Project365 - Up Close and Personal !

Introduction

It's eleventy-beelion degrees below zero this weekend, so my photo shoots are being limited to in-studio for a couple of days. This means a lot more technical shoot, using more of my equipment. I have no willing subjects - teenagers sleep a remarkable amount, and the critters tend to get bored & wander away - so I'm shooting flowers. Yep, flowers - they don't give attitude, they don't wander off, and most importantly they are pretty to look at !

The Setup

I shoot with a Canon 60D, and today opted to shoot with my Canon 40mm f/2.8. It has a nice wide aperture, allowing lots of light onto the sensor. I mated it with a 12mm extension tube, to allow me to get a little closer. The whole rig was mounted on a Manfrotto tripod, and I chose to go off-camera with my Canon 430EX II flash using a pair of Cactus v5 triggers.

Here's what the shot started off as. Later I chose to add the external light to accentuate the blooms.

The Photos

Whoops ! I totally blew out the photo by setting the flash at full power with a wide (28mm) beam. Let's try that again ! (Neat effect, though)

Better, but I still have too much light at 1/8 power. It blows out the left side, while creating a strange white rim on the right side. Once more...

 

I dialled down the power to 1/32, but the flash is showing up in the corner. I didn't see it when I shot it, but it is definitely there !

 

This is much better. The flash is low-power, and behind the bloom. It makes the flower positively glow ! I tried to balance the aperture so that the leaves in the background were blurry, while most of the bloom (the stamen is the focal point) is in-focus.

Lessons Learned

I am learning more about studio setup. Using my tripod, flash, triggers and shutter release to create visually interesting images is actually a lot of fun ! I wonder if Pat would let me convert one of the kids rooms into a studio ?!? =D

 

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