Those amature-ish shots clicked with a digi cam may look like the perfect slice of real life but there lives in all of us, the need to have a few perfect pictures which basically is what runs the massive professional photography business despite the invasion of the camera phones and the digital cams. However, most clients simply do not understand how important lighting can be to make that perfect shot look prettier and sometimes, when a pro photographer is not paid enough to hire an assistant to hold the flash and other paraphernalia that the paying public thinks of as “dispensable”, having devices like a Backpack Flash can be a real lifesaver.
Fashioned by professional photographer Ian Spanier, the backpack studio flash rig called LowePro allows other professionals to mount a flash a few inches overhead to give them the liberty to adjust lighting on their own while retaining the freedom of movement for their hands. Spanier fashioned the rig as a design for bird watchers who need to carry bulky equipment to hard-to-reach places where the traditional requirements for a great shot cannot be ticked off the page as easily.
Spanier used a bunch of mounts and framing to have the diffuser sit just 5 inches above the head with the Canon flash unit powered by a rechargeable battery sitting pretty in the backpacks. To ensure that the flash is triggered as required, Spanier threw in a bunch of wireless receiver and voila! the hands free flash unit was born that could save many a hundred buck in assistant fee per shoot!
Via: Ian Spanier/ Gizmodo