Task: Specular Highlights

I know it's been a while, but I've been taking photos of things.

Assignment - Specular Highlights.

First thing - having looked at the flickr uploads there was lots to learn - maybe too much - and all very impressive. I wasn't sure what to shoot after looking at the others. So...

Lesson 1 - Just get on with it!

In the end I decided on an old friend and a hip flask I got from my nephew's wedding as a "thank you" gift. Again - good enough.

The set ups I tried were many, and all of them worked to a certain degree. I lost quite a bit of time trying to shoot tethered, but the software didn't like wireless flash so I tried TTL - EEERRGGH. Gave up on tethered and went back to manual flash - much better having the control back.

Lesson 2 - More control with manual (but need to find out how to do it tethered).

Again everything was set up in my kitchen. Lighting - YN565, YN560, white shoot through umbrella, home-made silver foil reflector card, small LED torch. Camera and techie stuff at the bottom.

I posted two set-ups here - one with the strobe level with the subject to camera right and one with it raised directly over the subject, By the way, I don't know why but the lionks to flickr only work on the image captions!

Set-up 1

I'm quite pleased with set up #1 (strobe camera right). There are 4 lights here effectively and the images below tell us what they are one by one.

 One strobe, camera right, through a white umbrella

PLUS - one strobe on camera bounced off ceiling with blue gel

PLUS - home-made silver foil reflector card to subject's left

PLUS - small LED torch hidden behind and shining through bottle

(it's presence is given away by the added shadow behind the bottle)

Using the LED torch to mimic the strobes so that I could "see" where they were going to light the subject was really useful too (it's also really good for AF in low light for still life!).

I doubt if I'd have got to this lighting by myself without the help of all the other strobists' postings on flickr - so a massive thanks to you all. I have learnt a good deal from this exercise but I have a weird feeling that there's an awful lot more still to come!

Lesson 3 - Be inspired by the work of others.

Set-up 2

The second set was actually shot before the set above, but I have included it because it was such a simple set up yet it gave such a good result. It was a simple strobe through a white umbrella directly above the subject - nothing else (actually it was above and slightly in front of the subject and the torch was used through the bottle again).

In the second shot I thought I'd try and GOBO out the specular highlight on the hip flask and I was quite pleased with the result. However, as you can see, I encroached a little in the frame. Still, with a boom stand and a properly designed GOBO (ie not just me holding a box in the way) there is room for development here.

 

Single strobe through umbrella above

Trying to GOBO out the specular highlight on the hip flask

Lesson 4 - Try it - then perfect it!  (and make sure the focus is spot on!)

Comments are welome - at least they let me know I'm not the only person on the planet!

That techie stuff
Camera - Canon EOS 550d
iso 100
Set 1 - f4, set 2 f1.8
1/200
Lens - 50mm f1.8
Strobe - Yongnuo YN565 + YN560
Manual

Position - Part 2

So the second part of the "Position" exercise. Here are the images where I moved my model (Nat) further away from the background so as to darken it. It's more complicated than that, but in a nutshell... (see the blog). And it works (as you can see). So distance together with position is beginning to give me control.

Lesson 1. Light to subject/light to background ration helps to control background brightness. 

In fairness to Nat I've posted some better results from this exercise on Flickr and they can be found here. However, these two show the basic results of the proximity test.

Strobist - 1st Assignment

 OK, here we go. First assignment - Position.

First thing - in the absence of a wife live model, I spent FAR too much time deciding what to shoot.

Lesson 1 - Just get on with it!

In the end I decided on an old ornament my mam used to own. Good enough.

The set up was very simple - subject on a strobe foot on a light stand, YN565 on another light stand and camera on a tripod (techie stuff at the bottom). No light mods, just the cactus wireless thing to fire the strobe and wireless remote for the camera. All that set up in my kitchen.

As you can see I shot two lots - one with the strobe level with the subject (top) and one with it raised to @ 45 deg (bottom) which produced images that differed slightly, but importantly.

Looking at the two sets of images the first thing that struck me was how apparent the background was (or was not). With the strobe level the background became visible in a couple of shots (head on and front-right), yet with it raised to 45 deg it became totally black black enough to appear invisible.

Lesson 2 - More control over background with strobe raised.

The next thing I notice is completely subjective, but I just prefer the light in the raised position. It seems to give more modelling and depth to the subject (as well being a more flattering light for a portrait). This may or may not be what is required on a particular shoot, but I now know how to achieve it.

Lesson 3 - Raise the strobe for more modelling.

Finally, looking at the images put together in the collages, it becomes apparent to me that, for portraits at least, good results can be achieved using just 2 strobes. One front (left or right) and raised, the other rear (on the opposite side to the front). I'll test out this theory and blog the results another day. I know that this is probably something that is taught in basic photography classes, key light - secondary light - reflectors etc, but I am treading the path and gaining experience here. Experience that will stay with me much longer than something I just read on the net. Plus I get to use my gear, which isn't a bad thing.

When I first saw this assignment I didn't think there was much to get out of it. Wrong! Looking at the results has made me think about light differently. I've begun to be the flash and see what the flash sees. Progress.

Lesson 4 - Don't just read it - do it!

Comments are welcome - at least they let me know I'm not the only person on the planet!

That techie stuff
Camera - Canon EOS 550d
iso 100
f8
1/200
Lens - Sigma 70-300 @ 190mm
Strobe - Yongnuo YN565
Manual

Zoom 105mm

Power 1/32

1m (ish) from subject

A Strobist is born

Well - how many have taken this first step?

I am beginning the strobist journey today (actually I began it a couple of weeks ago but now I'm blogging it too). I bought a Canon EOS 550d ( EOS Kiss X4 in Japan, and as the EOS Rebel T2i in USA) a couple of months ago and have been strobing up since I found the strobist blog soon after.

I now have a Yongnuo 565 and a 560 (with a 2nd 560 on the way), a cactus wireless trigger and receiver, a couple of umbrellas and stands (all paid for by selling my bass guitar gear!) and I'm eager to start Lighting 102 having just finished reading Lighting 101. So I'll take a deep breath and dive in.

My results - good or bad - will be uploaded. I'm new to blogging and to Flickr so I'm not sure where to upload to for the best and how to link them all together but I'm hoping my fellow strobists will help out here. But I will share so that we all can learn. I do not mind criticism (provided it is not just mindless "Booing") so if you have a comment to make then go ahead and make it. It will be taken in good faith and hopefully learned from.

I am embarking on this journey in what I believe is the spirit that David Hobby invited all of us. However, I am me. I do not intend to offend anyone, but I will peak my mind and call it as I see it. If you don't like that then move on and thanks for dropping by. If you want to join me in my little adventure then Hi - nice to know you!

Below are a couple of images that I'm proud of to mark where I am right now - as I start - a benchmark if you like (I'll share a couple more beginning images next time), so that I have something to compare against.

In the end I hope to be able to produce images that I am proud of, that others want to look at, and that will make some people say "Hey - you must own a really expensive camera!"