Week 33 (August 13th - August 19th) | No Picture

My 2011 photography blog is on a bit of a hiatus. I hope to return in a week or two.

Week 32 (August 6th - August 12th) | Picture 48

It's so fascinating to me how one small light changes EVERYthing about an image. My previous post today shows how using only ambient natural light and exposing for the flower made the white background really stand out.

So tonight I decided to take almost the exact same setup and blast the flower with light.



Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: 105mm f/2.8 macro
Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/250
ISO: 200
Flash: Flash: SB-800 off camera, manual, 1/32th power
Exposure: manual

Keeping my shutter speed at the maximum sync speed didn't allow any ambient light to expose the rest of the room and the result is a black background instead of white. (Both shots from today are composed against the exact same white background.)

Week 32 (August 6th - August 12th) | Picture 47

Wegmans had some beautiful sunflowers in their flower market and I thought they would be a nice addition to our kitchen and might give me something to take a picture of this week. I want to play with some different lighting possibilities, but I also want to share this non-flash picture - in case my grand OCF plans slip away from me this week.

Totally simple execution - shoot up at the flower, composing it against the white ceiling. Expose for the flower and shoot. Well, easier said than done. Our house gets almost no natural light, so exposing for the flower pushed my settings.



Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: 105mm f/2.8 macro
Aperture: f/3.5
Shutter Speed: 1/30 (handheld!)
ISO: 1600
Flash: none
Exposure: manual

In hindsight, it would have been smarter to hike that ISO to at least 3200 because trying to handhold this lens at that shutter speed is waaayyyyy less than optimal - but I wasn't having a problem with focus or shake, so I didn't bother. (I was also sitting on the floor - so I was stabilized a bit.)

Completely unrelated to photography - I should buy flowers more often. They really perk up the place and improve my mood in our otherwise dreary kitchen!

Week 31 (July 30th - August 5th) | Picture 46

Another week has passed and I seriously question whether or not I will make my 52 week goal. I'm sure there are plenty of things to photograph. But once I get the toddler in bed, I am just lacking any drive to start a photography project. Part of this is because he is now going to bed later than ever. And part of it is because my job has been more stressful than normal over the last couple weeks. I hope I can keep it up through the end of the year, but I really have my doubts.

I saw a tutorial online for doing a floor-lit setup. Where you put your flash in the bottom of a cardboard box, lay a sheet of glass on top, and have the flash light your subject from the bottom. I played with it long enough tonight to realize that in this case I need at least 1 more and maybe even 2 more lights to properly light the object from above as well. Oh well. Fun experiment and a strong drink.



Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: 105mm f/2.8 macro
Aperture: f/8.0
Shutter Speed: 1/250
ISO: 200
Flash: SB-800 off camera, manual, 1/64th power
Exposure: manual