In the first of a series on people that have influenced my lighting, I really have to start with Dutch photographer Frank Doorhof. I can't even remember where I first came across Frank's work, but I suspect it may have been via the Fred Miranda forums. Wherever it was, I joined his forum in April 2006 because of it and my lighting has been influenced by it ever since.StyleFrank is a good natured and proficient teacher, with excellent English (something he may have been concerned about!). For me the key aspect of Frank's work is his use of modifiers to create shadow. While a lot of photographers use an overhead light with reflectors as a go to setup, Frank is all about creating shape with light. Around the time I joined the forum, Frank was putting up a lot of 'Backstage' videos from shoots he had done. They would introduce the shoot in the makeup room, something that I've learned is one of the most important parts of a shoot, to the shoot, and then showing some final selects. Even though there was no speaking in these, watching them was learning in itself.LightsFrank is a well known Elinchrom user. I can attribute my use of Elinchrom to Frank. I switched from Bowens to D-Lite 4's and now have 3 full Ranger Quadra kits, and 2 BX400's. Of course I could have followed his lighting using Bowens, but I was really impressed with the range of modifiers available for them. I have no regrets about switching to Elinchrom, despite all the love going around for ProFoto.

TrainingFrank has visited Ireland doing workshops, but timing and expense prevented me going. I'd like to have gone, but such is life! Fortunately, though, Frank has a range of DVD's that he started making after I joined his forum. There's 2 Inside Look DVD's, which extended something on the site that was essentially an online magazine, 3 'Light' DVD's and An Introduction to Model Photography. There are also some Dutch only DVD's, and a new one Frank is currently working on. None of them are particularly expensive, making them must haves. They cover the theory of lighting, using and calibrating lightmeters, grey cards, modifiers, balancing flash with daylight, among a host of other things. He also has a lot of short free videos that he puts out on his YouTube Channel. He's also told me that he'll have material up on Kelbytraining.com later this year. Nice!Inside LookWhen pressed for what modifiers you should have, Frank answers, a Deep Octa and a Striplight. Well I have some knockoffs and love them. I still hanker for the real deal with the Deep Octa though. If you'd have asked a few years ago, it would have been the large Octa. I've seen a lot of people use the Octa and create very flat light with it. Frank on the other was creating beautiful shadows with it. In fact, I even put that section of the DVD on my iPod, so I could watch it before shoots for inspiration. Another modifier I love using outdoors, again first seen with Frank, is the 29 degree Maxispot. I can easily overpower the Sun with it, making my Quadras more useful than their small size belies.The FutureOne thing about having Frank as an influence is that his style still grows and matures. This allows scope to teaches new things. Of course, I've still not jumped to Medium Format as he has, nor have I gone with Aperture (I still love Lightroom much more). Frank will be making the trip to Ireland again in September, so I'll get to meet him in person finally then.LinksFranks WebsitePortfolioBlog/ForumYouTube ChannelDVD's