A couple of weeks ago I sold my Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L lens on eBay. I believe I got around $1100 for it which was what I was hoping I’d get for it. When I decided to sell the lens I thought I could use the money to buy the Canon 180mm macro lens, a lens I’ve been wanting for a while now, or buy some lighting gear and other miscellaneous things. In the end I decided to buy some lighting gear.

Last week I received a couple of collpsable softboxes from Alien Bees. They are 24x36” which should be plenty for portraits and still lifes. I also bought another Dell LCD display as my 21” Apple monitor saw its last days a few months ago. And I’ve grown accustomed to using two monitors.

At the moment I’m not sure what to do with the remaining money. I’m thinking of getting two pocket wizards so I can control my Alien Bees strobes and get rid of the 20 or 30 foot sync cord. I have 2 already but I ‘d like to have one for each Alien Bee and one for my Canon speedlight in case I want to use all 3 together.

Anyway, here is a few photos I took with the new softboxes.


I wanted to two highlights on the apple with the smaller being narrow and next to a spot of black. I used a sheet of black foam core to block one of the softboxes, which gives the small band highlight in the upper right hand side of the apple, and provides the dark shadow next to the small highlight. The background is a sheet of diffusion plastic from a lighting tent. The sheet and apple are on top of a cheap tv stand. I didn’t realize it at the time, but the table’s fake wood grain is seen through the diffusion sheet. Something I didn’t want but later thought it added some color and mood to the background (bright shiney apple on top of a white-brown background).


Self portrait. Taking self portraits is interesting as it requires some luck in compenstion but it allows me to keep trying depending if I feel up to it. But I don’t have to deal with others being impatient or losing interest.


Close up of my hollow body Ibanez electric guitar.


Another close up of my hollow body Ibanez electric guitar.

Tags: softbox, lighting, gear

This post is all about a sampling of images I've taken in the past week. This week and last week I was on vacation and had planned to devote it to photography and particularly studio lighting.

During these past 2 weeks I've learned quite a bit about studio lighting but I am by no means an expert or even a vet. I still need to work on creating a good sweep, lighting the background so that the light is evenly spread (this seems easy and probably is but for some reason was rather challenging for me), pocket wizards are great (hope to buy another soon), learned how to make a cardboard grid which seems to work better than my cardboard snoot at giving me a spot light, I should start shooting tethered to my computer and I should also review my work on my computer before moving on and I'm sure far more but that's enough for now.

Here's some of what I've shot this past week:




I need to find a good white 2'x2' or so surface to shoot my drinks on. My wife and I received this tray as a wedding gift and I finally found a use for it. I think it'll be good in the future but just to get me started I don't want any distracting elements such as the tray's wood trim and handle getting in the picture. I went to Home Depot a few days ago but couldn't find anyway that fit my requirements. I think I'll try another hardware store that either sells custom counter tops or maybe will sell just the laminate to me. Still looking...








This came about as a test shot. Just so happens I really like it. Maybe not a good "drink" shot from a commercial / editorial standpoint, but definitely enjoyable to look at.


This as well as the next two shows me playing with the "shooting through" technique as well as using several color filters on flowers. The idea of changing the flowers' colors using filters has intrigued me for a while. It turns out I really like the blending of the natural and fake colors together that I want to continue exploring the idea.






After stumbling across another photographer's work and seeing him use flowers submerged in water and then freezing the water, I thought it would be cool to try introducing air bubbles to the flower (obviously had to submerged the flower in water first). Instead of water droplets on the petals, why not air bubbles? I tried my first attempt at this a few months ago but was stuck by not knowing how to control the flower so it stands still and didn't know how to put air bubbles on the petals.

The only way I know of to get air to stick to a flower is to dunk it in the water very quickly. The problem is the water will be rushed into the bloom forcing the petals to move out and possibly break off the stem. Getting the flower to stand still was solved by using a McClamp which was holding the stem and the other end was connected to a light stand.

You can also see some rather large air bubbles in the picture as well. I decided to kill the air bubbles on the petals idea and introduce bubbles moving by the flower. You can see something similar in the below picture as well. I used a straw to force air into the water using my mouth to blow into the straw. The problem with that is 1. I get out of breath and 2. unable to control the flow and size of the bubbles.


I decided to go to the pet store and buy the cheapest air pump they had. I actually bought the 2nd cheapest pump as the cheapest was battery powered and I didn't want to bother with even more batteries (I have enough stuff on battery power as it is). I went through a few nearby isles just to see what they had and ran across some fancy do-dad that will break the air up into smaller bubbles. That do-dad worked out perfectly for what I wanted.

How did I get the flow to move in a diagonal? I moved the tube back and forth below the flower and tripped the shutter several times before I ended up with this picture.

Do I like this? Eh, not really. Although I'm glad I explored the idea, I don't think its all that interesting to look at. However, I still like the idea of having bubbles cling on to the flowers' petals. I just need to find a way to get lots of bubbles on the petals without destroying the flower and frustrating me.







This is basically a combination of studio magic and the use of Photoshop's clone tool. I cut the lemon in half and stuck two bobby pins (I think that's what they are called. My wife uses them to control here hair) to force them to stay in place. I would have used toothpicks and actually would have preferred toothpicks but I also wanted to get this picture without having to go to the store. The pins acted as braces to prop the lemon halfs up. I then cloned the pins out of the shot making the lemons appear standing on their own (well I hope they do anyway). Perhaps not the greatest picture, but I was rather proud of myself for coming up with the idea, the use of the pins idea, and for the execution of the picture itself.


This thing is a floating bridge and it belongs on my hollow body guitar. See the chrome thingy on top? Notice there isn't much light hitting the front of it?


So I placed some hand made reflectors (cardboard bent in half to as a support for two pieces of white paper taped to the cardboard) which gives it not only light up front but also a nice white reflection in the chrome. Quite happy that I realized the need for that and was able to figure out how to do it. That "whole family of angles" concept at play here for sure.



In a previous posting I mentioned a DIY cardboard grid for speedlights. The above and the next shot use this grid. See the blue highlights in the top thingy? That's the grid with a blue filter hard at work.


Here, I placed a light from below to help light the chrome as well as the bottom. We can see the bottom of the bridge by its reflection in the plexiglass. I think it helps to define the bridge's overall shape. Without it, there would likely just be black and you'd think the entire black was all solid wood. As you can see, its not as there is a bit of a curvature to it.




My cardboard grid working hard again. If you look closely, you'll see I have two wine glasses in a row. The 2nd is hidden behind the 1st glass. And if you look even closer you'll see the base of the 2nd glass in the stem of the first. Something I didn't notice until I review the images on my computer (which is why I should be shooting tethering and regularly reviewing my work on a monitor).

Tags: studio, lighting, glass

For those with a do-it-yourself attitude, here's a couple links that will help you along...

http://strobist.blogspot.com/
This one is also a great lighting resource and idea generator.

http://www.diyphotography.net/

Today I made a cardboard grid for a speedlight that actually turned out very good. Although I constructed mine a bit differently. Instead of using glue, I used scotch tape because I don't have any glue in my entire apartment (surprised me). To help reinforce it and minimize any twisting, I placed a small piece of cardboard on each ends (the ends that have the cuts). I then placed a long strip of cardboard on the same sides which allows me to attach the grid to the speedlight using velco straps. The connection isn't the most secure, but after a few hours of using it, it seems to work very well.





Several years ago when I bought my 100mm Macro lens (continues to be my favorite lens btw) I tried to construct a very simple table top studio using an old TV shelf, white foam core, and a few clamps that have suction cups attached to them. I haven't seen these clamps mentioned anywhere on the net (sites that have to do with photography and DIY) so I thought I'd mention them here. The clamp looks very similar to those used on the McClamp.

In the past two weeks I've used these clamps more than I've ever used them in the last 3-4 years I've owned them. I realized they are great providing a quick and easy way to attaching a black card or a reflector to a light stand, holding my backgrounds up on the wall (my wall is partial wall, partial window), and of course just holding things together for whatever purpose. I bought mine at Home Depot. I went there this past week in Redwood City, CA and couldn't find any more. But they may be out at this particular Home Depot location. They are made by a company named, Wolfcraft. After looking at their site, they no longer list this particular clamp (don't see any with a suction cup). But they appear to offer a similar clamp, just no suction cup. The reason I think they are so cool is they are small, light weight, don't put too much clamp force which is good in case you are dealing with delicate stuff, and I've found several uses for them in the studio.



I'm not entirely sure where to get the velco strips/straps I'm using. I was given 4 or 5 of them at work to tie up network cables. During the 4-5 years I had them I don't think I ever used them. They work great at holding my DIY grid and color filters my Canon speedlight and since they have no glue, they aren't permeant and thus they are reusable. I would guess you can find something similar at a office supply store, hardware store, or maybe a computer/electronics store.

Tags: studio, lighting, DIY

All last week I had the week off from my day job so I spent as much time as I could shooting in my tiny studio. I haven't had a camera in my hands as much as I would like and I wanted to learn some lighting techniques. Some of the pictures didn't turn out great, but I think it was a great learning experience for me. It just so happens I have next week off as well.

After reading an online article, I decided to construct a box that allows me to light from the bottom. It works very well and have enjoyed using it. It would be nice to construct something similar but more durable.

One of the things I struggle with is getting a sweep or background evenly lit. I tend to get the light at the wrong spot or too bright. Unfortunately I wasn't catching before I continued shooting. I definitely need to shoot tethered and start taking test shots before proceeding.

Before my two week vacation I purchased a few items. 1. McClamp. Its basically an articulated arm that allows you to hold things such as reflectors or sticks or flowers, or whatever out of the way. I've found they are very useful in the studio to hold up whatever I may need wherever I may need. 2. Color filters for strobes. I bought a package of 12 12x12" filters of various colors. I really enjoy mixing colors and allowing me to get other backgrounds other than white or black. Plus, I can cut about 3" off of a side to use with my speedlights and still have enough left over for the strobes. 3. Pocket Wizards. They are pricey, but man they are nice. I only got two and can't wait to get one maybe two more. One less wire is very welcomed.

This coming week I plan on shooting "drinks". Seems like a fun thing to shoot that hopefully doesn't require too much prep time like food photography. I plan on shooting using window light to get that classic food photography look as well as with some strobes and speedlights. I may get some lemons and limes to add to the shot. I may also add some splashes in with the drink motif as well.

I don't have an exact total but I guess I've taken 2000-3000 pictures last week. Having that much time to shot is just wonderful to say the least. Here's a few samples...

Tags: studio, glass, lighting, flowers

On Saturday I tried to shoot glass, attempting to get rid of all reflections and achieve a nice professional look.

I borrowed a shooting tent which I thought might help me get good diffused light on the glass as I don't have softboxes and was told umbrellas probably won't do the trick. However, from my own experience the tent is not for glass (although that doesn't mean it can't be done). My attempts with the tent made be frustrated and I decided to take a break and come back to it later. After a 4 hour break, I quickly gave up on the tent and decided to try using two strobes very close together acting as a single light source and a big circular diffusor (probably 36" in diameter). I then placed some black felt down the middle of the diffusor which will give me black glass with white out lines (that's the goal anyway).

Much to my surprise my first attempt with this particular set up worked immediately. Nice distinct lines and absolutely no reflections, awesome! I played around with the distance the subject was from the light source which does have an affect of the thickness of the white lines on the glass. I then tried adding some newly purchased color filters on the strobes (one red, the other blue). The filters really spiced up the glass with red lines on one side and blue lines on the other.

I then tried to make just the opposite: white glass with black lines. In order to do this, you basically reverse the setup. Place the black whatever (felt in my case) on the right and left sides of the light source instead of down the middle. I couldn't get that to work after a few minutes of trying. It was getting late in the night so I decided to go back to my original set up as I knew I could that to work. Problem was I couldn't reproduce it. No matter how I varied the size of the black felt on the light source or played with the distance the subject was from the black felt, I kept on getting reflections on the glass subject; very frustrating. A few questions I believe will help me get consistent results in the future: what determines the width of the black felt in my white on black setup? How do I know how wide is too wide or too narrow? Also, say I want the subject to be wider. What do I need to do to allow for a wider black felt strip but also give me the same results?

Here's a few pictures of my attempts of shooting glass:
















This picture may be too small for you to see, but at the bottom of this bottle I see very odd reflections. Before shooting even started I tried to rub a label off the bottom but I gave up leaving some glue from the sticker. I can see the glue 3 or 4 different places in this picture. Plus I can see what I believe is 2 or 3 different reflections of my circular diffusor but I'm not entirely certain as it appears rather warped (notice the read egg shaped thing). My guess is this is caused by the many glass surfaces joining together and the end piece is rather thick.

Tags: studio, lighting, glass

Coming up with good blog entry titles is tough. As you can see I'm very creative with words ;)

Recently I have acquired a Vivitar 285HV and bought a Canon 430EX speedlight. I want to use more flash in my photography from shooting flowers to people.

Every once in a while I'll also check out the Strobist website which if anyone is interested in a cheap way to learn lighting, check it out. The Strobist web site recommended Light: Science and Magic as THE lighting book to read and learn from so I recently bought it and started to read it. After about 30 pages in I realized I need to start taking notes and keeping a lighting notebook. I'm sure it'll help considerably in learning lighting theory.

The reason I want to use these particular strobes versus my two monolights from Alien Bees is because it takes much less time to set up a shot using the speedlights than it does the monolights & much less room.

I also recently bought an umbrella bracket made by Manfrotto which will help me put a speedlight on a light stand that I already own instead of awkwardly hand holding it and allow me to use the flash with an umbrella which is pretty cool. Two complaints about this particular bracket: 1. no usage instructions (also my No. 1 complaint on every photo bag. Great all these cool features, now how do I use them?) and 2. the locking mechanism to keep the flash in a particular position seems weak. I'm sure it'll hold a flash and umbrella, but I'd prefer to have something much tighter and thereby making me a bit more confident in my setup. Also, I bought a screw on flash shoe that screws onto the bracket makes the flash point in a particular direction and not in 360 degrees. If I want the flash to be pointed 90 degrees I have to loosen something and again I don't like that as the flash may not stay exactly where I want it and makes me wary of the setup crashing down on me.

Speaking of no instructions, I also bought a Wein Peanut Slave that I want to use with the Vivitar (thought I could use the Canon as the master). I plug the thing into the Vivitar but I can seem to figure out how to trigger the damn thing. Arghhh!!!

Tags: studio, lighting, gear

Last night I took some quick shots of a few roses I bought at the grocery store. I wanted to just shoot them normally as I really liked the color of the roses (a few were dual-toned) and to help start the creative juices flowing. I was cut short a bit due to time (was getting too late at night) but I think I was able to make worthy of posting. I re-used my make shift snoot with my Canon flash. The snoot is just a cone made out of regular 8.5x11 printer paper taped to the flash. I have a few new ideas I hope to explore later this week.

Unrelated: I bought a flash shoe adapter for a light stand so I can put my Vivitar or Canon flash on a light stand instead of hand holding them or velcroing them to a stand. And 200 or so DVDs so I can finally backup my scans and digital photos. I have probably 400-500 GB of photos (I want to try to trim that number down a bit) and I've never backed up any of the photos. I plan on doing that very soon (still need to formulate a plan).

And on to the pictures...

Tags: flowers, lighting, studio