B&W Project 5 - Week 2

Recent photo shoot with a gorgeous young lady!

Day 321 - Baby Shower and Henna Designs

I attended a baby shower for a friend's sister who's soon going to be a proud mom of twin baby girls.  I wasn't the official photographer but I had offered to bring my camera when my friend told me that she didn't have any photographer lined up for the party.   I soon turned into the official photographer, and tried to capture the moments as well as the events.

The momma-to-be is a beautiful young lady and in keeping with her Moroccan traditions, she served wonderfully aromatic teas, delicate-looking and delicious cookies, and a variety of juices.  Normally, she should have been the guest of honour, but she ended up being a wonderful hostess.  Her first-born, also a girl, was looking all pretty in a while dress, but unfortunately she was really shy of the camera.

The highlight of the evening was the henna party that my friend had organized where she had a local henna artist, Shaista, from Hennarinah (http://hennarinah.com/) come and apply henna (also known as mehendi) designs on her sister's hands as well as the guests' hands, if they so fancied.  The henna artist happened to be a young Indian girl, who I got a chance to practise my Hindi with.  Very vivacious, she explained to us how she uses all-organic materials to make the henna paste which she then applies to the hands.

I have had henna applied to my hands before, but I have to say that she took it to an entirely new level.  The henna paste, which usually has a very distinctive smell of ... well, the leaves that it's derived from, was perfumed with most probably cardamom and cloves.  It smelled wonderful as she applied it, and it felt tingly and fresh on the hands as the paste dried.  She then sprinkled beautiful glitter all over the design, and sprayed a mix of lemon juice and sugar to seal the paste in.  This helps develop the rich and dark brown colour that's characteristic of the henna.

I too got a small design done on the back of my hand, and left the paste on overnight.  I applied a bit of olive oil over it in the morning, and let it sit for a while before scraping the dried design off.  The colours gradually developed over the course of the day and while I was initially disappointed that the design on my hand looked much lighter than on another friend's hand, I noticed that the colours have developed even further.

If you're in the Montreal area and are keen on getting a temporary tattoo, look up Hennarinah (http://hennarinah.com/) and I can promise you that you won't be disappointed.  She's a fantastic artist and the designs speak volumes.

However, here's a little trivia about the deep, dark colour of henna - there's a saying in India that the colour of your henna is directly proportional to how much your mother-in-law loves you!  ;-)  So, if you are your MIL's pet, by all means, go get a henna design and show it off! :=D

Day 271 - Portrait Session - 2nd Day

These images are from Sunday. I took most of the images with ambient light coming in through my balcony door from the left of the camera with a flash side-bounced for additional light from the right - it was pretty gloomy and snowy by the time we were ready to shoot.

I used my 18 - 55 mm lens as I would have to get the family together, therefore a wider angle and the flexibility to get in tight was also required due to a lack of proper space in my make-shift studio.

I really liked the relaxed expressions on the faces when they all thought I was testing the light! ;-)  It's sometimes nice to just shoot in between posing the subjects, trying to catch them off-guard.

The littlest one had already scampered off, not wanting to be part of the photo session any longer.  He was much more at home watching my son play on his computer, than he was with us, posing for pictures.

I really love this shot! Dunno why, but I think it's mostly to do with how tight I was able to get them in, creating a feel of immense bonding.

Day 267 - Relearning the Alphabet - The Letter "K"

Ok!  This is it - the last one of the lot!  I've relearned my alphabet and I hope I've been able to jog your memory as well in the process! :o)

"K" for Kiwi

I'm afraid I wasn't able to avoid doing something quite as obvious as this, but those who have been following my blog know that right now I'm really hard-pressed for time, and ideas!  I'm consumed by my cooking classes, and although I don't have a class this weekend, I have friends coming from out of town.  Therefore, it's going to be a really busy weekend, preceded by a very hectic week.

Without rambling too much (I have to take care of the routine chores of cleaning right about now), let me tell you how I set this up.

I set up both my flashes on either side of the fruit, and had my son assist me with holding up the fruit (God bless him for his kindness! ;-)).  I set the zoom on the flash to 85 mm, and powered the flash down to 1/32.  I picked a fast shutter at 1/180s because I didn't want the clutter in the background to show up as I'd set the aperture to f/22.  Normally, the smaller the aperture, the larger the DoF.  But in this case, both a small aperture and fast shutter worked in my favour and darkened the background completely.  And just for the record, I used my 90 mm macro lens for this, although this wasn't a macro shot, but I wanted it to have a shallow DoF despite a small aperture.

Day 266 - Portraits

A friend of mine had entrusted me with the job of getting her some head shots that she wanted to use as her profile picture.  I was quite happy to oblige till the moment I walked into the room we had found to do this in.  

My original plan had been to use the natural ambient light from the window and add a little fill flash to do the rest.  Walking into that room I knew I would have a challenge because the day was especially gloomy and the walls of the room were a pale yellow on one side and grayish-green on the other.  And we had only about 10 mins. to complete this in, so I just had to finally resort to a studio-type shot after a few test shots failed to yield the results.  So, we closed the blinds on the window, and I used the blind as the background for this.  There were too many door and window frames that had to be avoided as well as some very curious eyes watching us from behind the glass panels! :-S

Ceiling-bounced flash, and not much else went into this.  Shallow DoF at f/5.6 because the room wasn't very large and I couldn't get too much distance between background and subject.  

Day 265 - 100 Days to Go! Yay!

After much deliberation, I decided I needed the rest more than I needed shots of the sunset.  And I'm really happy I didn't go out to get them because what started off as a beautiful day ended in being overcast just around the time of sunset.  So, I secretly lauded myself for prioritizing on my rest.

I coaxed my son into sitting for me again this evening, because I wanted to try cross-lighting with my flashes.  I set up one flash at 45 deg behind the subject to camera left as the rim light, and used my diffuser on the other flash that I had on camera.

Most disappointingly, my on-camera flash gave out after I'd just taken the first 3 or 4 shots.  I am not sure whether it was the batteries that caused the problem, or if it was the flash itself.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that it isn't my flash - I've been having trouble with the mechanics from day 1.  The locks on the shoe-mount are really hard to turn, and the flash just doesn't sit properly on my camera's shoe-mount either, giving me enough cause to freak out at every sudden movement of the camera.

This first image was done with the cross-lighting set up as I've mentioned earlier.  I had set it to 1/8 power and 85 mm zoom, to get a narrower beam of light.  My on-camera flash was set at 1/2 power, as this was my key light, and I had the diffuser on it as well.  Further, I bounced the flash off the ceiling.   I kept the shutter down to 1/60s to be able to get the ambient overhead light as well.  This created a hint of shoulder light on the left shoulder of the subject, but I would have like it to be more pronounced, so the separation would be clearer.

The image below was taken with only a single light set-up after one of my flashes malfunctioned.  I side-bounced the flash on the wall to the right of camera and used a white foam core board to the right of the subject (left of camera) as reflector to fill in the shadows a little bit.  It didn't do a fabulous job as the reflector was at least 6 ft away from the wall, but it was better than when I used no reflector at all.

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!  

Day 244 - Stack of Crackers

Quick post with my 18 - 55 lens, f/5.6, 1/200s ISO 100, flash powered at 1/32, placed at 60 deg in front of subject to right of camera.

And with that, good night!  I'm definitely in need of sleep after getting barely any last night.

Day 223 - Relearning the Alphabet: The Letter "J"

Starts with J - J for Jujubes

Please don't blame me, if in the next few days you forget your alphabet and relearn it slightly .. ahem.. differently (read backwards).

Well, as I'm running out of inspiration again, and the weather isn't helping, I thought I'd start something I have been wanting to do for a while, but had put on the back burner.  So, while I still had a small supply of jujubes, I decided to start my alphabet with J.

These images were made with the 90mm lens, with the lights off, external flash fired at 1/8 power level, light bounced off the ceiling.  The ISO was jacked up to 1600.

90 mm, f/20.0, 1/8s, WB set to Flash 

90 mm, f/14.0, 1/8s, WB set to Flash 

90 mm, f/9.0, 1/8s, WB set to Flash 

The colour cast is a little disappointing in the last one, and I'm not quite sure why that happened.  I kept the post-processing to a minimum - removing colour cast, increasing exposure, contrast and a bit of sharpening.

Please help me out with ideas for the other letters of the alphabet!

Day 215 - Christmas Theme (Pt. 4)

Just a continuation of the Christmas theme I'd started way back in October.  The first one was a quick shot while I was playing with the flash and got bored from not getting what I wanted.  

I also took the opportunity to get a little bit more comfortable using the monopod.  Although I found a couple more ways to be more effective and efficient with the tool, I'm absolutely convinced that you can't use it for anything slower than 1/8s shutter speeds if you want to get any sharpness out of your shots.   In fact, I think I'm steadier when hand holding my shots at 0.5 secs, than I am with the monopod at 1/8s!  Now, that's something!

154 mm, 1/10s, f/5.6, ISO 400, Shutter Priority, AWB

I had to use Shutter Priority because I wanted to fix the minimum shutter speed to avoid camera shake.

154 mm, 1/100s, f/6.3, ISO 400, WB set to Flash, but later adjusted in Lightroom, Manual Mode, Flash fired at -2 stops, external flash fired powered down to 1/8, placed 6 inches to right of subject and bounced off ceiling.  Phewww!  That was a long description! 

I'm not very happy with the second image.  The background is quite cluttered in this one, and could definitely have been better composed.  But as far as light is concerned, I think it's a slight improvement over previous tries.  I'm yet to figure out the power levels on my external flash - maybe I'm reading the levels all wrong as there are no markings on the bars to show the different levels and the one page user guide that came with it was mostly written in Chinese (at the expense of sounding ignorant, I wouldn't know if it was Mandarin or Cantonese).  Maybe the mystery will one day be solved?  Maybe I'll break down and Google it one day!

But meanwhile I'm definitely considering a light kit.  But the dilemma is always which one to get first - camera body, lens or light?  

Any suggestions?

Day 177 - I messed it up!

I couldn't believe how I could mess up the focus so completely today despite being on a tripod.  I know I'm feeling exhausted, but that's not an excuse! :(

I was trying directional flash today, and again failed at getting the right amount of flash from my YN460.  Finally, resorted to using mixed light sources - the overhead tungsten with the flash at around 45 deg to the subject to camera right.  I used a white foam board to camera left in an effort to bounce off the flash onto the left flower which was in the shadows.  I don't think that really worked well and in the end the overhead light came to the rescue.

I didn't see any point in processing the shots at all, so just adjusted the white balance and blacks.

135 mm, f/5.0, 1/2s, ISO 100, flash as described above.  

Day 156 - Guilty of too much indulgence

This is my new trinket!  Did I need it?  Of course not!  Did I want it?  Well, d'oh!

Ok.. that has been my conversation with myself for the past few hours - ever since I walked into the store I dread walking into.  Anyway, too late now.  I've been feeling really unwell all evening, and I'm consoling myself that it's not the guilt, but probably the 'flu that's killing me.  (Let's hope it's not the 'flu;  I have places to go tomorrow.)

So down to the photoshoot - I was experimenting with my flash again.  I set it to full power about a foot and a half away from the subject to camera left.  I used a white foam board to bounce the light of the flash onto the watch.  All other light sources were turned off.  I held the board just in front of the on-camera flash (powered down to -2 stops because I was using it to trigger the slave flash), so it wouldn't fire directly on the subject.

I used my 90mm lens and shot them all on manual exposure.

The first shot is SOOC.

F7.1, 1/200s, ISO 100

The next one here was without a flash.  When I was processing this, I realized that I could see the colourful reflections of my jammies (see the shot above) on the watch dial, and therefore decided to turn this into a B&W.  I think I like the B&W better.

f32.0, 10s, ISO 200

This next one was flashed with the reflector bent at an angle towards the subject which added that darker part at the top half of the image; I only added a little clarity and luminance in post.

f9.0, 1/200s, ISO 200

This last one was shot with the on- camera flash powered up now to 0, and then covered with the hand.  

f7.1, 1/200s, ISO 100

Day 150 - Indoor portrait experiments

Another photo club meeting activity.  We had to stay indoors because of not-so-nice weather, so decided to use light from different sources to see how the photos turned out.  I have to admit that flash photography is probably not my forte, although I definitely mean to conquer that challenge.  I still prefer the use of ambient light and I hope for my own sake that I learn to use the flash.  Otherwise, winter is going to be a long and boring season with not much to keep me company.

Here are a few before and after shots. I used my on-camera flash at -2 stops to add a little fill light on one, and used a white foam board as a reflector on another.  I was using my 90 mm lens as well, hoping that the f2.8 would help with the low light inside the room we chose to experiment in.

The left frame is with the reflector and the right one is with on-camera flash.

This one was my favourite using just ambient light.  

The photos below are from the photo shoot we did recently with Jim Royal (in the first two pictures below). He was our instructor on how to use reflectors in portraiture.  The location in the first image was a covered area with light shafts coming in through the openings.  We used a silver reflector to catch the sunlight and then used a foam board to catch the reflection bouncing off the silver one to direct it to the face.  This helped soften the strong reflection of the silver one and created a beautiful smooth light.  

The one below was taken with the subject standing with the sun to the right of the camera, and a reflector to the left of the camera.  I didn't really like the yellowish cast which I found too strong, and therefore decided to change this to B&W.  I think I like this much better.

This one was with the subject facing away from the sun, with a reflector held just below the face, outside of camera frame.

Day 149 - Bailey's filled chocolates

I am starting to get into indoor mode already.  So, the first thing I did was to dust off my external flash that I had bought a few months ago and started experimenting with it.  I recently bought a few coloured bristol boards to use as backdrops, so along with my backgrounds, flash, and a steel serving tray that I use as a reflector, I got to work.

I used my 90mm lens for this shoot as the weather was pretty gloomy and I needed a faster lens to keep the ISO as low as possible.  I still had to have it at 400.  Most were shot in manual mode with the exception of the last one that was shot on AV.

With flash at a 60 deg angle to camera right at 1/64 power.

 Same set up but with flash at 1/16 power. 

 Off camera flash was pointed at the ceiling at 75 deg.  The on-camera flash was covered with a piece of paper to filter off the light since the camera was barely a foot away from the subject.  

This one is SOOC, shot only with ambient light. I think this is by far my favourite shot.

The top one was shot with the flash to camera right, at 1/16, and the steel tray used as reflector to cast a kind of rim light on the chocolate to the right at back.  The bottom shot was with ambient light and the reflector at camera right.

One of the last shots of the evening, I had a really hard time exposing the chocolate in focus.  I intentionally kept it away from the window side so I could use my flash/reflector to see how that would work.  I can't say I like this one much at all, but it was a good exercise to see how I could work with it. 

A fun shot - I seem to like doing this a lot lately! ;)

This was actually the very first shot that I used as the basis for the rest of the shoot.