Artichoke Study

[Marie Hass]

I am back in the studio after a 2 year hiatus/ I have a new Profoto D1 lighting system and today I was playing with it. This shot illuminates the front to lift the shadows, while window light provided nice backlighting.





While I like both versions, I think I prefer the color.

Marie

[Shadowman]

I prefer the color capture as well, another backdrop might make for a more interesting image.

[mugge]

I also prefer the colour version and, as John suggested, another backdrop would be better.
Cheers Ole

[Marie Hass]

I prefer the color capture as well, another backdrop might make for a more interesting image.

Thanks, John. When I start learning anything new I like to go for simple. Next time I will try black. In the meantime, the artichoke became a meal.

Marie

[FootLoose]

Nice result, Marie. I agree the colour is better. The black and white version seems to have lost some detail in the conversion.

Good to see you back here, too.

[Marie Hass]

I also prefer the colour version and, as John suggested, another backdrop would be better.
Cheers Ole

Thanks, Ole for commenting. Maybe next week I will indulge you.

[Manfred M]

Marie - first question is what size of light modifier were you using for this shot and how far away from the subject did you position it?

[Marie Hass]

Marie - first question is what size of light modifier were you using for this shot and how far away from the subject did you position it?

I do not have or use any real modifiers. I used translum over white paper over a box on the table. Edges of the translum did curl up to provide some lift of the shadows to the base of the artichoke. My D1 was set on 8 power about 3 feet away front left about 4.5 feet high shining down on the table about 70 degrees. Diffuse Window light was about 4 - 5 feet away in the back of the subject.

I did have some light falloff, but I added a positive vignette in Capture One and did some PP in Affinity Photo to add white canvas to the top, bottom and left sides. I actually cropped the right side a little bit but kept part of the shadow, because it helped to ground the subject.

Hope this helps to explain my setup and my PP.

Marie

[Manfred M]

I do not have or use any real modifiers. I used translum over white paper over a box on the table. Edges of the translum did curl up to provide some lift of the shadows to the base of the artichoke. My D1 was set on 8 power about 3 feet away front left about 4.5 feet high shining down on the table about 70 degrees. Diffuse Window light was about 4 - 5 feet away in the back of the subject.

I did have some light falloff, but I added a positive vignette in Capture One and did some PP in Affinity Photo to add white canvas to the top, bottom and left sides. I actually cropped the right side a little bit but kept part of the shadow, because it helped to ground the subject.

Hope this helps to explain my setup and my PP.

Marie

Next time, try getting your vellum diffuser much closer to the subject (as well as your light source). The "secret" of good light is getting it close to your subject as that gives you soft and diffuse, directional light. That will give you nice, soft lighting and correspondingly soft shadows. In most studio lighting situations, you will find that the ambient light often has no influence on the outcome as the flash overpowers the light in the room.

In much of my lighting work, the diffuser is just out of frame. Often it creeps into a corner and I have to retouch it out.