Day 247 - Getting to Know Gary Fong

.. not really the photographer/inventor, but the invention he calls the Lightsphere Universal.  You might remember that I had mentioned it in a recent post and I had barely been able to try it for want of a model.  Today, I managed to coax my son to sit for me for just ten minutes, and after a little bit of haggling and hassling, he agreed!  My lucky day!  Actually, he's agreed to sit for me now and then, but only for ten minutes each time.  I can't complain - he's a teenager after all, and has had a mind of his own since he was less than 6 months old!

Anyway, I started with the translucent photojournalist (that's what the diffuser is called).  When I had ordered this product I had noted that it came with a tutorial DVD, but when I rummaged through the box yesterday, I hadn't found it.  Upon mailing Midwest, they sincerely apologized and let me know that Gary Fong had pulled it out of the kit!  Darn!  However, when you have Youtube, there's not much cause for worry.  So I spent a few minutes watching videos on how to use it.

I did this really late in the evening, after dinner, so I didn't really spend a lot of time taking notes on the flash settings and the position of the dome, so I'm unable to post them today.  I was experimenting with the light by stopping down the power level of the flash, changing the zoom level, or changing the angle of the flash.  I will have to do a thorough study of the settings again soon to familiarize myself with the flash and diffuser duo.

Here are the results from this evening:

I tried flashing the background with a blue-gelled flash, but I obviously wasn't able to use that correctly.  While the first shot has a more or less even background, the last one is the least attractive.  I'll definitely have to work on that.  

Day 245 - Not What I Had Intended

I finally got my new Strobist's kit with two speedlights yesterday, and I got myself familiar with how to set up the light stand, the umbrella and how to use the Cactus radio triggers.  I'm really proud of having figured out the entire setup all by myself without having to refer to the manual except to understand the difference between a receiver and a transmitter (patting myself on the back for that).  I really didn't think it would be quite that simple considering I got a pile of different things I'd never before used in my life.

I wanted to figure out how to use the coloured filters for the flash this evening, but that kinda bombed - I didn't get the results I was hoping for, so I won't post those shots here.

My son had condescended to sit down for exactly one and a half minutes last evening while I tried the umbrella and I got exactly two shots with it.  I also got myself the Gary Fong diffuser which I tried out and found fantastic. The kit has 2 diffusers, but I only used one of them and I'm not sure which one.  I'll have to explore these as well and I'll definitely let you know what I think, beyond the first positive impression.  On the face of it, it yielded very natural looking shots and the results were really pleasing.

I know I'm talking about all this without providing samples, but my son won't appreciate me posting pics of him in his jammies.  So once mister decides to have a haircut and dress better, or I find a willing victim (my friend suggested I do selfies), it's all talk!  But trust me, I will post something soon!

I'm telling myself that now I have to understand the basics of flash photography - and that's just the tip of the iceberg!   Please wish me luck as I embark upon this journey and I swear I will not spare any effort, or leave any stone unturned (read as I will not spare you the whining and the crying and the ranting that goes along with learning a difficult subject).

Since the gelled flash images didn't work, I got this shot instead.

If you're trying to guess what this is, well, these are the edges of lasagna noodles.  And you guessed right - I made lasagna with meat sauce for tonight's dinner!