Backlighting a subject

I was thinking of new ways to light up my subject today. I didn't really feel doing the usual 3-4 light setup for the studio so I opted for something different.

A one light setup is a good idea. And to make it more interesting, I decided to go with backlighting...with a colored gel.
I wanted to mimic a sunset look so a yellow gel for the light is perfect.

Gels are perfect for coloring backgrounds. They can also be used to cast colors on the subject. It depends on how you want the color to be.

For this shot I used 1 light, gelled with yellow coming from the back of the subject.
Since I am only using 1 light, I can open up my aperture more, f4 to be exact, for a dramatic focus effect.

Spade the lovable cat

Today I had nothing to do so I decide to take a picture of our cat Spade.

I was looking for a halloween theme shot and what better subject to take pictures of...a black cat!

So I put out my guitar coffin case opened it up in my studio and waited till Spade came up. He was kinda scared of it first so I decided to sprinkle catnip in it. And of course it works. After making him feel comfortable I took the shot.

I opted for a shallow depth of field so I went for an f6.3 aperture so the background would be out of focus a bit. F6.3 isn't really that shallow of an aperture but it worked for my shot. I used my 50mm 1.8 lens for this.

BMX and skate competition and the AI servo mode

Today I was at Plymouth Indiana for the blueberry festival. A ton of things were going on in the fairgrounds like arm wrestling, cheer competitions, craft fairs etc. Though the thing that captured my attention was the BMX/skateboarding competitions.

Too bad I cannot actually get inside the ramp area, but I have my trusty 70-200 2.8 IS lens with me! I can stay outside the fence and take shots from there. The 70-200 is perfect for tracking high speed subjects. I set up my speed at 320th/sec and my focus to AI servo. This mode would let the camera track the high speed subject without locking into a particular focus point. This gives you the flexibility to track fast moving subjects without the delay if ever the camera locks on a focus point. Set your camera to burst mode for better results.

Shooting behind the fence isn't bad at all. The wires are so close to the lens that they will almost not appear in the picture because it'll be out of focus. As long as a light source is not hitting the fence, it'll not be so obvious in the shot.


























For the complete series, please visit:

http://www.pbase.com/hardcoreboy/plymouth_indiana_skateboardbmx_competition

Lightning!

Today was really stormy out. Good thing about it is the lightning!
I have been wanting to shoot lightning for a long time and nows my chance.

I setup a tripod and my camera in our garage. Popped in my 18-50 lens, and my wireless shutter release.
I set my shutter speed to bulb so I can control how long my exposures would be, and my aperture to f8. Since I can keep my shutter open as long as I can, I put my ISO to 100. That'll keep the image from over exposing when I keep my shutter open for like 4 seconds or more.

Lightning actually leaves an afterimage after it flashes. If you keep you shutter open for a couple of seconds after lightning flashes you would be able to capture it perfectly.

Since you don't know where lightning would strike, I would suggest using a wider lens so you'd have wider coverage for your shot.

Wireless triggers for external flashes

Couple of days ago I bought a Yong nuo rf 602 wireless trigger for external flashes.

I was kinda skeptical about Chinese made triggers but for 30 USD you can't go wrong with this one.
I had a cheapo trigger that I was using years ago. It was like 15 bucks from ebay. Worked like a charm the first few weeks until I replaced the batteries. After that it was basically failing after 2 shots or so.

I then bought a Microsync from Tamrac

It worked perfectly for the higher end flashes. I was so fond of it I even brought it to our work. I tried it on our Calumet lights at work and it never failed me...not even once.

I then tried it on some of my cheap Chinese made lights...that is when I realized that the Microscync does not really work on them that good. It really didn't work at all! I was using those cheap sl-150's. My 15 dollar trigger works on them like a charm...but not the Microsync.

I really didn't care at all, till I was planning to buy a secondary receiver. The receivers were around 80-100 bucks online. Pretty expensive so I opted for a cheaper more reliable alternative. I didn't wanna spend 400 bucks on a set of pocket wizards so I browsed online and I found the Yong nuo rf 602.



The first time I opened the box, I was very impressed. Build quality was far from the usual disposable builds of other Chinese made triggers. It was pretty nice. The buttons were snappy the battery compartment was decent and the receiver can also be used for speedlites. So I put it on my Sigma flash and it works! It even wakes the flash when it's in sleep mode. The transmitter sits on the camera body nicely. The best thing about it was that it even works on any external flashes, even the cheap ones!

So I decided to put it in my Sigma flash, put the flash on a stand and go out to shoot! It was night time so it was pretty dark outside. I took a shoot of this spider and my flash worked perfectly!



So the Microsync goes to ebay so I can buy a secondary receiver for my rf 602.

High speed close ups

Couple of night ago, I wanted to try out a high speed close up shots.

I had an idea in my head to take a shot of a matchstick igniting. That'll be pretty interesting!

Things that I needed were:

Tripod
70mm macro lens
Shutter release, wireless or not
A stand for the match
Matches
of course my camera

So I put a single matchstick into a stand so I can focus on it without moving. The camera is in a tripod too so it can be as steady as I want it to be. I put in my shutter release so I don't move my camera when I take the shot. Focused on the matchstick as close as I can then turned the lights off. I setup my camera to the narrowest aperture that I can get without making the shot underexposed, for this I had it at f8. ISO at 100 and speed at 500/sec.

The flame from the match is enough to be your main light, so no external lighting sources needed further for this. So I got another match to light it up, shutter release in my other hand, and BOOM! I take the shot.



When you are attempting this shot, make sure that the actual flame is far enough not to touch your lens! If it does, you might have to invest in a new one.

Love the macro

Still having fun with my macro lens. Took it out for a spin at the botanic gardens and got some awesome shots off of it. Though for really close up shots you have to use a tripod as for close ups, the slightest movement will throw you out of focus, as these macro lenses have very shallow depth of field even if you are using a narrow aperture in close ups. Here's a shot from that trip:


You can still see the hair from the moths back.
















Here's another one with a spider: