Archive for the ‘commercial’ Category
Sunday, October 26th, 2008
I’m geeking out on product photography at the moment….if it’s clean and near me I’ll shoot it.
Watches have always fascinated me when it comes to product photography. I look in these glossy magazines and see the shiny metal objects that cost more than my car (not that that’s saying much), and I admire the way the photographers use specular reflections to create texture (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specular_reflection). If you shoot a shiny silver watch alone it will look like a big silver thing with no way to discern the difference between surfaces. Specular reflections of white and black bounce cards can create texture and depth to the subject.
The watch was lit by a ring flash front-on and 2 flashes underneath. 2 white panels of foam core and 1 piece of black cardboard were used to create the specular reflections. Next time I won’t use a ring flash and use a double diffused strobe to prevent the reflections in the watch face glass.
Tags: close-up, commercial, macro, product, specular, Studio, swatch, watch
Posted in Flash, Pocket Wizard, Studio, commercial, product | No Comments »
Friday, August 22nd, 2008
I’ve been wanting to do the whole multi-pop flash thing for a while now, so with the upcoming MTB world cup I though it would be time to get it sorted. The problem with most multipop exposures is that they all look washed out. There is no MAIN exposure. To get around this I am using 2 fashes – one for the multipop and the other for the main exposure. You do need to have a very dark background like the night sky.
Here’s the idea :
1. Have a guess at the exposure time for the frame. In this case 1/2 a second.
2. Work out how many pops you want in the shot. In this case 4
3. work out the timing for the pops = 8 hz, 4 pops in half a second.
4. Work out the main pop exposure, remembering that shutter speed is not important only aperture.
5. Set the camera for ISO 200, f5.6 0″5 exposure (manual of course)
6. Put a Multimax on the camer hot-shoe. Multimax’s are able to hold the exposure open for the 1/2 second. The PLUSII units only send 1 pulse at the start of the exposure.
7. Connect a PLUSII to the multipop flash and set the 580 for 4 shots at 8hz
8. Connect another Multimax onto the Main flash and set the delay to fire on the 3rd of the multi-pops.
Take a test shot…..
You will see there is ghosting on the 3rd exposure. This is caused by the main and multi not firing together. Hmmmm don’t forget that the PWs have a 0.002 sec transmission delay. Back the delay timer on the main off by 0.002 sec and test again.
NOICE!!!!
SETUP Geeky stuff….
* Exposure Time = .5 Sec
* Flashes per exposure = 4 = 8hz
* Main Flash delay = ((.5 / 4) X2 ) – .002 = 0.248 (NOTE – Delay starts at the first POP so the first shot is 0, then 1, then the main flash on 2 or after 2 delays – Make sense??)
* Main flash exposure = f5.6
* Main flash power = 1/64, Multi is 1 stop down at 1/128th. (This ratio works all the way up to 1/8th power – Multipops abive this are not recommended/possible)
Now I just have to do the same thing with a MTB flying through the air at 60km/h…..Worth a try though!!.
Tags: delay, effects, Flash, geek, Mountain Bike, Multimax, multipop, pocket, Sport, strobe, Studio, wizard
Posted in Flash, Mountain Bike, Pocket Wizard, Sport, Studio, commercial, remote | No Comments »
Monday, August 18th, 2008
Saturday 16th August saw the 4th running of MaxAdventures Go Natural Multisport. I was working for Aus Triathlete Mag and also to produce some marketing shots for the race organiser. My plan was to have shots look more commercial than normal event photography. Here is the final result.
I wanted to light the subject with the Sun as the main light and 2 x 580EX as balance. Here is the lighting plan in minute to-scale detail (NOT!!)
The sun is the main light as front 3/4 to the camera right, so to balance that out I used 1 x 580 as front 3/4 to camera left. For fill I used a second 580 at 180deg to the sun. To have full control over the flashes I wanted to use ETTL from the ST-E2. I have not used this unit nearly enough, and in this application, it was just perfect. I needed to be able to change camera settings without having to run around changing flash power. Bike riders are hardly going to wait for me!!!
Notice that the IR modules on the front of the 580s are pointed to where I was standing and the heads are pointed to the subject. This is to the IR receivers can “see” the ST-E2. The IR signal is line of sight so if they can’t “see” each other, then it just doesn’t work. The 580s are both set to SLAVE and one is A and the other is B. I have a ratio set on the flashes of A:B=2:1. With the ST-E2 I have full control over the flashes from the camera; Exposure, High speed sync, ratios etc…all from where I’m standing.
So what’s the down-side? These units MUST have line of site. If the flashes were in different locations, I might not be able to use this set-up. I have seen shots where flashes are hidden behind trees….not possible with the ST-E2s. However for this sort of thing….Brilliant!!!
Tags: 580, adventure, Canon, commercial, Flash, GoNatural, Multisport, pocket, pocketwizard, race, remote, Set-up, setup, Sport, ST-E2, wizard
Posted in Adventure Race, Flash, Multisport, Sport, commercial, publishing, remote | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 15th, 2008
After a month or so of perfecting my car rig, I’ve tested it on my mate Dave……well his car anyway.
I’m pretty happy with the results. The location was not ideal, so I need to find some better spots with perfect surfaces, no traffic, good backgrounds, no security guards, a clean road……shouldn’t be that hard?!??!? The EXIF on the images is intact so you can get some secrets from there, but the rig itself is going to stay a mystery. Needless to say, you have to Photoshop it out.
The 1DsMK2 did well, but shooting at f22 you get to see every bit of sensor dust. I spend about an hour cleaning it so I am amazed just how much there was. Of course it’ve cleaned it from the shots, but believe me, there was loads there.
I have a bit to work on to make this rig easier for regular usage. There is some “bounce” in the rig if it can’t be fastened REALLY tightly at the front. Generally I’m really happy with the result.
Tags: automotive, boom, car, commercial, Dave Youl, drive, motion, Motorsport, mount, red
Posted in Motorsport, commercial | No Comments »
Thursday, May 15th, 2008
I’ve always wanted to mount a camera on the side of my car and see how it looks. Gave it a shot today and it was not too bad.
Check the video for the set-up.
Settings :
1Ds Mark 1 – The sacrifice camera
15mm f2.8 Fish Eye
2 x Magic Arms
Manfrotto 241 suction cup mount.
Super clamps, safety cables, Multimaxs etc….
Things to change for next time :
Lower and wider angle. Need to see wheel blur
Slower shutter speed to get better motion blur
Here are some of the final results.
Tags: automotive, boom, car, commercial, cup, mount, remote, Sport, suction, test, Video, window
Posted in Sport, Video, commercial | No Comments »
