Stance FEEL360: rooftop antics
The brief for this shoot had excitement and potential for stress written all over it: an experiential running event on the rooftop of a London tower block in early February. Capturing runners on an as yet unphotographed two lane athletics track called for battery powered flash lighting, high ISO and compliant conditions. We also need drone footage...
I love a challenge (being British) but there often comes a point where you need to put the line into your response to the brief, "conditions may work against us". Strong winds or rain were going to make this nigh impossible so it was with massive relief that we stepped onto the track mid afternoon beneath grey skies and suitable (if not cold) conditions.
The event was all about the launch of Stance's latest tech running sock the Feel360. Runners each got to run a timed mile (11 laps) then hit the beers on the rooftop patio. I called in Jason from CineCloud to ensure all necessary permissions and logistics for flying drones in some of the UK's most heavily controlled airspace were met. It's such a relief to know you've got someone onboard who can be left to fulfil their brief: the thought of a drone going down the side of this location just wasn't an option. My prerequisite for drone imagery, if you're asking, is shoot DNG, push the shutter to 1/150 min and ensure focus. Great drone shots mean nothing if they don't hold up for print or closer inspection. And shoot the shit out of it..
The priority with running in low light is 90% of the time freezing the subject. Trying to balance some ambient in there (in this case the backdrop of London twinkling at night) is never easy. The Profoto B1 heads let me fire a few frames for each runner passing the lens, injecting some atmosphere and edge into shots which we needed participants to share on their social feeds the following morning. They also had enough power to allow me to close down sufficiently to guarantee some clarity rather than going wide open.
The shots went down a storm on social media after an overnight turnaround, the client was stoked and Like The Wind Magazine's next issue features a double spread cover and feature with the shots.
Photo set on my overview.
Big thanks to Stance Europe, Freestak, GungHo, James Poole, Max Wilko, Jim & Tonic & Direct Digital for providing the props.