weekly KathG's 52 for 2017

Great minds Kathleen. I used my red version of the heart-shaped stone for my Song theme. Lovely colour - the square crop works well. (I'm trying also to master the Speedlite ... it's hard but getting to learn how to tone down the output).
 
Hi Kathleen,
I'm no expert on lighting either, my speedlite attempts tend to be very much trial and error.
But there are some regulars on here who are great at lighting and who will hopefully provide some tips.

Anyway, bang on theme with nice colour. :)
 
I hope you are up for a bit of constructive crit? Feel free to ignore if not.

It looks to me like the camera moved while you were taking the shot which is a bit unusual when using a flash at close range because the flash usually freezes any motion. Looking at the details on flickr, I notice that you were using 1/15th of a second which is a bit slow if using flash, remember that the camera light meter will may not take the flash into account as you are looking at it. Generally cameras "sync" with the flash up to around 1/100, what this means is that the shutter opens the flash fires and the shutter closes up to that speed, any faster shutter speed and there is the risk that the shutter will close before the flash fires (some flashes have HSS but that's for another day).

Also I find that with shiny object like this it is often better to either move the flash off to one side, bounce it off the ceiling/wall/etc. or try to diffuse the light to make it larger. Hope that helps and I hope I am not telling you a load of stuff you already know.
 
sirch said:
I hope you are up for a bit of constructive crit? Feel free to ignore if not..
Click to expand...

HI Sirch, no I am quite happy to have CC. The camera was on a tripod, but I did not have the remote release on. I did have the the flash off the camera to the side and reduced the power by a couple off stops. To be honest as I was using a tripod I did not check my shutter speed. My setup was a bit haphazard....LOL

Does anyone have one of those little tent setups for taking photos of small items ?

Cheers
Kath
 
KathG said:
HI Sirch, no I am quite happy to have CC. The camera was on a tripod, but I did not have the remote release on. I did have the the flash off the camera to the side and reduced the power by a couple off stops. To be honest as I was using a tripod I did not check my shutter speed. My setup was a bit haphazard....LOL

Does anyone have one of those little tent setups for taking photos of small items ?

Cheers
Kath
Click to expand...

I have a little tent for small items but I don't use it anymore.
 
KathG said:
HI Sirch, no I am quite happy to have CC. The camera was on a tripod, but I did not have the remote release on. I did have the the flash off the camera to the side and reduced the power by a couple off stops. To be honest as I was using a tripod I did not check my shutter speed. My setup was a bit haphazard....LOL

Does anyone have one of those little tent setups for taking photos of small items ?

Cheers
Kath
Click to expand...

I have a light tent, it's not that little, but I don't use it very often as it is hard to set up backgrounds and the like inside it. All the tent does really is act as a big light diffuser and umberellas or just bouncing the light off a wall/ceiling/piece of card/etc. tends to work just as well.
 
Nice composition. Seems like I'm not the only one getting to grips with speed lights and shiny objects!
 
Dark Knight said:
Another liking the crop, and despite the glare from the flash the shape comes over well, and certainly smooth :)

Did you try bouncing the flash from the ceiling instead of directly at it ??
Click to expand...

Hi Darkknight.

I did try to bounce the flash, the trouble was I was in the conservatory and the roof even though white does not bounce very well. I recently bought some of the YoungNuo Flash triggers and they work well, but am still learning how to set them up properly. Right know I am still trying to understand which are are the best settings to have ( of course that changes each time ). I need to practice more, right now I'm not getting out much with my camera so these challenges are great to get you thinking and trying different things. Looking forward to the next one.
 
KathG said:
Hi Darkknight.

I did try to bounce the flash, the trouble was I was in the conservatory and the roof even though white does not bounce very well. I recently bought some of the YoungNuo Flash triggers and they work well, but am still learning how to set them up properly. Right know I am still trying to understand which are are the best settings to have ( of course that changes each time ). I need to practice more, right now I'm not getting out much with my camera so these challenges are great to get you thinking and trying different things. Looking forward to the next one.
Click to expand...
Glad to hear it, it's good to get you thinking :)
 
Week 05 -52 Mineral

I think this should fit the subject. A Desert Rose brought back from either Algeria or Libya when my late Husband Kev worked on the oil & gas pipelines. They naturally form from the sand and minerals in the desert.
I think I like it on the black back ground best but did one in white also. Having fun playing with my speed lights

Cheers
Kath

Week05-52-Mineral-Black4638.jpg by Kath Garvey, on Flickr
 
Good for you Kathleen .. I've been experimenting with my Speedlite too. Really good fun and so absorbing. What a strange object !! I think I prefer the black bg - stands out better.
 
#1 for me as I prefer the black BG.

Hard to critique something with such sentimental value. Uber critical would be the slightly hot spot on the front edge.

Cheers.
 
Smooth - there's already been lots of discussion about the lighting on this. I recently bought a light tent and have used it for most of my recent indoor shots. I agree with Susie about the backgrounds getting creased, but I use my own card/fabric backgrounds inside it and have found that the four little lamps that came with it are very useful for playing with different lighting effects. It's flexible so I can have one side down for natural light or all sides up. If it's useful I bought this one but when it was half price (maybe it's worth keeping an eye out for offers?)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00WLIYX66/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
But I did have to buy these bulbs to replace the originals as they got very hot - the replacements give out a very natural light though and I don't seem to have had white balance problems:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00WR10PNW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I have used this setup lots, but I do play about with a lot of macro photography - it has been my saviour in this wet dark weather!
I recently bought a speedlight as well, but need to get a trigger next - I've just been playing about with bouncing off walls a bit haphazardly @sirch - thanks for your info! We'll have to swap tips Kath!
Mineral - what a lovely object and the light looks much better on it in the second, but I still prefer the first with the black background.
 
Interesting to see the two backgrounds, I was shooting minerals yesterday and tried both black and white backgrounds, thinking that black is a bit cliched and I came to the conclusion that for most minerals black is just better as white seems to wash-out some of the colours lacks a bit of punch. Seeing your comparison I think it works on the white but the black is just that bit more dramatic. They are both nice photos though, well lit good DoF, sharp enough. Good job (y)
 
Thanks everyone, I enjoyed doing this one.

Emma thank you for the links and info. I ordered one of those tents off eBay last night. I already have 4 lights that came with a lighting and backdrop set my kids got me for Christmas. I still have to play with them.
I used my Speed lights with the Mineral images. The black was relatively easy, but needed to keep moving the flashes to get somewhere near what I wanted with the white background.
I was watching a YouTube video last night of a guy doing a home setup was using 4 speed lights. Will post the link as he made it look quite easy.


View: https://youtu.be/cW2ngB4L1Lk
 
+1 for the black background. Nice details and well lit.
 
Two very nice images for mineral, hard to choose really. (y)

I've found using 1 speedlight is all you need for this type of stuff, I use a pop up softbox which can be easily moved around and gave its best light from directly above facing slightly forward. A simple sheet of white paper or card can be used a a reflector to add more light if needed to lift shadows.
 
Heart is a nice crop, just a pity about the flash reflection, not that I know how to lose it!
Mineral, nice detail, I prefer the black background.
For inspiration I search the theme on Flickr.
 
liking the white BG and the POV of the second one. (y)
 
Thank you everyone for your kind words. Much appreciated. Looking forward to see what Thursday brings

Cheers
Kath
 
Really like this, fascinating objects, well photographed. Like the black background best. I rode home from the Atlas desert with one in my tank bag, then dropped it on the ferry:( from France.
 
Bearair, thank you. That is a shame getting all that way home for it to break. I'm having a memory lapse and cannot remember if my hubby brought it from Algeria or Libya, but either way we will have had it over 25 years. Wish I New where all these years have gone, going to fast ....LOL
 
Week 06 Whole

Well I thought I had a good idea but did not have the necessary props,( Globe) so I came up with an Atlas.
I don't have a lot of room to set up properly for portraits and even less experience ;). So my lighting is not very good,
plus the model my 17 year old granddaughter, I don't think wanted to sit there all night....LOL
Anyway here is my take on Whole
Hints tips and CC on how you would do this and how to set up welcome. I have two Continuous lights with umberallas and one SoftBox and 3 Canon Speedlights and triggers


She's got the WHOLE World in her hands

untitled shoot-4832.jpg by Kath Garvey, on Flickr​
 
That was my initial idea too and like you didn't have a globe ... even worse, not an atlas either. Well done. I envy you all the paraphernalia - I only have one speedlite and a softbox to play with but enough for me ... for now anyway. Compositionally, I prefer the first as it shows engagement with the atlas rather than with the camera. I think you could probably afford to tone down the lighting a touch to reveal more detail in the atlas itself. Regardless of all that, they're lovely portraits of your beautiful grandchildren and spot on theme.
 
Love the idea for the theme Kath, they look like a lovely kids, grandchildren bring a lot of pleasure don't they. The first one definitely works better as a composition and for the lighting, I like that a lot. I often take photos of mine when they're just engaged in everyday things, I think they work better than ones that are too posed. I can't advise on lighting as I don't have any apart from daylight and ordinary desk lamps.
 
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