Pushing the ISO... with Owen C

I'm usually pretty good with planning and organisation. I even spent a year in Project Management for that big corporation that Carly Fiorina ran into the ground. But a few weeks before my trip to Taipei I realised that, contrary to my assumption, Taiwan does not use the same electric current as Europe. My strobes and external flash equipment runs on 220V and Taiwan is on 110V, which means that my lights would barely flicker out there.

So I went on Amazon and ordered a 110V strobe... two weeks later a 220V strobe arrived. I wrote the company to complain and they said they sent the 220V because of my London address, assuming I'd ordered the wrong one. I was furious and there was no time to order another one. So I ran a few experiments pushing the ISO way up to its grainiest, grittiest heights and working with only available light. Ultimately, this would make my shoots even more natural, right? And that's what Elska is supposed to be about, isn't it? Or would the high ISO be too rough looking?

I decided to do the Taipei issue without flash. Owen C was one of the first I shot there in the dark indoors, shot at home with just his own lamps and room lights. The main issue can be yellowness, but when it's severe I can just go to black and white. That's no problem as far as I'm concerned.

I'm now converted. Issue (06) will be shot in a 220V country but I'm contemplating leaving my lights at home anyway.

Elska Boy: Owen C.

Location: Taipei, Taiwan

Photographer: Liam Campbell

Issue: Elska Ekstra (5.2) Owen C

#TaipeiTaiwan