What do you do with drywall tape?
Which image do you like better?
Monday, March 21, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Always Test Your Lighting
I would say that at least 50% of my shots have matching shot of me in that lighting. I have no problem testing lighting with a model, but when it's completely new lighting, I like to test it on myself first. I would hate to promise something that I couldn't deliver.
So with my umbrella shoot, I was pretty sure that I wanted to put my flash in the umbrella hooked up by a special cord to my Pocket Wizard. But I had no idea what that would really look like. I also wanted to make rain out of string, but when I went to the Chinese market, they had a red ribbon that I thought would be really cool, but again, I had no idea how it would photograph. I put it all together and took this shoot:
I was so excited, I almost posted it everywhere. But then I realized that I'm no model and I don't really look great in that photo, but the lighting and the rain looks exactly like I thought it would, if not better! But all people would see would be the frumpy girl in the image rather than the achievement of lighting and I didn't want to ruin the actual image when I released it.
What I learned from my test was that I could achieve the lighting that I wanted. The flash should be placed in the umbrella facing down towards the ground and should be in the front of the model. The umbrella needed to be held just right so the flash would not be seen in the image. I also knew that I could adjust the lighting on the shoot with little difficulty. And the only adjustment I had to do to the flash in the umbrella was to decrease the strength one stop, because Chelsea is a little paler than I am. Since I knew where to place the flash, Chelsea didn't have to stand out in the cold for too long.
I shot the final shot outside in Old Town. I love the cobble stone that you can find in various locations. I thought it would add dimension to the photo. Although I must admit that I was worried about creating too much dimension as the umbrella, rain, and model would be plenty to distract the eye. I did add another flash in addition to the flash in the umbrella. There's one with a medium-sized soft box off to the left. I wanted to separate the umbrella from the brick wall and natural light just wasn't providing that separation.
In case this image has a familiar feel, it because it was inspired by an illustration by Banksy. I really wanted to bring the illustration to life. Somebody posted that illustration on a website and I immediately felt a connection with it. It had a surreal, yet real, feel that I am so often trying to create in my photography.
So with my umbrella shoot, I was pretty sure that I wanted to put my flash in the umbrella hooked up by a special cord to my Pocket Wizard. But I had no idea what that would really look like. I also wanted to make rain out of string, but when I went to the Chinese market, they had a red ribbon that I thought would be really cool, but again, I had no idea how it would photograph. I put it all together and took this shoot:
I was so excited, I almost posted it everywhere. But then I realized that I'm no model and I don't really look great in that photo, but the lighting and the rain looks exactly like I thought it would, if not better! But all people would see would be the frumpy girl in the image rather than the achievement of lighting and I didn't want to ruin the actual image when I released it.
What I learned from my test was that I could achieve the lighting that I wanted. The flash should be placed in the umbrella facing down towards the ground and should be in the front of the model. The umbrella needed to be held just right so the flash would not be seen in the image. I also knew that I could adjust the lighting on the shoot with little difficulty. And the only adjustment I had to do to the flash in the umbrella was to decrease the strength one stop, because Chelsea is a little paler than I am. Since I knew where to place the flash, Chelsea didn't have to stand out in the cold for too long.
I shot the final shot outside in Old Town. I love the cobble stone that you can find in various locations. I thought it would add dimension to the photo. Although I must admit that I was worried about creating too much dimension as the umbrella, rain, and model would be plenty to distract the eye. I did add another flash in addition to the flash in the umbrella. There's one with a medium-sized soft box off to the left. I wanted to separate the umbrella from the brick wall and natural light just wasn't providing that separation.
In case this image has a familiar feel, it because it was inspired by an illustration by Banksy. I really wanted to bring the illustration to life. Somebody posted that illustration on a website and I immediately felt a connection with it. It had a surreal, yet real, feel that I am so often trying to create in my photography.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Macro Landscape Photo Walk
It's been rainy all day, but I still wanted to get out and about, so I grabbed my point and shoot and headed to my favorite place, Teddy Roosevelt Island. I figured I would try a bunch of macro shoots. My little Cannon point and shoot is great with macro shots. And I like using it better than my DSLR because I don't feel like I'm going to fall over when shooting macro. Also, I breathe more. For some reason, I hold my breath when shooting macro shots with my DSLR, even when I'm using a tripod.
And just like shooting with my DSLR, not many of the shots turned out, the focus was in the wrong place. But here are three that I like.
And just like shooting with my DSLR, not many of the shots turned out, the focus was in the wrong place. But here are three that I like.
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