Messing with Reflections and Light

Here's a little macro type shot caught with the 18-55 kit lens. I found this little guy hanging out on the window inside the Apple shop on a lazy Saturday morning and just happened to have my camera and strobe with me. I didn't have the radio triggers on hand, so I just whacked the flash on the camera (GASP!) and it actually turned out just fine.


In this image he looks like he's just hanging out on a glass table, but I actually am shooting from above down towards the ground. Lucky for me he was just chillin and I was able to get about 30 odd frames. Here are a couple more to help put the scene into perspective.

And this is the pick before edit. As you can see, I flipped him over to make it look more natural.

Cross Lighting on Ice

So I've been reading quite a bit of the Strobist web site and I must say, David Hobby is one solid dude. I have learned so much over the last year. Here is an example of some cross lighting using a flashlight and a strobe.

Pentax K10d with Pentax FA 50mm/1.4
1/4 second, ƒ/3.5, ISO 100

Basically, I set up the LED flashlight to shine through the swans from camera right. I was getting some distracting background light so I grabbed a bit of black construction paper and set it up behind. This is when I noticed the shadows and said to myself, "Why didn't I think of that?" So I got the positioning just right, popped a couple tests and decided I needed some more defining light. Call in the Pentax 360FGZ on 1/32 power! I set it up to shoot almost directly back towards the flashlight for a nice cross effect. The most important thing, though, was to control the spill. I laid the flash on its back and used the built in deflector to keep the light from grazing the glass table. I also made sure it was not spilling onto the background and placed a gobo between the light and the camera to avoid flare.

So, what would I do different? Well, I could have place the swans in a way that they formed a heart on the backdrop, but, maybe I'll save that one for Valentine's Day. I guess I could have used a smaller aperture to make both the doves as sharp as possible too.

So, after months of waiting, I've finally purchased the K10D!  I was planning on waiting till the middle of Jan so I would have a couple of weeks to look it over before sending in the rebate (I won't be home to pick it up until the beginning of Feb), but as the stock started dwindling and the prices started climbing I had to get on my horse and ride.

To go with my sweet new baby I have ordered the 360 Pentax flash, B + W circular polarizer, the Pentax FA 50mm ƒ/1.4, and too many other little accompaniments to count.  I also have some Cokin ND Grads to get.  I hope they don't put a hold on my card!

When I first started my search for a DSLR it was a toss up between Canon and Nikon.  Then, once I'd seen the light, I realized that instead of blowing my wad on one piece of kit I could get the entire package for about the same amount of money.  I can finally give the little Canon a rest and bring out the big guns.  I'm looking forward to my new toy, and hopefully, if all goes as planned, I can start making a bit of a living from something I really love.