Playing games at the arcade

Steven Perdikis

Arcades are not very popular in Adelaide for people my age. As a gamer (and former professional video game reviewer) the only time in that professional life that I went to interact with games within a space was when there was an art exhibition based on the notion of gameplay.

The flashing lights and colourful environment of an arcade make for an interesting photographic environment.

I was fairly unprepared, realising half way through the shoot that I really, really required a polarising filter.

I acknowledge this isn’t the best work that I have produced, but it was an excellent learning opportunity.

I did not want to push my camera past 800 or so ISO, still in recovery mode on the basis of the previously horrific equipment that I’ve owned.

Moving outside of the Arcade, there was the opportunity for a few outdoor night portraits. I feel like these were much better. In particular, I enjoyed using a combination of flash and ambient light to creatively use a poorly maintained phone booth as a soft(ish) box of light.

These few shots (including the sinistery Stranger Things) look portraits are what I feel were the highlight of this shoot.

This was among the first time I used the wireless trigger for my Godox speedlights, and I am continuing to discover all the fantastic abilities and dramatic lighting I can generate with off camera flash.

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