tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91569950681663713772024-03-14T05:22:41.089-04:00aperryProductions - Alex Perry - PhotographerWashington DC Photographer, specializing in on-location portraits and events, shares his trials, stories, and outcomes.Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15410063493961973430noreply@blogger.comBlogger89125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156995068166371377.post-45728332044273547902011-09-13T15:52:00.004-04:002011-09-13T16:06:42.162-04:00Vacation Re-Charge<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v29/p751212625-4.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 800px;" src="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v29/p751212625-4.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>
<div>Nothing like a multi-week vacation to let things re-charge!<div>I took this with a 15mm canon fisheye lens on Illetas Beach, Mallorca, Spain right about here:</div><div>
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Also featured here:<br />
<a href="http://dcist.com/2011/04/saturday_heres_to_trash_pickup_phot.php">http://dcist.com/2011/04/saturday_heres_to_trash_pickup_phot.php</a><br />
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What I loved about this session was the family had it in their minds that they wanted black and whites, but once they saw all of the colors their minds were changed!<br />
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I did bring a flash with me, just in case, but it turned out necessary and wasn't very practical trying to chase the little one around!
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I did not, however include another one of my favorite pictures I grabbed while running backwards trying to keep up with Olive skipping down the pier......one of my lenses fell out of my lens bag and went bouncing down the concrete. Luckily it landed first on the lens hood and was caught before any rolling towards the water occurred, so no damage done - one great reason to use a lens hood.
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It's always nice in the winter to remember the warm days of summer. So today is a post about <a href="http://www.biketothebeach.org/">Bike to the Beach</a>.<br />
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Last year my wife, a speech pathologist, decided she wanted to give cycling a try and what better way to try something out than to go head strong into it. Someone in her community recommended she check out Bike to the Beach, an annual awareness / fundraising bike ride from downtown DC to the Atlantic Ocean (>100 miles) to benefit <a href="http://www.autismspeaks.org/">Autism Speaks</a>. It was perfect, it gave her something to work towards and benefited something she cared about I had other commitments at the time and decided not to train for the actual event (or embarrass myself in trying) but thought I might be able to lend some assistance and volunteer as a photographer. The organizers jumped at the idea.<br />
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In preparing for any assignment the most important thing is figuring out what your client wants, even volunteer assignments. And the priorities seemed to be 1) group shot of everyone at the end; 2) documentation of sponsor integration and 3) anything else I can get along the way is an added benefit but not essential. Luckily my wife's friend was training with her and her brother was going to come along too, meaning we had an extra car and an extra driver making that many more shots possible.<br />
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Here are a few shots from before the start I took using a portable light stand.<br />
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I started thinking about how to get shots of the start while leaving the the city and at top speeds. Based on my previous <a href="http://blog.aperryproductions.com/2009/11/cua-race-judicata.html">experience</a>. I knew some roping / harness would be involved. Because the race started at 4 in the morning I'd only be working with whatever street light ambient there was in addition to whatever flash I could muster.<br />
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I knew that the further you can get your flash away from the camera lens axis the better the lighting will be, and the less chance of getting horrible reflections. But I also knew that once we started moving I wouldn't exactly have a lot of opportunities to adjust equipment for fear of either losing something out of the back of an open SUV. I decided the best solution was to leave the hatch of the newer model Honda CRV open with two flashes ganged together clamped to the inside handle of the back hatch. This gave me the flexibility to shut the hatch if we needed to pick up speed and get somewhere and some off-axis flash. I also kept an on-camera flash just in case.<br />
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The thing to realize is that the further your subject gets away from the flash the more apparent on-axis your flash becomes....this is simple trigonometry, take look here:<br />
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So no matter where I put a flash on the vehicle I'd run into on-axis problems the further we got from the riders. I attempted to get some ambient shots only, but with the moving riders it seemed hopeless, so I attempted to get something more "stationary" trying to keep the capitol dome in focus, but with the moving car and DC potholes even my image stabilization couldn't keep up with the exposures necessary before civil twilight.<br />
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So I moved on to my flash. Even though I had two flashes raised high on the right side of the car and I was on the left side of the car, as the distance increased the flatter the image became, but I think this was the best I could have done without a flash on a mo-ped following alongside with the flash and this didn't really have that kind of budget, but I'm open to suggestions.<br />
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You can really see how much the quality of the light improves the the closer we get<br />
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The event had police "escorts" out of the city, who we were told would be leading the way so there was no real need to know the exact route....fortunately/unfortunately the police stopped to prevent traffic from crossing intersections meaning we were left to lead everyone out of the city, so always be prepared!<br />
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One more long exposure shot that I like:<br />
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And here's some motion freezing flash with some background trailing, as you can see not all of my flashes were in rear-curtain sync.<br />
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As the sun started to rise the lighting situation got a bit easier and we could just have fun along the way, here are a few pictures from the journey, below is more explanation of the group photo<br />
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The sky was doing great things that day!<br />
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A quick grab out the passenger window<br />
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More of that great sky! Here I used a bit of on-camera fill flash to light up her face while fighting the sun at the finish line.
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Here's where I started to scope out for a group photo. The event had never ended at this particular location, so I had nothing done previously to work with. Nor did I have an opportunity to make the 3-4 hour trip ahead of time to scope it out. My first thought was getting everyone out on this dock. I could get some sitting with their feet hanging over, some kneeling, standing etc:<br />
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But after discussing with the manager, she said it wouldn't support that many people. Next option: go high! We found a ladder that I could use to get onto the roof. The only problem was the sun was setting directly behind and to the right of my group. Great for preventing squinting, but not when trying to overpower it with small flashes. My solution: add more flashes. Here's a photo a participant grabbed of me directing traffic. Not an easy job when everyone has been cycling for 8 hours and they're several pitchers into the evening.<br />
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Here's My set up. You can see the shadows cast by the sun below. I'm the left most light.<br />
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The light group camera right is actually a total of three (3) lights all on one light stand pointing to the far end of the crowd (read about feathering and distance <a href="http://blog.aperryproductions.com/2010/04/lighting-gym-home-court-follow-up.html">here</a> ). That light tree was my key light. I also included an on-camera flash as my "safety" flash a stop or two below the key light to lift any shadows of faces that were't hit by my key light.<br />
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Here's the final image. Note shadow cast by the sun and the chair in the bottom right of the image. Also note the shadow cast by my light tree and the people in bottom right directly in front of the banner. As you can see the flashes aren't nearly as powerful as the sun, but still doing a pretty darn good job for late July at the beach.<br />
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All in all a great event! They raised a lot of money and I feel good getting to lend a hand.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
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These shoots are always a little difficult because the grown ups never ask the babies about their schedule. Ian did quite well as long as he was being held, so we worked with it! <br />
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<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/s9/v13/p554273974-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/s9/v13/p554273974-4.jpg" width="400" /></a>
<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/s10/v16/p995811299-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/s10/v16/p995811299-4.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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Their home had a good amount of light coming through the windows which worked well with the shades down as nice diffuse key light. I added one off camera light on the opposite side of the subjects to help serve as a key when shooting towards the windows, or to help shape out the 3D space from the back of the subjects when shooting sway from the windows.
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In the next picture you can see my off camera light bounced into the ceiling (away from Ian) serving as the key light on the right side of Ian's face (camera left), where the window light is lighting the left side of his forehead.
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<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/s10/v18/p920211279-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/s10/v18/p920211279-4.jpg" width="400" /></a>
<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/s9/v14/p786770352-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/s9/v14/p786770352-4.jpg" width="400" /></a>
<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/s9/v13/p919078630-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/s9/v13/p919078630-4.jpg" width="400" /></a>
<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/s10/v17/p840065231-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/s10/v17/p840065231-4.jpg" width="400" /></a>
<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/s8/v10/p687875024-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/s8/v10/p687875024-4.jpg" width="400" /></a>
<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/s10/v2/p752055701-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/s10/v2/p752055701-4.jpg" width="400" /></a>
<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/s10/v17/p720165552-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/s10/v17/p720165552-5.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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All of that yawning was a good sign we could start to let him calm down and attempt some solo missions. We got him down on his back on the play mat (probably called something else, fisher-price don't be offended) and grabbed some good shots using the great color in all of these children's toys.
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<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/s7/v7/p631939025-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/s7/v7/p631939025-4.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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Although we could never get him alone in the bed, we were able to seize it as a perfect opportunity to grab some other shots. I used two very good parent models I just happen to have lying around that house that day and we got some great shots of Ian sleeping.
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<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/s8/v10/p821148695-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/s8/v10/p821148695-4.jpg" width="400" /></a>
<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/s10/v18/p821328193-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/s10/v18/p821328193-4.jpg" width="400" /></a>
<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/s8/v10/p754816995-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/s8/v10/p754816995-5.jpg" width="400" /></a>
<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/s10/v17/p662458412-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/s10/v17/p662458412-4.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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And not to ruin the tranquility of this last shot, but the rings were definitely thrown across the room once or twice. The kid's got an arm!
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No mater the culture, the similarities in young children are astounding. Here you can see a small amount of the embarrassment felt by the young girl as she approached the group, but still her joy out of being a little in the spotlight just like the musicians.<br />
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Shot on aperture priority mode -1/3 EV with a 24-70mm
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<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/s5/v4/p57064415-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/s5/v4/p57064415-4.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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I spent much of August (and a little more than anticipated on account of my wife's stolen passport) in Ecuador. It's always a pain lugging a camera around with me for my trips, but I wouldn't be happy with myself if I didn't, and I think it's well worth it. I made a few sacrifices in flexibility here and there to gain the benefit of weight, portability, and security, but I'll save that for the posts about the jungle involving water. For now, I just wanted to share one of my favorite images from the trip. It's in the top 5, but don't make choose between those.<BR><BR>
<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/s8/v10/p51851150-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/s8/v10/p51851150-4.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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Several reasons this image almost didn't happen, but the main one is because a Gringo from the US taking pictures of locales is cliche. Sure, the photos we see of locals in Nat Geo along with other travel magazines are amazing, they give us a glimpse into worlds we can only dream of. But usually those photographers get a chance to live and exist with the people, and most importantly gain some of their respect in the process.<BR><BR>
My wife and I had been exploring the <a href="http://www.ecuadorexplorer.com/html/otavalo.html">Otavalo</a> market for a bit and because my wife is so fascinated by all things South American she stopped to not only shop and our subject's booth, but also to strike up a conversation with her about the materials and methods used to make her fabrics and jewelry (in Spanish of course because she's that good). My wife even received an explanation about the traditional clothing and necklaces she wore. I'd share that with you now, but once our merchant saw how genuinely interested my wife was in her art, my eyes honed in on the spark in our merchant's eyes and my ears shut off to start seeing photos available (I'm not sure if both eyes and ears not working at the same time is a condition of a photographer or just of my sex). <BR><BR>
Regardless, I could tell at this point it wouldn't be inappropriate to ask if I could take her photograph. I asked graciously though my wife, and she accepted. One frame, aperture priority exposed at -2/3. It's a difficult balance between taking photos and experiencing your trip, but sometimes they can be one in the same. Luckily my wife <I>probably</I> listens better, so I can share the photo with her, and she can share the story with me.<BR><BR> The people of Otavalo were gracious and willing to share their story, so if you ever go, I encourage you to ask.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
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Terrific time with Baby Mara a few weeks ago where she was kind enough to share her parents with with me and teach me a little bit about "tummy-time"<br />
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We started off in the family room on the first floor.
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<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/s8/v9/p67531617-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/s8/v9/p67531617-4.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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You can see from the diagram below I was dealing with two windows. I had one window with a good amount of light coming in behind them, and one on the other side of the room that wasn't helping much. One of the strategies I always work when dealing with this type of shoot, is set up more then you need for one particular picture, that way when you transition there will be another light ready for something you didn't think of. Because I'm using radiopopper <a href="http://shop.radiopopper.com/radiopopperjrxsystem.aspx">JRX</a>s, I can adjust the lights if need be throughout the shoot without ever stopping the action. <br />
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As you can see below, I went with one light up into the ceiling by one window, and a second light in the dining room creating a chunk of lighting (can lighting chunk?) coming in through the door-way. That way when we were on the floor the first light would be my main light, and the second would be fill/separation, and while we were on the couch the second light would be main and the first would be separation. Don't forget that back-light window is still a light source!<br />
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<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/s5/v4/p475019565.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/s5/v4/p475019565.jpg" width="320" /></a>
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You can see the dining room light in this "tummy-time" photo
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<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/s9/v15/p443103659-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/s9/v15/p443103659-4.jpg" width="266" /></a>
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Next up was a great room upstairs that was in a wonderful blue color and had this great trunk that added some good elements in the photo. Here's a rough diagram (note there's a curtain in there). Again I use the two windows plus one light to reduce the contrast just enough to ensure they're all not backlit:
<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/s8/v9/p534761823.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/s8/v9/p534761823.jpg" width="320" /></a>
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Once we got everyone on the floor, everything was great! Mara went for noses, she went for glasses, and had a great time.
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<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/s8/v9/p11221838-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/s8/v9/p11221838-4.jpg" width="266" /></a>
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This one's my favorite!
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<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/s9/v14/p34092417-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/s9/v14/p34092417-4.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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One of the criteria for the shoot was to work in two hand-made blankets that were made for Mara as gifts. We grabbed a few of the family (just enough blanket in this one, but I happen to like it)<br />
<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/s8/v9/p189544228-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/s8/v9/p189544228-4.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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I decided to get her laying on the second one to work in the radiator in the back for an interesting element. I like how all of the colors of the blanket and the wall really pop. The non-curtained window is coming in from camera left rimming out Mara, while the flash is providing the catch light in her eye. In the above photo you can see both the window and the flash in her right eye (camera left).<br />
<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/s5/v4/p142138982-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/s5/v4/p142138982-4.jpg" width="266" /></a>
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Last but not least we spent some time in the backyard on the swing and in the grass (but in the shade the entire time because it was 95F that day. I won't post any more, but here's one family shot that I enjoyed using their fence and backdrop.<br />
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Not much to talk about technically, one camera, one lens, although I did do some pt-lens fish-eye correction on the sunset landscape just so you could see some results.<BR><BR>
Overall I think it's an incredibly fun lens that's great for informal settings. I wouldn't rely on this solely for an event, but certainly wouldn't hesitate to push its limits a little bit and of course use them for the over-all shots we're all used to.
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This lens does not have ultrasonic focusing like my other lenses, so it's a little hard to get used and at first you think that the lens is broken, but this is normal. Because of the 15mm focal length this lens has extreme depth of field, and the hyperfocal distance is incredibly short, so even if your focus is a bit slow, you'll probably capture what you need to.
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<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v12/p652744979-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Washington, DC Event and wedding photographer" border="0" height="400" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/v12/p652744979-4.jpg" width="266" /></a>
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These are the first few sample shots I took after having the lens for about 3 hours while my Wife and Father-in-law went out for a quick dinner in the beautiful whether Thursday evening.<BR><BR>
This first image above shows us the extremely close focal distance. Note: I usually don't whip out the camera at the dinner table, but as our trainee waitress' trainer failed to show up we were stuck with the trainee which drew out every aspect of our meal by three fold. We didn't mind so much because of the perfect evening.
<br><BR>
This next image is an image you traditionally notice with fisheyes, any verticles are extremely distorted, but still interesting. (BTW the new self-checkouts at the Eastern Market CVS have greatly improved the lines)
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<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v14/p764951475-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Washington, DC Event and wedding photographer" border="0" height="400" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/v14/p764951475-5.jpg" width="266" /></a>
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The lens is also great for scenics....of course be careful when snapping pictures from the crosswalk.
<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v18/p1066774849-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Washington, DC Event and wedding photographer" border="0" height="400" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/v18/p1066774849-4.jpg" width="266" /></a>
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I've decided this will be my wide angle lens on an upcoming trip out of the country (along with my 24-70mm) and I'll leave my 16-35mm at home. Using inexpensive software you can easily "de-fish images."
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<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v16/p997033047-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/v16/p997033047-3.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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I used <a href="http://epaperpress.com/ptlens/">PT-Lens</a>, an easy to use software with sliders for various lens corrections and automatic correction for most major lenses (just not fisheyes). This was my first try with PT-Lens and I need to figure out the best way to use it as my setting aren't quite right yet, but you can see the ability to take a fisheye and transform it into a great wide angle shot.
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<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v17/p1020694153-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="193" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/v17/p1020694153-3.jpg" width="400" /></a>
<BR><BR> I've rented this lens for weddings before so already knew what I could get with it, but can't wait to spend some quality time with it.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
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Most of these are a mix of natural window light and flash. The flash was on a stand and usually pointed up into the ceiling to provide a large fill source. <BR><BR>
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(Part of her name has been blurred for privacy)
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<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v18/p663211346-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/v18/p663211346-5.jpg" width="200" /></a>
<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v18/p689893031-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/v18/p689893031-5.jpg" width="200" /></a>
<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v18/p605048821-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/v18/p605048821-4.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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We had to lure the dog in with some treats...but he was quite protective of her, and wouldn't eat anything close to baby....I guess that's a good thing!
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<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v7/p620073116-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/v7/p620073116-4.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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This morning's crisp air reminded me of the brisk of autumn!<br />
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Kristen and Jimmie trekked down to DC last week during the hottest day of the spring (I think it topped out at 90) and that's hot for the beginning of April. Things have cooled down a bit around here, but the days are still counting down for their summer wedding.<br />
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Things started off pretty quiet, but, as you can see, Jimmie is a big ham we all had a great time.<br />
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Here are a few of my favorites:
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Besides starting off this post with a lighting diagram, you also get one of the best looking mascots around!
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<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v10/p966065448-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/v10/p966065448-4.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v4/p713294064-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/v4/p713294064-3.jpg" width="212" /></a>
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This is a follow up post to when I announced the Home Court Game <a href="http://blog.aperryproductions.com/2010/03/hoops-congress-vs-professors-benefit.html">last week</a> check out that post for why there's a bunch of congressman on the court. <br />
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Rarely do we ever do a new technique on our own, but what we do add is our implementation. The trick isn't to copy some one else word for word, because that will NEVER work, it's to learn, understand what's going on, and apply that to your current situation while adapting to what gets thrown at you. This is based on David Hobby's gym <a href="http://strobist.blogspot.com/2007/02/on-assignment-speedlighting-college-gym.html">post</a>.
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I started off in my head with the plan. I had clamps ready...I'd get two lights about half court...good to go. Alas, several problems: 1) No aisle in the center bleachers 2)There was a stage on the opposite side with more bleachers on them 3) there were chairs behind both hoops with about 2 feet of space to the court. 4) I have about 5 minutes to convert everything to take a good looking (I hope) group picture during half time.
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My solutions: I wedge a light stand in the top row foot well and caution taped a small box around it. I had to hide a light in a plant at the corner of the stage so as not to block the view of those on the stage bleachers. I clamped a light to a chin-up bar behind the hoop. More on the group shot below.
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The key to David Hobby's tri-lighting is to make sure your lights are high enough and angled slightly above the court, so the most powerful center part of the beam doesn't hit anyone directly until they're on the other side of the court, this together with the light fall off (inverse square law) will yield even light on one half of the court. Any place where someone is catching a little too much light on one side their back is usually turned to it and I don't mind the rim lighting being a little hot. Let's take a look at some photos.<br />
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Here you can see the nice even light in the key. I'm able to get decent ambient with motion stopping at ISO 640, 1/200th, f/3.2.<br />
<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v12/p815100483-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/v12/p815100483-3.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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Looking across the other side I can position myself to catch the players in front of the light for interesting back lighting:<br />
<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v10/p775160341-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/v10/p775160341-4.jpg" width="266" /></a>
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But even if they're not covering the light, You'll get the spot light effect which I don't mind...makes for something different. Really look at the shadows cast by the players, gives you an idea of the light intensity coming from my lights.:<br />
<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v0/p718116082-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/v0/p718116082-4.jpg" width="266" /></a>
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Here you can see even when Rep. Baca is standing just in front of the light, the light is high enough to give him some nice rim lighting, yet not nuke him (the light is just inside that corner in left part of the frame - just a bit higher and angled up slightly):<br />
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President Obama's "Body Man", Reggie Love (also former Duke NCAA basketball champion) made a surprise visit. Here you can see the same effect on the other side of the court, only the rim light above become the front light, and the roles are reversed.....I love physics. The hoop light is also angled up so #3 is bright, just not too bright.<br />
<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v8/p579598791-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/v8/p579598791-3.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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I even got pretty decent light all the way to center court:<br />
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<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v8/p928333225-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/v8/p928333225-3.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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A few more before the group shot:<br />
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Keep in mind, I always have complete control from my camera. Not only do I also keep an on-camera flash ready for fill if I'm caught someplace my off-camera lights won't be able to handle, I can also change the power of my lights, or turn them off with my jrx transmitter. Here's one where my on camera flash provided the fill, with my mounted lights providing some highlights:
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<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v8/p1053296648-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/v8/p1053296648-3.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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For the group shot, I again took another page out of the book of Sir <a href="http://strobist.blogspot.com/2009/10/qna-big-group-in-big-dark-room.html">Hobby</a>. Ideally for the group shot I would moved the stage light way out to the right onto the floor and had my key light camera left instead of right. But I had very limited time to change set-ups, while dealing with people sitting in the bleachers! So I just turned the stage light and pointed it out to center court, this would act as my separation light. I did the same thing for my bleacher light (this would become my on axis fill- I moved it closer to half court than the lighting diagram suggests). I moved my hoop light and clamped it to the a bleacher aisle rail and cranked up the juice (this became my key). Here's a new lighting diagram:<br />
<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v12/p954594927-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="219" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/v12/p954594927-3.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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The first group was nice and small so I could eliminate the rim light. The bottom right is a little darker than I would have liked because I couldn't get my key much higher than a waste high railing in the aisle on the bleachers with everyone getting on and off the bleachers at the same time, I couldn't risk putting a stand over there, but the fill/ambient was enough to ensure he was brought out of the depths of the darkness:<br />
<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v10/p985924237-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/v10/p985924237-4.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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Back row, from left: Reps. Laura Richardson (D-Calif.), Michael Arcuri (D-N.Y.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Mervyn Jones, Jr., Brad Ellsworth (D-Ind.), Andre Carson (D-Ohio), and Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.). Front row: Reps. Gene Green (D-Texas), Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.), Joe Baca (D-Calif.), Frank Kratovil (D-Md.) and John Boccieri (D-Ohio). Senators Casey and Thune were stuck in health care debate and weren't able to make it.<br />
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For the entire group I had to pull way back showing off my rim light, but in the end I don't mind it. Gives it a red-carpet feel! Not bad light coverage for a couple of shoe mount flashes.<br />
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This year is the 23rd annual meeting of the Hill's Angels and the Hoya Lawyas, and every year the game continues to be the Legal Clinic's largest source of funds each year. The Game is Wednesday, 24 March at 7:30pm, see the Home Court <a href="http://www.homecourtdc.org">website</a> for details.<BR><BR>
Here are photos from last years game where I had a lot of liberty to roam the court and try a few different things.<BR><BR>
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For this I was carrying a small portable light stand around to try and put some excitement in it. Turns a simple stretch into something a little more edgy.
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<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v10/p344636464-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/v10/p344636464-5.jpg" width="266" /></a>
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Here you can see some of my light set-up for the action...although here I was dragging the shutter a bit to show motion it shows how I clamped a light to one of the half court backboards, David Hobby <a href="http://strobist.blogspot.com/2007/02/on-assignment-speedlighting-college-gym.html">style</a>. Unfortunately, I was a little timid on my power settings (I didn't want to hang battery backs above heads). Fortunately, I've sold all of my Pocket wizards and am now using radiopopper JRx's so I can change the power setting from my camera! I love these things! Also note: high school gyms are not lit as well as college gyms.
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There were two lights on either side of the court (on one half of the court) pointing towards the key of one hoop. I added my own on camera fill, and clearly the ambient was doing most of the work.
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I think the last photo helps capture the sheer be-wonderment of the little ones.<BR><BR>
There's also a slideshow at the end with a few more.
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<BR><BR>
A recent fun and exciting Bat Mitzvah is lending itself well to discuss several lighting techniques, so I'm going to break it up over a few different Posts.
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This dance floor was lit with a combination of 3 lights. Two lights on opposite corners facing eachother (cross lighting). These two lights were remotely controlled in manual using a radiopopper JRx remote. The third light is on camera TTL (dialed back a few stops) and <a href="http://blog.aperryproductions.com/2010/02/flagging-your-light-all-bounce.html">flagged</a> to create all directional light. The on camera light was pointing back and to camera right almost perpendicular to the guest of honor's left shoulder and into the ceiling.<br />
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The motion blur was created by freezing my subjects motion with the flash and then dragging the shutter .4 seconds while panning the camera to keep up with the subject. Ideally I would have switched over to rear curtain sync, but I saw the photo and had to take it rather than button mash for 5 seconds. The final photo was taken at ISO 500,0.4secs @ f/4, 16mm.
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I'm going to have more on the cross lighting in the future, but here's another fun one from the evening.<br /><BR>
<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v0/p13347440-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/v0/p13347440-4.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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ISO 500, 1/60sec @ f/4, 16mm
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You can see the cross lighting exemplified by the shadows coming off of the balloons on the ceiling. You can see one of my lights in the lower right hand corner of the photo. Not quite as much fill here because she was higher up and more light was reaching here so I dialed back even further and bounced my flagged light over my left shoulder into the wall/ceiling.<BR><BR>
If I would have just used a standard bounce card, or 45 degree with a plastic diffuser, the gentleman in the front would have been lit up like a rocket ship. By flagging my light I keep control over it and make the photo I want to make.
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Soon I'll be giving more examples from this event with single lighting, a makeshift studio, and more cross lighting examples....stay tuned.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
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Both of these photos were lit with 5 lights. Two large soft boxes on either side, one boomed and gridded beauty dish coming in from over the camera, and two snooted speedlights riming the back corners. <BR><BR>
ISO 200, 1/200 sec @ f/9, 70mm and 32mm respectively
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I love his warm expression in the first photo
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<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v2/p1059822233.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="592" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/v2/p1059822233.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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In this photo Joseph is speaking to law students about his experiences with the judicial system.
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First let me preface this by saying I'm not certainly not the first to come up with this technique. Most of this is application of things I've learned from Neil van Niekerk's site, specifically <a href="http://neilvn.com/tangents/2009/12/22/black-light-modifier/">here</a>. He's got some of the best resources for on-camera flash.<br />
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When photographing events, I commonly run into the same problem, a group of people are talking and I'm stuck behind them. Taking a photo with a typically white card give me problems; there is still direct flash or high intensity bounce (off of the white card) going straight forward. Because light follows the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverse-square_law">inverse square law</a> the light hitting the closest person back of the head is that much more powerful than my subject's face. Here take a look at this example.
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<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v8/p405590856-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/v8/p405590856-4.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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For this photo I have my flash pointing straight up with a white card between me and the flash head. If I would have tilted the flash forward, the effect would have been more pronounced as there would have been even more direct path from the flash tube to the back of the head. there is still bounce getting to my subject, but it's lost with the direct light.
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<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v10/p6603476-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/v10/p6603476-4.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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The trick is to flag off the direct light, so only bounce is available.
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<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v9/p434887609-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/v9/p434887609-4.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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Here's another look at the result:
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<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v11/p144348681-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/v11/p144348681-4.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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Other photographers may laugh at you because everything they've learned says "white card on the back, 45 degree bounce" but the light quality speaks for itself. Thanks Niel for all the pointers!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
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Taken at f/10 @ 16 mm, 1/400 sec, ISO 320,
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When I first get to a room (at least 5 minutes early) I set my WB to daylight and I take a test shot with flash just outside the room. The door frame acts as divider preventing my flash from spilling into the room I'll be shooting (the back room). As you can see, my flash is much less orange-er than the back room. <BR><BR>
<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v4/p229408899.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/v4/p229408899.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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I thought adding 1/2 cut of CTS (been using more than CTO lately) would be enough.....I was wrong. It's close, but still not orange enough.<BR><BR>
<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v1/p212834032.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/v1/p212834032.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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So, I remove the 1/2 CTS and add a Full Cut of CTS (the only difference is the full cut is darker than the 1/2 cut - technically I could add two 1/2 cuts...but who wants to do math while taking pictures!). I take another picture and this looks much better and balanced. Now the flash looks like it's creating the same color as the room. <BR><BR>
<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v4/p347282661.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/v4/p347282661.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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I also carry around a 14" foldable <a href="http://www.amazon.com/PhotoVision-One-Shot-Calibration-Collapsible-Exposure/dp/B000E44QNE">calibration target</a>. Does a grey card work? yes, but I've had good experience with this, it was a gift, and has a built in reflector on the back that comes in handy. I take a picture filling the circle in a Canon viewfinder with the grey center and take an image.
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<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v10/p510120882.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/v10/p510120882.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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Then I go into the camera menu, assign that image to the custom white balance, and then change my white balance setting to custom (check your manual)....voila! Here's the outcome:
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<a href="http://www.aperryproductions.com/img/v8/p263403435.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.aperryProductions.com/img/v8/p263403435.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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It's always a good idea to go around getting your custom white balance images for the various locations in a shoot before hand and leaving the images on the front of the card. That way if you jump locations mid shoot, you can scroll immediately to the front by going past your last image taken, re-set the custom balance to your location and continue shooting.
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Keep in mind, when there are different colored lights it won't be perfect. The room I shot in after this had Tungsten wall sconces, green overhead fluorescents, and daylight puring through windows all around.....just do the best you can!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
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I had about 5 feet of depth to work with and a beam of direct sunlight pouring across my frame, but all of that pales in comparison to getting a 3 year old to sit still in a room full of other 3 year olds and a table full of sugar designed especially for you.
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Well, we couldn't get him to face the opposite direction for the second shot, but we could get him looking the same way, so I flipped one of the images.....unless you can read hebrew, you can't notice. Not ideal, but when a 3 year old is your boss......you do what you're told!<br />
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Simple studio was a roll of black seamless paper. A Nikon SB-28 in an umbrella high center as key. Another SB-28 in an umbrella low (as in on the ground) center, and an electrically modded Vivitar 285HV back right as a small rim. All controlled remotely with my radiopopper JRx's and fired from a Canon! (I love technology)
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Shot at ISO 50, F/5, 1/200 sec, @70mm
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<a href="http://aperryproductions.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p756874826-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://aperryproductions.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p756874826-4.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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But what really takes the cake is the cake his mom made from scratch. And yes, those are cake cars racing around an icing track with a giant cake Yarmulke in the middle (amazing)! And in case you're wondering, she also hand paints Yarmulkes and Tzitzit, that you can find on her <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/chanaesther">Etsy</a> site.
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<a href="http://aperryproductions.zenfolio.com/img/v5/p703647449.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://aperryproductions.zenfolio.com/img/v5/p703647449-4.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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