Flash - Behind the scenes

[Don Hoey]

Here is a link that explains colour temperature in a non technical way.

For Stephen and other technical types I will keep searching.

http://www.dcmag.co.uk/Colour_temper...8to39cnPg.html

Don

[Don Hoey]

These links are a bit more technical.

http://www.aeimages.com/learn/color-correction.html

http://www.pcreview.co.uk/articles/D...ite_Balance/1/

Don

[Canis Vulpes]

The crocodile shot...

The crocodile has an anodised coating that produces different colours in different light and directions. some of this coating has worn away through use. Its cira 1920, I think.

The specimen was placed on black card on a dining room table, SB-800 was mounted on camera to give general illumination. To bring the colours out on the crocs back I employed the SB-600 with diffusion dome pointing upwards to softly aim diffused light directly at the crocs back bringing out the colours...and it worked.

Sorry no photo of the scene because I dismantled under pressure of my photographic assistant who want to lay the table for lunch!

Thought for improvement:-

Next time use black cloth as a background to absorb light and shadows allowing more direct flash to highlight shine and colours.

Set camera to f11/f16 and reduce shutter speed yielding better Depth of Field (DOF).

[Canis Vulpes]

The Gong..

Learning from the croc shot and now equipped with a few AP diffusers and a longer run of black paper. I decided to have a go at the brass gong with two miniature candle sticks in the foreground.

Illuminated using SB-800 on camera and SB-600 held by my photographic assistant. Both flashes have diffusers and fired through AP diffusers. The use of f18 (1/4) at ISO125 made it impossible not to use flash although lighting was good. The small aperture also made the background darker than in the croc shot above. Firing both flashes through two diffusers required +1EV on each flash but might have benefited with more as +0.5EV post processing was required for the finished article. SB-600 was panting a bit with this setup. Unfortunately due to the curvature of the miniature candlesticks they have been cropped out. Everything in the dining room was visible on body the them!

Sorry about the broken Dyson in the background!

Use of double diffuser has created a matt look to a very shiny piece, any assistance to how I can create a bit more 'life' will be appreciated.

[Don Hoey]

Originally Posted by Stephen Fox

The Gong..

Use of double diffuser has created a matt look to a very shiny piece, any assistance to how I can create a bit more 'life' will be appreciated.

Stephen,

The first thing to do here is to look at the image and to try and assess the effect that each light has on the final image.
Look for all the best bits since you do not want to loose them.

I have marked up a picture with my comments.
Daylight - despite the exif info I would suggest that it had very little / no impact.

For a picture like this I would try to determine light positioning with a series of test images one light at a time, building up the lighting.
So for this I would exclude the effect of daylight and use the Master flash to determine its best position. I would then add the second light.

As you are using TTL flash metering I would suggest that the SB800 being the most powerful ( master ) unit should be on a lead and be slightly further round than the SB600 was for this shot. The SB600 on slightly less power could be slightly higher than the 800 is in its on camera mount on this shot. How many hands have you got ? If that is not practicable try the SB600 without the diffuser to increase its relative power, positioned slightly further round than for this shot. A slightly hard light at a sharp angle to the Gong face should be OK as it will help bring out the dimples.

The slightly dull effect is I think a result of the closeness of the key light to the lens axis. Reflections from that diffuser.

I would strongly recommend a lens hood for the 50mm. Very hard to tell if light from the SB600 reflector is striking the lens and degrading the image but I would suggest it may be. If you have a skylight filter on and no hood I would suggest removing it for the shot, or using a ' black flag ' to prevent that light stiking the lens.

Guess you are going to have to pass all this by your lovely assistant and convince her its all worth while. The question is obviously .... before or after LUNCH !!

Well now thats put me publicly on the spot I look forward to seeing how you get on !!!

Don

[Canis Vulpes]

Originally Posted by Don Hoey

Stephen,

Well now thats put me publicly on the spot I look forward to seeing how you get on !!!

Don

I took a break, thought out the situation, read Don's information on the header of this thread again and digested advice above.

I started at 10am first taking a shot in daylight, which was good but I wanted to use flash adding shine and darkening the background freize paper. Next I took the remote SB-600 and positioned for maximum shine, this was perpendicular to the gongs face then adding a reflector to keep the light up toward the face creating the shine apparent from the camera position. I then sought shine on the supporting arm to the right which came from diffused light from a remote SB-800 using SC-28 remote cord - Time now 10:30. I spend the next hour and half devising ways to keep the shine WITHOUT creating a shadow, all angles, positions and flash output strengths were tried but nothing would allow both shine and lack of shadow. I decided that this was not possible until I saw MKI black mat and pinned it to mask light away as not to create shadow however maintaining light through a AP diffuser. I finally finished just after 12pm.

Things learned from this experience:-

- Plan the shot deciding exactly the motivation
- Start with daylight adding flash units individually
- Persevere, a sweeter reward awaits after more time and effort


Sorry for the un-level behind the scenes.

[Don Hoey]

Well in this behind the scenes shot I can see where the daylight bit came from. So I was not correct in not taking it into account in my previous post.

I have downloaded both images to view them side by side, and the differences are far greater than you would imagine if you view the images seperately.

Two firsts for you here then Stephen. Using the master flash remotely via SC-28 remote cord, and use of the very handy little reflectors. The great thing about your behind the scenes shot is that it shows the use as a reflector and a diffuser.

Well I hope that from the title of this thread you have now well and truely progressed from ' daunting ' to ' FUN '.

There will be no stopping you now !!!!!!!!

Don

[Canis Vulpes]

With a few rules and things to watch for, flash photography can enhance almost any everyday photography subject. A little confidence can bring out what is desired, in the gong - shine was the motivation without shadow or noticeable evidence of flash to the untrained eye. I never thought yesterday using direct, undiffused flash straight at the subject.

Take 1 used totally diffused light just like an overcast day and severely limited any shine whereas Take 2 is similar to a bright sunny day with lots of shine but with potential of deep shadows.

The two photos can be seen side-by-side below for easy comparison.

Image supplied by Don Hoey.

[wolfie]

Have now got around to trying out my macro flash system which consists of 1 Sigma EF 500 EX ST flashgun and two cheap Jessops flashguns.

I'm quite pleased with the results, but I do need to modify the brackets that hold the Jessop guns.

Harry

[Don Hoey]

Originally Posted by wolfie

Have now got around to trying out my macro flash system which consists of 1 Sigma EF 500 EX ST flashgun and two cheap Jessops flashguns.

I'm quite pleased with the results, but I do need to modify the brackets that hold the Jessop guns.

Harry

Welcome back Harry hope you had a good trip.

Nothing like picking a really tricky subject to try your new set up on. Very reflective white bits. It has all worked really well though. Flash glare is very well controlled.

Don