Photo365-20100121 – Don’t 4get Me, originally uploaded by HokiePerogi.
1/80 sec @ f/1.8, ISO 2500, 50 mm (EF50mm f/1.8 II)
I was walking around the house tonight looking for an interesting subject for the project when I wandered out into the garage and found this snow shovel casting an interesting shadow. The note my fiancee left on the shovel made it an even more compelling subject. I had the camera set on aperture priority mode and the ISO set to Auto. The camera needed to use ISO 2500 in order to get the exposure. While I am still not pleased with the low light performance of the Canon 7D body in general, I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome of this high ISO shot.
In post processing I applied a Lightroom preset to get the dark vignetting and orange-ish tones.
Photo365-20100120 – Glasses Practice, originally uploaded by HokiePerogi.
1/250 sec @ f/9.0, ISO 400, 75 mm (EF70-200mm f/4L IS USM)
I added a third flash to my arsenal in preparation for my company’s corporate head shots in February. I ask Jaclyn, my fiancee, to be my model so that I could test out the setup with the third light. I also wanted to make sure I would be able to handle the handful of people in my company who wear glasses. By placing the key and fill lights more towards the sides of the frame instead of closer to the lens, I was able to prevent the reflections of the lights in Jaclyn’s glasses. The setup that I used tonight will most likely be the exact setup I use for the photo shoot in a couple of weeks.
Photo365-20100119 – Fairwell Flowers, originally uploaded by HokiePerogi.
1/250 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 200, 50 mm (EF50mm f/1.8 II)
My fiancee was given some flowers on her last day of work by one of her coworkers. I decided to put the flowers in front of the portrait backdrop and snap some shots with the softbox and reflector. I am really impressed with how the shots came out. This photograph, in particular, has some great tones and sharp details. The purple flowers and the yellow rose are my favorite parts of the photograph. The gray background does appear in frame as it was off to camera right at this angle.
Photo365-20100118 – Bottoms Up, originally uploaded by HokiePerogi.
1/250 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 100, 50 mm (EF50mm f/1.8 II)
To unwind from a hectic day at work today, I poured myself a small drink to enjoy while my fiancee and I watched some television together. I brought my camera bag with me down into the basement in case any bright ideas came to me while we were relaxing (no pun intended). I did not even get to take a sip of my drink yet when I thought of an idea to bottom light the brandy sniffer glass. The glass coffee table top was finally going to be put to a good use rather than constantly getting dirty.
I whipped out the 430 EX II flash and set it up below the glass table top so that it fired directly up into the base of the drinking glass. I do not remember if I was using manual mode, or if I was using ETTL with flash compensation. More recently I have found myself using ETTL to control the power of the strobe for me. I have found that setting the camera on manual mode and letting the ETTL system set the flash power has resulted in very satisfying images much sooner in my shoots when compared against having to set the flash powers manually. I plan to continue working in both manual flash and ETTL flash, but I believe it is a good approach to know both methods well.
Photo365-20100117 – More Headshot Practice, originally uploaded by HokiePerogi.
1/200 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 200, 50 mm (EF50mm f/1.8 II)
I am still trying to perfect the setup for my company’s corporate head shots that I will be taking in a couple of weeks. For this trial shot, I used the softbox at camera left and a reflector on camera right. The background was lit up with a second strobe with a gird placed on it. I am thinking that I will need to order three more pieces of equipment. One to get the exact look that my CEO is looking for and two others to make the setup flexible enough to use in even the most unprepared locations.
The first piece I think I will be buying is a third flash. I have not been able to get the ratio of light on the dark side of the face using the reflector. This may be because I do not know how to use it effectively yet. A third flash will allow me to get the exact ratio I am looking for more easily.
The second piece will be a background light stand. The stand will make for quick setup and adjustments of the background light flash.
The third piece is a posing stool. I would love to get an adjustable one, but they seem a bit pricey. I will have to do my research to see if I can get something effective, but cheap.
Photo365-20100116 – He Had A Secret, originally uploaded by HokiePerogi.
1/2000 sec @ f/1.8, ISO 100, 50 mm (EF50mm f/1.8 II)
My fiancee and I went to George Mason University today to pick up her text books for the upcoming semester. On our walk from the parking garage to the University book store, which is, interestingly enough, owned by Barnes and Noble, we came across this statue. It had been dressed up by the sisters of Zeta Tau Alpha. I thought this was quite amusing, especially since I have several friends who were in Zeta Tau Alpha when we were at Virginia Tech. Jaclyn, my fiancee, now tells me that she sees this statue dressed up all the time on campus now that classes have started for her. She thinks it is a tradition at GMU. Does anyone know if there is a background story to this practice?
Photo365-20100115 – Are You Done Yet?, originally uploaded by HokiePerogi.
1/250 sec @ f/10, ISO 200, 50 mm (EF50mm f/1.8 II)
It has been a very busy few weeks since my last posting. I have completed my first two official photo shoots for clients and been traveling here, there, and everywhere. I also ran into an issue with posting to the blog from Flickr. The issue has since been resolved and now I plan to try and get caught up with the project once again. Do not fear, I have been taking a picture every day of the project. I am just incredibly backlogged with editing the photos, uploading them to Flickr, and creating the posts here on the blog. Without further a-du…
This shot was set up using a single bare bulb strobe. I bounced the light off of the white-walled kitchen island at camera left. I really like the details seen in the throw rug and Mela’s fur.
Photo365-20100114 – Bed Jump: Attempt 1, originally uploaded by HokiePerogi.
1/250 sec @ f/10, ISO 800, 50 mm (EF50mm f/1.8 II)
I read a blog post several weeks ago about a fun type of photo which lends itself to being taken in hotels. The best way to describe these types of photographs is “bed jump” pictures. It all sounds so simple: set the camera on the timer setting and then time jump on or onto the bed to coincide with the shutter releasing. This is exactly what I tried to do tonight. I set the camera up on a tripod and used a bare-bulb flash bounced off of the ceiling. After each of my first few jumps, I took the time to remake the bed as best as I could. It did not take me long to grow tired of this routine. I settled on just touching up the sheets between attempts going forward. It took me about twenty-five to thirty attempts until I was certain that I had a useable shot in camera. My 50mm f/1.8 lens limited how much of the scene I could fit into the frame. However, I like the end result. I named the photo “Bed Jump: Attempt 1″ because I know, for certain, this will not be the last time I attempt a bed jump type photograph. As soon as I have a wider lens with me during an overnight hotel stay, I will be bed jumping once again.
Photo365-20100113 – Haunted Hanger, originally uploaded by HokiePerogi.
1/80 sec @ f/6.3, ISO 640, 50 mm (EF50mm f/1.8 II)
I went on a photowalk tonight around the hotel to find something interesting for today’s photograph. I was on the second floor of the hotel lobby when I spotted this light fixture hanging over the check in desk below. I snapped a few shots and hoped for the best.
It was not until I brought the photograph into Photoshop and started to play around with my new Wacom tablet and onOne PhotoTool 2 package that I was able to unlock the potential of this image. The first effect I applied was the upward ghosting of the light. This is most easily seen right above the light shades as a sort of lit fog. My next step was to add a defocus effect around the outside edges. The Wacom tablet and pen came in handy here when I needed to mask out the effect from the left-most and right-most lights on the fixture. The pen allowed me to work quickly but accurately to make sure the defocusing effect did not impair these two lights. Lastly, I applied the film frame around the image. I picked this particular frame because it adds an eerie feeling to the old style chandelier.
Photo365-20100112 – Hotel Life: Toiletries, originally uploaded by HokiePerogi.
1/80 sec @ f/1.8, ISO 160, 50 mm (EF50mm f/1.8 II)
I am back in the hotel again for this week. I am beginning to think that I might do a mini-project within my Photo365 project capturing “Life in a Hotel”. It may wind up that I am staying in a hotel more frequently this year, so I should have amble opportunities to get some good shots.
This is a photograph of the bathroom toiletries provided at the Marriott I am staying in. The staff at this particular Marriott does a great job in making sure even the little things are perfect in the room. They never miss a beat in replacing any used items in this bathroom amenities kit on a daily basis.
There is nothing special here photographically speaking. Just another ambient-lit product shot.
A self-proclaimed tech-geek, I enjoy anything powered by batteries or electricity. I'm not happy until I understand the full potential of any new gadget I get my hands on....
