To all ye who want to paint with light ...

I should have started this blog many moons ago as I started experiencing the joys of rediscovering the art of photography. But as the saying goes - it's better late, than never!
So, here I am, in the hopes of recording what I learn as I progress from ignorance to enlightenment; about what my eyes can see that my camera can capture; and, what my mind imagines and my camera paints with its capabilities.

Please feel free to add any comments and share your wisdom (tips or tricks) that you have picked up along the way.

And do check out my How-To and Birding pages as well.


Saturday, January 22, 2011

Day 254 - Human Bounce Board

I wanted to write a quick post about a little experiment I did, after my shot went to nought.

I was trying to photograph these little Turkish Delights (if you have an acutely sweet tooth, try them; else just avoid them).  I didn't get what I was after, so I tried to use my hand as a bounce board, since the only negative about the LP160 right now is that it comes without one.  I would have really expected it to have one since it's comparable in every other aspect to the Nikon SB 700 (or is it 800?) and the Canon 580 Ex II.  I am clueless as to why they couldn't include a small piece of plastic when they could include a diffuser!

Anyhow, I took one shot with and one without my hand acting as a bounce board.  My flash was set to 28mm, full power, and bounced off the ceiling.  Both these shots are SOOC - no post-processing at all, so you can see the difference in the spilled light that bounced off my hand onto the subject, as opposed to the one that spilled out.

This one was without my hand placed behind the flash; lots of darker areas.  

This one had my hand placed right behind the flash to prevent the light from spilling.  Since it was set on 28 mm, there would be quite a bit of spill, as opposed to being set on 85 or 105 mm.  The idea was to experiment with the effect.  My hand redirected the spilled light onto the subject and filled light into the shadow areas.  What I didn't wait to do was decrease the power level and try again, so the whites wouldn't get blown out.  But the "bounced" effect is clearly evident!

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