↑

Archive of ‘Personal’ category

Personal, Photography, Technology | 0 comment

Rapid Box Flash on Car

©TimeLine Media - Viper GTS details

After experimenting with my own car, I took my Rapid Box to photograph another, more exciting model, a Dodge Viper GTS. This would be another chance to try the Westcott Rapid Box as my new flash modifier. Photographing car details with this setup is very easy! The portability of the Rapid Box as well a small speedlight means that you can put the flash in a small space and still use some sort of light modifier to make the light softer. This allows for lighter area to fall into shadow nicely which helps to block out distracting elements in garage from being seen in the photo. Combine that with a macro or short lens, and you can really focus in on details.

Details

©TimeLine Media - Viper GTS details
©TimeLine Media – Viper GTS details

In this first photo, the flash allows you to control the light and give it a little shape. The light fades slightly from the top right to the bottom left, framing the letters. The addition of flash instead of using available light means I can hand hold the camera and adjust quickly than if stuck on a tripod. The ISO is also at the lowest setting on the camera meaning the color is still vivid and true compared to higher ISOs.

©TimeLine Media - Viper GTS details
©TimeLine Media – Viper GTS details

Again using a small softbox, you can get soft light in a tight spaces. The light still shapes the area under the flared out lid at the rear above the tail light. This is something that is very difficult to do without a light shaper in front of your flash. All of these photos of the car details can be put into a compilation poster to give an overall picture of the car. You may have seen it in a previous post. Try it with your car and let me know how it goes!

©TimeLine Media - Viper GTS details
©TimeLine Media – Viper GTS details

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

Personal, Photography, Portrait | 0 comment

June 21

I am gearing up to photograph another ballroom dance event tomorrow. In looking at my gadgets and workspace, I see a lot of influence from my father. I shoot Nikon cameras. My first SLR photos were taken with his Nikon F2 and Nikkor lenses. I recently found two silver (strange since they are usually gold-colored) boxes with some fast glass. Amazingly, they work with the newest digital cameras from Nikon, so I use them for personal shoots – just for fun.

Photography Influence

Tatays-fast-glass-7 remembering him this June 21

For video these manual focus lenses have especially solid focusing rings for using with moving images. Today, I was looking around my old photos, and saw a snap shot I took of my dad’s work space some time ago. He was an architect that worked at home much of the time I was growing up. He looked after me while doing his projects for clients. There are some stark differences with my work area now – no computer, printer, actually no major technological electronic appliance to be seen in the photo! He has many source books of construction codes and supplies. Additionally he has an old hard hat he used when visiting construction sites.

Architect Work Area

Tatays-office-summer-1998-0002 remembering him this June 21

Of course, he has the tools of the trade he used to design buildings out of blank sheets of paper. Pencils, pens, rulers, green templates for shapes – from these he designed the house that I lived in since high school before leaving for college.   I definitely did not appreciate what these designers like him do, I just admired the way that he could see perspectives, and put them on paper. He could have an idea in his head, and put them to paper. As an exercise he would quiz me on differentiating between models of planes as they came in for landings. He would point out differences between 737’s, MD-80’s, or Fokker-100’s.

If not at the airport, he would examine shoes at a store and tell me why he thought one design was better than the next (he was Filipino after all). And if he was dancing, he would show me and my mom why the Cha Cha was the best dance – the best songs on an album had a Cha Cha beat, and there are lots of opportunities for moves to do on the floor. Geez, I am my father’s son.

Tatay-at-UR-0001 remembering him this June 21

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com 703-864-8208

Personal, Photography | 0 comment

Flower Still Life with Small Flash

©TimeLine Media - Day Lilly

If you have been following this blog, or my Instagram, I have been learning to use a new light modifier. Specifically they are the Rapid Box from Westcott. These new modifiers are specifically designed to work with small flash, or speedlights. They are very flexible to work with any size and brand of flash, and they setup very quickly.

Light Modifier

Online, I have seen photographers that have used these for portrait sessions. They seem to work very well, and I am anxious to try them out on some people photos, but in the mean time, I have been experimenting on using them with smaller subjects. The blooming spring flowers in my backyard were my first tries, and I have blogged about them here. The difference with the Rapid Box vs. the bare flash was clearly evident from the first photo. The light is diffused and spread nicely with the Rapid Box making hard shadows disappear when photographing sections of flowers that poke out from the centers, making the light seem like it is coming from the sun on an overcast day rather than from a speedlight only a foot away.

©TimeLine Media - Day Lilly
Day Lilly Flower ©TimeLine Media

The lightness of the softbox allows you to really put it in places that a standard softbox cannot go because of size or weight. Here is a behind the scenes photo of another shoot showing the camera position and the softbox setup:

©TimeLine Media - Rapid Box setup for flower shoot
©TimeLine Media – Rapid Box setup for flower shoot

The box is not in shooting position in this photo. I held the stand in my hand before taking the photo with the timer so I could see exactly where the light was going. It was a bit complicated, but the results are much better than what I could get without the flash.

Cameras LOVE light. To get better images, you need to have as much light on your sensor as you can get. The technology that they have built into these flashes is optimized to give you better images if they are set up correctly. They need practice to get them to work best, which is why I have been working with these on static subjects before I put them in front of people. If the flowers are any indication, I am confident that these boxes will work great. Stay tuned to find out!

©TimeLine Media - dark red lilly
©TimeLine Media – dark red lilly

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

1 … 45 46 47 48 49 … 68