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strobist

Jul 02
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Moody Portrait of Collin

By Collin, portraits, strobist, Studio

This weeks light test took place at our friend Megan’s house. She has an upcoming client shoot and we were shooting light tests. With three photographers in working together, we all able to bounce ideas and knowledge off of each other.

The last 30 minutes of the day consisted of each of us taking turns running the shoot. We each had about 10 minutes to set up a lighting scenario and shoot a portrait. This artificial pressure helps prepare for similar real situations that happen on paying photoshoots. Nothing like pressure to hone your skills. My starting photo is shown to the right.

Here is my shot of Collin where I used a 24″ portable softbox. A small silver reflector helped to fill in some of the shadows. That’s it.

From there, a slaved flash was added to the backdrop. In this case I wanted to separate the back of the head which had gone to silhouette from the background.
The background light was moved to give different looks to the background.

The last version I tried was showed more of a spotlight effect on the background.
Jun 27
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Weekly Photography Tests With Collin

By portraits, strobist

The advantage to taking photos of the same person week after week is that one can see how their face reacts to the different light scenarios. Last week’s test consisted lighting inspired by faces that I have seen on television. You can see this sort of lighting on almost any tv show to establish mood or setting.

In this case I am using warm and cool hard flash lighting to create dimension.

The great thing about this setup is that you can leave the lighting the same and simply have the client change their body direction for different looks.

Sometimes I try to turn accidents into keepers with a little experimentation, like in the photo below where the side flash was too strong. Not every photo has to be success if you learn something from it.

The next test was to light an interior room subtly while maintaining detail in the sunny outdoor scene.

The final test was to use window light as the 2nd light in a 2 light set up. Daylight is free and it adds extra dimension on the shadow side of the subject.
Jun 13
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Getting Strange

By Collin, light tests, strobist

Sometimes you just have to try something to see what happens. This week in our continuing photo tests, Collin and I made a few experimental shots using zoom and flash techniques. Some of the results turned out looking like the psychedelic 60’s. Far out!

Jun 13
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Shooting Stars

By strobist

Today I took a photo of a star… well, actually a strangely iridescent starfish made of glass. My wife and I picked this up on one of our many trips together. This item literally seems to glow in even the softest of light. Shot with a portable speedlite and a snoot.

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