자치구에서 단독 전시회를 개최했습니다. 그 후 이라크 쿠르드 자치구 수도에 있는 에르빌 대학교(University of Erbil)에서 "No Ears" 전시회를 지금까지 열고 있습니다.

When they asked me to prepare an article for the international Fujifilm blog and to talk about what I kept in my camera bag, I had two contrasting emotions. The first said, “Ah cool! I’m a lucky guy!”. The second, more concrete, said “Yes, great.. but I use completely different equipment according to what I must photograph. And concerning bags and backpacks, I have at least five…”
Weighing them up with my interviewer, I asked him if I could tell you about an event which I always like to hold: an off-camera flash management workshop in partnership with one of the most important photography shops in Milan; New Old Camera. My proposal was accepted immediately. Thus, here I am talking to you about what I carry around if I have to shoot in a situation where I have to recreate the light that interests me mixing it with the ambient light.
First of all, I have not mentioned everything which is complementary and absolutely necessary for a fashion or lifestyle shoot outside of a traditional photography studio; the stands, tripods and light modifiers that, alone, occupy a big cart and much of of the trunk in the car.
Instead, I will concentrate on the equipment on a purely technological side: cameras, lenses, flashes and triggers.

Let’s start with backpack no.1:
Firstly, the bag: one of the best purchases in recent years, a ThinkTank Airport Essentials. The only one which you can always carry on board in an airplane even when there is no more space in the overhead. Its dimensions are small enough to allow it to be placed under the seat in front of you. And the capacity is extraordinary … look what it can hold…

  • 1 Fujifilm X-Pro2
  • 1 Fujifim X100T
  • 1 XF50- 140 f2.8 (a lens which I love and which is very suitable when shooting in not static situations)
  • 1 XC55-230  f4.5-6.3 (an underestimated lens but, with the right light, can give a lot of satisfaction – brought just to show its quality)
  • 1 WCL100 and TCL100 (two inseparable companions of the extraordinary X100T)
  • 1 XF 35 f2 (one of my preferred lenses over the past few years)
  • 1 Multiplier 1,4x (helpful if I need lens compression)
  • 1 XF56 f1.2 (a lens which every lover of portraits needs to have)
  • 1 XF10-24 (useful for wide field pictures)
  • 1 Flash Fujifilm EF-42 TTL
  • 1 TTL Cable (short and long)
  • 1 Cactus V6 Trigger (3 pieces to control two flashes managing the power remotely in manual mode)
  • 1 Wein Sync Link IR Trigger (perfect to control each flash that works in “slave” mode even on very short shutter speed)
  • 1 Sb-700 and a Sb-910 flashes (only survivors of my Nikon kit from years ago)
  • Three SanDisk UHS-II 64Gb SD-Card (the most reliable I’ve ever used), plus three spare memory cards
  • Various batteries for the cameras
  • 12 additional rechargeable AA batteries
  • 1 Rogue FlashBender flash reflector (great for spreading the light of the speedlights)
  • 2 belt hooks (since I tried them, I cannot stop)
  • 1 flash bracket which allows the trigger and flash to be mounted to the stand
  • 1 Color Checker Passport (perfect to balance the white in mixed light)
  • CTO gels for the speedlights
  • accessories for the cleaning and various materials

The second backpack was dedicated to the most powerful strobe, able to overpower of the sun – recreating the most suitable light from scratch.

This backpack consisted of:

  • 2 Profoto B1 (500w)
  • 4 Li-On Batteries
  • 1 AC adapter
  • 1 Car charger
  • 1 AirRemote Trigger to manage the power and shoot remotely
  • 1 OCF ring to mount accessories such as softboxes or portable beauty dishes
  • 1 OCF grids kit
  • 1 Kit of colored gels
  • 1 barndoor kit
  • 1 Collapsible 24″ Beauty Dish
  • 1 Power adapter for foreign countries (I never take it off the bag because I don’t want to be without it when I need it)

A portion of the material contained in these two backpacks is not even used, but it is always better to have a few more pieces present at the time of the shooting.

The workshop was developed in two sessions of twenty people in the morning and the same number in the afternoon. We initially shot with the X-Pro2 and the EF-42 using TTL assisted by the cables for synchronization.
Then we went on to use the Profoto B1 managing the power manually combined with the Fuji X100T that can sync up to 1/2000 in this configuration by starting the shot with IR trigger.

With regards to HighSpeedSync – I am waiting in anticipation for the arrival of the new EF-X500 flash scheduled to be released soon. This will finally allow me to shoot up to 1/8000 on the X-Pro2!
After the X100T, was the return of the X-Pro2 combined with the old Nikon flashes to achieve a portrait with a fake sunset behind the model.

The day was very fruitful with a lot of positive feedback from the participants. The flash light is a creature that one needs to know how to tame to be able to make it natural and bend it to our needs… When you can pull it off, the outcome is extraordinary!
Thank you for your patience if you have been reading until this point and I hope to return to be the new host of Fujifilm’s blog!

Max De Martino