Motion

so here's the latest.  slow shutter, tripod and table top technique to fast shutter hand held.

That's the how, the why I'm finding more and more is the question I'm asking myself theses days.

What do I really want to say and what is trying to happen in the image.  In this case our friend Susie is a movement artist and soon to be dance student.   She's leaving us for school

and I wanted to comment on the potential of her talent before being refined.  That was the why

and it was the difference in achieving something technically and actually discovering something personally.

Fun with the EZYBox

I am really loving the EZYBox - my neighbors were having a yard sale yesterday so I had to grab this shot.

Grid for Ezybox

Hi everybody,

I am looking for a grid for my Ezybox 24x24" (60x60 cm.), but I cannot find any at Lastolite.

Does anybody know where to find a grid that fit the Ezybox?

Thanks, Bjarne

July Assignment

Here's my assignment for July. Took some begging on my part but I got my daughter to finally pose for a shot and to wear my hat as well!

This is a single 580EX II through a Days Inn Diffusor.

Here are the set

up shots - I used my kitchen counter top as a flag to concentrate the light on her face.

Fireworks from the East

Had to post a firework image from the East Coast, Jersey Shore. The one in the distance is from Ocean City, NJ. The main one is Margate, NJ, just south of Atlantic City.

4th of July Fireworks

We had a great 4th of July, I trust everyone else did. I took some photos of the fireworks and if you are interested I posted some at my blog that you can check out at www.davidgralian.com/blog.

Have a GREAT DAY!!!!

David Gralian
http://www.davidgralian.com/
www.davidgralian.com/blog
email: david@davidgralian.com

Jennie's June assignment : one light

I used one light but thought the background was cool and well enough lit so I chose to put my light behind her. I had to push my ISO to 1600 to get enough ambient light to fill around her but then it causes some blow out. My added light was a 580EX II full power shooting through an umbrella(from pretty far away, enough to hide an umbrella behind her). Might have needed more power from my light and less ambient. Tough color in these spaces, any tips on how to combat that? Other ideas on how to make this better?

iso1600 f/2.8 1/100

JUNE ASSIGNMENT: A very pregnant Francis

For my (David Gralian) June assignment of "one light only, diffused", I GOOFED UP!!!!!!
I forgot the part about it being to use "ONE LIGHT ONLY" until I re-read the assignment, I used two lights. Well, I'm going to publish what I did anyway. Needless to say I failed the 'follow instructions' part of the assignment. Oh Well :-)

Below are a few of the images of Francis that I took this past Sunday, she is due to deliver "Eduardo" in the next 2+weeks. Now this photo session has special significance to me as Francis is my daughter-in-law and Eduardo is my 4th grand-child (soon to join us in this outside world).



Below is my oldest son, Wayne, with Francis. In the next image is my 3rd grandchild, Carlos. I gotta tell you, that the smile you see on Carlos' face is pretty much always there, he's one happy boy.


Switched to a black backdrop here for these images of Francis.


As you can see, Carlos loves to get his picture taken.


Here's a picture of the setup I used:


It consists of 2 backdrops, the blue-grey mottled (10'x20') and the other a black, which you can see as two parts, one half flipped back over the top of the stand as well as one half in the forground under the lights. I used the two umbrella's in a clam-shell arrangement, each lit by one 580EX2 triggered by a RadioPopper Receiver. The lower umbrella is running at about 1/4th the light of the upper umbrella. On the camera, I used an STE2 with a RadioPopper Transmitter attached. The two flash units are powered by a Quantum Turbo 2x2. The upper light (Main) is in "Group A", the lower (Fill)) is in "Group B". With the STE2 it is very easy to ratio the "Group B" to the "Group A", so controling the lights is pretty straight forward.
The 8' ceiling heights alway present a bit of a problem trying to keep the top of the backdrop from showing, so I have to keep close track of that especially when someone tall is there.

If I'd followed the instructions, I would've used a reflector for the bottom light source instead of the second umbrella.

Well that's it, even if I missed following the instructions of the assignment. I'll make sure I don't make that mistake again.

As always, it is a pleasure to share with all of you, and I'd appreciate any and all input you can give me on what I can do to improve my skills and results. REALLY!!!

David Gralian
email: david@davidgralian.com
http://www.davidgralian.com/
www.davidgralian.com/blog

A Portrait for June Assignment

After a month of back and forth with B&H in an effort to get them to deliver a 34" x 34" Ezybox Hotshoe complete with the adaptor ring and flash bracket, at last I can play with my new toy.

This one is of my husband taken today in front of a light-absorbing black backdrop.

The Ezybox with my 580ex ll providing the light is close-in because I wanted to wrap the light enough to illuminate the left eye. A reflector, just outside the edge of the frame camera right, adds enough extra light to keep the overall lighting from being too stark while maintaining the drama. It also helped define the edges of the hair. There was a silver reflector low on camera right, angled up towards the subject..

Used the Canon 40D with 24-70 at 70 mm, f 4.0, 1/200th, flash compensation - 1 3/4, ISO 200. Uncropped. Some pp, but very close to what came out of the camera.

My biggest frustration was trying to keep down the hot spots, especially on the forehead. I would appreciate any thoughts. (The skin was not oily.) Do people use makeup for that?

The other problem is that I didn't have enough depth of field for the distance from the subject. This is not altogether a bad thing when photographing older folks, but I need to do better.

Still, overall, I am pleased with the lighting.

Assignment with a bed sheet

Not from July, but I took these in April with a full bed sheet and two sb900's behind the sheet and one more bouncing off a reflector on the floor. Used the sheet because I needed to light some groups of 7 musicians and only had a 10 minute set up time. It worked well but I had a lot of reflections in some pictures. Joe explained how I could have used black paper above the flashes to avoid this. Just something to get this month started.

Marketplace

Hi everybody,

hope you are enjoying the summertime!

I found this old guy on a market in Jutland. He is a retired fisherman and now selling ropes to sailers and campers on markets to support his pension.

One SB800 camera left on the end of a SC-28 wire/cable, trying to overpower the sun over/behind him and using the sunlight as rimlight. The ropes are a little too hot, I know.

D2x, 17-55 f. 2,8 at 22 mm., f.4, 1/8000 sec., ISO 200, manual mode.

Cheers! Bjarne

June Assignment

Hey, So I missed out on doing the first assignment but I am jumping into the second one. These are two photographs of a dancer that I took using one large softbox to camera right and had a reflector on the left toward the ground. The reflector evened the light on the left side. I like the cold look of the New England weather but wish there was some contrast between the sky and sea.
It was quite an adventure to go out to these rocks with my lighting equipment. I even lost a lens to a puddle up there. Thank god for insurance.