{"id":2056,"date":"2012-07-26T01:06:43","date_gmt":"2012-07-25T16:06:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2012-07-26\/2056"},"modified":"2012-12-19T11:13:16","modified_gmt":"2012-12-19T02:13:16","slug":"going-max-cliche-while-learning-about-off-camera-flash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2012-07-26\/2056","title":{"rendered":"Going Max Clich\u00e9 While Learning About Off-Camera Flash"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\nNOTE<\/b>: Images with an icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f<\/span>\/7.1, ISO 1000 —\nimage data<\/a><\/span>\nClich\u00e9 At Every Level<\/span>\nthere's a reason Abercrombie & Fitch does not use 46-year-old models\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Let me say up front that I know the photos on this post are ridiculous. I think<\/span> the type is ridiculous even when done seriously (e.g. in a\n“fashion” catalog), but all the more so when done by someone my age. I'm just trying<\/span> to learn to cut loose a little<\/span> while also learning about off-camera\nflash; I'd appreciate if your laughs are with me instead of at me.<\/p>\n\n

\u3053\u306e\u8a18\u4e8b<\/span>\u306f\u3068\u3093\u3067\u3082\u306a\u3044\u5199\u771f<\/span>\u3070\u304b\u308a\u3067\u3059\u304c\u3001\u53cb\u306b\u7b11\u3063<\/span>\u3066\u304f\u308c\u3070\u5b09\u3057\u3044\u3002\u3053\u306e\u8a18\u4e8b<\/span>\u306e\u30c6\u30fc\u30de\u306f\u64ae\u5f71<\/span>\u30b9\u30bf\u30b8\u30aa\u306e\u30b9\u30d4\u30fc\u30c9\u30e9\u30a4\u30c8(\u5149\u306e\u30b9\u30c8\u30ed\u30dc)\u306e\u8a66\u3057\u30ec\u30dd\u30fc\u30c8\u3067\u3059\u3002\u64ae\u5f71\u8005<\/span>\u3082\u64ae\u5f71\u5bfe\u8c61<\/span>\u306f\u79c1\u3067\u3059\u3002\u300c\u64ae\u5f71\u8005\u300d<\/span>\u306e\u65b9\u306f\u672c\u6c17<\/span>\u3067\u3001\u300c\u64ae\u5f71\u5bfe\u8c61\u300d<\/span>\u306e\u65b9\u306f\u5197\u8ac7<\/span>\u30dd\u30af\u3067\u904a\u3073\u3067\u3059\u3002<\/p>\n\n

As I noted last month in “Trying a Little<\/span> Formal\nPortraiture<\/a>” and a couple<\/span> of weeks ago in “Impromptu Portraiture\nPractice<\/a>”, I'm interested<\/span> in improving my ability to take portraits.\nTechnically, I'm comfortable<\/span> with natural light, but I'd also like to have\nconfidence in using artificial lighting, so I set<\/span> up a little<\/span> home studio in my living room\nfor an afternoon of testing.<\/p>\n\n

And in the spirit I mentioned in the first link, of feeling the need to\nlearn how to be more comfortable in front<\/i> of the camera as well, I used myself<\/span> as the “model”, a role<\/span> I'm definitely not\ncomfortable with.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/5, ISO 7200 —\nimage data<\/a><\/span>\nMy “Studio”<\/span>\nfor the afternoon\n<\/div>\n\n

I'd bought a Savage<\/a>\n“EasyCloth” black background roll and hung it from the curtain rails. I\ndon't<\/span> really have enough space for full-lengths shots of me without using a\nwider<\/span> lens, so my feet are cut off, apparently an unforgivable mistake.\nStill, so long as I don't<\/span> invite Nils<\/a> over, I'm likely<\/span> the\ntallest person I'll have to consider. And anyway, my goal was to practice lighting, not produce a usable<\/span> portrait.<\/p>\n\n

It's been years since I read Strobist<\/a>, having given up on ever feeling comfortable with artificial lighting,\nbut a few<\/span> tips came back to me, especially since I played<\/span> with one light last month for\n“Prucia Plum Wine from France, and Some Dramatic Lighting<\/a>”.<\/p>\n\n

First, I picked<\/span> an exposure that crushed the ambient light.... if I took<\/span>\na photo<\/span> without any flash, the result would be essentially black. This\nallowed me to take the ambient light out of the equation, giving me full\ncontrol (sort of, see below) of any light that made its way to the final result.<\/p>\n\n

I had borrowed a bunch of speedlights so I could<\/span> try pretty complex\nstuff, but I thought<\/span> it best to start with something really simple,\nsomething that's been done a million<\/span> times before. As an artist<\/span> it's not\ngood to be clich\u00e9, but I think<\/span> it's important to at least have the basic\nability<\/i> to be clich\u00e9 before discarding a technique.<\/span> I learn<\/span> by doing, not by being\nsnobbish about being an “artist”. So, I embraced<\/span> it and went full-on clich\u00e9 all the way.<\/p>\n\n

In this case, that meant a simple two-light setup, one almost-directly\non either side of the target...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f<\/span>\/7.1, ISO 1000 —\nimage data<\/a><\/span>\nFlashes<\/span>\none easy to see at lower left, another on the table midway-up on the far right\n<\/div>\n\n

Of course, when I took the real photos, I used a<\/span> zoomier lens to exclude\nall but the black backdrop and the me standing in front of it.<\/p>\n\n

There's a little square of tape on the floor in front of the cloth... I\npre<\/span>-focused to that point by having Anthony stand in for me (he was\nactually in the photo above, but I removed<\/span> him for this post), then\ntethered the camera to Lightroom so that I could<\/span> see the results of the\nshots right away. Sometimes I'd use the 5-second timer to take the shot\nmyself, and sometimes when I could<\/span> wrangle him I'd have Anthony press the\nbutton.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 1000 —\nimage data<\/a><\/span>\nHigh Tech Pro-Level Equipment<\/span>\nflash on camera left\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 85mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 640 —\nimage data<\/a><\/span>\nSuper High Tech<\/span>\nflash on camera right\n<\/div>\n\n

The baffling around and above the flashes is to prevent light spill,\nonto the black backdrop and, more importantly, onto the ceiling. The room's\nceiling is white, and reflections from it were filling in the shadows that\nI hoped<\/span> the hard light from the bare speedlight would create. My makeshift<\/span> baffles in my makeshift studio helped to some extent.<\/p>\n\n

I tried various manual power levels for the two flashes, for example,\nthe flash at camera left at 1\/40th power and the flash at camera right at\n1\/20th power. Through trial and error I could<\/span> come up with different\nresults, though unfortunately the data about what flashes were at what\npower was not saved anywhere, either by the camera or by me.<\/p>\n\n

Once I got a basic handle on the setup, I turned<\/span> off the air\nconditioning and did a bunch<\/span> of pushups, as I always<\/span> do before I ever<\/span> touch\na camera,<\/span> of course.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f<\/span>\/7.1, ISO 1000 —\nimage data<\/a><\/span>\nEarly Attempt<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

I'm holding a Nikon D4 in the photos (as a prop<\/span> because, you know, my\nhobby is photography and, you know, I always<\/span> have my shirt off when I take<\/span>\npictures), but I used<\/span> a Nikon<\/span> D700 to take the shots because it can control\nthe two flashes directly, something even the D4 can't do.<\/p>\n\n

This kind of shot is all about creating shadows, so I pushed<\/span> the camera-right flash\nslightly behind the line I was<\/span> standing on, to try to create a bit<\/span> more\nshadow across the body. The result, though, strongly depended on the slight changes in\nhow I stood,<\/span> so the immediate feedback from tethering to Lightroom was very useful.<\/p>\n\n

In post processing, I crushed<\/span> the blacks and the contrast. The former<\/span> drops out any hint of the background, and the latter helps accentuate the\nshadows. (Otherwise, it really is me; most people I showed<\/span> these to in real\nlife who haven't seen me lately thought I had<\/span> Photoshopped my head onto\nsomeone else's body, but they normally don't see me without a shirt,<\/span> and I\nthink<\/span> it's fair to say that I've made some progress in working out in the\ntwo months since I faired\nso badly<\/a> on a simple<\/span> mountain hike.)<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f<\/span>\/7.1, ISO 1000 —\nimage data<\/a><\/span>\nA Bit<\/span> Moodier<\/span>\nhaving stood a bit further back to let the camera-left light wrap more\n<\/div>\n\n

And just going with the flow of this dark, high-contrasty look...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f<\/span>\/7.1, ISO 1000 —\nimage data<\/a><\/span>\n“Raging Bull”<\/span>\nor something like that\n<\/div>\n\n

The difference in flash setup (power and location) was minimal among all\nthese; what I really<\/span> learned is how a subtle<\/span> change in body angle can make\nsuch a big<\/span> difference in result. It wouldn't be the case, I'm sure, if the\nlight was “soft” (e.g. from a wide<\/span> area like a large<\/span> window),\nbut with the hard light from the small area of an undiffused flash head,\nsmall movements can have huge effects.<\/p>\n\n

After I got a shower and had started to pack everything up, I realized<\/span> that I had<\/span> missed the most clich\u00e9 shot of all, so quickly snapped the shot\nthat leads this post. I must have<\/span> already removed the baffles on the\nflashes because the shadows are not nearly as sharp. Or maybe<\/span> the pushups\nhad worn off.<\/p>\n\n

I really need to get some jeans that fit, but that's difficult for\nsomeone like me in Japan. (Update:<\/b> I eventually<\/span> got in good enough shape that I could<\/span> get a 32x34\"<\/span> from Uniqlo<\/a> and it fit, and eventually after that, even it<\/i> got too big!)<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let me say up front that I know the photos on this post are ridiculous. I think the type is ridiculous even when done seriously (e.g. in a \"fashion\" catalog), but all the more so when done by someone my age. I'm just trying to learn to cut loose a little while also learning about off-camera flash; I'd appreciate if your laughs are with me instead of at me.<\/p>

\u3053\u306e\u8a18\u4e8b\u306f\u3068\u3093\u3067\u3082\u306a\u3044\u5199\u771f\u3070\u304b\u308a\u3067\u3059\u304c\u3001\u53cb\u306b\u7b11\u3063\u3066\u304f\u308c\u3070\u5b09\u3057\u3044\u3002\u3053\u306e\u8a18\u4e8b\u306e\u30c6\u30fc\u30de\u306f\u64ae\u5f71\u30b9\u30bf\u30b8\u30aa\u306e\u30b9\u30d4\u30fc\u30c9\u30e9\u30a4\u30c8(\u5149\u306e\u30b9\u30c8\u30ed\u30dc)\u306e\u8a66\u3057\u30ec\u30dd\u30fc\u30c8\u3067\u3059\u3002\u64ae\u5f71\u8005\u3082\u64ae\u5f71\u5bfe\u8c61\u306f\u79c1\u3067\u3059\u3002\u300c\u64ae\u5f71\u8005\u300d\u306e\u65b9\u306f\u672c\u6c17\u3067\u3001\u300c\u64ae\u5f71\u5bfe\u8c61\u300d\u306e\u65b9\u306f\u5197\u8ac7\u30dd\u30af\u3067\u904a\u3073\u3067\u3059\u3002<\/p>

As I noted last month in \"Trying a Little Formal Portraiture\" and a couple of weeks ago in \"Impromptu Portraiture Practice\", I'm interested in improving my ability to take portraits. [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,7,1,28,4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2056"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2056\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}