Photography Related Thread

[j-von]

 

Holy crap, that's exactly what I, and this thread needed.  Thanks a lot for the detail, I'm sure I'll read through that another 10 times as I set up some test shots over the next week.  I'll try to recreate something like this as I go along so you can tell me what you'd do differently.

That really is a great shot.  The idea is a little K-State0, but you made it look good.

[SleepFighter]

Should have included an auto blast for comparison.

Yes, I should have.  If I ever do one again, I'll auto blast the eff out of it before anything else.

[SleepFighter]

Holy crap, that's exactly what I, and this thread needed.  Thanks a lot for the detail, I'm sure I'll read through that another 10 times as I set up some test shots over the next week.  I'll try to recreate something like this as I go along so you can tell me what you'd do differently.

I don't know how comfortable you are with this stuff, but I'd take a few pictures with just one light.  Get to where you really know what that light is going to do, and how to balance it with ambient, and then add the second light for fill/separation/whatever.

[Mikeyis4dcats]

Screw it.  This post will end with a picture I took this weekend of someone that I may or may not either like and/or be related to.  This thread will suck a lot if pictures of such people never get posted in it. 

But first a strobist style step by step walk through of what I did to make the picture.  Think photography related FANalysis, and skip to the end as appropriate.

A request was made to me to produce a KSTATE0 picture of a tiny EMAW.  What that person wants, that person gets.  I decided that I would use a powercat flag as the backdrop.  I didn't want to just expose the tiny EMAW and the flag with the same light, because that would produce a flat, boring picture, and I wanted to do something a little more exciting (no offense auto-blasters!).  In order to get some working distance between the background and the subject, I selected a 105 mm lens (I shoot with a Nikon D300, so this lens has an angle of view equivalent to a 158mm lens on a FF camera).

I clamp the flag between a couple of light stands, and then place my camera on a tripod, and frame the powercat how I'm going to want it.  I select a flash friendly f5.6 at ISO 400 because my key light is going to be an SB800 into a large modifier, and I don't want to have to fire that at full power in order to reduce cycle time between pops.  From there I select a shutter speed of something like 1/40.  I would like to get a little more ambient for fill, but don't want my shutter speed any slower than that.  I take an exposure to check how things are going so far.



Yup, dark.  Well, I'm not going to get any ambient fill, but on the bright side, I won't have to worry about the ambient polluting the color temperature.

I want to focus the light on the powercat, so I put an 8" snoot on an SB800, zoom the flash its maximum amount, and set it at 1/64 power, figuring that I won't need much light to get the exposure that I want, and knowing that I'm going to get a fair amount of spill from my key light later on.  So, what does it look like?



Oops, looks like I missed.  I do like how rapidly the light rolls off though, so I just need to change my aim a little.



Much better.  Of course when I put my subject in I'm not going to be focused on the flag, so let's see what the background is going to look like with a stand-in in place.



Not bad.  So now it's time to figure out the key.  Here I'm going to use a second SB800 with a 1/4 CTO under its diffusor dome bounced into an obnoxiously huge 60" softlighter ii.  The gel will add a little warmth to the EMAW.  I'm going to count on wrap-around from my big modifier to alleviate the need for fill. Which is good, because I'm out of light stands, so I won't be able to use a reflector.  I guess at 1/4 power, and this is what I get.



Not too much spill onto the background.  The bear's nose is a little hot, but the little EMAW won't be that white, so I'm not too worried.

Here are a couple of pictures I took with my phone of the set-up:




The only thing left to do is to bring in the little EMAW, and an assistant to make sure that he doesn't fall off those two boxes that I'm using as a posing stool, and take a fantastic picture.

kid is adorbs

[j-von]

I don't know how comfortable you are with this stuff, but I'd take a few pictures with just one light.  Get to where you really know what that light is going to do, and how to balance it with ambient, and then add the second light for fill/separation/whatever.

I'm a complete beginner when it comes to using speedlights.  I've read that using one flash can create really good results so I'll be trying out both ways.  I was playing around with it on my camera the other day but it has to be on manual because the d3100 doesn't communicate with it.  There's so many options between the angle, power, gels, zoom, etc.  I think it will just take a lot of experimenting to figure it out but so far I'm impressed by what the single flash did indoors.

[SleepFighter]

I don't know how comfortable you are with this stuff, but I'd take a few pictures with just one light.  Get to where you really know what that light is going to do, and how to balance it with ambient, and then add the second light for fill/separation/whatever.

I'm a complete beginner when it comes to using speedlights.  I've read that using one flash can create really good results so I'll be trying out both ways.  I was playing around with it on my camera the other day but it has to be on manual because the d3100 doesn't communicate with it.  There's so many options between the angle, power, gels, zoom, etc.  I think it will just take a lot of experimenting to figure it out but so far I'm impressed by what the single flash did indoors.

So when you first start out, eliminate as many variables as possible.  Because you're right, there are a lot.  Stick one light in one of those umbrellas that you're getting, shoot in an environment dark enough that your flash can overpower the ambient, set it at 1/4 or 1/8 power and then start taking pictures.  Don't change anything but the position of your subject (can be anything) and the light relative to your background (can be anywhere).  You'll quickly find that just by moving those two things around that you'll be able to get a lot of different looks. 

[j-von]

When I originally posted this I had a new full frame camera, a bunch of nice full frame lenses, and proceeded to never take any pictures.  I tend to go overboard with my hobbies, but all of that heavy equipment made shooting seem more like a chore, especially when my free time is almost nonexistent.

I sold about $3000 worth of camera stuff, and decided to pick up a mirrorless Sony NEX-5N and some lenses.  Even with some nice glass I'm still under $1000 and taking way more photos.



Here's a few pics from yesterday with a Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 lens and some lightroom tweaks...









Hoping to get a NEX-7 at some point, but doubt I'll ever go back to a DSLR.

Here's what a pro can do with a NEX-7...

https://plus.google.com/photos/+TreyRatcliff/albums/5805669813661838625

[pissclams]

great pics, but "some" lightroom tweeks?  come on, son. 

[SabiNation]

those look real nice, j-von.

[j-von]

great pics, but "some" lightroom tweeks?  come on, son.

You make a good point.  I was just saying that the raw files were already full of goodness so it only took a few minutes to get it where I wanted it in lightroom.  Then I copied the profile and pasted it on the others.  A little brush work and it was done.

Certainly not minor tweaks, they were big changes from the originals, but I've been really happy with what it's picking up in raw format so the tweaks go quickly.  I haven't been using HDR as much as I thought I would.

[slimz]

great pics, but "some" lightroom tweeks?  come on, son.

You make a good point.  I was just saying that the raw files were already full of goodness so it only took a few minutes to get it where I wanted it in lightroom.  Then I copied the profile and pasted it on the others.  A little brush work and it was done.

Certainly not minor tweaks, they were big changes from the originals, but I've been really happy with what it's picking up in raw format so the tweaks go quickly.  I haven't been using HDR as much as I thought I would.

The first one especially looks pretty cool. Did you shoot those with an HDR exposure spread or was it all just LR?

[j-von]

great pics, but "some" lightroom tweeks?  come on, son.

You make a good point.  I was just saying that the raw files were already full of goodness so it only took a few minutes to get it where I wanted it in lightroom.  Then I copied the profile and pasted it on the others.  A little brush work and it was done.

Certainly not minor tweaks, they were big changes from the originals, but I've been really happy with what it's picking up in raw format so the tweaks go quickly.  I haven't been using HDR as much as I thought I would.

The first one especially looks pretty cool. Did you shoot those with an HDR exposure spread or was it all just LR?

It was all LR from single images, no HDR on these.  One of the big advantages of the sony nex cameras is that they give you the option for raw HDR, but I'm still getting the hang of it.  I'm hoping to do some cool stuff with the stadium once it's complete.