Inspiration

I found this image on the web (on a wallpaper site) and I wanted to see if I could take a picture similar to it.

I've lit umbrellas before, so I know it's possible. The trick in this shot is not so much the light in the umbrella, but lighting the outside of the umbrella.

Here's the raw file. We took the shot in a garage. One speed light in the umbrella and one strobe to light the umbrella. I know that in post it's always easier to darken images than lighten, so I wanted to get the lighter spots right.

In hindsight, I would have moved away from the wall, but that was the grungiest floor in the garage. I wanted some stains and discoloration and the rest of the garage looked brand new. I am very happy with the separation of the umbrella from the background without having too much light on the floor.

Here's the photo after I added rain in Photoshop and recolored it to look a little more like the original. There's a lot more hot spots in the original. I'm not sure if I want this image to have hot spots that strong. But who knows, I might play with it some more.

I like it a lot. What I enjoy most in photography these days is challenges and this was a bit of a challenge.

National Arboretum

I'm planning to shoot there in a couple weeks, so I went to check it out. What a beautiful day at the park.

I always walk to the columns when I am there. I find them fascinating. There's not much going on in the spring at the columns. I think I like them better in fall when they are surrounded by fields of tall grass.

And this time, I went to the Asian gardens. Nice and quiet up there. I sat a listened to the geese fly by.

And I love to walk through the Bonsai museum.

It's hard to believe that much beautiful open land is in the city.