Project 52, 1st Quarter by Janis (purplehaze)

[purplehaze]

Just checking in to say I haven't abandoned ship, but have been laid low by a bad cold, the coughs and sneezes of which were violent enough to throw my back out. Have been doing my homework whenever the muscle spasms quiet enough to allow; reread The Strobist's Lighting 101 and watched his Basics video on lynda.com. I really like his approach; he's not too much of a numbers guy and following his method may get me working in manual sooner than I thought.

Have not been up to do an actual shoot (rather afraid of all that bending) but last night I hauled a couple of light stands out and just shot an SB700 firing against a blank wall starting at 1/128 power and on up through the increments to full power, just to see the spread of light. I did the same with the flash pointing up and bouncing off the Rogue Flashbender, with and without a diffusion panel, and with the flash snooted and pointing at the wall. The flash was standing 5 1/2 feet from the wall, camera was at roughly twice the distance, and it took my 35 mm lens to cover the area needed to show the spread. Could have used something even wider in fact but it was good enough. Shutter speed was on camera's highest sync speed, and aperture was around f/8 or f/9. It was a useful exercise that clearly illustrated, not only the differences in power, but things like how the diffusion panel on the Flashbender really does rob the flash of a full stop of light. I am going to repeat the exercise with my SB200s and my other light modifiers. I would share some pics but my hard drive bit the dust today and its replacement is busy pulling down all my precious data from my backup. If my explanation of this little exercise is not clear enough and someone would like visuals, let me know and I will try to get them up tomorrow.

[wilgk]

Sorry to hear you have not been well, take it easy & we look forward to when you're up & about again.

[purplehaze]

Thanks, Kay. That was a nasty bug and its effects have been lingering; am feeling pretty good today though and am going to try do play a little catch up tonight.

I actually shot this a few nights ago, and am posting it as a benchmark that I hope to improve on somewhat tonight. I did shoot my setup with my Canon S95, but darned if I haven't misplaced the little guy; I will post the setup as soon as I find it.

I have been wanting to shoot a gel-coloured backdrop for Izzie, so when this little Narcissus started blooming, I thought it was the perfect subject to shoot against blue.

So, the basic setup was this: plant sitting on an LED lightpad providing continuous bottom lighting, with one SB700 fired through a gridded softbox at a 45 degree angle to plant, and a blue-gelled SB200 firing up against a sheet of white foamcore behind. The camera's WB setting was on Auto. I played around a bit with the flash settings and flash location relative to subject and background, with the Commander on both Manual and TTL, but I should have kept notes, as I have already forgotten what settings I used for each shot. I should have relied more on the histogram as what looked good on the LCD was in fact underexposed and I needed to apply some noise reduction.

DSC_1738 - Version 2 by onesun1moon, on Flickr

.8 sec @ f/16, 100 IS0, 160 mm, basic Curves adjustment and addition of Vibrance in Aperture 3, noise reduction and sharpening in Nik.

C&C welcome.

[IzzieK]

Do you mean to say that the FlexIt is physically at the bottom of the pot?? You might think this is a silly question, but I am serious... Trying to find a theme for the week when I cannot go out is a bummer of course so I thought this week will have to be studio time. I studied light directions some more...with some fake jewelries I occasionally used. 'Went to Goodwill to find some cheap nice backdrop for it, didn't find any but I found a mini Japanese folding screen and still in the process of looking at light directions at different times of the day...I was wanting to experiment on flowers this week for my Week 5 of Project 52 and was looking at flowers at Schnucks to use but we ended up at the airport and was getting frustrated going around when I saw those decorated private airport doors so I decided to do that for a theme instead. I'd like to learn flowers...A lot of ideas floating around

[Stagecoach]

You have done well there Janis, love the green, blue and yellow mix.

I have never used the gells that came with my SBR200 Kit but this has prompted me to have a go some time now I see this stunning blue. For info, I seem to recall that ViewNX Exif shows the flash power settings used.

I look forward to the next one

Grahame

[purplehaze]

I seem to recall that ViewNX Exif shows the flash power settings used.
Grahame

Thanks, Grahame; I should have guessed. I stopped using ViewNX a long time ago, but I will start with it for the next ones.

Do you mean to say that the FlexIt is physically at the bottom of the pot??

No, not the FlexIt, Izzie, my Artograph lightpad. Not sure that it was needed with the softbox, but I had started by lighting the blooms with a snooted SB700, which focused the light narrowly enough that the bottom part of the plant was underlit. I found the Canon and will post a setup photo tonight.

[Shadowman]

Thanks, Kay. That was a nasty bug and its effects have been lingering; am feeling pretty good today though and am going to try do play a little catch up tonight.

I actually shot this a few nights ago, and am posting it as a benchmark that I hope to improve on somewhat tonight. I did shoot my setup with my Canon S95, but darned if I haven't misplaced the little guy; I will post the setup as soon as I find it.

I have been wanting to shoot a gel-coloured backdrop for Izzie, so when this little Narcissus started blooming, I thought it was the perfect subject to shoot against blue.

So, the basic setup was this: plant sitting on an LED lightpad providing continuous bottom lighting, with one SB700 fired through a gridded softbox at a 45 degree angle to plant, and a blue-gelled SB200 firing up against a sheet of white foamcore behind. The camera's WB setting was on Auto. I played around a bit with the flash settings and flash location relative to subject and background, with the Commander on both Manual and TTL, but I should have kept notes, as I have already forgotten what settings I used for each shot. I should have relied more on the histogram as what looked good on the LCD was in fact underexposed and I needed to apply some noise reduction.

DSC_1738 - Version 2 by onesun1moon, on Flickr

.8 sec @ f/16, 100 IS0, 160 mm, basic Curves adjustment and addition of Vibrance in Aperture 3, noise reduction and sharpening in Nik.

C&C welcome.

Very nice.

[Kaye Leggett]

I love the colour of this but also the composition - the promise of those buds opening is very tangible.

[purplehaze]

Thanks, John and Kaye. I'm chuckling at your comment, Kaye, as Narci has not been cooperating with the composition at all, but rather growing and blooming and turning its heads in the time it takes me to adjust settings and hit the lights for each take.

[wilgk]

Well great to see you back & the lighting setup is very cool indeed.
I followed the link & the lightbox looks suspiciously like an xray (radio graphic film) viewing box or viewer as we used to call them.
Not so many around these days, but probably available on ebay or similar & maybe cheaper if not advertised as a craft and useful item, instead of an old pre digital throwaway. Either way, I am going to get my hands on one.
Looking forward to the behind the scenes, pull back, lighting setup, so helpful to all of us on the studio lighting learning curve...which is really everyone, as there's always something new to learn isn't there!
Lovely complimentary colours, I've only ever gelled a black background for colour, not tried a white, looking forward to having a go.

[IzzieK]

........No, not the FlexIt, Izzie, my Artograph lightpad. Not sure that it was needed with the softbox, but I had started by lighting the blooms with a snooted SB700, which focused the light narrowly enough that the bottom part of the plant was underlit. I found the Canon and will post a setup photo tonight.

Funny you mentioned this and I took a look at the link and found it to be similar to an old lightbox I used for films looking at negatives. But mine was a wine case with a flourescent light and holes on both sides and a soft plastic on top of it. I was just thinking of putting my fake jewelry on top of it then I remembered my contraption was in Oz. So this weekend or shortly after we might be going to Lowes or Home Depot to make one...it will be a good exercise in lighting for me. Thank you again for sharing your thoughts. I always find some gems in them.

[purplehaze]

the lightbox looks suspiciously like an xray (radio graphic film) viewing box or viewer as we used to call them. Not so many around these days, but probably available on ebay or similar & maybe cheaper if not advertised as a craft and useful item, instead of an old pre digital throwaway.

Great idea! I saw the lightpad used in a tutorial on lynda.com and found them on sale at the local art supply store some months ago. They are also good for shooting slides.

As promised this is my setup for the above shot:

IMG_4800 - Version 2 by onesun1moon, on Flickr

The foamcore was slanted against the bookcase, but I decided it made for too much fall off, so tonight I stood it upright. You can see the SB200 behind the plant (aimed at the foamcore) and the softbox on the left. I don't have a lightstand short enough for this setup, so the SB200 is sitting on a couple of books on a little table. It could have been a bit higher yet, given that I didn't put the whole plant in the frame.

After shooting last night and tonight without the lightpad on, I realize that it really is filling in the bottom of the above shot. I don't know if a longer shutter would have helped improve the overall exposure, but I now know that I could not have gotten any more out of the SB700, given my high aperture and the fact that I couldn't move the softbox any closer to my subject than it already was.

In an effort to get a better exposure in camera, I modified my setup tonight but the posts will have to wait until tomorrow.

[purplehaze]

I have tried, and tried and tried, but I have not been able to improve on that shot. I think I just don't understand TTL, and did better when I was shooting manual flash. Not to say that I have not learned a few things. You novice users of Nikon speedlights take note: don't think that the fact that you use spot metering mode to turn your flash from fill to regular flash means that your camera is actually metering off that spot. No, no. That would be too easy, too logical for us non-technically-minded folks. Not to discourage you. When things work, the results are amazing. You can bring sunshine into a basement room at midnight. But it does take a little work to learn the principles and to learn one's equipment. What I have not yet done is study my three manuals (for camera, SU800 commander and SB700 flash) together, so I understand how they work with each other. I get that my compensation figures are cumulative; it is other things I must be missing. I suppose I could just go back to manual, but I am in a stubborn mood. Stay tuned... there will be more.

[Brownbear]

Absolutely gorgeous! I adore the composition and the striking colour combination.

Thank you so much for sharing your journey... So much to learn and your examples and detail shared is wonderfully helpful.

DSC_1738 - Version 2 by onesun1moon, on Flickr

[IzzieK]

I use TTL on mine Janis when I use my flash but I still have to read my manual on my speedlight. I am trying not to use my speedlight...so I will learn how to push myself to my limits. I do not like my eggs too easy.

[purplehaze]

Izzie, I like my eggs...
scrambled! Does it show?

Thanks for your heartening comments, Christina. I like the effect of the blue gel so much, I bought a whole set of coloured gels along with the Rogue Grid spot I picked up on the weekend. (I also like the effect of the honeycomb grid on my softbox, so I thought it would be fun to have one directly on my flash.) No time to play with any of them yet, unfortunately, but I am looking forward to a three-day weekend at the lake... So be prepared to see some strange-coloured snow...

[Donald]

I eventually get around to catching up. Wonderfully informative and educational thread. Thanks.

[IzzieK]

I gotta have me one of this! (Will Smith, Independence Day..) Actually I have a tutorial for making the grid but everytime I think about it, I always get distracted. Less than $10 for this one:

http://www.diyphotography.net/studio...made_gridspot/

With all the happenings around here, I might just end up buying a set...too much hassle.

Izzie, I like my eggs...
scrambled! Does it show?

Thanks for your heartening comments, Christina. I like the effect of the blue gel so much, I bought a whole set of coloured gels along with the Rogue Grid spot I picked up on the weekend. (I also like the effect of the honeycomb grid on my softbox, so I thought it would be fun to have one directly on my flash.) No time to play with any of them yet, unfortunately, but I am looking forward to a three-day weekend at the lake... So be prepared to see some strange-coloured snow...

[purplehaze]

Yeah, Izzie, I saw that same idea on the Strobist site and considered it, but I have too many UFOs lying about the house to add another DIY. I am so looking forward to retirement.

Thank you, Donald. I am gratified to think that someone might actually glean something useful from my blather.

[purplehaze]

Although I have been silent for a while, I have not been totally inactive, just uninspired. But when a cousin asked me if I would try photographing her for her website, I jumped at the chance. She is starting up a counselling practice, and wanted a look that was warm and personable, not corporate-looking. We shot in her office last Sunday in the mid-afternoon, for the most part using the ambient light from a north-facing window and artificial overhead lighting boosted by on- and off-camera flash. This is one of the few shots I took using my 24" softbox. Please let me know what you think of the processing of this, to help guide me with the others.

DSC_3081 - Version 2 by onesun1moon, on Flickr