The Learning Curve
I'm using this space as a photo experiment page, mainly to document the learning process I am going through. These photos aren't meant to be finished products to display as a portfolio, but rather force my projects into the public eye. Most people would like to hide behind friends and family comments, no exception here, but positive reinforcement rarely brings out the best in us. It's through our failures and mistakes that give us the most desire to improve.
Lighting Experiments
So I broke down and purchased a small studio setup after selling some car parts. It's a simple setup consisting of background stands, white and black muslin backgrounds, two umbrellas with lights and a background lamp. It was inexpensive setup that should work rather nicely.
I took a couple quick shots by forcing myself in front of the camera. People that know me know that I am not a fan of photos of myself (yes I need to get in shape), so for me to step in front of the camera and actually post them online is monumental. Model's shortcomings aside, I'm looking at shadowing and overall appearance of the shot. Practicing how to drape shadows and play with highlighting particular places. It's one of the first shots, so try not to judge too harshly.
After taking the shots I realized that I will be needing either some brighter bulbs or more of them. This shot is the brightest of the bunch and that's only because they were just off frame. Instead of buying $75 photography bulbs, I found out I can get some SP105/50/MED bulbs from Eiko at $21 through work. 105w fluorescent bulbs at the same output as a 420w halogen, they should work out nicely.
I took a couple quick shots by forcing myself in front of the camera. People that know me know that I am not a fan of photos of myself (yes I need to get in shape), so for me to step in front of the camera and actually post them online is monumental. Model's shortcomings aside, I'm looking at shadowing and overall appearance of the shot. Practicing how to drape shadows and play with highlighting particular places. It's one of the first shots, so try not to judge too harshly.
After taking the shots I realized that I will be needing either some brighter bulbs or more of them. This shot is the brightest of the bunch and that's only because they were just off frame. Instead of buying $75 photography bulbs, I found out I can get some SP105/50/MED bulbs from Eiko at $21 through work. 105w fluorescent bulbs at the same output as a 420w halogen, they should work out nicely.
Depth of Field Project
For class we were required to take some photos that had shallow and deep depth of field, basically either very little or everything was in focus. I chose to take a photo that I had in my head for a while. Laura was gracious enough to help out. I took around 40 shots to get this one to look just right, and even then I Photoshopped a few small things. Originally I had wanted to have a flash go off behind her to really silhouette the shot, but with the triggers I have it just wasn't realistic. The shots came out a little blah. In the end I settled on using the constant light that I had, and a flashlight to highlight the barrel and bullet. I stuck with black and white for a little more dramatic effect and to correct the differences in color between the studio lights and the flashlight. It wasn't much of a difference, but enough to be distracting. It could have been fixed in post, but felt the black and white did more for the effect I was going for.
Studio Experiments
Soon I will be embarking on more studio photography. I will be attempting some military themed photo shoots, some more "Gun Porn" product photography, as well as some portrait photography for the holidays. I will be documenting the process more, mostly for others that might want to try it and perhaps give them the opportunity to learn from my mistakes. Hopefully, my planning will pay off and I can get some great shots!
Night Shots and a Lack of Good Strobes for Lighting
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So, if you are like me, you don't have a specific lighting setup that allow for those really dynamic night shots. That doesn't mean you can't get that same effect using some low-tech and inexpensive means. This shot was captured using nothing more than an LED flashlight...and a very cheap one at that. Setting the camera at a 30 second exposure, using a tripod as well, I clicked the button and used the flashlight to illuminate the bike. Since it's a long night exposure, you don't have to worry about showing up in the photo unless you stand in one place too long or wear bright clothing. If I decided to stitch several shots together, I could have gotten a very night overall shot. The building in the background makes it into a less than desirable photo, but as experiments go it was a great success!
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