tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26076637145720617332024-03-05T00:55:55.475-08:00YeoPhotoGroup by Keith RobinsYeovil Photo Group now have 25 members, meet every Tuesday evening and have fun with creative digital photography and flashguns / lighting - on the cheap!
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Also see :- http://www.facebook.com/media/albums/?id=100000724565210Keith Robinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00333298245929081692noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607663714572061733.post-42291146556716757952018-02-05T00:27:00.003-08:002018-02-05T00:27:35.662-08:00Keith Robins Photography explores black glass reflections.<br />
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Glass will produce a reflection if the far side is dark and black is about as dark as it gets. Being a building repairman means I often have bit of glass lying around from windows, patio doors, or shower cubicles with the last two being toughened.<br />
Cleaning one side of the glass is worth doing really well before spraying with black paint. We don't want any dust spots sealed between spray and glass.<br />
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Two coats is enough to give a longlasting scratch resistant finish. When dry, turn it over to reveal a perfectly smooth shiny black mirror that will be the base for my product photography for years to come.<br />
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Now let's find a few items to photograph. I choose a bottle and a large glass into which a plastic rose is placed, the last two are both painted with a matt white spray from B&Q a DIY retailer at £9<br />
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A scrap kitchen base unit mounted on a couple lengths of square plastic rainwater pipe instead of legs means I can slide the whole thing around my studio without effort, a larger than normal top gives a table sized area for my product/still life photography.<br />
I lay the black glass on the tabletop and drape a black cloth beyond for a background. <br />
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To create a background support a pair of woodworking clamps are clipped on and 3 foot long plastic overflow pipe at 22mm diameter is slipped over the metal ends for uprights. On top are two 'Tee' joints. A length of 15mm copper pipe slids easily through the two tee joints and supports my black cloth background. It can also hold tracing paper, a bamboo curtain, a roll of white wallpaper, thin scrim, a Venetian blind, etc.<br />
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Camera on tripod set to F16 for a good depth of focus plus it gives me chance to wave a torch a at my subject. ISO 200 and 20 seconds seems to return a fair result. Two second timer so I can get into position, keep the torch at near enough the same distance and we have the first exposure in the bag.<br />
Avoid getting the light onto the glass so it remains dark and the reflection is improved. Hold the torch low so it skates across the glass surface and illuminates the subject from low down. This will look better in the reflection.<br />
The torch and arm can go between the lens and subject without disturbing the finished result.<br />
I like to merge several exposure in edit and will concentrate on one major part of my setup at a time.<br />
My light is an LED block from Maplins at £10 It takes four AA rechargeable batteries which last for weeks at a timeas a work light in my day job as a plumber working in cupboards and under kitchen sinks. <br />
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An alternative to black glass using a similar lighting technique.<br />Keith Robinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00333298245929081692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607663714572061733.post-6077356848388361482017-03-25T12:55:00.001-07:002017-03-25T12:55:22.022-07:00White on white tabletop is a challenge for Keith Robins Photography<br />
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With a roll of £3 wallpaper as a background, a recycled bottle from someone else's waste bin, a couple of glasses from a charity shop, plus a £7 can of white spray and a plastic rose the costs are hardly mounting up.<br />
Now add a framework to support the wallpaper. Two long reach woodworking clamps, fixed to each end of the recycled kitchen unit used as a bench, have plastic overflow pipe slotted over them.<br />
At the top of these are two Tee joints through which rests a length of metal tubing from an old shower curtain. This supports the wallpaper which is pulled out and secured with three large clips.<br />
Lighting is from the 'Lighthouse' LED lamp which runs on a pair of AA batteries.<br />
Out of an 8 second exposure I illuminated the background for two seconds stationary and then waved the light sideways to reduce the shadows coming forward.<br />
This is my favourite shot out of twenty or so images.<br />
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This is the light I used.<br />
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Here is a slight variation on the method of lighting, mainly, waving the lamp up and down to create reflections.<br />
I've also brewed up some tea for what I think Malibu looks like. To avoid scum and the cut down condensation I used cold water and merely floated a Red Bush teabag on top for three minutes. <br />
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<br />Keith Robinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00333298245929081692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607663714572061733.post-71672862098141760232017-03-25T12:29:00.000-07:002017-03-25T12:29:01.267-07:00Black on white tabletop photography using lightpainting.<br />
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Well, actually it's mixture of lightpainting and blending multiple exposures in Photoshop cc using black masks. Blending reveals small areas of additional photographs taken via long exposures while I wave a small torch around to either reduce shadows, cast extra shadows, produce highlights and reflections.<br />
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The yellow and black torch is from hardware stores under the name 'Lighthouse' and cost around £5.<br />
The tiny black metal pocket torch runs on a single AA battery, emits a flash white balance compatible light which is unbelievably strong (150 plus lumens) and costs £5 from Screwfix.<br />
The right-angle plastic plumbing fittings is from a toilet overflow and reduces the stark bright light to more of a usable glow. The idea is to hold this torch only a few inches from each of the items in turn, at such an angle that textures can be shown up and reflections gradually built up during, say a ten second exposure.<br />
Keith Robinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00333298245929081692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607663714572061733.post-66743372154571232292016-12-11T02:47:00.001-08:002016-12-11T02:47:41.005-08:00My new 50mm F1.8 lens doesn't focus in the dark.<br />
Bought with bokeh Christmas lights behind a portrait in mind, the narrow band of focus shows up the slightest deviation from correct focus on the nearest eye.<br />
I'm using flashguns to light my model and she is lit up beautifully, but, she's out of focus!<br />
It seems the new Yongnuo 622 tx radio trigger have a transmitter that sends out an infra red gridde focusing aid. Before I bought a set I remember seeing a Canon ST-E2 lying around in my studio.<br />
Sure enough it sends out an infra red focusing grid long enough for the lens to focus, then turns off automatically - Brilliant!!<br />
Remote control of a Canon flash in most rooms, or even a large hall, is a doddle. Outside I need line of sight with 12 metres maximum reach, but with the flash in slave mode I can operate all the controls including high speed sync. Plus, I can fire several other flashes in two groups and have ratio control over both groups.<br />
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However, I have one Canon flash and three Yongnuo 560 flashes and although they will all fire there seems no way I can make the Yongnuo's fire in sync with the shutter.<br />
The infra red beam fires off the Yongnuo's before the shutter has opened no matter which mode I use.<br />
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To be continued after the purchase of a set of Yongnuo 622tx radio triggers.Keith Robinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00333298245929081692noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607663714572061733.post-8984696425369372312014-12-02T08:37:00.000-08:002014-12-11T06:14:39.242-08:00Creating a sunny window light in winterKeith Robins Photography shares a solution to the problem of how to create a suuny aspect to his interior kitchen window cill when it's fairly dismal outside with low cloud cover, it's late in the day and late in the year. This is how his cat, Socks, looks using just daylight.<br />
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So how exactly does he go about this task? Using a flashgun or two of course!<br />
First off is calculating the exposure for what avalable light there is. Selecting a shutter speed of 1/200th to avoid shake, then choose the maximum aperture of F4, after all it is pretty dim out there and detail of the garden wall is required. Well, not really but we'll pretend that it is. <br />
As the results were way too dark at ISO 200 we decided on 1250 ISO as noise is not too much of an issue with a Canon 70D and Lightroom and the results don't look too bad, but by adding a flashgun we could do better.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwOCwWEHS5lgPK9L3Mm8-d037FH2OMheES6s8d3crRtWk-GX_q9dRFWAPR97M0Di3jMv7z619YVuNlyTAaQ-doGPRVqD-4MKw2LXFjbspQuZomJqRNWmTFTjublelikga9n8gul3qkcFPa/s1600/IMG_7616.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwOCwWEHS5lgPK9L3Mm8-d037FH2OMheES6s8d3crRtWk-GX_q9dRFWAPR97M0Di3jMv7z619YVuNlyTAaQ-doGPRVqD-4MKw2LXFjbspQuZomJqRNWmTFTjublelikga9n8gul3qkcFPa/s1600/IMG_7616.JPG" height="320" width="212" /></a> Now to create the sunlight. A flashgun is attached to a tall light stand
in the backyard and a CTO (Colour Temperature Orange) filter is placed
over the flash lens to warm up the light.<br />
With the flash aimed at the kitchen window to be our pretend sunlight we'll retreat indoors and see how it looks in camera. To bright so we reduce the power setting to 1/2.<br />
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The white balance is left on the flash setting on the camera which creates a very pleasant warm glow.<br />
Adjusting our outdoor flash power to match ISO 1250 at F4 produces the resulting image below and looks a lot more natural, just like a summer's day!<br />
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However, the rest of our kitchen now seems a little dark compared to the new sunlight coming through the window, so a second flash is aimed at the ceiling well away from the window to make it seem as if the sunlight is strong enough to bounce around the room, which it would do in reality. We now need to find the cat again who by this time is settling into his basket and by pointing out the birds sat on the garden wall Socks is quite happy pose for another portrait.<br />
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A rather pleasing shot of 'Socks' peering through a kitchen window results from a bit of planning and a few items which most serious photographers have in their kit bag.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwOCwWEHS5lgPK9L3Mm8-d037FH2OMheES6s8d3crRtWk-GX_q9dRFWAPR97M0Di3jMv7z619YVuNlyTAaQ-doGPRVqD-4MKw2LXFjbspQuZomJqRNWmTFTjublelikga9n8gul3qkcFPa/s1600/IMG_7616.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>Both flashguns are operating on iShoot radio triggers from China at £55 for three triggers and a transmitter. A setting of 1/128th power is all that is required for the indoor flash and 1/2 power for the outside one. The signal for these radio trigger will bounce around a room in every direction and rarely cause a misfire. but outdoors they only work line of sight up to 50 metres easily. The outdoor trigger is hidden by the flashgun body so a small piece of silver foil is attached to bounce the radio signal at the trigger.<br />
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For those who have two sets of radio triggers ti's possible to join a receiver and transmitter together and place this combination in a position where it's visible from both camera and hidden trigger.<br />
Alternatively, a Yognou flashgun would be an option as they have an optical triggering system built-in, but again it has to be line of sight and a third flash on a radio trigger might be required to fire the outside flash.<br />
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All in all a very rewarding thirty minutes playing with flash.Keith Robinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00333298245929081692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607663714572061733.post-7432319751949893782014-10-30T05:19:00.004-07:002014-10-30T05:30:53.064-07:00How to shoot American cars via time exposureAlthough late in the year Keith Robins Photography reveals how using a time exposure plus a high aperture brings out the strong colours and the beautiful shapes of iconic American cars at Poole Quay 2014.<br />
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Canon 70D set to completely to manual <br />
F22 at 1/25th second, ISO 100 <br />
Sigma 10 / 20mm zoom at 14mm<br />
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White balance is set to the Kelvin scale and adjusted to suit, almost every ten minutes as the sun is fading fast! <br />
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Between 1/30th and 1/2 second DSLR cameras vibrate for a very short
time as the mirror pops up and the first part of the shutter snaps
across with 1/15th having the most shake.<br />
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To save my back muscles and to help reduce camera shake I'm using 'Live View', which also shows whether the colours, focus and composition are spot on.<br />
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Manfrotto tripods are among the world's best and is my favourite go-to tripod for the sort of semi low speed photography I am anticipating at this annual event.<br />
Yes it is heavy but having spent a lot on camera, lens, travelling 45 miles to be here I'm not going to waste it all on a lightweight shaker. Besides, if it gets too heavy the Manfrotos are meaty enough to drag behind me on a length of string. (Joking!)<br />
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The times are gradually getting longer throughout the evening until the pink car below took 13 seconds to capture still at F22 and ISO 100.<br />
Can't remember the Kelvin details exactly but the 'K' control definitely helps.<br />
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Lightroom 3.6 might be old hat now but it's so much quicker than putting all the Jpegs through Photoshop.<br />
Did I say Jpegs then? I always use Jpegs, have done for the last ten years which amounts to over half a million photos.<br />
However, with maximum quality in mind I decide to shoot in Raw + large Jpegs just in case. <br />
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Damned good job I did both as Lightroom 3.6 does not deal in Raw images from my Canon 70D and refuses to upgrade.<br />
Adobe CC here I come, not just because of this Raw issue although I will upgrade myself one day soon, but I've seen so many brilliant tutorials using the latest from Adobe that I'm temped beyond reason. So watch thsi space.Keith Robinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00333298245929081692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607663714572061733.post-39982437181913940052014-10-29T10:30:00.002-07:002014-10-30T02:39:30.324-07:00<span class="userContent">How to shoot sports silhouettes with Keith Robins Photography. </span><br />
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A white backdrop is good, across the floor by ten feet is even better. A single softbox fires from one side at 45 degrees to the backdrop so the light bounces off harmlessly to the far side and doesn't weaken the blackness. Okay, so this is not exactly even lighting but I'm trying to demonstrate how to do these type of shots simpley, easy, cheaply.<br />
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This football shot takes more time than any of the others. Maybe Tann isn't a real sports fan at school - the ball shoots off at so many different angles. Yeah, yeah, I know I could photoshop the ball anywhere I like but that's not the idea here. These are all via Lightroom 3.6 which is old, cheap, simple etc.<br />
Besides, my photoshop is on the blink, I will knuckle down to clearing out my Lightroom files as I'm suspecting the old Lightroom will vanish as soon as I sign up to Adobe CC and I'm not going to even think about what happens then. I never have managed to find where Lightroom saves when it backs up.<br />
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Okay, so decorating may not be strictly a sport but DIY is high on the list of popular hobbies along with gardening, fisning and photography, plus I have all the painting kit in my van.<br />
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Even the roller and the drill below are often in the van - I'm a builder / repairman.<br />
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I reckon a chair adds more impact than a traditional pair of steps, besides I don't have a pair in the van.<br />
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I hope you dodn't realize that Tann is adjusting a lighting stand, it should be a pipe, but hey, who's to know? <br />
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This climbing image really needs a rockface but my imagination is working overtime on this shoot due to a cappuccino being stronger than my normally drinking just hot water, sometimes with a tiny splash of orange squash.<br />
<span class="userContent">Just to make thing more challenging I add a se<span class="text_exposed_show">cond
flash with a grid to narrow the light down to just Tann's face, plus I
shoot in colour as Tann, my model for the morning, wants to create a set of 'normal' photos for her Facebook page.</span></span><br />
<span class="userContent"><span class="text_exposed_show">It was from these that the pure </span></span><span class="userContent"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="userContent"><span class="text_exposed_show">soot and
whitewash </span></span>silhouettes originate with the help of Lightroom.</span></span><br />
<span class="userContent"><span class="text_exposed_show">Pushing the contrast way up, the brightness right up, blacks far over, plus an adjustment brush with plenty of contrast, etc. Oh, and saturation gets pushed down low as a little purple is creeping in here and there. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="userContent"><span class="text_exposed_show">Creating these silhouettes has been a rewarding exercise alround and there are so many variants yet to shoot, but using the right lighting in the first place helps a lot in seeing what the camera sees, plus I definitely needed a little help from Lightroom and it's, 'Job done!'</span></span>Keith Robinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00333298245929081692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607663714572061733.post-81844366833721106062014-03-09T05:22:00.006-07:002014-03-09T05:22:49.736-07:00<h5 class="uiStreamMessage" data-ft="{"type":1,"tn":"K"}">
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3,"tn":"K"}">Is it me or are seaside photos fraught with accidents?</span></h5>
<h5 class="uiStreamMessage" data-ft="{"type":1,"tn":"K"}">
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3,"tn":"K"}"> Last night it was my radio trigger which sank without a trace.<br />
The lighting stand was in two feet of water plus waves rolling in at 4
second intervals about 10 to 12 inches high. No great shakes you say,
until an iShoot radio trigger slides off the hotshoe and drops into the
sea!! While i'm trying to regain my composure and my balance I am
watching the surface carefully looking for bubbles. If there's air
inside then that<span class="text_exposed_show"> has to come out before the sea can get in.<br /> </span></span></h5>
<h5 class="uiStreamMessage" data-ft="{"type":1,"tn":"K"}">
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3,"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show">Spotted!! Twenty or so tiny bubbles indicate exactly where the trigger
is. Roll up sleev, hold camera up away from the waves (yes I've been
there done that!) and plunge a hand downward, only there's a hole right
where the bubbles are.<br /> I was tempted to shrug and accept the fate of
the fourth trigger within twelve months to become functionless but
another couple minutes grasping at the seabed and i'm shaking the water
and sand out of my tiny piece of kit.<br /> Take out the batteries and put it in front of the hot air on the way home.<br /> </span></span></h5>
<h5 class="uiStreamMessage" data-ft="{"type":1,"tn":"K"}">
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3,"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show">This morning I look inside to see all the salt caking over some vital
bit and decide to pop it in the sink for a wash and brush up. At the
moment I'm still waiting for the receiver electronics to dry out and
then I'll test it again (didn't work the first time I tried).<br /> Out
with all the other broken triggers and a bunch of tools and proceeded to
repair / bodge three of the six into working items worthy of gracing a
Bronica camera bag (well almost). So I'm back up to five triggers now.<br />
Later on around sunset last night I stumble right next to the sea wall
at Lyme Regis and my camera lens hits the stones rather hard. Luckily
only the filter edge was dented and scratched but the threads are okay.
Thank goodness I usually keep the filter attached, (I take it off when
shooting into the sun to cut down on flare).<br /> </span></span></h5>
<h5 class="uiStreamMessage" data-ft="{"type":1,"tn":"K"}">
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3,"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show">Hotshoes coming adrift
where the screws pull out of the plastic are the result of most common
accidents. Triggers snapping in half is second and battteries leaking
are third in line for why flashguns don't go off when expected. There is
a fourth problem - the flash only work a fraction of the time. Putting a
new CR23a battery into the transmitter usually cures that one.</span></span></h5>
Keith Robinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00333298245929081692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607663714572061733.post-31525688444154298982013-05-12T23:19:00.002-07:002013-05-12T23:19:48.488-07:00The great John Denton, master of flash, comes to the south coast on 20th May and I'm booked in for a full day on-location model shooting with him!!!!<br />
John is a memeber of the SWPP, Society of Wedding and Portrait Photograpers, so every couple months there's a new lighting course with a top photographer.<br />
With luck I'll be able to keep up with all the info and learning oportunities that John will be throwing at myself and the twelve or so other during this top of the range one day course. I've been a fan of Denton's portrait style for a number of years and this is going to be the highlight of my year.<br />
ASAP I'll be posting up some of my results so you can see what I've learnt and how I coped with the pressure of being put on the spot with a top UK model, a location I've not previously sussed out, and lighting which I shall try to be prepared for but am not sure of - might be mine or could be John's ideas.<br />
Really looking forward to this challenging day which every self-respecting portrait photographer should be scrambling to get onto - can't wait!!!!! Keith Robinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00333298245929081692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607663714572061733.post-39524876330639659572013-01-13T02:07:00.000-08:002013-01-13T02:17:27.775-08:00Flash Vs LED torchA torch and LED lighting capture a part open book proving that low powered lights can yield amazing results.<br />
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Let's look at how substituting one of the light sources with a low powered flash will help us understand the relationship of continuous lighting with that of a flashgun, an understanding of which we might one day need while on a location portrait-photoshoot when we want to capture a lovely sunset as a background behind the subject. <br />
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A flashgun exposes our subject in around 1/1,000th of a second regardless of the shutter speed, (below the sync speed of 1/200th). Meanwhile, we are using those same shutter speeds to control the intensity of the LED light source - longer means brighter and shorter gives a darker image. You might or might not notice that the flash exposure never changed, but more of this a moment.<br />
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A typical closeup or table top still life scenario might be :- We need a good depth of focus for our subject and decide on F11. The LED block at twelve inches requires a shutter speed of 1 second. This is okay for the flash as that is all over and finished, as we know, in 1/1,000th - it doesn't matter that the shutter is still open so it can carry on capturing the LED lighting. <br />
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This means we could make the exposure time longer to effectively create more light from the LED's without effecting the flash exposure. This is a hint that flash and continuous lighting are governed via separate camera controls - flash with aperture and continuous light via shutter speed. For instance, a longer exposure would give us more time to move the LED light slowly around the subject and we could eliminate all shadows. I say slowly as the exposure is one second so each position of the light needs to be for one second otherwise that part of the overall exposure will be too dark. Moving it slowly will allow that part of the subject to look balanced, while a faster movement will under expose. <br />
So it looks like speed of movement from the light source or shutter speed governs how intense the light is.<br />
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We could even leave the shutter open for thirty seconds, which most digital cameras are capable of, and use the LED on/off swith to make our exposure of one second. This is assuming we are in a dark room, shed, skittle alley, etc. <br />
We might also, during the same exposure, switch the LED back on with it in a different position and illuminate the shadow side of your subject from just a little bit further away thereby creating a softer shadow and we start to appreciate what lighting ratios are all about. <br />
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Meanwhile, our flashgun could also be moved, closer for more light or further away for less. We can also vary the softness of a flash by keeping to the same distance, doubling the output and bouncing it into a handheld reflector, or off a white wall, piece of card, even a sheet of newspaper, or the inside of a helium party balloon which is a matt finish alluminium and makes a superb reflector when taped over a piece of cardboard.<br />
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Same as the LED the flash can be moved and exposed several times during a thirty second exposure. Fire it once straight on from the right for a sharp shadow, then move it to the left side at the same distance but this time bounce it into a reflector and the shadows become softer by between one stop and two stops.<br />
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By now it should have become clear that shutter speeds control continuous lighting while aperture controls the flash. What else can control the flashgun? Distance, closer for more light, further away for less intensity. Then there are all the different powers from full whack all the way down to 1/128th power. <br />
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Another consideration is the aperture of F11, the higher the number the lower the lighting power from both continuous light and flashgun, but is going to throw a spanner in the works if we want to stick with the F11 we originally wanted for our required depth of focus.<br />
A lower aperture such as F5.6 means we have less time to play around with our lighting, or does it? No, we merely shift our lights to exactly double the distance and we are right back to using all the timings and scenarios above. There is a complicated formulea which we don't neeed to confuse ourselves with called inverse square law but thankfully the way F numbers are worked out means we get exactly the same lighting power by doubling the distance and dropping two stops.<br />
Hope your not too confused but my Yeo Photo Group camera club will be running through this several times on Tuesday evenings and will be using this basic information many times at during the next twelve months.Keith Robinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00333298245929081692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607663714572061733.post-37369657571035978962012-12-09T02:45:00.003-08:002021-07-26T04:03:57.161-07:00Wow, what has Blogger done to their site since I was last on the scene? It's a work of art now to get up the 'New post' box.<br />
Been so busy doing plumbing and building repairs , yet strangely I've also managed to squeeze in even more photography than ever before with around 4 to 8 photo shoots per week. Most of these have been portrait on location shoots in the woods, by the sea, on hill tops and up to my knees in rivers, plus several portrait sessions in the sea with waves lapping at my pockets. My flashguns and stands have always been with me as my passion for great lighting knows no bounds, even in the surf.<br />
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Tonii at WestBay obviously used no flash at all but this is one of the extremely rare moments when I used pure natural light.<br />
Exposing for the brightest part of the sky involves noting the auto exposure settings and then closing down two stops as a starting point. Usually I leave the white balance set to 'Flash' as I prefer the warmer tones. Same too with night photography when I want the tungsten street lights to resemble tugnsten street lights.<br />
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Now let's have a look at Tonii in this dis-used wartime building with its gorgeous grafitti. Taken with two flashes, one front and back, with Tonii sandwiched between. I call this sandwich lighting for good reason, preferably with a softbox on the nearest flash while the far light has no modifier and is often wearing a DIY grid.<br />
I quite liked the effect of flare from the rim light and decided to stick with it for the rest of this part of the shoot.<br />
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Two softboxes help blend the warm daylight into this image with almost no visible cut off point between the two light sources.<br />
Tonii is so patient and is helpful beyond measure, Although she is never backward in saying if she doesn't like a particular shot, which gets deleted there and then.<br />
So yes, I do show my models / helpers the images as they gradually develope into the finshed product. <br />
The church is run byMichael, a good friend of mine, who says we can borrow it any time he's not using it. Must remember to give him a copy of some of the better images.<br />
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In this shot of Danii leaping over a log in a local forest I wanted to keep the daylight as a blur, plus create a blur behind her. The choices are either go with a stanionary camera on a tripod and catch the blur of white material streaming out behind Danii and freeze her with second curtain flash. Or, I pan with her and get streaky daylight.<br />
After a couple shots of each category an idea sprang to mind - what if I could manage both trains of thought in one shot. By arranging for Danii to be running towards the darker area and panning with her I could turn the camera faster, in the same direction, after the flash had gone off in first curtain sync. I hasten to add that I was using about 1/10 of a second. Also, by the third image, I realise that although I'm turning the camera faster I'm panning it a little too fast. Because the flash is the main illumination here then Danii is less likely to record against the blackness. Her front foot is moving fast enough not to record as a great deal of blur due to the flash, although I did have to go into Photoshop and take out a small amount of blur in that area.Keith Robinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00333298245929081692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607663714572061733.post-37452831235250631262012-07-28T09:53:00.003-07:002012-09-05T08:59:02.281-07:00Latest news from Keith RobinsIt's been ages since my last blog post here but Keith Robins Photography is still around and busier than ever. For instance, I recently surprised myself and managed ten on-location portait photoshoots in eight days besides working a fifty hour week in my plumbing business.<br />
Now I've turned 67 it should be time to relax and put my feet up. But, as luck would have it, my long term hobby is photographing young ladies so I've brushed the dust off my camera, charged up a few batteries and taken a few on-location photo trips into the countrtside. River shoots seem to feature quite highly in the requests from young feminine beauties closely followed by 'on-the-rocks' at the seaside. If this is what retirement is all about - bring it on!<br />
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I'm not sure how or why but Facebook was kind enough to give me a private page plus a business page, which I don't mind at all as it gives me a couple of options when I upload the results from these exciting photo sessions. Okay, so Facebook resizes all the images for me automatically, which helps make them less desirable to rip-off merchants, plus there is plenty of space for loads and loads of albums. This in turn has attracted quite a few viewers and resulted in new models contacting me ref photoshoots.<br />
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I normally work on a TFCD basis which means I give some of my time and skill, the model gives her time and good looks. The model gets a set of CD images and we both end up improving our portfolios.<br />
Now, this might sound as if I'm losing out on a load of cash. But actually it's the very opposite - I'm saving myself money! What's happening is that I am now meeting some really attractive models, my persona and techniques have changed for the better. Plus, I consider myself a much better photographer and my skills level has shot through the roof.<br />
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I'm now in a position where I could start charging for my skills because I can physically prove that I'm the photographer who is capable of producing stunning results. Similar in a way, I suppose, to a brilliant violinist going on the X factor and winning and all his neighbours saying, 'Well I didn't know he could play like that!'<br />
You have to show what you can do, how good you are and only then will Joe Public beat a path to your door. I look on Facebook as being my shop window, plus they even tell friends of friends how good you are - and it's all free!!!!<br />
I'm gradually putting a two or three results from each of my most recent photography shoots, along with a write-up, on to my Facebook page at:- <a href="http://www.facebook.com/keithrobinsphotography">www.facebook.com/keithrobinsphotography </a><br />
I also run a blog based website at:- <a href="http://www.keithrobinsphotography.co.uk/">http://www.keithrobinsphotography.co.uk </a><br />
Meanwhile, seeing as I'm now drawing a pension and my customers won't let me retire in peace, what's the point in charging loads of money and then paying income tax on all of it? Or am I sonehow missing the point?<br />
Keith Robinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00333298245929081692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607663714572061733.post-21265878244057459032011-11-29T00:12:00.001-08:002012-09-05T09:01:44.483-07:00Just been on a 'Subtraction of Light' course with Mark Cleghorn of PhotoTraining4U fame in Cardiff.<br />
Seems like the addition of flash is not quite as necessary as I'd previously thought.<br />
In fact, during the five day course we were starting at 6am and photographing with extended exposures of up to two minutes. On a pier in low lying mist by 10am and then later we went under the pier to discover the equivalent of studio lighting!<br />
Mark's 'Subtraction of Light' course has changed my whole outlook on how I take portraits with the purchase of a Canon 85mm F1.8 lens. I've also begun using the 'Picture Style' modes on my Canon 5D with black and white plus a red filter being my favourite.<br />
Candid photography has never been one of my favourite pastimes, but it is growing on me. Street portraits however, turned ot to be far more rewarding than anything I've previouly tackled with many new contacts each time I take to the streets.<br />
Portraits in the woods now makes me look for 'window light' and a reflector is higher on my list of accessories than a tripod ever was. <br />
But don't worry I'm going to forgo the benefits of using a flashgun.<br />
I'll try to keep you posted on a more regular basis with plenty of results form my YeoPhotoGroup course which now takes place on a Tuesday evening. This is a free range group with no charges, no officialdom and no real rules apart from the basis of, 'We all help each other to enjoy our photography and don't give any negative comments'.<br />
We now have a facebook area and regularly post results, ideas, and hints.<br />
Keith.<br />
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<br />Keith Robinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00333298245929081692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607663714572061733.post-39205586852590982802011-05-02T23:41:00.000-07:002012-09-05T12:03:11.507-07:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQnYfMLO21_UApGpd5IEvpgAQcfkt2ogYz0dLWn_dXiLDyaoZq_j3qrvlesYeqrixof3Q1kJ_brxTstd2PSCEznMI4Q6cIZ5ooWXzlcSlhZL8bErEckxCFDS9Cjwz_TWe89A7-8cTKJRlW/s1600/Lola+%2528113%2529+blog.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602377308862532738" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQnYfMLO21_UApGpd5IEvpgAQcfkt2ogYz0dLWn_dXiLDyaoZq_j3qrvlesYeqrixof3Q1kJ_brxTstd2PSCEznMI4Q6cIZ5ooWXzlcSlhZL8bErEckxCFDS9Cjwz_TWe89A7-8cTKJRlW/s200/Lola+%2528113%2529+blog.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 184px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a>Miniscule portrait studio at 1.5 m by 1 metre!<br />
A narrow shop doorway, model four feet away and a single off-camera flashgun bounced off a four inch wide doorframe is all Keith Robins Photography needs to create a superb portrait.<br />
Okay so there is a bit of help from the sun which illuminates Lola's left cheek via the white wall outside. For some of these photos I use my Canon 580 EX with the head reversed and bouncing it off a white tee shirt to my left. The flash is set on ETTL while the camera stays on manual, enabling me to control the daylight to a precise exposure.<br />
Getting Lola to look towards the somewhat darker shop interior helps to open up her eyes and as we all know, it's the eyes that can make or break a good portrait.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3lfJ-uElyF8MLfT167FwkWDEEdEwlkVS0q6Y2ZHWsgrc6sgk7Rnns56pKmweeegCs0k8H1HzI85r9arUdxjzLIYEgW7wOMhpGOOtVM55LAGxW6R6VzJ5mKsqiFy2n8rBVGGNEt_YJpEYo/s1600/Lola+%252880%2529+blog.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602377180723505810" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3lfJ-uElyF8MLfT167FwkWDEEdEwlkVS0q6Y2ZHWsgrc6sgk7Rnns56pKmweeegCs0k8H1HzI85r9arUdxjzLIYEgW7wOMhpGOOtVM55LAGxW6R6VzJ5mKsqiFy2n8rBVGGNEt_YJpEYo/s200/Lola+%252880%2529+blog.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 155px;" /></a>I came across Lola a week ago via 'Model Mayhem', a sort of online modeling agency where you sign up, wait for approval and eventually if they think you're good enough you can send out friend requests followed by email contacts with the models where MM act as intermediaries, a sort of buffer zone.<br />
Lola is a newbie to the site as a model but I've had nearly forty years behind my camera as a portrait photographer and i've decided that her portfolio needs a boost, come to think of it so does mine! Besides, not only do I need the practice but, I can't remember ever having photographed a girl with such beautiful red hair or such incredible blue eyes. Mostly, though, I could see the possibilities of some amazing photos with Lola and on this count I think I am definitely about to be proved correct.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-qOsOc6OybztmIy01oWtfjkiO7RZMPKa5s8B9Ry-Hkn4dZ7Bq2prDXR2JDDl7CGNhzka8aY_MExq7OPZuCVnukEJgzlLCQR4XcRl1Hhl_IjGsSsfnqPXmeEcTuCuLN5Slp0Ey0bho6F4e/s1600/Lola+%252845%2529+blog.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602377021593370002" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-qOsOc6OybztmIy01oWtfjkiO7RZMPKa5s8B9Ry-Hkn4dZ7Bq2prDXR2JDDl7CGNhzka8aY_MExq7OPZuCVnukEJgzlLCQR4XcRl1Hhl_IjGsSsfnqPXmeEcTuCuLN5Slp0Ey0bho6F4e/s200/Lola+%252845%2529+blog.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 137px;" /></a><br />
We arrange to meet at a carpark in Glastonbury on May 1st and blow me most of the roads are closed due to a series of bank holiday fun runs, the carpark is full but I somehow manage to squeeze in. Lola's mum has come along to help hold one of the flashguns as I can only carry one lighting stand along with all the other stuff us photographers consider important - so why do we never use it all?<br />
I often carry two large bags and pull a kitchen waste bin on a shopping trolley full of lighting stands, brollies, reflectors and tripod, but this time it is just a bagful of four flashes, stand adaptors and triggers.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggjOC3O_uzonBXCOWPn3OtVgj7SOgGrWxtl4DG7r2G-7Q0EXxak6PmmxDFAiDQJFdXVocpO6FzCE8-X5OTHXcnb-HaszxgWACEDTNEDc4m7rlkMrMNRaA9QxRwZgrGKxumacE93vwWvu6P/s1600/Lola+%252825%2529+blog.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602376895908290962" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggjOC3O_uzonBXCOWPn3OtVgj7SOgGrWxtl4DG7r2G-7Q0EXxak6PmmxDFAiDQJFdXVocpO6FzCE8-X5OTHXcnb-HaszxgWACEDTNEDc4m7rlkMrMNRaA9QxRwZgrGKxumacE93vwWvu6P/s200/Lola+%252825%2529+blog.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 177px;" /></a>'Proper Job' supermarket carpark provides a small area of shade under a tree set in the pavement which I use to keep the brilliant sun off Lola's gorgeous red hair - I wanted to create my own strobist lighting arrangements, my own sunlight if you like.<br />
One stand, a Vivitar 285 into a small brolly, a second 285 is held by mum replicated the sun to great effect. Both guns are firing via cheapo radio triggers from China at £60 for a set of three recievers and one transmitter. The benefits are that Lola's blue eyes opened up as she looked into the shade. What appears to be sunlight shining on Lola's cheek is really a Vivitar at 1/2 power, but without a modifier it resembles direct sunlight. The second 285 is bouncing into the small brolly also set to 1/2 power, but due to it bouncing into a brolly this is reduced to around 1/4 power and the biggest benefit is that it's really soft due to the close proximity - about three feet.<br />
You wouldn't think that a carpark would make any sort of decent backdrop but it does. Not having access to a studio should not put you off taking beautiful portraits like these, it is possible almost anywhere to create a work of art using flag lights. Strobism rules!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfdBTPl13-wEO1JFpoaYPOj_-uVNkMkwtk9n43KHaC1q77dqoXP4I5Mz9ux8Q1we35csPfypFpxc14TR_5K_KlR8HQT6G_AQeFgSw7hAeJtUillEkZlo43RsmdJDGOaxddQl4YoKvMTPoc/s1600/Lola+%252822%2529+blog.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602376751646594082" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfdBTPl13-wEO1JFpoaYPOj_-uVNkMkwtk9n43KHaC1q77dqoXP4I5Mz9ux8Q1we35csPfypFpxc14TR_5K_KlR8HQT6G_AQeFgSw7hAeJtUillEkZlo43RsmdJDGOaxddQl4YoKvMTPoc/s200/Lola+%252822%2529+blog.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 139px;" /></a> Then we move on to a narrow shop doorway where Lola faces into the fairly dark interior with a weedy backyard and a whole mess of rainwater pipes in the background lit by sunlight.<br />
Okay, so I didn't stay true strobist with the Vivtars for this part of the photoshoot as I want to push my understanding of the capabilities of Canon ETTL and whether I can still influence this modern automatic lighting technology, or, does it take over and mess up everything creative. To which the answer is - without my strobist knowledge of how to juggle exposure controls these photos of Lola will suffer big time.<br />
Canon's interactive ETTL with more than one flash is now moving further down the list of things to absorb my precious time!<br />
During the two hour shoot I take 115 photos, (eighty-five after editing), which Lola will get on a CD to go on her Facebook page, also on to her MM portfolio. I'm only too pleased to help this delightful young lady on her way as a model who is a joy to work with.<br />
Will I use Model Mayhem again? Yes, without a doubt! Although it's a rather long winded method of contacting suitable models but it's for their protection and I can see why it has to be this way.<br />
Will I be photographing Lola again? Yes, most definitely, can't wait!!!!Keith Robinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00333298245929081692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607663714572061733.post-73754246245732312682011-04-24T04:56:00.000-07:002012-09-05T09:16:48.076-07:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk6VNQVaDmt4hD90ni6SbFmaCT4D1ZPRS7zNFY4e6boyuZN3jVZFK0C3smEoYGwqywg5kzPbrsKm_VZJ1cT68Qa3VMtz1Akaa6-Lm0e-SC0njYEWig0SXY4ST5Mjs7uapyknCLITPh_96d/s1600/Bluebell+Popstar+003.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599121611135972802" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk6VNQVaDmt4hD90ni6SbFmaCT4D1ZPRS7zNFY4e6boyuZN3jVZFK0C3smEoYGwqywg5kzPbrsKm_VZJ1cT68Qa3VMtz1Akaa6-Lm0e-SC0njYEWig0SXY4ST5Mjs7uapyknCLITPh_96d/s200/Bluebell+Popstar+003.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 149px;" /></a><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Popstar</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">strobist, Keith Robins Photography,</span> in the bluebells!<br />
This late evening <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">popstar</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">photoshoot</span> required three flashguns, nothing technical though as time was short.<br />
We were also short of an actual <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">popstar</span> so Trevor leaped in with a borrowed guitar.<br />
Photo one gives an idea of the location and the little <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Vivitar</span> 285HE of which I used two. These run on 6 volt motorcycle batteries as they are allergic to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">rechargable</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">AA's</span>. Third gun was a Miranda from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Ebay</span> at £2 which does run on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">rechargables</span>. I've got two of these lovely little Miranda's and use them a lot.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimd2N_vYxTpcfntHvXZuANVhl7Y1jVckopWpceQ15SdCInqqHW3tLc_QGM9HepPgVNqm82ucmsYQ3zHLJw_m8n7Na0VFB_MH8rXjkPbRhn889cRtVsq_Tymjb6fTJm6uvt1tZL_02pWmm7/s1600/Bluebell+Popstar+009.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599121342360871474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimd2N_vYxTpcfntHvXZuANVhl7Y1jVckopWpceQ15SdCInqqHW3tLc_QGM9HepPgVNqm82ucmsYQ3zHLJw_m8n7Na0VFB_MH8rXjkPbRhn889cRtVsq_Tymjb6fTJm6uvt1tZL_02pWmm7/s200/Bluebell+Popstar+009.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 134px;" /></a>All the lighting stands, camera kit and other <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">parphinalia</span> we <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">strobists</span> think we really need, but hardly ever use, is carried in a kitchen waste bin fixed to a collapsible <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">trolle</span> with gaffer tape and bungee straps and is seen here standing in for Trevor while he puts on one of my old movie making wigs.<br />
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The trolley wheels folded up on the last photo trip and the weighty kit had to be carried back to the van. The buggy has since been adapted with a solid bar axle for just £2, but at only £12 from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Maplins</span> for the trolley I still ended up with a bargain.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHoNGW39_0WmTCxnyhSN8RXz1UkkFlRNTTV0gto1jBBJI9hZjTsL85LJuwMyMUgNP-U0f3v7dzuqz63LKILRYeAKY7xrDM-fXk9VDRJSuneAHGPRPT6Sn4HJsOzFcde7MP8dBj9pdAOIi-/s1600/Bluebell+Popstar+037.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599120885479818962" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHoNGW39_0WmTCxnyhSN8RXz1UkkFlRNTTV0gto1jBBJI9hZjTsL85LJuwMyMUgNP-U0f3v7dzuqz63LKILRYeAKY7xrDM-fXk9VDRJSuneAHGPRPT6Sn4HJsOzFcde7MP8dBj9pdAOIi-/s200/Bluebell+Popstar+037.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 134px;" /></a>I wanted our lively <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">popstar</span> to leap in the air and look as if he's bellowing a few lyrics - He's a few years younger than myself so his knees can take the strain. A tip for those with spare cash and the means to transport it - how about a three foot diameter trampoline from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Ebay</span> for twenty quid?<br />
Mounting the flashes onto a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Bowens</span> stand, an <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Elinchrom</span> and an <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Interfit</span> stand, <span style="font-style: italic;">(Yes I like variety)</span>, requires the use of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">hotshoe</span> to lighting stand adaptors at £6 each off the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">internet</span>. As nothing we <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">strobists</span> use ever seems to be compatible I've <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">Araldited</span> a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">DIY</span> metal <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">hotshoe</span> foot on top of each of my flashguns, including my two Canon 580 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">EXlls</span>, which has the bonus of bringing the flash window right next to a brolly shaft.<br />
But then the breeze catches one of the brollies and a few swear words spring to mind. I now carry a tube of superglue and a few spare brollies.<br />
By keeping one flash in shot the illusion of an outdoor stage venue was a last minute addition which we both liked, then decided that adding a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">CTO</span> filter made it resemble the sun setting through the backdrop of trees, which we liked even more.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5bv8cfwsz827Ljd2QtRbQdWeGwL7505biH4xwg_qGcc-szGPvJdfBxjKIvEQ5-1GRoZGWj6oiF2sxeiFlbi1RLfHOzgHH-tmYRRy5W2QbOqDhapBWVLPnRXPDvfimtPL5MokJDFzigL5_/s1600/Bluebell+Popstar+042.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599120408376289186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5bv8cfwsz827Ljd2QtRbQdWeGwL7505biH4xwg_qGcc-szGPvJdfBxjKIvEQ5-1GRoZGWj6oiF2sxeiFlbi1RLfHOzgHH-tmYRRy5W2QbOqDhapBWVLPnRXPDvfimtPL5MokJDFzigL5_/s200/Bluebell+Popstar+042.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 134px;" /></a>To retain the daylight level, which revealed detail in the bluebells, I used ISO 400 and a shutter speed of 1/80<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">th</span>. I did try 1/20<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">th</span> at F8 but the resulting blur was too distracting plus it darkened the flash too much.<br />
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Remember, shutter speeds control daylight and apertures control flash strength - higher shutter speed makes the sky/background darker and lower makes it lighter. ISO changes effect both flash strength and daylight levels so I usually leave the sensitivity set on 100 ISO.<br />
Although the aperture effects both ambient and flash it is primarily the flash strength which is controlled via the F numbers - higher F number darker flash. Of course you could always move the flashgun further away to decrease the strength, or turn down the power setting.<br />
I'm not going to go into how to use <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">highspeed</span> shutter sync right now as cameras and flashes vary so much. Best to study the techniques of this along with multiple dedicated flashes in your flashgun instruction book.<br />
Of particular interest is the Nikon <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">CLS</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">(controlled lighting system)</span>, or the Canon equivalent. I've used multiple <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">hotshoe</span> flashguns for thirty five years and find the process simple, straight forward and easy - but these dedicated lighting systems are something else! Bear with me though and when I have sussed out how to use it successfully I'll pass the info on in this blog.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk5LNMLYX_m_xAtB8g7zbWpXHWLcz48077Rst-g1Ym1bsR557VCj-f8sf7e9tZlraq63FV-6IVgKAQEtbSA-kqqdZvcG16uwvK_NvLkFeZNzD4KJHiBdm2P5IP77q57wEYqE_05QVAPs_D/s1600/Bluebell+Popstar+049.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599119961150483842" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk5LNMLYX_m_xAtB8g7zbWpXHWLcz48077Rst-g1Ym1bsR557VCj-f8sf7e9tZlraq63FV-6IVgKAQEtbSA-kqqdZvcG16uwvK_NvLkFeZNzD4KJHiBdm2P5IP77q57wEYqE_05QVAPs_D/s200/Bluebell+Popstar+049.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 188px;" /></a>Meanwhile, an aperture of F5.6 returned the best images making full use of the three flashes, of which the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">Vivitars</span> were set to 1/16<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33">th</span> power at six feet front and back and the Miranda on full power at around twenty feet. Keeping all the flashes in sync was an <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34">IShoot</span> radio transmitter on the camera sending radio signals to a set of three <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35">IShoot</span> receivers on the three flashguns.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmM_kG3WZPkAIDjgAyZWzsWkAEVb0KUTG8i8QmNMxJfs8lrddsfYKf2DINKV6NBeRwQP-sMMsiptF6yiUAUSftk-qvQhwn4A4nWej3Ei5kSbsiA0UxDarMsDPzLkYjSn5BRt0prHsCUhhM/s1600/Bluebell+Popstar+041zoom.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599119597778196418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmM_kG3WZPkAIDjgAyZWzsWkAEVb0KUTG8i8QmNMxJfs8lrddsfYKf2DINKV6NBeRwQP-sMMsiptF6yiUAUSftk-qvQhwn4A4nWej3Ei5kSbsiA0UxDarMsDPzLkYjSn5BRt0prHsCUhhM/s200/Bluebell+Popstar+041zoom.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 134px;" /></a>I bought this set of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36">Ishoot</span> triggers and the transmitter for £60 from a fellow photographer who wanted a Nikon fit, but then he found there is only Canon fit available.<br />
I've since used these same triggers with Nikon, Olympus and my Canon cameras with equal success as I'm guessing all the little contacts don't actually do anything. They also work superbly with my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37">Elinchrom</span> studio lights and having four channels is a real boon in a busy studio environment.<br />
Meanwhile Trevor is having a ball, leaping and shouting and I'm loving how these three amazing strobes are working together - absolutely wonderful lighting!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjII74devLk0V53X8Xdws8Q2d2uy-cW4DNV7z7Ns8GTMco8NdT3KTf4_y4PbDc58lt9V1BwXeD-ZEzsYwTX53zDIwAWAB8TE7IQ7OQCD8cabACXXl4Qrs94n4zd-VDdGaBq3-3otR6K0-1S/s1600/Bluebell+Popstar+050.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599119091697863826" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjII74devLk0V53X8Xdws8Q2d2uy-cW4DNV7z7Ns8GTMco8NdT3KTf4_y4PbDc58lt9V1BwXeD-ZEzsYwTX53zDIwAWAB8TE7IQ7OQCD8cabACXXl4Qrs94n4zd-VDdGaBq3-3otR6K0-1S/s200/Bluebell+Popstar+050.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 134px;" /></a>Okay so next time we'll add a few more coloured filters and maybe a smoke machine, maybe even try adding a real sun filtering through the trees along with a studio flash to really challenge the sun's strength, but being an emergency plumber means time is often short.<br />
Thank you Trevor for being a great sport and he says he is available for bookings, but don't ring him - he'll ring you.Keith Robinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00333298245929081692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607663714572061733.post-17665288341104516202011-03-17T23:44:00.000-07:002012-09-05T09:18:02.094-07:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOilvl8km7JIxLokfdgeBi7XVS5zEdXPqaYX-_X6mRhUo4dcfkWEnfVDByBtuD4y0U8jVjHBzKi7IWcNLlk50_WRhhJQjPkMlXpiYjj22Waou8egc7kGASI228hQs0RGPRPBSgnjKlQ0uU/s1600/Maiden+Newton+at+war+blog+1+.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585307488473613266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOilvl8km7JIxLokfdgeBi7XVS5zEdXPqaYX-_X6mRhUo4dcfkWEnfVDByBtuD4y0U8jVjHBzKi7IWcNLlk50_WRhhJQjPkMlXpiYjj22Waou8egc7kGASI228hQs0RGPRPBSgnjKlQ0uU/s320/Maiden+Newton+at+war+blog+1+.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 320px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
Flash on the battlefield with Keith Robins Photography.<br />
Maiden Newton At War re-enactment presented absolutely loads of flash opportunities.<br />
Recently a Canon 580 EXll flashgun arrived in the post, from my wife who thankfully encourages me in my photo endevours.<br />
Along with my existing 580 EX mark one I now have the makings of a portable studio which I can control with an ST-E2 Canon gadget that clips into the camera hotshoe and which I picked up for a song.<br />
Now you may think this is getting away from pure strobist flash techniques and you're right, but I'm not going to apoligize for trying to conquer yet another milestone in the ever expanding challenge of photography. This is modern technology and is going to take a lot of getting used to, so thank heaven I've had thirty five years head start as a genuine strobist. I'm a knobs and levers sort of bloke and some of these modern menus sometimes baffle me.<br />
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My learning of ultra-modern flash techniques started off with just one Canon 580EX flash at Maiden Newton 20th of June 2010.<br />
I set the camera on Manual mode, the ISO to 200, F8 in aperture priority and the flash set to ETTL at 1/3 rd under exposure so as not to overpower and appear obvious, this is admirably demonstrated above with the title shot of my day out.<br />
Being a really bright day the shutter speeds soared above the sync speed of my flashgun, but by pressing a combination of buttons on the back panel of the flash I found highspeed sync. This sends out the flash in a series of pulses relating to the shutter speed and exposes all parts of the sensor evenly meaning I didn't get the normal black bar across the lower part of each image. Operating the menu requires fairly small fingers, but eventually I managed it with my builder's sized digits.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg-5JD6e3D1HxGVbplfLhjIaZEN2vRC1fVNPHCP4Jhv8foCagcpdCIu0QukuWe5rVP9ecx3CGXLcBDGYkZcN9xClwDjwmXhlMnt9r7fc9bOVsXaxCXApAtnLfjP7Tvxu55XiaKB9XUiQX8/s1600/Maiden+Newton+at+war+Sat+274+blog.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585313161095971010" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg-5JD6e3D1HxGVbplfLhjIaZEN2vRC1fVNPHCP4Jhv8foCagcpdCIu0QukuWe5rVP9ecx3CGXLcBDGYkZcN9xClwDjwmXhlMnt9r7fc9bOVsXaxCXApAtnLfjP7Tvxu55XiaKB9XUiQX8/s200/Maiden+Newton+at+war+Sat+274+blog.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 132px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
I was surprised to find that some photos were taken as high as 1/800th, which causes the flash to be so weak it's usless at anything more than three feet! I should have realised this and gone for an aperture of F11 and lowered the sensitivity to ISO 100 before ruining 20% of my daylight flash balance efforts.<br />
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Going back to the camera being on manual and the flash on ETTL, the flash knows what aperture I've set on the camera, it even knows what ISO setting is being used and produces light accordingly. This is all very clever and so beyond most of us that I'll excuse you for throwing your hands in the air and saying; 'Oh Sod it! I think I'll just use auto and be damned!'<br />
However, stick with it and before long the penny begins to drop. But, beware! Just when you think you've grasped the know-how and beginning to master this daylight flash balance malarkey, then something will go wrong, you'll be stumped again and wishing you'd stuck with manual strobist guns.<br />
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To soften the flash indoors I've got a Stofen to send the light around the room and sends out enough until the camera agrees with the output and turns off the flash, but outdoors Stofens just don't cut it.<br />
Instead I use the lid of a large emulsion paint tub which I've cut and shaped to fit the flash head. The angle of 45 degrees sends out a fairly soft edged light which caused a lot of interest on the battlefield. Mind you, should I happen to lose it there are another five paint tins lids in my shed.<br />
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Many thanks to all the WWll re-enactors who helped make my day.<br />
In the next post I'll explain a little more about ETTL on location and hope I can make it easier to understand - for both of us!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRD5PHFbRvLwV6ak5ClWBSJ55U8FvmJjak_wwsWWrA0aMw1BBiaesJaO4Y9rFZhWEQ0y0FnWOpuZPssgOm0jOx92zj7fnfY-0apZUJpAEB37B5LZyeyFPRhkTrK-VteaKgXl6j-TJE8SVD/s1600/Maiden+Newton+at+war+Sat+263+blog.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585336386759192402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRD5PHFbRvLwV6ak5ClWBSJ55U8FvmJjak_wwsWWrA0aMw1BBiaesJaO4Y9rFZhWEQ0y0FnWOpuZPssgOm0jOx92zj7fnfY-0apZUJpAEB37B5LZyeyFPRhkTrK-VteaKgXl6j-TJE8SVD/s200/Maiden+Newton+at+war+Sat+263+blog.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 140px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJZTMjIguB6nzqI_CSDfjSpBdauMuJRc6esrLzOCrKDeoOr4CgtcbBCwqD95zXCwM1R_ub6pLT16ZczJ9Gbivh3XiSJd2u1tzmtdDTD4ptznkqvv9HxJI2rz9oK1fRZeV9TaDHI4hLMJUg/s1600/Maiden+Newton+at+war+Sat+264+blog.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585336284029921842" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJZTMjIguB6nzqI_CSDfjSpBdauMuJRc6esrLzOCrKDeoOr4CgtcbBCwqD95zXCwM1R_ub6pLT16ZczJ9Gbivh3XiSJd2u1tzmtdDTD4ptznkqvv9HxJI2rz9oK1fRZeV9TaDHI4hLMJUg/s200/Maiden+Newton+at+war+Sat+264+blog.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 142px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSPqwfWQTZWiqiBEysXV4DferaszsNuawCxQ1P0YkPAH1h_25UWuVzY2HufkDxEJAWjPjeyI6h6-PZunCh0EH25dfZ79MHDbzOspjlFCXP96-zruM2AYi3vAL11fhWDltxDEb4-INN1qzr/s1600/Maiden+Newton+at+war+Sun+045+blog.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585336528733083858" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSPqwfWQTZWiqiBEysXV4DferaszsNuawCxQ1P0YkPAH1h_25UWuVzY2HufkDxEJAWjPjeyI6h6-PZunCh0EH25dfZ79MHDbzOspjlFCXP96-zruM2AYi3vAL11fhWDltxDEb4-INN1qzr/s200/Maiden+Newton+at+war+Sun+045+blog.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 133px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKAgGpdI8M7n0GlckkbSMxsYlS94LGLLSdKv2aJpgF331m6iBRAW6c4BteHoOhK-xLGcjhaCkSzMGevCMQD_noMbLx1JMRQrzTRfl2ogniNGAMJhLDotk7Ry_1U2VuFouxEAZwnkUGlaVs/s1600/Maiden+Newton+at+war+Sun+025+blog1.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585330195069394530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKAgGpdI8M7n0GlckkbSMxsYlS94LGLLSdKv2aJpgF331m6iBRAW6c4BteHoOhK-xLGcjhaCkSzMGevCMQD_noMbLx1JMRQrzTRfl2ogniNGAMJhLDotk7Ry_1U2VuFouxEAZwnkUGlaVs/s200/Maiden+Newton+at+war+Sun+025+blog1.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 145px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDKVDopqS3kjj4lOgYWuzgOLzwbJlSRu-PGBXXZS0T7bqWlKJul7y8lrH49TRfKN2zrKU17f_QBvxK7-BMiVQjso0JZv7zxNv-BFkSQzbuTSl3-lV1qYb1MttVvSEvFlMkXDPU55DaEc0J/s1600/Maiden+Newton+at+war+Sun+047+blog.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585330006316282418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDKVDopqS3kjj4lOgYWuzgOLzwbJlSRu-PGBXXZS0T7bqWlKJul7y8lrH49TRfKN2zrKU17f_QBvxK7-BMiVQjso0JZv7zxNv-BFkSQzbuTSl3-lV1qYb1MttVvSEvFlMkXDPU55DaEc0J/s200/Maiden+Newton+at+war+Sun+047+blog.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 199px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0DKP50wf9mmxXZYHsrl1jAaKQ_C8Aow83J7RFr6eB7fvEy-5dMBNWg9Y7ICc-2TtU4ZrOLODNYXndhO84V5S6dkbCjIdFWd-UfJoQhraCgkq6MIowT8hs2r3JkOJ96gVe4XZMd94zF_8t/s1600/Maiden+Newton+at+war+Sun+023+sepia+blog.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585330353554900738" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0DKP50wf9mmxXZYHsrl1jAaKQ_C8Aow83J7RFr6eB7fvEy-5dMBNWg9Y7ICc-2TtU4ZrOLODNYXndhO84V5S6dkbCjIdFWd-UfJoQhraCgkq6MIowT8hs2r3JkOJ96gVe4XZMd94zF_8t/s200/Maiden+Newton+at+war+Sun+023+sepia+blog.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 133px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8K52fCCs0WpSQBw-5F_bmBITo9X3cEkBejLwrNI436RhziJ8bNk-UjPnAPlzoATEeac21WSEFoITD-g4UsGhUZr_YscLJGxc-BHwaUFui084D9J_BV8OAu045D46sUquYPnQkO93u2fhF/s1600/Maiden+Newton+at+war+Sun+261+blog.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585336863043442178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8K52fCCs0WpSQBw-5F_bmBITo9X3cEkBejLwrNI436RhziJ8bNk-UjPnAPlzoATEeac21WSEFoITD-g4UsGhUZr_YscLJGxc-BHwaUFui084D9J_BV8OAu045D46sUquYPnQkO93u2fhF/s200/Maiden+Newton+at+war+Sun+261+blog.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 162px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmFdA0_3-WuboqMqVrGpklnKJDYdq9GXlTlDh0vaGFmho4sr58upzOvDsalsevMMWptt2YNeYKlHbhQySRRsP8r_YhhdsXjd3S2Hfjf-Mj6hhKoix0EQaQGVm1PW-JJqaBMS_GNiMa0zcC/s1600/Maiden+Newton+at+war+Sun+228+blog.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585336655004489458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmFdA0_3-WuboqMqVrGpklnKJDYdq9GXlTlDh0vaGFmho4sr58upzOvDsalsevMMWptt2YNeYKlHbhQySRRsP8r_YhhdsXjd3S2Hfjf-Mj6hhKoix0EQaQGVm1PW-JJqaBMS_GNiMa0zcC/s200/Maiden+Newton+at+war+Sun+228+blog.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 138px;" /></a>Keith Robinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00333298245929081692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607663714572061733.post-11028948387725449062010-05-25T23:47:00.000-07:002016-12-11T03:05:47.986-08:00How Keith Robins Photography takes portraits outdoors in the dark!<br />
You'd be forgiven for thinking these portraits were taken in a studio - whereas actually they were amid the bluebells of Sparkford woods around dusk, plus another two hours beyond.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVm2U6gDqBgzldC7BqfH4oPHkn_9Z3nvV-ia85mXRL6KmDy3NaENcnTGnjDUAbD1rE6w_wAzeLH3bXQnUcD_i-nh9ZTXLR9t3sDwbryEUdunk-PPOeINqioQ1IZOm_QPsMjgfVsJeK4LLp/s1600/BlueBell+portraits+2+106+blog.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475467805509917106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVm2U6gDqBgzldC7BqfH4oPHkn_9Z3nvV-ia85mXRL6KmDy3NaENcnTGnjDUAbD1rE6w_wAzeLH3bXQnUcD_i-nh9ZTXLR9t3sDwbryEUdunk-PPOeINqioQ1IZOm_QPsMjgfVsJeK4LLp/s200/BlueBell+portraits+2+106+blog.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 156px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a>Here's Bob, one of YPG's newer members, studying the results of his experimenting with a fibre optic ring flash while the main studio light is set off via my radio trigger. Okay, so I should have made more of the gorgeous bluebells, but I've been there, done that. Besides, portraits are my favourite area of photography.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeFyp7ZEWUGdhgjeIiZQZiU9CmX9ab2VfUxE3nSqkoT-rZb8hyphenhyphenSD-PonvQcN99yBpfvkZ2ZsDi_tsHwscMRLcwHLF3YUkCo3Rbp8SdYeZteshyj2PyF7PH0Yz-zaRwrKh6OjFNfh8L1MX3/s1600/BlueBell+portraits+162+soft+blog.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475467572694873138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeFyp7ZEWUGdhgjeIiZQZiU9CmX9ab2VfUxE3nSqkoT-rZb8hyphenhyphenSD-PonvQcN99yBpfvkZ2ZsDi_tsHwscMRLcwHLF3YUkCo3Rbp8SdYeZteshyj2PyF7PH0Yz-zaRwrKh6OjFNfh8L1MX3/s200/BlueBell+portraits+162+soft+blog.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 143px;" /></a>Running a studio light away from any mains electricity is usually extremely expensive. Not anymore! Maplins sell a 1,000 watt inverter for less than £100<br />
This picture of Charlotte was powered by a 12volt car battery, through a maplin invertor and has no trouble powering a single Elinchrom 200watt D-Lite2.<br />
A Kenro five-in-one reflector helped lighten the shadows and eliminated the need for a second Elinchrom head. The Elinchrom D-lite2 heads have a 4 amp drain but it is only for 0.7 of a second so the 1,000watt inverter doesn't quite reach the stage where the power safety switch cuts out.<br />
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Laura, who's never done any sitting in front of a camera before, came along too <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDNTHXDzFoCYZ7potWt8wm1GfG11TETs0Ut4H_RnlCAFCmS78Qnz_tqSC6iuediWD_TAXBUMmW3Ml3CzSLhqS8szICWtRFvJ3m5KoXoyqxcx1RMkw2QmEFQcKdu0Gy6I4Zn6HFk3RvfDis/s1600/BlueBell+portraits+2+010+B%2BW+blog.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475467443531393218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDNTHXDzFoCYZ7potWt8wm1GfG11TETs0Ut4H_RnlCAFCmS78Qnz_tqSC6iuediWD_TAXBUMmW3Ml3CzSLhqS8szICWtRFvJ3m5KoXoyqxcx1RMkw2QmEFQcKdu0Gy6I4Zn6HFk3RvfDis/s200/BlueBell+portraits+2+010+B%2BW+blog.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 143px;" /></a>and with a little verbal encouragement enabled us to capture this lovely semi black and white photo. I said that her eyes were one of her more attractive features and that I'd try to show them at their best.<br />
I love playing around in photoshop and creating these semi black and whites with a softness produced via Guassian blur along with a layer mask.<br />
For instance this one of Laura has a blurred copy layer, but the semi black and white effect is the result of leaving the blur at 50% then highlighting the lower layer and using the Mono button of Colour Mixer in CS2.<br />
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I love the way Emily's face is illuminated from a long way around to the left and only creates a small nose shadow in the shot on the left, plus how she's looking straight up at the large white reflective brolly. Shoot-thro brollies seem to lose a lot of power by not reflecting all the light so I'm really glad I snapped up this large bargain of a reflective brolly at a photo sale for £15.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF8GVfWNGA_wpTpz85RXLU3XR_Q1TNxGV4p8F4hbPm4kzXTYEiBvPeuNdEsqbJQzuYgGl_WdF635eG92NnMRxLank8abYyzws7PyaUkWVto6XFtJf3ImMA3yUzGrFLwUp-mRabyyqs8q2p/s1600/BlueBell+portraits+2+035+semi+B%2BW+blog.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475467294575051090" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF8GVfWNGA_wpTpz85RXLU3XR_Q1TNxGV4p8F4hbPm4kzXTYEiBvPeuNdEsqbJQzuYgGl_WdF635eG92NnMRxLank8abYyzws7PyaUkWVto6XFtJf3ImMA3yUzGrFLwUp-mRabyyqs8q2p/s200/BlueBell+portraits+2+035+semi+B%2BW+blog.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 143px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiigDNnMkI7Gw2HlmNo9MuFAaO6hSlbpkwCe2mxTRzQ3CKT78VAnDDh5hdeqPOYFEW3vCyesS4A8GBhgP1X1hhH-tPz1y8x7oGkiYfFCCBnbIa6rAIyIIK1nqNBi4p5qiiV00XKsrVADKG2/s1600/BlueBell+portraits+166+soft+blog.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475467957135544866" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiigDNnMkI7Gw2HlmNo9MuFAaO6hSlbpkwCe2mxTRzQ3CKT78VAnDDh5hdeqPOYFEW3vCyesS4A8GBhgP1X1hhH-tPz1y8x7oGkiYfFCCBnbIa6rAIyIIK1nqNBi4p5qiiV00XKsrVADKG2/s200/BlueBell+portraits+166+soft+blog.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 160px;" /></a>Meanwhile, the nose shadow across Charlotte's cheek doesn't look right here and I should have asked her to tilt her head to the opposite side.<br />
However, I still like the colour, the softness and especially the twinkle in her eye. Notice how the reflector casts a faint catchlight in her left eye?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCqH_SWJ8HxHSjo5Kx6aP1_432eCYxyb4MXsLGMorWbzdcvc4G4wp-_QL9TQWFqY5qiVWuLRBDSTMq9761ZI6U9qo9uLr1RfLeLXpiFoZHCyMoDOMkL5_6nGxuo11XWyXlabofhKx38cDQ/s1600/BlueBell+portraits+2+050+pale+soft+blog.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475467149081151618" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCqH_SWJ8HxHSjo5Kx6aP1_432eCYxyb4MXsLGMorWbzdcvc4G4wp-_QL9TQWFqY5qiVWuLRBDSTMq9761ZI6U9qo9uLr1RfLeLXpiFoZHCyMoDOMkL5_6nGxuo11XWyXlabofhKx38cDQ/s200/BlueBell+portraits+2+050+pale+soft+blog.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 184px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a>My favourite shot of the evening is this one of Emily with it's superb soft lighting, a smile that's not over the top, a good sized catchlight in both eyes, plus the way her tumbling hair surrounds her face adding even more beauty to the finished photo.<br />
Bluebells? What bluebells? They were there in the background, promise! I'm more than happy with these results and look forward to the next time with this trio of amazing girls.<br />
Keith Robins.Keith Robinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00333298245929081692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607663714572061733.post-18172942505554596022010-04-05T12:26:00.000-07:002012-09-05T09:18:42.159-07:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7-HAm2eOWH4aW9vyZwirbFdZncsuZ9DvKPU1c5zEzS45L0tNk4u6Rk8z09gNh_SJjamR5_ab2lRsDQ4FAXkb6SZ_oCogTpGpw-bNFQAkzv4MmIpVy2U4OIg-QP4iHU9mMO5fZkE1HdWxn/s1600/Staurts+photos+061+blog.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456738112600786434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7-HAm2eOWH4aW9vyZwirbFdZncsuZ9DvKPU1c5zEzS45L0tNk4u6Rk8z09gNh_SJjamR5_ab2lRsDQ4FAXkb6SZ_oCogTpGpw-bNFQAkzv4MmIpVy2U4OIg-QP4iHU9mMO5fZkE1HdWxn/s200/Staurts+photos+061+blog.jpg" style="float: left; height: 134px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a>Stuart's only had his Canon 5D mark ll one week and wants to explore flash, so he's come to Keith Robins Photography to get the low down!<br />
He used my Canon 550EX for this pair of snaps.<br />
Placing the flash into the hotshoe we set the camera on to manual and the flash to ETTL means that no matter what he uses as the aperture the resulting exposures will be identical.<br />
The flash is able to read what aperture Stuart has set on his camera and automatically sends out a weaker powered flash for the second photo where he used f8 instead of f16. He did this just to see if there would be any difference - there wasn't.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnxnho8s3e0h21FUcrR9rLclrM6Ivvdb7T9daeSEXIXVMepIB80df65bhSt4LfA-3pFvyf-lsdF_RlQA9JTD_vXOxzFnqy7qafE7z8MSynr_N904p70-XmpdNiretjhujmu8ZvfnYr5mm3/s1600/Staurts+photos+060+blog.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456737991105969986" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnxnho8s3e0h21FUcrR9rLclrM6Ivvdb7T9daeSEXIXVMepIB80df65bhSt4LfA-3pFvyf-lsdF_RlQA9JTD_vXOxzFnqy7qafE7z8MSynr_N904p70-XmpdNiretjhujmu8ZvfnYr5mm3/s200/Staurts+photos+060+blog.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 134px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a>Even if he'd used a higher ISO setting the flashgun would still have picked this up and allowed for the more sensitive settings.<br />
The shutter speed could have been anywhere between 2 seconds and 1/200th of a second and it would not have made any difference to the exposure as shutter speeds have no effect on flash photos, as long as they stay below 1/200th of a second.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw-h8I4BvpUuQ3KVz90hIwojj6xq4Y-EwYtim23qci_L_sdn6Josh0_oRv5BDgpbn87nts46zcb_KCa5hrcyhOrC7pFKcUResZ_7dIU7DYSKJbwg1CPH6quhpdIuwHpZFg-t6znkM2jQma/s1600/Staurts+photos+048+blog.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456741345454030834" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw-h8I4BvpUuQ3KVz90hIwojj6xq4Y-EwYtim23qci_L_sdn6Josh0_oRv5BDgpbn87nts46zcb_KCa5hrcyhOrC7pFKcUResZ_7dIU7DYSKJbwg1CPH6quhpdIuwHpZFg-t6znkM2jQma/s200/Staurts+photos+048+blog.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 134px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
For the next challenge we tried a darkened room and used a pair of Miranda flashguns which someone had thrown out a few weeks previous.<br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">(Took me a whole afternoon with a soldering iron to adapt them to work on my radio triggers.)</span><br />
Both gunare at arms length, one behind my head and the other out of sight to camera right. The f14 was necessary due to both guns being permanenty set to full power manual - auto doesn't work when there are two guns facing each other. I also needed to place a thumb across the flash window as a light modifier on the gun lighting my face, which means the one behind my head shows a little stronger.Keith Robinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00333298245929081692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607663714572061733.post-52906472339270116042010-03-31T00:04:00.000-07:002012-12-24T12:35:21.371-08:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyT15cUOpy-drs-pG6DhlqpnzCjK5pAnbyl1xfCMB7VIHsnEKj4dZHVzbw5ruCcwymHe8PtSoaTgkH8GR0LKDSY6EHrDIcEFMlDNVo7G2LzVs_Anm3UEIk3xm-rL9k4KFNJlPt2_sZsQKA/s1600/B-Bradstock1+134blog.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454691257649969010" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyT15cUOpy-drs-pG6DhlqpnzCjK5pAnbyl1xfCMB7VIHsnEKj4dZHVzbw5ruCcwymHe8PtSoaTgkH8GR0LKDSY6EHrDIcEFMlDNVo7G2LzVs_Anm3UEIk3xm-rL9k4KFNJlPt2_sZsQKA/s200/B-Bradstock1+134blog.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 125px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a>Keith Robins Photography goes flashing at the seaside! Balancing daylight and flash is not the easiest of challenges, in fact less than five percent of photographers really understand how and why flashguns work in conjunction with available light.<br />
This blog is a mine of information about exactly that.<br />
I'm hoping that by reading all the posts in this blog that you too will be able to handle this most creative of lighting combinations and all you'll have spent is a little time.<br />
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Burton Bradstock in early March at around 5pm is the first photo. A flash on that rock in the foreground would have given added interest and help balance the picture.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX26rokmLLjoZa3yPkOD8EFP5CjTv1VJu5I2ShhRkZt1KijMsDrBmYh5fUtRBfarQ693JC1N1YcPIB9Ce4uMIdZGfJdxUCgkHfDvovGjOsfjxxrjLP-cz3YMbzHLvYAGPhjOXzcUrI8Wq1/s1600/B-Bradstock2+158blog.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454691086960868674" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX26rokmLLjoZa3yPkOD8EFP5CjTv1VJu5I2ShhRkZt1KijMsDrBmYh5fUtRBfarQ693JC1N1YcPIB9Ce4uMIdZGfJdxUCgkHfDvovGjOsfjxxrjLP-cz3YMbzHLvYAGPhjOXzcUrI8Wq1/s200/B-Bradstock2+158blog.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 125px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a>Second photo is about an hour later. I definitely should have used a flash here - set on minus 2/3rds of a stop so it is not at all obvious - which is surely the whole point of this exercise. Must clean that front filter more often!<br />
It's getting damned cold and my trouser legs are wet through kneeling in the wet shingle with a wide angle lens. Next time I'll bring a pair of wellies, or better still a pair of fisherman's waders.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh381TNgs2pE01gdAVpmgMv1yLG-t1OVuwoxTNFUY0yYKWuKCddkrRpOi-9Ib9Aq_e9Fu6I9Ecv2rCwm8igxHqWKegiYbenakw5qvZiYpQ6E9NzWlMa6MOhw6UElCFzEi80xmp8Hm64jhiw/s1600/B-Bradstock2+022blog.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454690956679659938" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh381TNgs2pE01gdAVpmgMv1yLG-t1OVuwoxTNFUY0yYKWuKCddkrRpOi-9Ib9Aq_e9Fu6I9Ecv2rCwm8igxHqWKegiYbenakw5qvZiYpQ6E9NzWlMa6MOhw6UElCFzEi80xmp8Hm64jhiw/s200/B-Bradstock2+022blog.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 125px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a>Brian is seen here struggling with the principles of daylight flash balancing, but he's a fast learner and is soon able to take pictures just like these.<br />
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I used F18 at 1/160th on 200 ISO with my canon 550EX on ETTL. Strange to say that the camera, a Canon 5D, was in the manual mode - so too was the lens which is focused on Brian.<br />
Even though the camera is in manual mode it does not effect the ability of the flash to operate successfully in ETTL.<br />
Why manual mode for the camera? I wanted complete control over both aperture to control the flash, plus shutter speed which governs the intensity of the daylight. Now I can make the sky as dark and threatening as I like, mean while retaining a good exposure of my maim subject - usually a figure or a portrait.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTUpNyGPgmzyG6vpz8HTr_ljdcwv5y4Oypr2FebKbxRE74M9nTf0FXSOm-sGPiV2DTtbp2r14aL1zh13dqmLAPWYde9eJqUSRNC_7RSdJBBJtvowLJEN-67Ga2GkyTLBXsbsGmgaZmB5YI/s1600/Burton+Bradstock+copyrightedblog.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454690810312589138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTUpNyGPgmzyG6vpz8HTr_ljdcwv5y4Oypr2FebKbxRE74M9nTf0FXSOm-sGPiV2DTtbp2r14aL1zh13dqmLAPWYde9eJqUSRNC_7RSdJBBJtvowLJEN-67Ga2GkyTLBXsbsGmgaZmB5YI/s200/Burton+Bradstock+copyrightedblog.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 125px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a>This goes against the normal everyday trend of photography where one speed up equals one aperture down to get a similar exposure.<br />
I feel completely at ease with flashguns and this rather unusual way of operating the settings on my camera and flash and have done so for over thirty years. Some of my old manual flashes needed light modifiers such as the lenses from a pair of old Polaroid sunglasses, several layers of handkerchief, or just a thumb placed in front of the flash lens. Nowadays there are auto modes via so many menus it's baffling, plus these modern things seem to have a mind of their own and often refuse to co-operate.<br />
The copyright was added with one click of a brush and then toned down using Opacity.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdjjdWS1OfCPo0hVhbUawnsA_CK4bt0r_9v7VutudlkLZiW3BpkkpDqr62RkzVg0zPUK_HLRZJO6_yn_S4AR4CphvjkGEAK36pZfMRtLWpAxRCh0cmNciu8nV_sfu39z07EoDPGb-RPQ28/s1600/copyright+transparent.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454690665888610386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdjjdWS1OfCPo0hVhbUawnsA_CK4bt0r_9v7VutudlkLZiW3BpkkpDqr62RkzVg0zPUK_HLRZJO6_yn_S4AR4CphvjkGEAK36pZfMRtLWpAxRCh0cmNciu8nV_sfu39z07EoDPGb-RPQ28/s200/copyright+transparent.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 120px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
Hold down the Alt key and type 0169 in the right-hand numerical keys to get a C symbol. type your name - select it with a rectangle - go to Edit, Define Brush Preset, click OK and your logo is the very last brush in the brush palette. Open a new layer before adding your logo, then use Transform to adjust or rotate.Keith Robinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00333298245929081692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607663714572061733.post-80890716712102080952010-03-30T14:10:00.000-07:002012-09-05T09:20:15.436-07:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQWoYzFbGvUGK5s5SfEoufV8UFnzm9-DYsIxfssNbmMnbxqxlgPpwbrbKWZp9nG4u-itK0jMkYRcq7Z3y1mwelE3lHLvKBQTaexZrNVXuTElzYg7d_XvF3n97pjaSzeAwKaix7SsJoh7Rw/s1600/Brian's+photos+%283%29blog.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454537747682121218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQWoYzFbGvUGK5s5SfEoufV8UFnzm9-DYsIxfssNbmMnbxqxlgPpwbrbKWZp9nG4u-itK0jMkYRcq7Z3y1mwelE3lHLvKBQTaexZrNVXuTElzYg7d_XvF3n97pjaSzeAwKaix7SsJoh7Rw/s200/Brian's+photos+%283%29blog.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 184px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a>Brian wants to find out about using a flashgun and comes to Keith Robins Photography to use my kichen!<br />
Brian is reasonably new to digital photography but he took less than an hour to discover the relationship between available light and flash light using apertures and shutter speeds.<br />
His Olympus bridge camera is able to talk to Olympus flashguns and we had two guns to play with!<br />
This first picture took one gun aimed at the wall behind me - no wires and no little slave, not even a radio trigger in sight. The popup flash on his Olympus did the talking but needed a crisp packet turned inside out to reflect the signal towards the ceiling so it didn't effect the image.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjArT1KPgkytgYu_KelC89EMnIxyVhxy-Zn2nyWE1RsM268C2O05jvdP2dvTafxNJQPAHk5Df1KWlZDnaP-QlBr3xORETOhSSr4lvKibQA4VvfhdK6MV-xGEaT5aRvJRMa3tSTKqZPc0Ker/s1600/Brian's+photos+%2828%29+blog.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454537965899209538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjArT1KPgkytgYu_KelC89EMnIxyVhxy-Zn2nyWE1RsM268C2O05jvdP2dvTafxNJQPAHk5Df1KWlZDnaP-QlBr3xORETOhSSr4lvKibQA4VvfhdK6MV-xGEaT5aRvJRMa3tSTKqZPc0Ker/s200/Brian's+photos+%2828%29+blog.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 150px;" /></a>For the next one I held a flashgun in each hand at arms length out to both sides. The one in my left hand was full power while my right-hand thumb was across the middle of the other flash lens reducing the output by a whole stop. This is a trick worth remembering when using totally manual flashguns which can be picked up from E-Bay for virtually nothing - I got a matching pair for 50 pence each.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkCC7OnJyZ-gFtRFtPwBecVwL2ncatWnKEwLCFMHJVZde20Q9fzSVZRoHHqhCW0ROebmxwuCJhPrP7hBxcJhV00FvYQ8YdAPBMy7UmqTuw99RuiDLxvHqLdkTxbmUSo9Xik0PhPG4lwYJ4/s1600/Brian's+photos+%2815%29+B%26Wblog.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454537863173409874" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkCC7OnJyZ-gFtRFtPwBecVwL2ncatWnKEwLCFMHJVZde20Q9fzSVZRoHHqhCW0ROebmxwuCJhPrP7hBxcJhV00FvYQ8YdAPBMy7UmqTuw99RuiDLxvHqLdkTxbmUSo9Xik0PhPG4lwYJ4/s200/Brian's+photos+%2815%29+B%26Wblog.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 150px;" /></a>This last photo Brian took was from about four feet away and used one flash plus a silver faced gift bag about twelve inches away to camera right in my left hand.<br />
Brian was absolutely over the moon at these results as you can imagine, but he agreed to let me do the black and white conversion using the Black and White filter in Photoshop CS3.<br />
Next time out is a trip to the seaside for a sunset plus flashing session.Keith Robinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00333298245929081692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607663714572061733.post-24470296854620742832009-12-27T04:35:00.000-08:002012-09-05T09:21:08.776-07:00How Keith Robins Photography photographs WOW factor drips of water!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrES_c-lDEw59nU9So5QlvziTOidz3DRvDTOzEb6Zev6s36aT4nyi2GkXNSfzmUqOCKiZkoVGdMh4fSryTGERxg_MKaL7-6m9JoHuOSdg-3DOx4XZWIoOPkAnKSf-nbL70knJqfdxvo91q/s1600-h/Drip+with+table+mat.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419896119689738914" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrES_c-lDEw59nU9So5QlvziTOidz3DRvDTOzEb6Zev6s36aT4nyi2GkXNSfzmUqOCKiZkoVGdMh4fSryTGERxg_MKaL7-6m9JoHuOSdg-3DOx4XZWIoOPkAnKSf-nbL70knJqfdxvo91q/s200/Drip+with+table+mat.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 134px;" /></a>Taking photos of drips takes time and patience, plus a little bit of know-how. For instance, try lighting whatever is being reflected in the water and not the water. In fact keeping the water in the dark is probably one of the best tips I can give you.<br />
Try firing a hotshoe flash across the liquid's surface and lighting up something as simple as a reddish coloured festive dinner mat, a photograph from an old TV Times, or a pale yellow toughened glass cutting board, which are the items I've used in these three examples.<br />
This is a technique I learnt underground during my caving days. <span style="font-style: italic;">(Goodness me, that's nearly 30 years ago!) </span>Keeping the water dark always returned better photos than when the flash was pointing directly at a dark muddy pool and backlighting came out far better for moving water shots. Ripples also showed up better with backlighting, or when reflecting a cave wall or a caver is beyond and carefully lit so there is something tangible to show up as a reflection.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0UtlMfBeNkfmOoy479J7ElpD1YtXEqswGjWed2kJPajAazPXyAZqj496v18tkMJ8_-Uid37TV5TLajgCSTAVZMinNKsjSrX2dbKyFpGJNjJL9jQnOPcD9O44yLHE30GvEzfgLaAWbFPAr/s1600-h/Drip+with+TV+Times+3.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419895591317791266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0UtlMfBeNkfmOoy479J7ElpD1YtXEqswGjWed2kJPajAazPXyAZqj496v18tkMJ8_-Uid37TV5TLajgCSTAVZMinNKsjSrX2dbKyFpGJNjJL9jQnOPcD9O44yLHE30GvEzfgLaAWbFPAr/s200/Drip+with+TV+Times+3.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 185px;" /></a>Camera settings of 1/200th or slower takes care of the flash side of things while an aperture is chosen to go with the flash power setting.<br />
By reducing the power to 1/16th the duration of your average hotshoe flash is reduced to around 1/5,000th, which is plenty short enough to capture the fastest of drips. Surprisingly, the aperture is still up around the f5.6 to f11 mark, even at 1/16th power.<br />
These ultra-fast flash durations, requiring reasonably wide apertures, dictate narrower depth of field so focusing has to be spot on.<br />
I set the camera on manual focus and zoomed in on the markings of a steel ruler which was right under the drip, then pulled the zoom back and framed up.<br />
A tiny pin hole in the base of the plastic bottle is necessary to allow a drip at around a two second interval, just about slow enough for a battery powered hotshoe flash on reduced power to recycle in time for the next drip. It's easy to get carried away and take hundreds of photographs once you've started capturing good shots<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizKRyBkU1z1BBuBJxuGMcCVhPzKXIo8o4wpRGFjPOUYLElBjqf25_nSeANhlWbAV6hr24yiTGg9LsubuXaR6gvaDMqAuZ4WibUZcHp_vj-amp9rheHlTCf5dNnN7sKjTRc3qv5wVFOkJmr/s1600-h/Drip+with+glass+cutting+board.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419895140090430450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizKRyBkU1z1BBuBJxuGMcCVhPzKXIo8o4wpRGFjPOUYLElBjqf25_nSeANhlWbAV6hr24yiTGg9LsubuXaR6gvaDMqAuZ4WibUZcHp_vj-amp9rheHlTCf5dNnN7sKjTRc3qv5wVFOkJmr/s200/Drip+with+glass+cutting+board.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 154px;" /></a>The idea is to count the drips out loud and nod your hand up and down in time. In your hand is the shutter release for your camera and your thumb is also keeping time with the count, but only actually pressing the button every other drip, <span style="font-style: italic;">(flash tubes can overheat with fast repeated use)</span>. Keep an eye on the camera preview screen and adjust your count very slightly to capture drips in different stages of falling and splashing.<br />
Within ten minutes you should be getting pictures like these. Of course all the kit takes a while to find and assemble, plus the setting up takes an hour or so. Even finding a pair of pliers and a needle to pierce the bottle took me over twenty minutes!<br />
Hanging your bottle from a lamp shade with a rubber band and clothes pegs works surprisingly well. And if you can't find a large black seed tray then maybe a bin liner dipped between four lengths of wooden batten will probably last long enough for this exercise. A cat litter tray will do, but watch out for unexpected puddles from Tiddles.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxHoXvQa5BkfyzkgRYqaanxKzhqHLbL0kQ0EO6nnlhWc3l24nabUyt7PhboOdrCgf7szrJUMrXodzHe66LicCNd_R8G6GzlXSUFR0paY_OFtdgzXXaGUGWvaX4zyivWNOJG1zLERS_hkrc/s1600-h/Drip+setup+info.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419896952798576146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxHoXvQa5BkfyzkgRYqaanxKzhqHLbL0kQ0EO6nnlhWc3l24nabUyt7PhboOdrCgf7szrJUMrXodzHe66LicCNd_R8G6GzlXSUFR0paY_OFtdgzXXaGUGWvaX4zyivWNOJG1zLERS_hkrc/s200/Drip+setup+info.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 148px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a>Does the floor get wet? Yes, but not much. Is this exercise time well spent? Yes, most definitely! Telephoto lens? 60mm to 105mm is best. Mirror lock up? No, the flash is way too fast. Coloured water? Not neccesary, just rely on the background that you're lighting to give you all the colour you need. Angle the flash from one side to reduce glare in the reflection. Also angle it slightly upward to keep the water dark, we want backlighting only via bounced light. With the flash set to manual extend the zoom to avoid stray light touching the water. Keep checking the front of your lens for splashes.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLfUgjyg5Hj6Vw8t32YKCuviLRxepocGFT2y2I6Xu4KWzJknVMYpUL-tuQ_uvboKfP6AKjMgfd8tKCRtjJlLI4aqW4FssNr7oHEzJUJXbKi4GLFw_LjrcZ1snlyho1ufXeXjLQ_y9gLYWl/s1600-h/Flash+reflects+off+TV+Times.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420568161820289874" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLfUgjyg5Hj6Vw8t32YKCuviLRxepocGFT2y2I6Xu4KWzJknVMYpUL-tuQ_uvboKfP6AKjMgfd8tKCRtjJlLI4aqW4FssNr7oHEzJUJXbKi4GLFw_LjrcZ1snlyho1ufXeXjLQ_y9gLYWl/s200/Flash+reflects+off+TV+Times.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 134px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a>This last image shows a short length of four inch soil pipe as a support for the flash, a toilet pan connector is holding the magazine along with a pair of enormous clips from the garden. The magazine is sagging, which I deliberately left to illustrate how nothing has to be spot - on except the exposure and the focus.Keith Robinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00333298245929081692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607663714572061733.post-35113126645890398772009-12-19T09:39:00.000-08:002012-09-05T09:23:23.960-07:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimLEycewPu9PZd7Gmj13Og59KNCiJ_6q1bzu9smOtrAHzvsWaUmktYvKTEU6Cn2jUpk0a9VegylfPEIvObikbHQ_OAq1ZQQUpXW57oQxYctIdm-7t2-gjAm3F3DnOJW-ro4x46laB7ENi3/s1600-h/Keith+Robins+Media+Pass_edited-3.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417012764694518962" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimLEycewPu9PZd7Gmj13Og59KNCiJ_6q1bzu9smOtrAHzvsWaUmktYvKTEU6Cn2jUpk0a9VegylfPEIvObikbHQ_OAq1ZQQUpXW57oQxYctIdm-7t2-gjAm3F3DnOJW-ro4x46laB7ENi3/s200/Keith+Robins+Media+Pass_edited-3.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 151px;" /></a>Sharpening images in Elements 4 without halos. Keith Robins Photography has written a previous post referring to a rather unusual method of sharpening in Adobe CS3, but as most photographers seem to prefer sticking to the basic Elements I thought I'd try an alternative technique using Elements 4 with very similar results. Go up to Image in the top toolbar and choose Greyscale and your image turns black and white.<br />
Now go to Filter - Sharpen - Unsharp Mask and move the percent slider up to 300%, yes really! The Radius stays around 0.8 and the Treshhold remains at Zero.<br />
Save As under a new name so that you can reopen the same image from your files and folders, but this time you're going to keep it as a coloured photo.<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vjbTpw7jjis/Sy0YBXsi9rI/AAAAAAAAAN0/C69wYtOIIA0/s1600-h/Keith+Robins+Media+Pass.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417012338616366770" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vjbTpw7jjis/Sy0YBXsi9rI/AAAAAAAAAN0/C69wYtOIIA0/s200/Keith+Robins+Media+Pass.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 151px;" /></a>Use the Move tool and hold down Shift while you drag the black and white picture into the colour image and then select the Overlay mode for this new top layer.<br />
The colour of the lower layer shows through the black and white sharpness of the upper layer.<br />
By clicking on each photo in turn you should be able to see which of these images has been sharpened.Keith Robinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00333298245929081692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607663714572061733.post-2221727481642101962009-12-16T22:28:00.000-08:002012-09-05T09:24:50.360-07:00Keith Robins Photography tries sharpening with a big difference! Black and white photos of men can stand a lot of really gritty sharpening. I absolutely love these B andW pictures of Ollie, especially the biting sharpness. Ollie was a former member of Yeovil Camera Club back in the 7o's and willing posed for us.<br />
I tried using unsharp mask but wasn't keen on the resulting halos and colour fringing often associated with normal everyday sharpening.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNozpFnkCMoMX6GyIYOPJZx2l4IuralklUZzfSqJFMPCAHuL_WL_V9-voOLhWahcKpy4b_sBq2codz7AaZmI4GiJsOxILoQMl7MVqv8YCu0YxwomHJn_ikoqQZnv7aLpoYjkmLY0MnJN91/s1600-h/Ollie+109+copy.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416090933066606162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNozpFnkCMoMX6GyIYOPJZx2l4IuralklUZzfSqJFMPCAHuL_WL_V9-voOLhWahcKpy4b_sBq2codz7AaZmI4GiJsOxILoQMl7MVqv8YCu0YxwomHJn_ikoqQZnv7aLpoYjkmLY0MnJN91/s200/Ollie+109+copy.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 140px;" /></a>I vaguely remembered reading an article on the web last year suggesting Lab Colour mode as an alternative method of sharpening - so I gave it a go.<br />
First thing is swap to Lab Colour mode, which is found under Image in the top toolbar.<br />
Next, click on Channels in the Layers palette and select the Lightness layer. The other three layers will turn off when you do this. Find the normal everyday Unsharp Mask and whizz it up to 300% - don't worry it'll turn out just fine! (Obviously this 300% is not set in stone so just use that as a starting point, I have used as much as 500% with extremely good results.)<br />
In the Radius box just beneath I went for 0.8 pixels and the bottom box, Threshold, was left at zero - click OK.<br />
Click on the top layer to open up all the other channels again, then go back to Image and swap back into RGB mode. Select Layers as opposed to Channels and you're back in the world of good old layers which we all known and love.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM5f0Cr47kfJQ2FIZ25cyptX6JDQRO1OBlTT6iDaQbeN6ueof4nnw4HHwX91ScIcws0UlH94AjIhxzuGg2iaIjNKPQUXQhOaSyAWxGWuXcgRO9OMwBb3kpSujPZjuBfYKFdbnrr9P_bHCv/s1600-h/Ollie+116+copy.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416089317081908706" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM5f0Cr47kfJQ2FIZ25cyptX6JDQRO1OBlTT6iDaQbeN6ueof4nnw4HHwX91ScIcws0UlH94AjIhxzuGg2iaIjNKPQUXQhOaSyAWxGWuXcgRO9OMwBb3kpSujPZjuBfYKFdbnrr9P_bHCv/s200/Ollie+116+copy.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 124px;" /></a>In case you haven't realised I'm a supporter of Jpegs - I have tried RAW but found it decidedly soft and absolutely everything needed working on wityh evry single image - time wasting! I'll continue to let the camera do the donkey work and I'm not tempted to bother trying RAW again, thank you very much. I take around 400 pictures a week, mostly experimenting with lighting and unusual effects and I want to see them right away, full screen.<br />
Besides, I can still use all the Adobe Camera Raw tweaks on my Jpegs prior to opening them in Photoshop. However, if you want to prove me wrong - go on then, I challenge you to make a better picture via Raw in the camera!<br />
After sharpening these photos were changed to black and white using a Black And White adjustment layer in CS3 and moving the red channel slightly to the right and the yellow channel a little bit further. This lightened up the shadow detail in Ollie's features without blowing the brightness of his shirt collar.<br />
I guess one day I'll get used to how Actions operate and that'll speed things up enormously, but for now I enjoy using Photoshop so I'll plod along slowly. Even so, each of these images took less than ten minutes to start looking really good, then I started playing around with oval selections, inverting them, feathering to 130 pixels and finally using another adjustment layer, Levels this time, to introduce a little darkness around the outer edges.<br />
I also use the same 130 pixel feather to make a selection and then press Control + M to bring up the Curves adjustment box and then drag the line down a bit to darken, make another selction and use Curves again to make that selection slightly lighter. This seems to work in a more pleasing manner than using the Dodge tool or the Burn tool.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwqdxvpc7L8ILKINagBQVt-VTBTS1B6K2qj57II7nq0GrLmIdzxiBEjKikaSvD3I1AXZgYXmvakhI4JmOxox7I1pt6UWtD9YZgoAW3Jqea60FxWihHwa0KYnLysDSWsEy56GPlzzOVnw-r/s1600-h/Ollie8_139.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416089633196471170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwqdxvpc7L8ILKINagBQVt-VTBTS1B6K2qj57II7nq0GrLmIdzxiBEjKikaSvD3I1AXZgYXmvakhI4JmOxox7I1pt6UWtD9YZgoAW3Jqea60FxWihHwa0KYnLysDSWsEy56GPlzzOVnw-r/s200/Ollie8_139.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 150px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a>There were two lights used here, one via a shoot-thro brolly and the other bounced into a silver sunshield. Originally designed for a car windscreen on sunny days this £4 makeshift reflector is now supported on a couple lengths of plumbers piping. <span style="font-style: italic;">(See a previous post for info on how to make this easily assembled gadget.)</span><br />
Ialso used a black blanket background supported on plumbers waste pipe and a short length of plastic guttering fixed atop a single lighting stand. I designed that litle gadget over twenty years ago and still find it extremely quick and simple to erect.<br />
The tip of the brolly was less than eighteen inches from Ollie's nose and to camera left, while the reflector was about two feet away to camera right with the flash only just out of camera view. These lights are ancient and rather warm in tone so I either use a DIY colour balance card, or carry out a custom white balance which is easy on the Canon camera, plus just a little tweak in Adobe Camera Raw before opening up into CS3.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTx0xJ2lYjrtLOkZ3b4jFDst5m3SjcKXHOJNR54Ve6mfT0URLEBWsDxkCMtGjlif7rFcrE8GGyye_uhD3XOnD15Ftoyo0mniaE2fedUdbfGT20s5yp2J4uyPKr_oeNCeM9pOrOLdUQm09m/s1600-h/My+LightingSetup+for+Ollie.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416624395315576066" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTx0xJ2lYjrtLOkZ3b4jFDst5m3SjcKXHOJNR54Ve6mfT0URLEBWsDxkCMtGjlif7rFcrE8GGyye_uhD3XOnD15Ftoyo0mniaE2fedUdbfGT20s5yp2J4uyPKr_oeNCeM9pOrOLdUQm09m/s200/My+LightingSetup+for+Ollie.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 189px;" /></a>A setup like this uses very little space and most living rooms / lounges / or a large kitchen can be utilised. The studio flashes used here on Ollie are thirty years old and have no power controls, so my alternative set of Elichrom D-Lite 200watt would have been an absolute dream to use.<br />
I ought really to sell those old lights on EBay but hey, old habits die hard. Alternatively, I could have used a couple of old hotshoe flashes with equally good effect. What I'm trying to say is, use whatever lighting you have lying around and instead spend your money on a better lens, or some versatile software such as CS3, or maybe a more patient or attractive model.<br />
Incidentally, I recently spent a couple of hours making up a whole arsenal of tiny diagrams to suit my own lighting needs. These are saved as a huge number of layers and kept as a PSD file, which enables me to move them around, rotate, turn off the ones not needed and flipping over those facing the wrong way. I love Photoshop!!!Keith Robinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00333298245929081692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607663714572061733.post-33611856091978082842009-10-31T10:33:00.000-07:002012-09-05T09:42:56.280-07:00One radio transmitter and three triggers for £40. What a bargain for Keith Robins Photography!<br />
Amazon is the place to visit for a fast efficient service. I ordered the triggers on Wednesday and, even though there was a Post Office strike in action, the packet was delivered on Friday. the Vivitar 285HV flashgun which I ordered the same day came a couple days later, well packed and in good nick. Thank you to the postmen for what I term a pretty good service in your hour of strife.<br />
How do the triggers handle in use? Brilliantly!<br />
The normal place for a radio transmitter is in the hotshoe along with a trigger mounted beneath a remote flashgun - this arrangement fired one of my Vivitar 285HV's at up to 50 metres, a lot further than the advertised 30 mtrs. I was more than pleased with this result.<br />
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For the next test I added an optical slave into the chain, just to explore the limitations. One Vivitar on the camera, then at 30 metres distance the radio transmitter was slotted into an £8 optical slave, a second 285HV was then slotted into one of the three triggers and placed an additional 30 metres from camera. The equipment all works together just fine, which is fantastic!<br />
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Next, I wanted to know whether a flash in ETTL mode would operate the remote flash. I placed a Canon 550EX in ETTL mode on top of a Canon 5D, which in turn was set to manual. The optical slave was connected directly to the Vivitar 285H. This system failed miserably!<br />
A flashgun in ETTL mode, or a pop-up flash, sends out a small pre-flash before the shutter opens to calculate the strength of flash exposure needed to light the main subject. Of course this pre-flash will also set off the remote flashgun operated via an optical slave unit before the shutter is open. When the main light fires a few milliseconds later it's too late for your remote flash as it has already gone off and is still in the process of recharging.<br />
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Maybe this is why some photographers, new to the world of flashguns can easily be lead into thinking that multiple flash is beyond them, especially as their images consistently portray dead flat lighting from the on-camera flash.<br />
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Fear not, there is a way around this most irksome problem!<br />
You may have noticed that when taking a photo a half press on the shutter button causes focusing / exposure info to pop up on screen for about 15 seconds.<br />
The trick with using an ETTL flash as a master to fire remote flashes on radio triggers is to half press the shutter button to bring up this information, then press the star button which fires the tiny pre-flash along with the remote slave flash. Meanwhile the shutter is still closed.<br />
Now wait about 10 seconds, but no longer than 14 seconds, before fully pressing the shutter button to take the photo proper. If you're using newish batteries this should be long enough for the remote flash to recharge and both guns will now fire while the shutter is open and give whatever power you have set on them.<br />
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However, when the on-camera flash is set to manual there is no pre-flash and both guns will fire as one light without any trouble.<br />
I also tried using aperture priority and it worked great.<br />
Carrying out the same test using shutter priority I found that the Canon 5D limited the speed to 1/200th with the end result coming out spot on.<br />
All this exploration took several hours and I'll need to repeat this type of testing a few more times before it sinks in - remember I'm new to ETTL and the Canon 5D as maual flash has been my staple diet since the early seventies.<br />
Hope this is some help in your flahs photography - Keith Robins.Keith Robinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00333298245929081692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607663714572061733.post-23749092966084909742009-09-13T01:11:00.000-07:002012-09-05T11:23:01.251-07:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqeGcO4RvUwUmqLISMWKKfZBKLIT6fHiIwxSX-Lm8rcuQ_yM4SizbbRsLfPBTrRzLLoSwqJmjsX610Ffxv20fCf16bXoooQXxqiSENkZYcMGoJnaEfzWKQkDuKtWaqCIl7JqTjlsGKpP_u/s1600-h/Bride+at+night+blog+%283%29.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380862235778707218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqeGcO4RvUwUmqLISMWKKfZBKLIT6fHiIwxSX-Lm8rcuQ_yM4SizbbRsLfPBTrRzLLoSwqJmjsX610Ffxv20fCf16bXoooQXxqiSENkZYcMGoJnaEfzWKQkDuKtWaqCIl7JqTjlsGKpP_u/s200/Bride+at+night+blog+%283%29.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 133px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a>Studio flash outdoors - at night! Okay so maybe it's been done before via an extension lead. However, Keith Robins Photography is adventurous enough to investigate the great outdoors as a backdrop and discovered that full length portraits do not need rolls of expensive background cloth / paper. Nor is there any need to flag any of the flash heads to prevent stray light illuminating those annoying creases which seem to occur in even the smoothest and blackest of background material.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHLGrjh7o8ni5_SgQ8vRXgObPlItGTZBFf7h8RdeUgFrmP5Kerr9pXSZp2I46vUwLB_7ewLAPjy-FVdGBDUnn0M03fleJZLAs3CmqAgQZwAxeA96ldDvbBuhuj-ZOLshk4SgFufleP7tcX/s1600-h/Bride+at+night+blog+%284%29.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380862782692244194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHLGrjh7o8ni5_SgQ8vRXgObPlItGTZBFf7h8RdeUgFrmP5Kerr9pXSZp2I46vUwLB_7ewLAPjy-FVdGBDUnn0M03fleJZLAs3CmqAgQZwAxeA96ldDvbBuhuj-ZOLshk4SgFufleP7tcX/s200/Bride+at+night+blog+%284%29.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 133px;" /></a>In a few of the recent posts of YeoPhotoGroup, an off-shoot of Keith Robins Photography, you may have noticed us using a generator to power a pair of Elinchrom D-Lite 200's. Handling that heavy beast of a generator took two men to carry it plus two more to carry our camera gear and all the other boxes and bags of lights, stands, reflectors, modifiers, softboxes and assorted cables necessary to operate an outdoor studio.<br />
Eventually, in a rash spur of the moment decision, I splashed out on a caravan inverter plus a new 12 volt 45 amp battery for my works plumbing van meaning there is now a spare battery in fairly good nick going spare. We can now operate two powerful studio lights from a small two wheeled shopping trolley containing this make-shift 230volt power supply.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLHAmsjmfaW8RocxvXSsqrOn9P0XPhxdzNDaDdBxJuWGo9Cx1s5mDyONfF9-Ww4bA9cE6dbnoiaZWvXMK4QREESuIqSg4X8cFof_ogQWp8TDPIusgrdf-l3uIr_goWPt58yWmoymHNvUKz/s1600-h/Bride+at+night+blog+%281%29.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380862428016004834" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLHAmsjmfaW8RocxvXSsqrOn9P0XPhxdzNDaDdBxJuWGo9Cx1s5mDyONfF9-Ww4bA9cE6dbnoiaZWvXMK4QREESuIqSg4X8cFof_ogQWp8TDPIusgrdf-l3uIr_goWPt58yWmoymHNvUKz/s200/Bride+at+night+blog+%281%29.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 134px;" /></a>Elinchroms are renowned for their 0.7 second recycling time which allows you to capture that fleeting expression of relief just moments after the shutter has fired which is when some models appear to briefly relax during the often daunting task of posing for the camera. During this two hour bridal shoot the recycling time for our D-Lite 200's remained very close to manufacturers specs and never went once over two seconds. An additional benefit is that once the really short time the lights take to recycle, the drain on the battery drops to such a minimal amount that it would probably last a whole weekend before the old van battery needs recharging.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjchS1OeRBAzbY1lLNDVnyd5WTPxXPJE4Hsx6xKWfdexgb8PI7IgI035VRdujbIcsusJby-Ll8j4yn-3B5NRZ526v-30IRyQ_xwUQNklow6LdQTcDqG3uFIMY4hM7KFTo5o1Kw4CoY4yAdw/s1600-h/Bride+at+night+blog.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380863280404493442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjchS1OeRBAzbY1lLNDVnyd5WTPxXPJE4Hsx6xKWfdexgb8PI7IgI035VRdujbIcsusJby-Ll8j4yn-3B5NRZ526v-30IRyQ_xwUQNklow6LdQTcDqG3uFIMY4hM7KFTo5o1Kw4CoY4yAdw/s200/Bride+at+night+blog.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 128px;" /></a>In the first image here, Hannah is sat on a plastic sheet to keep her dress clean. A softbox front left and quite close created a soft main light and another Elinchrom with an alloy reflector lit the bushes behind her. Grace joined Hannah for the second and third pictures and revealed the difference our lights made to the texture of their lovely dresses. A silvered sun shield from a car windscreen mounted on a framework of plumbers 15mm copper pipe helped illuminate the shadows on the right. <span style="font-style: italic;">(More details on this DIY gadget in a later post)</span><br />
Using 1/200th of a second shutter speed caused the background of Sydney Gardens in Yeovil to go black, while f11 at ISO 200 controlled the lights. All this was between 8pm and 9pm on 9th September, hence the lack of available light.<br />
Our next challenge is to get a little more ambient light into the background, probably a seaside sunset along with a striking silhouette.<br />
Then it'll be a portrait session with a firework display going on behind, okay so we could handle either of these tasks in Photoshop but where's the lighting challenge in that? We'll probably revert to our hotshoe flashguns for this one although I am very tempted by the much stronger Elinchroms which can handle a softbox or a large brolly without losing too much light.Keith Robinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00333298245929081692noreply@blogger.com0