108. Shiny - July 5-11, 2015
Byron-
I've had a habit lately of eating my subject shortly after taking the picture. This week is no different. Grocery stores will put a shine on apples to make them look more delicious. I went a step beyond that and made my apple super shiny. The apple by itself would look too lonely so I sliced up another apple and arranged the pieces in such a way that I would get hungry for them. I shot it on a black background. The lighting is provided by 2 lights. A flash shooting through a soft box that is located just to the left of the camera. The other light is mounted to a boom arm and is shooting straight down. It is shooting through a Byro-snoot to provide a small circle of light in the middle that fades to black in all directions.
ISO 800, 50mm lens, f8, 1/60 sec. The flashes were in the TTL mode and toned done. The flash in the soft box was set at -1.7 and the Byro-snoot light was set to -.7
I've had a habit lately of eating my subject shortly after taking the picture. This week is no different. Grocery stores will put a shine on apples to make them look more delicious. I went a step beyond that and made my apple super shiny. The apple by itself would look too lonely so I sliced up another apple and arranged the pieces in such a way that I would get hungry for them. I shot it on a black background. The lighting is provided by 2 lights. A flash shooting through a soft box that is located just to the left of the camera. The other light is mounted to a boom arm and is shooting straight down. It is shooting through a Byro-snoot to provide a small circle of light in the middle that fades to black in all directions.
ISO 800, 50mm lens, f8, 1/60 sec. The flashes were in the TTL mode and toned done. The flash in the soft box was set at -1.7 and the Byro-snoot light was set to -.7
Deron-
Being from the State of Fishing... or, whatever, I am well aware that the lurking lunker is most attracted to something shiny. For this reason, I do not, and will not, go swimming in Byron's shimmering, one-piece cocktail dress. (Strike that last sentence from the record).
In this photo, I hung a shiny fishing lure (using fishing line, duh) from a chopstick and placed it on top of a water-filled vase. The background is a color copy of the bottom of Crater Lake. I used a bike light to try to accentuate the 'shiny'.
Being from the State of Fishing... or, whatever, I am well aware that the lurking lunker is most attracted to something shiny. For this reason, I do not, and will not, go swimming in Byron's shimmering, one-piece cocktail dress. (Strike that last sentence from the record).
In this photo, I hung a shiny fishing lure (using fishing line, duh) from a chopstick and placed it on top of a water-filled vase. The background is a color copy of the bottom of Crater Lake. I used a bike light to try to accentuate the 'shiny'.
Kevin-
This is the interior of Union Depot, a train station in downtown St. Paul. Built in 1926 it was fully restored in 2011-2012. Yes there are still Amtrak trains departing Union Depot plus many bus departures. But what I liked about the space was the shiny floor, reflecting the windows and lights.
Tripods are not allowed. So Nikon D4s, handheld. 14-24mm f/2.8 Nikkor lens set to 14mm. ISO 1600. f/8 @ 1/100th of a second. I took a closeup of the small white sign on the left to set the white balance as you can see that the lighting is very mixed.
This is the interior of Union Depot, a train station in downtown St. Paul. Built in 1926 it was fully restored in 2011-2012. Yes there are still Amtrak trains departing Union Depot plus many bus departures. But what I liked about the space was the shiny floor, reflecting the windows and lights.
Tripods are not allowed. So Nikon D4s, handheld. 14-24mm f/2.8 Nikkor lens set to 14mm. ISO 1600. f/8 @ 1/100th of a second. I took a closeup of the small white sign on the left to set the white balance as you can see that the lighting is very mixed.
Paul-
It’s funny how on your way to what you think will be a great shot you see one that could be even better. (At least I hope that’s the case for this week’s submission.) There is a small memorial park in Lincoln with monuments and statuary dedicated to Nebraska who died in WWII. Some of the marble plinths are finished with such a smooth, reflective quality that they almost shine…and certainly mirror things nearby. The marble slab I shot was dedicated to Nebraska MIAs. I was thinking about submitting that picture—which I really like—until Providence stepped in and a better situation presented itself.
My grandniece was having her fourth birthday party in the same area, and Sara’s side of the family ruthlessly press-ganged me into the role of photographer. I did my mandatory stint capturing icing-coated faces, gift wrap shredded in such a way as to make Wolverine proud, and the obligatory blowing out of the candles. In the corner of the picnic shelter, there were a number of Mylar balloons being buffeted about by some fairly brisk winds. One of them had no design on the back, just a shiny surface that captured the distorted silhouette of the photographer. Because of the wind and number of balloons, I just had to keep firing until the configuration I was looking for occurred.
Our story so far: Shot at 1/200 sec.; f/10; aperture priority; +2/3 EV; ISO 4000; 18-55mm lens set at 42mm.
Party night, super bands all over town
Super lights and supersonic sounds
Flashy boys and girls that really play
Shiny toys, when it's over don't you hate to have to put your toys away
Joni Mitchell, “Shiny Toys” (from her 1985 album Dog Eat Dog)
It’s funny how on your way to what you think will be a great shot you see one that could be even better. (At least I hope that’s the case for this week’s submission.) There is a small memorial park in Lincoln with monuments and statuary dedicated to Nebraska who died in WWII. Some of the marble plinths are finished with such a smooth, reflective quality that they almost shine…and certainly mirror things nearby. The marble slab I shot was dedicated to Nebraska MIAs. I was thinking about submitting that picture—which I really like—until Providence stepped in and a better situation presented itself.
My grandniece was having her fourth birthday party in the same area, and Sara’s side of the family ruthlessly press-ganged me into the role of photographer. I did my mandatory stint capturing icing-coated faces, gift wrap shredded in such a way as to make Wolverine proud, and the obligatory blowing out of the candles. In the corner of the picnic shelter, there were a number of Mylar balloons being buffeted about by some fairly brisk winds. One of them had no design on the back, just a shiny surface that captured the distorted silhouette of the photographer. Because of the wind and number of balloons, I just had to keep firing until the configuration I was looking for occurred.
Our story so far: Shot at 1/200 sec.; f/10; aperture priority; +2/3 EV; ISO 4000; 18-55mm lens set at 42mm.
Party night, super bands all over town
Super lights and supersonic sounds
Flashy boys and girls that really play
Shiny toys, when it's over don't you hate to have to put your toys away
Joni Mitchell, “Shiny Toys” (from her 1985 album Dog Eat Dog)
Jerry-
I had lots of fun with shiny and it was difficult to pick a favorite. I've always liked leaves and after photographing some raindrops on the local green stuff, I tried indoors a big shiny glop of honey on a silver maple leaf. I will have to experiment more in the future, maybe with corn syrup and lots of funky lighting. This was with the D750, 105mm Micro, 1/200 at F16, ISO 200, with the SB700 flash and "Byrosnoot" attachment.
I had lots of fun with shiny and it was difficult to pick a favorite. I've always liked leaves and after photographing some raindrops on the local green stuff, I tried indoors a big shiny glop of honey on a silver maple leaf. I will have to experiment more in the future, maybe with corn syrup and lots of funky lighting. This was with the D750, 105mm Micro, 1/200 at F16, ISO 200, with the SB700 flash and "Byrosnoot" attachment.
Don-
When shooting a photograph of a specific type I first walk around the house, then the yard, then neighborhood and so on. In other words a spiral. Normally I get really dizzy and fall down before I find the picture I want. The next day I begin the spiral where I left off. Sometimes it takes a
week and hundreds of pictures to get the picture I want. I then thought of what is the shiniest thing I could think of, oh yes, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle with a chrome front end. I rolled mine out of the garage. I didn’t feel I got the picture the way I wanted it. I think it needed a star filter. Shot with a D810, 70-200mm lens, aperture 5.6, exposure 1/100, focal at 70mm, Autofocus and set Aperture Priority.
Both photos were cropped, levels set, sharpened and file size reduced.
When shooting a photograph of a specific type I first walk around the house, then the yard, then neighborhood and so on. In other words a spiral. Normally I get really dizzy and fall down before I find the picture I want. The next day I begin the spiral where I left off. Sometimes it takes a
week and hundreds of pictures to get the picture I want. I then thought of what is the shiniest thing I could think of, oh yes, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle with a chrome front end. I rolled mine out of the garage. I didn’t feel I got the picture the way I wanted it. I think it needed a star filter. Shot with a D810, 70-200mm lens, aperture 5.6, exposure 1/100, focal at 70mm, Autofocus and set Aperture Priority.
Both photos were cropped, levels set, sharpened and file size reduced.