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Application Photos
Photos attached to our application for Anthony to attend an elementary school next year | ||
You need a lot of ID-type photos in Japan. Applications for lots of things require them, such as an application for a driver's license (even though the picture you submit is not used for the license itself), application for a foreigner registration card, and applications to attend a school, to name a few.
Taken even further by the school we were applying to, we had to submit photos of ourselves as well. I have no idea why, and I'm fairly certain it would be considered odd (if not illegal) in The States, but, well, we're not in The States.
We recently applied to an elementary school for Anthony for next year, using the photos above. We found out today that he (we?) were accepted.
It's simple enough to take these shots, but I thought I'd make some practice out of it and use multiple flashes. Here's the setup...
The camera was on the empty tripod in the foreground, and the brown stool in the background is where Anthony stood. Behind it is a Nikon SB-600 speedlight pointed up at the wall, and there's a Nikon SB-800 speedlight firing into a translucent flash umbrella at right. At left is a white reflecting cloth supported by an old tripod.
I didn't use Nikon's automatic flash-power stuff (CLS) as I did with the shoes the other day. This time I set the SB-800 on manual full power, the shutter speed to 1/250th, and took a few test shots, adjusting the aperture until I got the exposure I wanted. I had the back splash light (the SB-600) set to one-quarter power.
It didn't take very long, but we had some fun being silly...
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| Just Being Silly | ||
I guess it's just as well that we didn't send those shots in with the application. 
Fumie was dressed up in a silly, garish costume to show Anthony what she would be wearing in a little production the moms were going to do for the kids, which is why she looks a little 60's flower-power-ish.
You can see a bit of the SB-600 sticking out behind Anthony. That was one of the first test shots, before I realized that I didn't have to place the flash up that high. Rather, I could set it lower and aim it up. The photons don't care.
Printing was easy, with Lightroom. The end result on paper had to be 3.5cm × 5cm each, so in the Lightroom “Print” module, I set the “cell size” to exactly that size, checked the “Zoom to fill” box, then used the hand tool to move each image around in its grid so that I got the exact area that I wanted shown. Doing it this way obviated the need to calculate resolutions and pixel lengths. Easy as pie.
Good job on the photos! I now have a severe case of speedlight envy
That looks a lot better then the hodgepodge of household lights I use for my portraits.
Not so odd that they’d want the parent’s photos. Here at our local gym, they require photos of the parents who want to use the nursery (they take the photo themselves). It’s a safety precaution, to make sure that the right kids go home with the right parents. Or, I guess if you leave the kiddos beyond the 2 hour time limit, they know who to look for as they come hunt you down.
The formal and informal ID shots are funny! I wonder if Anthony would have been accepted if you had sent in the “wrong” set.
BTW, do post your thoughts on the D700 when you get a chance to try it out. I caught your post on DPR.
I won’t be getting one until September, at the earliest, because I’m leaving on a long trip the day before the D700 is released )-: —Jeffrey