The 32-year-old photographer Johannes Krebs comes from the capital Berlin. In his works, he wants to show the beauty of people. On his Instagram account #johannes.krebs, he shows fascinating portrait, lingerie, nude, and dance photography. For his creative works, he uses the portable studio flash Rollei HS Freeze 6. He now provides insight into his experiences with the flash outdoors and in the studio.
Scope of delivery
The HS Freeze 6 comes well-packaged in a sturdy cardboard box, on which all important data can be found. When you open the box, the first thing you see is a very well-made bag, which also offers stable protection. It has a handle on top and a small pocket on the front, in which you can easily store contracts or other documents. In addition, the familiar Rollei logo can be found on the bottom right. On the side are eyelets for attaching the included carrying strap.
HS Freeze 6 Bag and Accessories
When you switch on the flash unit, a large, easy-to-read color display grins at you. The operation is self-explanatory. The function is displayed above the four selection buttons, depending on the menu item. There is, of course, a test flash button, an on/off switch, which also switches the modeling light, and a large rotary control. If you turn this, you adjust the power in 0.1 increments. If you press the rotary knob, the power display turns green and you can adjust it in whole steps by turning it.
What really pleased me was the fact that I found a Pyrex glass dome under the plastic cap that protects the flash tube. This protects the sensitive tube from contact and from knocking light shapers when changing them. In addition, there is a bright 20-watt LED modeling light, which can be turned on due to its low power consumption. It is positively striking that the bayonet is made of stainless steel and that even large light shapers can be easily attached.
The power source
Let's move on to the power source. This is a lightweight 14.8V lithium polymer battery, with an enormous capacity of 6Ah for its size. Even during long shoots with the modeling light permanently switched on, I never managed to drain it. And with a charging time of approx. 2.5 hours, it's quickly ready to go again. The check button on the battery indicates how full it still is.
I have been using the devices for about 4 weeks and have used them in various situations. In combination with Rollei's very light and robust light shapers, they can be set up and taken down quickly. In the studio or even in the forest during light rain, they do their job. According to the manufacturer, the HS Freeze 6 is protected against sand, dust, and splashing water, and I believe that.
The foldable Beauty Dish provides high-contrast yet soft light without a hot spot. For the contour from the right, I used the small parabolic softbox. Thanks to HSS, I could go so high with the camera's exposure time (Fujifilm x-T2) (1/8000) that the sunny autumn afternoon looked more like evening, and at f/1.6, I didn't even need a ND filter. Due to the short shutter speed, hair and dress are completely free of motion blur.
High Speed Sync (HSS)
One flash is enough to create fantastic light. The bright sunlight makes my model stand out well from the background, and thanks to HSS, I can work with an aperture of 1:1.2 in this situation without an ND filter. My model Verena is also tack sharp even in full motion. If I had simply placed her in the sun without a flash, harsh cast shadows would disfigure the photo. Here, too, I used Rollei's Beauty Dish.
After that, I wanted to know. I placed Verena in direct sunlight and brightened her up again with only one flash unit. And that at aperture 2. Combining three light sources allows you to develop a great image look.
From front left, a Beauty Dish for high-contrast yet soft main light. From back right, a slightly harder light from the Parabola to emphasize Katja's contours and make her hair shine. For the background, the warm afternoon sunlight. This gives the picture depth.
The same light setup. On the stomach and arm, you can see that a Beauty Dish provides soft yet very high-contrast light. The hard light from the right creates a beautiful emphasis on the contour.
On location, I set the camera so that the background was nicely exposed, i.e., a little darker than my planned subject. Next, I set up my main light (Beauty Dish) and regulated it with the remote trigger so that Katja stood out well from the background and there were few harsh shadows on her. Last came the contour light. Here, it was most important to find the right position. In the final photo, only Katja's contour should be flashed. The contour light was, of course, significantly brighter. Set up this way, Katja could simply let loose, and I just had to press the shutter button.
Let's go to the studio
Here, too, the HS Freeze 6 flexes its muscles and, thanks to its effective power management, allows continuous work with the modeling light. This makes it incredibly easy to assess the lighting effect.
I could already judge the shadow gradient before I pressed the shutter button. The goal was to keep the photo anonymous due to the hat shadow. It's a very simple lighting setup. The HS Freeze 6 was hanging on a boom stand directly in front of the model. I was unsure if my small boom could handle it. But the flash was light enough, and now I know I don't have to worry about it anymore.
TTL Mode
Let's talk about TTL. Giving up control? Of course, you spend thousands of euros on high-tech cameras and then don't rely on their sophisticated automatics? If the flash masters my camera's TTL automatic, I have to test that too.
The best way to do this is with mixed light. I set the camera to aperture priority and chose a nice open aperture. I left the ISO at 200. To the right and left of the bed, I positioned two floor lamps, which provided a nice warm light. I positioned the flash right next to me and aimed it at a 45-degree angle from above at the model. I created the very soft light with the 90cm Octabox. TTL set and click. Wow: the light is perfect!
The model changes position and thus gets much closer to the light source. Click. Thanks to TTL, I don't have to change anything. That's how work is fun.
Delay Function
Now I wanted to test the Delay function.
This is a single exposure. I placed the camera on a tripod and considered the image composition. Due to lack of space, all positions had to be quite close together. By using grids, I avoided stray light on the black background.
The black top ensured that Verena stood out clearly from the right position in the middle. On the right was an HS Freeze 6, which flashed directly at the beginning of the exposure. Then Verena had 2.5 seconds to take the main position in the middle. There, the HS Freeze 6, which was hanging on the boom in front of her and set a little stronger, flashed. After another 2.5 seconds, the left flash fired. So Verena had enough time to get into position. The whole fun required a few tries, as I had no experience with delay flashing.
I have to say, the function is really fun and allows for super creative work.
Conclusion
It doesn't take much for a good photo. A great subject and perfect light. Again, a leading light obliquely frontal and a very subtle contour light from a strip light from the right.
A single flash is enough to conjure up fantastic light. Here again, the Beauty Dish and the HSS function were used. Camera, flash and light stand fit well in my camera backpack and the folded Dish could easily be carried by hand. So, grab a Rollei HS Freeze 6, your preferred light shaper, a lightweight light stand and get out into the fresh air. With the right light, you can perfectly capture the diversity with which Mother Nature blesses us and share it with others.
All shots were taken exclusively with flashes and light shapers from Rollei and a Fujifilm X-T2.
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