Behind The Scenes: Fashion Photography with Clay Cook

Go behind-the-scenes of this fashion photography editorial shoot with photographer Clay Cook and Westcott’s new 59″ Zeppelin Deep Parabolic light modifier.

Introduced to the market in early 2014, the Zeppelin Deep Parabolic series of softboxes creating a very broad, wraparound light output. With the ability to drastically control light falloff, these new additions are a dream for commercial and fashion photography. The Westcott Zeppelin Deep Parabolic line features a 35”, 47”, and a 59” para-softbox. Each of these softboxes are lined with a highly reflective silver material, pulled taut for optimum light output. Supporting these large parabolics are 16 heavy-duty, heat-resistant rods. To support the weight of these profound softboxes, Westcott simultaneously developed the Zeppelin Speedring & Bracket. These additional brackets eliminate mounting stress and come in adaptations for virtually all light heads.

Each Zeppelin softbox comes standard with both an inner and an outer diffusion panel. Both the half-stop outer diffusion panel and the half-stop inner diffusion panel can be used by singularly or in tandem. The outer panel is constructed with a hook-and-loop edge for quick placement. The inner panel is also manufactured with a 1-stop center dot, eliminating potential hot spots.

For this May editorial shoot for NFocus Louisville, Clay uses the 59″ Zeppelin directly in front of his models, positioning himself below the large modifier. With the light head mounted on the rear of the softbox, he utilizes the Zeppelin’s inner diffusion panel to soften the light output.

Louisville photographer Clay Cook received his first DSLR camera in December 2010. Since then, his passion and experience in the field has exploded, landing his work in publications like NFocus Magazine, Louisville Magazine, The Voice Tribune, The Courier Journal, and STORY Magazine. Clay continues to build his talents in advertising, commercial, and fashion photography and is now a staff writer Fstoppers.