178. Hard Light - November 6-12, 2016
Kevin-
I had no idea what I was going to do for my Hard Light photo. Then I suddenly decided to experiment with flowers, not in hard sunlight but in very hard studio light.
I picked up this rose at a local florist and then spent a night agonizing about whether to photograph it against a white background or a black background, when suddenly I remembered I had a short roll of bright yellow paper to use. A luck would have it the yellow almost exactly matched a color on the rose.
I put a 70-200mm lens on the camera. Then I tweaked the light from side to side and up and down until the rose shadow cast on the background looked well positioned. But Michelle thought the shadow looked too diffuse and distracting, like a blob. Fortunately I had also done some shots without the shadow. But I still liked the shadow idea. So two days later I got another rose and headed back to the studio with it, this time putting the rose immediately in front of the background so the shadow would be sharply defined.
Lighting was a single studio flash at full power, with a snoot on the front to narrow the beam, and a grid to make it even more directional. The light is at the top of a fully extended light stand, which was maybe 15’ from the rose.
Nikon D4s, mounted on a Manfrotto 055CXPRO4 tripod with a Acratech GP ballhead, 70-200mm f/2.8 Nikkor zoom lens set to 200mm, ISO 400, f/13 @ 1/250th of a second (flash sync).
So, this final image is the one that I am submitting, though I suspect the shadow-less one that will end up in my portfolio. I don’t think there is anything soft about this light...
I had no idea what I was going to do for my Hard Light photo. Then I suddenly decided to experiment with flowers, not in hard sunlight but in very hard studio light.
I picked up this rose at a local florist and then spent a night agonizing about whether to photograph it against a white background or a black background, when suddenly I remembered I had a short roll of bright yellow paper to use. A luck would have it the yellow almost exactly matched a color on the rose.
I put a 70-200mm lens on the camera. Then I tweaked the light from side to side and up and down until the rose shadow cast on the background looked well positioned. But Michelle thought the shadow looked too diffuse and distracting, like a blob. Fortunately I had also done some shots without the shadow. But I still liked the shadow idea. So two days later I got another rose and headed back to the studio with it, this time putting the rose immediately in front of the background so the shadow would be sharply defined.
Lighting was a single studio flash at full power, with a snoot on the front to narrow the beam, and a grid to make it even more directional. The light is at the top of a fully extended light stand, which was maybe 15’ from the rose.
Nikon D4s, mounted on a Manfrotto 055CXPRO4 tripod with a Acratech GP ballhead, 70-200mm f/2.8 Nikkor zoom lens set to 200mm, ISO 400, f/13 @ 1/250th of a second (flash sync).
So, this final image is the one that I am submitting, though I suspect the shadow-less one that will end up in my portfolio. I don’t think there is anything soft about this light...
Paul-
I guess this picture pretty much settles that ridiculous “If you were stranded on a deserted island and could only have one book with you, what would it be?” question. (As if you needed to make that choice in advance. And if pressed on the point, wouldn’t you be more than a little apprehensive as to why someone was asking you?)
Anyway, my first attempt on this theme involved photographing another object (my nano-studio). The result looked like a grainy picture NASA leaked of some newly discovered moon revolving around Jupiter. Had that been the theme, I would have absolutely nailed it.
But it wasn’t.
So I took a different approach. Pulling a fairly old copy of my deserted island book-of-choice off the shelf, I placed it on a black background and set about working with a single spot light so it would only allow a narrow slit of light to be emitted. As has been the case in the past, I found a way to do this that posed about a 50-50 chance of working perfectly or starting a small fire. Funny thing: Neither happened. (I’m erring on calling that a good thing.)
The lamp was positioned above and to the side of the book and my gnarled hand, and I kept making incremental change to the angle/distance of the book in relation to the light source until the narrow band of light pretty much lined up with the “eye” of the figure on the cover. Unfortunately, the band of light was fairly diffused. I wonder if I needed a more powerful light source and something non-flammable to better define the output. Oh well. At least I got the overall effect I wanted.
Hey, it just occurred to me that the one book to take would fall along the line of “How to Survive When You Have Washed Up On the Shore of a Deserted Island, and then be Rescued in no Time At All.” Of course, you’d still need to know when to have it handy.
Shedding a little light on the hard truth: 18-55mm lens set at 40mm; ISO 1250; 0.5 sec. at f/27; aperture priority; pattern metering, the pattern manually shifted to place greater weight on a darker part of the subject area. The camera was attached to a copy stand. My right hand was attached to a book.
I guess this picture pretty much settles that ridiculous “If you were stranded on a deserted island and could only have one book with you, what would it be?” question. (As if you needed to make that choice in advance. And if pressed on the point, wouldn’t you be more than a little apprehensive as to why someone was asking you?)
Anyway, my first attempt on this theme involved photographing another object (my nano-studio). The result looked like a grainy picture NASA leaked of some newly discovered moon revolving around Jupiter. Had that been the theme, I would have absolutely nailed it.
But it wasn’t.
So I took a different approach. Pulling a fairly old copy of my deserted island book-of-choice off the shelf, I placed it on a black background and set about working with a single spot light so it would only allow a narrow slit of light to be emitted. As has been the case in the past, I found a way to do this that posed about a 50-50 chance of working perfectly or starting a small fire. Funny thing: Neither happened. (I’m erring on calling that a good thing.)
The lamp was positioned above and to the side of the book and my gnarled hand, and I kept making incremental change to the angle/distance of the book in relation to the light source until the narrow band of light pretty much lined up with the “eye” of the figure on the cover. Unfortunately, the band of light was fairly diffused. I wonder if I needed a more powerful light source and something non-flammable to better define the output. Oh well. At least I got the overall effect I wanted.
Hey, it just occurred to me that the one book to take would fall along the line of “How to Survive When You Have Washed Up On the Shore of a Deserted Island, and then be Rescued in no Time At All.” Of course, you’d still need to know when to have it handy.
Shedding a little light on the hard truth: 18-55mm lens set at 40mm; ISO 1250; 0.5 sec. at f/27; aperture priority; pattern metering, the pattern manually shifted to place greater weight on a darker part of the subject area. The camera was attached to a copy stand. My right hand was attached to a book.
Jerry-
This not so secret message is coming from the wilds of Sioux City, thanks to the wonders of modern technology. Camera was the Sony A6300 with 55mm Micro Nikkor. Exposure was F16 @ 1/125, ISO 100. Sony flash held off to left via a coiled extension cord. Subject was an airsoft pistol, loaded with 6mm plastic projectiles. No one was hurt in this production.
This not so secret message is coming from the wilds of Sioux City, thanks to the wonders of modern technology. Camera was the Sony A6300 with 55mm Micro Nikkor. Exposure was F16 @ 1/125, ISO 100. Sony flash held off to left via a coiled extension cord. Subject was an airsoft pistol, loaded with 6mm plastic projectiles. No one was hurt in this production.
Don-
This will be my opportunity to vent. Why, well because of all the photographers that
whine about photoshop users. Neither of the photos I show here were not altered
by post production. Here is my bitching..... when shooting with a camera or cell
phone set to JPG the pictures are significantly altered by the programming of the
camera's engineers. If I shoot a raw photo there is not altering of the photograph.
I choose the adjustments. The whiners complain that the pictures are "Photoshopped."
I hear this all the time, its tiring. These same Photoshop whiners will buy the latest
motorcycle or car or bicycle with the latest updates....aaah nevermind. Here are my
photo's this week.
Here is my first picture and my choice for the week. This picture was taken last
Sunday with my point and shoot Nikon AW110. Focal was 5mm. Exposure was
1/000 sec; f3.9; ISO 125. The picture was taken of Spider Rock at the Canyon
DeChelly.
This will be my opportunity to vent. Why, well because of all the photographers that
whine about photoshop users. Neither of the photos I show here were not altered
by post production. Here is my bitching..... when shooting with a camera or cell
phone set to JPG the pictures are significantly altered by the programming of the
camera's engineers. If I shoot a raw photo there is not altering of the photograph.
I choose the adjustments. The whiners complain that the pictures are "Photoshopped."
I hear this all the time, its tiring. These same Photoshop whiners will buy the latest
motorcycle or car or bicycle with the latest updates....aaah nevermind. Here are my
photo's this week.
Here is my first picture and my choice for the week. This picture was taken last
Sunday with my point and shoot Nikon AW110. Focal was 5mm. Exposure was
1/000 sec; f3.9; ISO 125. The picture was taken of Spider Rock at the Canyon
DeChelly.
Byron-
I was hoping to use natural light this week. Not that flash or continuous light is Supernatural. I wasn't disappointed. The Sun shone unabated most of the days this week. I had 3 shots in mind and they are OK but then one morning the hard light was hitting my car and I couldn't resist shooting it. My car has been on my mind a lot this Fall. So when the hard light was on it I put the other photos on the back burner.
ISO100, f6.3, 1/800 sec., White balance set to Daylight.
I was hoping to use natural light this week. Not that flash or continuous light is Supernatural. I wasn't disappointed. The Sun shone unabated most of the days this week. I had 3 shots in mind and they are OK but then one morning the hard light was hitting my car and I couldn't resist shooting it. My car has been on my mind a lot this Fall. So when the hard light was on it I put the other photos on the back burner.
ISO100, f6.3, 1/800 sec., White balance set to Daylight.