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From digital creations, portraits to lifestyle photography, Anthony Passant is a French photographer who likes to experiment with light. Anthony tries to capture expressions and freeze in a split second an individual’s personal feelings. For him, photography is an art, a craft, but above all, a passion.

How did you get started with flash photography?

My father always had a camera in his hands, for as long as I can remember, so image has always been a part of me. My grandfather painted, my father was also a musician, so art has always been a part of my life. And today, I try to keep this family tradition alive with my daughters.

I started out with photography thanks to a friend of mine. Little by little, I posted results of my photo shoots on social media and met individuals who allowed me to discover more about lighting.

© Anthony Passant

These other photographers showed me the basics of flash photography, not as tool to light up a subject, but rather as a technique allowing you to transmit an emotion and capture an atmosphere.

 

"I was immediately attracted by the possibility of creating my own lighting, without worrying about the weather or lighting conditions."

© Anthony Passant

Tell us more about your work and your photography style.

My photographs are very different from one another, I do not like to be labelled with one specific style, as I try to innovate as much as I can. I like to get out of my comfort zone and try out whatever I want! I’ve immediately been attracted to portrait photography and I really like the closeness and complicity you’re developing with your subjects. Moreover, the relationship the photographer has with his subject can easily be seen in the photograph itself. If the model is bored, you will never obtain great results! I think that children are my favourite subjects to photograph, their spontaneity is a blessing!

What attracted you to our products?

I wanted a serious brand, with good quality products. I wanted an equipment that was trustworthy, reliable and durable.

 

"Many users have advised me to go for Elinchrom, directly through the end-result of their images."

© Anthony Passant

The name, the reputation, the quality of their equipment, were the most determining factors in my final choice, and today I wouldn’t know how to upgrade my equipment with something else than Elinchrom’s flashes!

 

Could you describe us your equipment?

I own a simple equipment, to which I feel very compassionately about: my Canon 5D Mark II for its image quality and the softness of the end-result, my Tamron SP (the 24-70 f/2.8 and the 70/200, f2.8) allowing me to cover the entire zoom of portraits.

 

"I own two D-Lite RX4 sets, which do marvels! It perfectly suits my needs during indoor photoshoots."

 

I also own a tripod Vanguard Alt Pro that I use for specific focusing ranges. In terms of lighting equipment, I own two D-Lite RX4 kits, which do marvels! I do not lack any space, nor light, and it’s perfectly suited for my needs during indoor photoshoots. I would like to buy an ELB 400 with one or two Quadra Action or ideally the HS heads. After trying out this set for 2 weeks, it was hard for me to part with it! 

For light shapers, I’m truly fond of my Octabox Rotalux 135cm, I also use the Portalite softbox, the Beauty Dish Softlite 44cm, and lastly a Phottix stripbox 34x140.

What is your basic set up, the one you use most frequently and the one that appears most effective to you?

My set up, just like my images, always change. But the two set ups I use the most are:

Rotalux 135cm in primary light, inclined to 45°, to project a soft shadow and mark contrasts without diffusers, it’s ideal for black and white photography.

The other setup is; 1 or 2 Portalite 66x66, inclined to 45° to light a subject’s face and and a soft falling light across the subject’s body.

This gives a very soft and diffusing light, perfect for portraits with warm contrasts.

 

How would you describe your approach to lighting?

I like to think that I’m controlling the light, and not the opposite.

Contrarily to photographers who compose with ambient natural light, I have the luxury to use light as much as I want to! Without light, photography wouldn’t exist. I like to shape certain atmospheres, bodies, faces, or facial expressions. With lighting, you can do everything! 

What is your relationship with your photographic gear? Are you a “technophiliac”?

I truly like my equipment and I try to take care of it as much as I can. But new products are always attracting, and the latest technologies or the new functionalities are always tempting to try out.

When I see the most recent advances in softboxes or continuous lights, it can be frustrating to not be able to upgrade my equipment as much as I want to!

I’m always interested in new products, but I’m less interested in purchasing them. In the end, it’s also a budgetary constraint.

 

Don't be afraid, just try!

 

Flash photography can be quite scary for beginners, what would you say to them to make it easier?

To try! We only understand how lighting works by trying out various set ups; and we learn more from our failures than our successes. There’s a certain logic in lighting that you have to understand and master before completely delving into flash photography.

By first learning the main lighting techniques, you can start taking great images. Once you’re in the middle or at the end of a photo shoot, you can try out other techniques, that way you do not put your whole shooting in jeopardy.

© Anthony Passant

Why do you think media is an important tool for photographers nowadays?

I tend to use social media in a meaningful way. I use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, and YouTube for tutorials.

To see and be seen, that’s the whole point of social networks! I use it both to show my work to others, but also to learn from fellow photographers.

I do not use websites such as Flickr, 500px and 1x, because their purpose seduces me less than before, and image theft has cost me, especially when it came to photographs of my children! Contrarily to my former habits, I’m not focusing on “likes”, today I want to build an online community and have followers faithful to my posts, with whom I truly interact.

© Anthony Passant

Tell us about your next projects

I’d like to keep learning more about flash photography and master other lighting techniques. I want to continue to have a diversified portfolio.

I would also like to focus a bit more on my Youtube channel, that I use as an educational tool for retouching and angle shooting tutorials.

And in terms of photo shoots, I’d like to take advantage of the versatility of my equipment to take more photographs outside my studio!

Follow Anthony's work

www.ap-photographie.fr

Facebook / Youtube / Instagram

Anthony's To Go Set

Anthony's To Go Set

  • D-Lite RX 4/4 Softbox To Go Kit

    $799.99More infoAdd to cart

    D-Lite RX 4/4 Softbox To Go Kit

    EL20839.2

    The D-Lite RX 4 is one step up in the Elinchrom studio flash family, offering a robust case with ergonomic handle for harder working with larger accessories. With 400Ws, these units are ideal for small business applications, portraiture and for everyone interested in the most creative lighting. These Swiss designed and tested units will not only give many years of reliable service and pleasure, but also make it extremely easy to upgrade your lighting as your interest and need grows. The Skyport remote control built into the Elinchrom units offers cordless triggering and control of power from the camera, and control of all functions from many other common devices.

     

     This set includes the latest EL-Skyport transmitter Plus. A strong and robust design which enables photographer to simply trigger and adjust flash power up to 200 m (656 feet) away, optimize reception by its swivel functionality and is powered by AA batteries.

    $799.99
    QTY
    Add to cart

  • Elinchrom Skyport Transmitter Pro for Canon

    $249.95More infoAdd to cart

    Elinchrom Skyport Transmitter Pro for Canon

    EL19366

    The Elinchrom Skyport Transmitter Pro for Canon represents the latest evolution in Elinchrom's venerable wireless ecosystem. It combines compatibility with three generations of transceivers and flash heads with cutting edge features like Hi-Sync flash sync speeds up to 1/8000 sec two way visual feedback and TTL with Manual Lock.

    Two Way Visual Feedback Interface
    The large LCD display of the Skyport HS features two-way control via a Visual Feedback Interface that lets you see the exact power of every light in your setup right on the transmitter. The individual strobes show up automatically on the screen, and users can control each light's power level and modeling lamp settings directly from the Skyport transmitter or on the strobe itself, which instantly shows the updated power settings.

    Hi-Sync and HSS
    Go beyond the X-Sync of your camera with two different flash synchronisation technologies; Hi-Synch and HSS. Hi-Sync is optimised for power and while HSS is easier to use and more consistent. The Transmitter Pro uniquely integrates both Hi-Sync and HSS so photographers can simply access sync speeds up to 1/8000s to freeze motion, overpower the sun, darken backgrounds, or use a wider aperture for a shallow depth of field.

    Hi-Sync is only achievable with Hi-Sync enabled flash heads and the Transmitter Pro must be used in manual mode while HSS only works with TTL enabled units with the Transmitter pro in either manual or TTL mode.
    Note: both technologies may be used simultaneously when the Transmitter Pro is in manual mode. (ex. ELB 1200 with Hi-Sync + ELB 500 TTL with HSS)

    Impressive Wireless Range
    The Skyport Transmitter Pro has 20 channels and 4 groups that can be used for either Normal or Speed mode, and a wireless range of 656' outdoors and 196' indoors. Users can instantly distinguish what sync mode they are in since the backlit display glows green for normal sync mode, and red for speed sync mode.

    Compatibility
    The Skyport Transmitter Pro is compatible with previous generations of Elinchrom flash units including the EL- Skyport Transceiver RX module for Style RX, Digital RX, and Ranger RX systems and the integrated EL-Skyport modules for the BRX, D-Lite RX, ELC Pro HD, and ELB series. The Skyport Transmitter Pro adds synchronization capability and two-way control functionality to all Elinchrom lights with EL-Skyport capability.

    User Updatable Firmware
    Designed to be a future proof, users can update the firmware of the Transmitter Pro via included mini usb cable. Current Skyport Plus HS owners can update to full Pro functionality via a free firmware update on Elinchrom.com

    $249.95
    QTY
    Add to cart

  • Rotalux Softbox Octa 135cm

    More info

    Rotalux Softbox Octa 135cm

    EL26184

    Very popular among beauty and fashion photographers, as they prefer the round catch-light given by this softbox. You can make yourself a great folding beauty dish just by removing the front and inner diffusers and adding one of the optional deflectors. 

  • 44cm Diffuser for Softlite Beauty Dish Reflector

    $19.00More infoAdd to cart

    44cm Diffuser for Softlite Beauty Dish Reflector

    EL26232

    Cloth diffuser for the front of the Softlite Reflectors 44cm (17.32"). Turns them into perfectly round softbox.

    The reflector is not included.

    $19.00
    QTY
    Add to cart

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