Day whatever it is

I'm in the pub with my wife. Priorities folks, priorities.

Day 87 - Annabelle portraits

Annabelle is turning into quite a good model a the moment.  She's very happy to sit still while I pull faces and hand her toys.  I'll try to make the most of this before she gets mobile.

This was taken using the a shoot through umbrella with the YN 460-II as the main light and two other flahes to light the background.

Another smiley colour portrait appears after the click.

Day 86 - Falling apple

This one was achieved with some post work.  I usually prefer in-camera / flash cleverness, but I thought I could do use the practice.

The apple was actually stuck on some cocktail sticks to throw a shadow underneath.  This was better than shooting it flat on the surface and adding a shadow as the reflection in the bottom of the apple would have been a give away.  In hindsight, positioning the light to throw a shadow directly under the apple might have looked better for this effect, but it wouldn't have lit the apple as nicely.

Day 85 - on the floor

Here's a picture of Jessica lying on the floor.  I've no idea what she was up to, but I do know it was taken with just window light.

Day 84 - Blue pencils

Some pencils and a single bare flash:

Day 83 - I have the power!

This shot is an attempt to show the control that can be achieved with manual off camera flash.

To get this look I needed to bring the ambient exposure, including the bulb, right down low with a combination of exposure time and aperture.  Now, as I want to light my arm using the flash, I'd rather get the exposure time down low so I don't have to use a tiny aperture and nuke my arm with full power flash.  Using a flash, the fastest exposure I can get is limited by the sync speed of the camera.  This is quoted as 1/250s for the D50, but, as this fine piece of machinery has an electronic shutter, we can work a bit quicker than that, even with a wireless flash trigger slowing things down.  Having set this down to 1/320s (I have got faster than 1/500s on other occasions), I stopped down the aperture to get the bulb looking right then bumped the flash up to give the correct exposure on my arm.

Day 82 - Syrup

A bit of dripping syrup today...

I would have liked to make the spoon look shiny, but didn't have an extra white board to reflect in it had to be dark instead.

Day 81 - books

A pile of books that I quite enjoyed, back when I had time to read.  Before kids and trying to take a photo every day!

Lit using the YN 460-II with Lumiquest Softbox III from above and slightly left and large white board reflector to the right.

Day 80 - Spring has sprung!

There's a fantastic display of crocuses in Slaithwaite at this time of year, and this year they seem particularly bright.  Are they just pleased not to be buried under two feet of snow at last?

Click onwards to see what my daughter made of them...

Day 79 - glass class

I've been reading up on lighting glass, so I thought I'd best have a practice shooting this wine glass.

Strobist info: one flash (Sigma 530 DG Super and YN 460-II) on each side, fired onto white boards @ 1/32 power.

edit - On reflection, this should really have a black border.  Oh well.

Day 78 - yellow rose

This flower portrait used two lights.  The first soft key light is right above the camera in a mini-softbox.  A second bare flash to the rear is giving a little rim light and picks out the colour and texture of the petals.

Day 77 - nice buns

The girls made some buns and I managed to take a photo before scoffing the lot.

To light this I used a single flash with shoot through umbrella above and slightly behind.  The background is just a  flat white foam board.

Day 76 - office building

This office building is right outside Leeds train station and I've been meaning to shoot it for ages.

I'm quite pleased with this one.  I like the contrast between the curves and angles of both the lead in lines and the building itself.

Day 75 - self portrait

A little three light experiment today...

This used a central key light in a shoot through umbrella and a bare flash either side to the rear as a kicker.  The one camera left had a purple gel.

Day 74 - two by two

I had another go at shooting a subject on a sheet of glass today, slightly more successfully I think.

I used a black board backdrop with a single flash and shoot through umbrella above and slightly behind the animals.  A white board reflector was placed in front of the subjects, angling light back through the glass.  Both the umbrella and the board were placed to avoid getting a direct reflection of them in the shot.

Day 73 - Giraffe

Another of our pet giraffes...

Day 72 - Annabelle!

Some more pictures of Annabelle, just after her bath...

This was taken with a little bounce flash off the ceiling and wall camera right.

Two more pictures after the click.

Day 71 - Annabelle again

I noticed that Anna had some catching up to do in terms of the number of pictures on here, so I tried to redress the balance a little this week.

I used one flash with shoot through umbrella and a 1/4 CTO warming gel camera right and a second bare flash as a hair light.  The exposure was 1/60 at f/5 in attempt to get a little of the natural light to act as fill.

A second picture of Anna after the click.

Day 70 - out and about in the Dales

Here's Jessica on holiday at Middleham.  I used a Sigma 10-20mm wide lens and a burst of built in flash to lighten the shadows.

I've also got some non-moggle pictures if anyone wants to click and look...

Oops!

I forgot to post this on 1 March, so I've been a day out this month!  All back on track now.

Location : 2-50 Causeway Side, Huddersfield, Kirklees HD7 5,

Day 68 - Annabelle

This is my new favourite picture of Anna...

I took this using just a blip of on-board flash to balance the window light coming in behind and reflecting off the smooth wooden floor.

Day 67 - flower portrait

Another flower picture today, using three flashes.

I didn't note down the flash power details for this, but one was in the Lumiquest III softbox above right to light the petals, one was directly behind on the wall using a purple gel, and the third bare flash was camera left to light the stem and give a slight gradient to the wall colour. 

Day 66 - Jess in the garden

Jessica is very happy that she can be back out in the garden now spring has sprung.  This is her charging around the garden at the cottage.  Continuous autofocus on the D50 was just about quick enough to keep up with her.  I'm not sure I'd fancy my chances using it on anything quicker!

I also took a picture of some grass.  You can see it if you click below.  I don't expect you will.

Day 65 - snowdrops

As expected for a holiday in Yorkshire in March, the weather was glorious all week.  Blue sky, bright sun and cold, crisp mornings.  This picture of snowdrops and hoarfrost was taken early one morning with just ambient light.

Day 64 - cracking cheese!

We've just got back from a week's holiday in Wensleydale, and no trip to Wensleydale would be complete without a piece of fine cheese from Hawes.

Day 63 - smoke gets in your lens

Another mini-project I've been meaning to try for a while is photographing smoke.  I've always loved the shapes and swirls that form when you blow out a candle and this really wasn't too tricky.

Pre-focused Nikon D50 on a tripod with a single bare flash triggered with Cactus V4 90 degrees camera left.  The flash was gobo'd to keep the light off the lens.  Then repeat until you get fed up...

Day 62 - safari

Some more practice at studio-style still life, combine with "get the look for less".  The elaborate infinity backdrop here is a pillow case.

Similar flash set-up to the shoe photo a couple of days ago.  As I only used one flash and wanted the background to go to white I've lost some detail in the ears.  Poor giraffe.

Day 61 - portraits before bed

Some more photos of Sian today.  The idea was, once again, inspired by Sam Haskins, although the execution is different to his studio based shots.  I'm trying to broaden my horizons a little and develop more of an understanding of how the model's clothes and make-up affect the final image.

I used a single flash with shoot through umbrella camera right, deliberately letting the light bounce back off the white wall behind me to soften it even further.

A second pic after the click...

Day 60 - baby shoes

It's a funny feeling when the littlest member of the family grows out of much loved clothes.  Here are some lovely shoes given to Anna by friends that sadly no longer fit her rapidly growing toes.

The background is just a piece of white A4 paper.  I used a single flash close above with shoot through umbrella and a large foam board reflector to further soften the shadows.  The umbrella is angled forwards to reduce the light on the background, resulting in a nice gradient across the back.

February

Another month down, no days missed and some more work that I'm really pleased with.  I had a few quick snaps this month, but I'm glad I managed to be a little more creative than just taking pictures of my desk.

The highlights for me have been the portraits (Sian and Anna and Hollywood Tracy) and a few of the more challenging still life projects.  I think the water drops and the coffee beans were some of the best things I've done.

It's been great this month to do some portraits of friends and their children.  It's lovely being able to give people something that they'll (hopefully) enjoy for years to come.

Day 59 - Ullswater Boathouse

Another brave attempt at landscape work today.  Observe my strict adherence to the rule of thirds and the need for foreground interest.  It's not exactly ground-breaking, but I think it's nice enough.

Day 58 - Jessica location shoot

A couple of pictures of Jessica by Ullswater today.  Jessica enjoyed a little stomp around and a splash.  I enjoyed playing will some fill flash and the wide angle lens.

Another picture after the click:

Day 57 - Ullswater in the rain

We were in the Lake District at the weekend, so you've got some landscapes to look at.  It wasn't great weather or light, but I think this just demonstrates that I'm no landscape photographer!

A different picture for those who prefer colour after the link.