..."I tell you," Jesus replied, " if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out". LK 19:44

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

I have changed my mind

when it came to photography I had a motto.
"Flash sucks! don't use it. you just end up with pictures that you are going to be unhappy with."
and as a General rule. this worked great. natural light always made for better photos. a few other photographer (amatuer/hobbyist)friends ignored me but later on would agree. Flash sucks.

well this rule found some large resistance. low light. very low light.
noise is a huge issue in low light.
well I manged to remove a lot of noise (usually with a lot of photoshop).
(why do weddings need to be poorly lit anyways!)

well a few discoveries (i have made) with regards to ISO vs bitdepth on the image sensor. I even looked it up on the datasheet for my kodak image sensor. the data loss at Higher ISO is huge. the data is simply not there.
so now I knew ISO had to be cranked for good shots.
Thus made me realize the flash needed to be utilized. of at least be able to fake natural light with it.
so I started to reflect upwards. works great with a low ceiling!. ok that works. but not reliably enough.

then I pulled out my old SLR and saw the Flash inside the camera bag. and it had a test button.
so I played with 80 ISO and and the Flash with our pumpkins.






that seemed to work great.


ok then I found Strobist.com
it's a Free online photography class which deals with off camera flashes.
not really for beginners(you need to understand Exposure correctly).
they even have assignments and lessons.

it's all about how to use strobes(off camera flashes) correctly.
so your making the photo. not taking it.
it's also about the right hardware without spending thousands.
so far I have spent $10 on an external flash cable. ( I have already modified it)
and about $7 from homedepot. the rest I have sourced for free. or have already had the parts.
I now have an umbrella refector, vertical poles for mounting strobes to and backdrops.

well the results are stunning.
Michelle has some amazing shots on her facebook photos page with the girls in the tub.
I will post about the hardware I have made later.
I see you
100_3304
100_3191

100_3181
100_3229

1 comment:

Miss-buggy said...

I really like the one of Sam looking up. You are doing a great job with your photography. Both you and michelle are. I wish I could understand the technical terms better. I guess that site is not for me! LOL!! I really wish I could learn more. Good job Rod. You are so creative.

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