The ELB 400 in Indonesia

The ELB 400, your best friend for a trip to Indonesia

Elinchrom’s philosophy is to manufacture equipment that corresponds to each photographer’s needs. This makes Elinchrom’s equipment very user-friendly and reliable.

The Rotalux Octa 135, the Portalite Square and the Skyport HS transmitter

The Gear

For this on-location shoot, I used the ELB 400, a strong, robust and portable battery pack. I went to Sulawesi, in Indonesia to shoot portraits and different cultural sceneries.

My light shapers are the Rotalux softbox Octa 135, the Portalite Square, the reflectors included in the To Go set, and the EL-Skyport Plus HS transmitter.

I need an equipment that is strong, reliable, small, lightweight and weather resistant, and that is why I choose the ELB 400 pack.

The Experience

After a few days trying to adjust to the local temperature and overcome jet lag, I was ready to visit Kendari, the East area of the Island. It is a very traditional region with no tourists, no accommodations, no restaurants, and where nobody spoke English. My goal there was to photograph the local Bajo tribe and get a sense of their lives and traditions.

A Street scene in Bajo village – ELB 400 and Portalite

Fishing woman cooking in her home – ELB 400 and Rotalux Octa 135

The local community lives in small wooden houses. It was very exiting to photograph such places. I took my Portalite Square with me for the photo shoot. Making pictures with flash inside definitely helped bringing up colour and contrast. To obtain a soft light, I added a diffuser within the softbox.

Cooking longtong – ELB 400

The advantages of flash

In Indonesia, sunrise and sunset only take half an hour. The light can quickly become hard, so you’ll need an artificial light to fight against the high contrast and color bleeding.

Welder in action – ELB 400 and Portalite

The harsh conditions and the ELB 400

The ELB 400 is easy to carry around, along with the light stand, lamp head and softbox. I shot these photographs during rain season, when heavy rains come and go. I did not always have time to get the equipment covered. Once, the top of the ELB was filled with water. But despite the rain and humidity, the equipment kept on working.

Make hard light soft with flash

Bright daylight, no problem

We organised another shoot in traditional clothing. I wanted to showcase the beauty of landscape with the model featured in a costumed dress. I used the flash to underexpose the background and obtain more contrast and colour in the sky. I’m very fond of this set up, with a wide angle lens.

During my trip, I was able to make almost every kind of picture possible. The ELB is such a compact and small unit, that it was very convenient during this trip.