What! (Day 16)

What! (Day 16), originally uploaded by Tj6106.
Tonight I wanted to try separating a black material from a black background with light. So I chose the hat and used black cardboard stuck to the wall to achieve this and I think I managed it.

I used a snooted speedlite above and behind me to give the definition at the back and the shoot-through umbrella to give the lighting for the face and front of the hat.

Well this is my last strobist shot for a week. I head out to Boston tomorrow morning for a business trip and don't get back till Saturday. So it will be a week of iPhone photos. So don't worry I will still be posting away.

As always comments/suggestions/critique welcomed.

Strobist Info here

Sorrow (Day 15)

Sorrow (Day 15), originally uploaded by Tj6106.
So tonight I wanted to put in a little but extra work and try and learn a bit after my quick shot last night.

So I setup a black seamless background, which I acquired from Kelly's Gran, who is a dress maker. I put this up over our clothes horse and ran it along the ground for the black backdrop.

Next I setup my shoot-through umbrella and took a few test shots. Here I noticed that my head was disappearing into the darkness and so I knew I needed to add a hair light for some definition. I did this by adding a light diagonally opposite the shoot-through.

Now if I had my pick of equipment I would change the way I lit this shot. Firstly I would add two hair lights either side for definition on both sides of my head. Next I would probably move the shoot-through more centrally and change it for a softbox.

As always comments/suggestions/critique welcomed.

Strobist info here.

Hmmmm (Day 14)

Hmmmm (Day 14), originally uploaded by Tj6106.
Tonight's shot was a late night one, just before heading to bed and I wasn't really feeling particularly inspired. So I threw up a couple of lights (wanted just a little flash of light behind me) and took a few quick pictures.

I also forgot to take a setup pic, bad me! So here it is in the old fashioned way:

YN460-II @ 1/2 Bare directly behind me pointed at the wall.
YN460-II @ 1/8 Shoot-through umbrella just to camera right.

Pondering (Day 13)

Pondering (Day 13), originally uploaded by Tj6106.
Tonight I wanted to play about with my lights, create some shadows and see what I can learn.

At first I started off with two lights, one to the back right of the shot and the other front right. This gave a little definition on my (actual) left side but effected the shadow on the wall. I played about and moved it to see if I could use it for hair light etc, but I just didn't feel like it gave anything to the shot. So it went away.

So for this one I ended up with just the single light into the shoot-through umbrella. So with the cream walls in my "studio" (i.e. the spare bedroom :-)) I felt like the single light with the bounce of light of the walls gave enough definition for the shot. It also gave a nice shadow on the wall, which I like.

So guys and girls if you really want to learn, take your time and play about with your shots each day. This might not be perfect but I learned that sometimes one light is just enough.

Here are the strobist details in pictorial form.

And as always critique/suggestions welcomed.

Backed Into A Corner (Day 12)

Backed Into A Corner (Day 12), originally uploaded by Tj6106.
Jeez I seem to be snooting at least one speedlite for most of my shots recently. Guess I just like the narrow and focussed light I am getting. However the DIY snoot can get a bit frustrating to use sometimes. So to help along I am looking at the Honl system. Anyone used it before? Thoughts?

Anyways onto the picture. You ever felt backed into a corner for whatever reason? Well I have and well sometimes you just got to put your "dukes up" and fight your way out or you will be trapped. Thats where the inspiration for this shot came from and I think it comes across quite well, even if I do look a bit too scared :D

Strobist setup here

Knackered (Day 11)

Knackered (Day 11), originally uploaded by Tj6106.
Well after a long weekend of partying and entertaining with it being my birthday and then a long day at work I was knackered. I just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep, BUT I had to get a photo in. So since I was so tired I thought, well lets take a photo of how I feel.

Lets hope I rest up tonight and then I can get editing my photos tomorrow. Night night.

Setup for the shot is here.

Cosy (Day 10)

Cosy (Day 10), originally uploaded by Tj6106.
Its my Birthday so I can take photos if I want to! So I did, as always.

Yes so today I turned 25 (half way to 50, ahhhhhhh!). This is another of my birthday presents but this one is from my future in laws. Its a really really cozy jumped that is "fur" lined totally inside. Let me tell you, this thing is toasty!

For the shot I wanted a coldish feel to it using a speedlite to give a blue cast to the side/back of me. I achieved this by setting the WB to Tungsten Light (32000K) and gelling my keylight with a CTO gel. I then left the other speedlite alone, knowing that it would appear blue with the WB setting. I think it worked OK here but I feel like something is missing here. Suggestions?

On (Day 9)

On (Day 9), originally uploaded by Tj6106.
These are one of my birthday present I got from my mum and dad today (yeah yeah I know its a day early but hey). They are the North Face E-Tip gloves. These bad boys allow you to use your touch screen device (READ: iPhone!) while you are wearing the gloves, Awesome! So while its cold over here I can safely keep my hands warm while using my beloved iPhone.

This is actually Kelly's hand modeling the gloves as it was a rather quick shot before my friends arrived to head out and party. So I forgot to take a setup shot for this one :o, tut tut! So we are just going to have to do the strobist info the old fashioned way:

2 YN460-II Both @ 1/8 snooted either side of the hand.
Canon 450D | 28-135mm USM | f/8 | ISO 100 | 1/200s

Blue (Day 8)

Blue (Day 8), originally uploaded by Tj6106.
Wow its only Day 8 and I feel like I have been taking photos every day for well over a year :p

So this photo kind of evolved over the day. Thinking about lighting angles, composition, wardrobe. So I set up the lights took a few test shots and noticed that my WB wasn't set correctly to flash (52000K) but I kinda like the result. I switched it though to the correct WB and didn't like it, so back it went.

As I have been reading recently you have to like what you shoot, just don't shoot to be technically perfect etc. So with the WB being off here it doesn't bother me as it speaks to me and I like it. So remember its more important for you to like your shots than anyone else.

Then end photo I actually took pretty early on but continued to experiment with angles and composition. When it came to review time this one just jumped out at me.

Strobist info here.

Nemisis (Day 7)

Nemisis (Day 7), originally uploaded by Tj6106.
Another dark shot for tonight.

Inspiration for this is really the lighting setup that I have seen in quite a few photographs around the web. The setup for this shot (shown here) are my speedlites, snooted, behind me pointed at the side to back of my head. In order to get a bit of light onto my face I used a foamboard reflector with tinfoil on it.

This gives really dramatic lighting to a portrait and I really like the way it highlights the shape of faces.

Things I might change? Not sure really. I pretty much like it as is.

And as always, comments/ideas/critique welcomed

I'm Waiting For You (Day 6)

I'm Waiting For You (Day 6), originally uploaded by Tj6106.
So wanted to go back to a more themed SP today and play a bit more with different lighting and angles. This is another edition to my "Secret Agent" series.

In post I wanted to do more editing to this image than I have done in a while. I wanted to get a more gritty/dark look from it to suit the mood in the image.

For the lighting I used my YN-460 Mark II speedlites @ 1/4 snooted with DIY snoots out of paper. This helped me get a spotlight look to the shot, which I didn't really need to change in post at all. Here is the setup.

As always critique/ideas welcome.

Relaxation Of Music (Day 5)

Relaxation Of Music (Day 5), originally uploaded by Tj6106.
I always find listening to music relaxes me after a stressful day and more often than not I am listening to music while I work.

I have had this shot in my head for a while now and with the delivery of my 2nd flash I decided today was the day. There's not much I would change in this shot since this is what I had in my head but I am always up for some suggestions.

I love how the green gel gave such a nice even color and a nice background for the shot. For the gels I have the Rosco samples pack which you can find most places for under £10 which is a bargain with what you get.

Strobist Info:
Here

Looking Forward into 2010 (Day 4)

Looking Forward into 2010 (Day 4), originally uploaded by Tj6106.

So as I said in my Day 3 shot its all about lighting people/objects this year for me, although when a landscape grabs my attention it will jump into my photostream.

So a nice and simple one light setup here:
YN-460 Mark II @ 1/16 into reflective umbrella about 45 degrees infront of subject.

I wanted this to have a kind of "gazing into the future" look to the shot with nice, clean, simple lighting.

Things I would change for the shot, I would add a slight rim light/spotlight to my head to separate it from the background and maybe a reflector below to ease the shadow under my chin.

As always critique/ideas are welcome.

Anger (Day 3)

Anger (Day 3), originally uploaded by Tj6106.

1st SP of 2010!

This year its all about learning to light people more effectively for me. So for each photograph, where I might change something, I will go through my thought process to try and help out others that want to learn as well. Feel free to add your comments and critique below.

So I wanted to try out some rim/backlighting tonight with my flash and use my floorstanding floodlights as side lights. The setup above is:
YN-460 Mark II @ 1/2 into reflective umbrella just behind and above subject
Floorstanding floodlight right of subject with gobo to control spill onto background
White foamboard reflector just below and infront of subject

This didn't quite workout the way I hoped though. I ended up with lens flare from the flash, the floodlight ended up creating to much omni-directional light for my liking and the reflector didn't bounce enough light back into my face.

What I learned from this shot and the processing of it is to try out the following setup:
YN-460 Mark II snooted/gridded directly above/just behind subject
2 YN-460 Mark II snooted at either side of the subject
Better reflector to throw more light back into subjects face.

So I know you shouldn't say that more equipment would make you a better photographer but in terms of what I am wanting to try it would definitely help here.

My Camera (Day 2)

My Camera (Day 2), originally uploaded by Tj6106.
This coming weeks DPS photography assignment is "Your Camera" and I thought I better show of the work horse that has got me through my first year of my 365 and will power through my 2nd.

This is my Canon 450D with my 28-135 USM f/3.5-5.6 lens attached with lens hood.

I took this using two mirrors and my flash so that the camera itself could take a self portrait! I think it worked out pretty well.

This is a composite of 3 shots which had the flash highlight each area individually.

Strobist:
See the setup here

2010: Another year of 365

Trail Of Bokeh (Day 1), originally uploaded by Tj6106

So here we are starting a new year and a new decade!

I have been doing photography seriously for a year now and have finished a full 365 already. I have, madness or not, decided to complete another 365 this year.

This year its really about refining my photography skills, especially in portrait and studio photography using my newly purchased YN-460 Mark II flashes. I really want to work on the art of crafting light to light a person, add emotion to the shot and communicate a feeling.

For this Blog I am going to post weekly and sometimes daily about what I have been learning, what I might have changed and any other tips/hints that I might come across.

So for the first photo of this year I took a shot of my gorgeous fiancee Kelly. This was taken outside of my parents house in the front garden. This trail of bokeh left by Kelly are Christmas lights on my parents hedge.

And for each photo I will include the "Strobist" info for the shot and may even link to a setup shot, if I had the time and remembered to take one. So here is the info for this shot:

Canon 450D | 56mm f/8 | ISO 200 | 1/100s | YN-460 Mark II @ 1/4 into reflective umbrella high and to left of model

Here's to an exciting and interesting photographically year in 2010