Photography workshop - day 2

Wonderfully informative workshop. Thanks so much I have really enjoyed following this and I am printing it out for reference.

Okay, one silly question. I think everyone has seen those little white orbs on their photos at one time or another. I have actually had people email me telling me that they are ghosts or spirits.
Well, okay, I am openminded. But if you have a more scientic explaination for those little spots I'd love to hear it.

Thanks again.

 

Well here is answers to several different questions.

Yes, a small light used to highlight a specific area is called a key light.

Halogen? I'm not sure what the color temperature of that is. If you don't have a manual white balance setting on your camera and the pictures are looking yellow, I'd try the incandescent setting. That should make them less yellow for you.

White spots? Well they could be one of several things. Most often, they are dust on the lens. Sometimes, if you are shooting in very humid conditions, water vapor gets trapped inside the lens and you'll get those spots. A third option is simply reflections. Camera lenses are often made up of more than one piece of glass. If you have a SLR (single lens reflex) camera - ie. when you look through the viewfinder, you are actually looking at a reflection of what is coming through the lens - then you have a couple of mirrors in your camera as well. Add to that all the shiny metal and glass objects that we have around us and you're going to have lots of opportunities for glare and reflections.

I watched one of those "ghost photo" shows one time. Some family was claiming that their old farm was haunted and they had the proof. All I can say is that every one of their photos were of techniques that I learned in Photo 101 in college. It was pretty pathetic really. There may be ghosts out there, but I've yet to see a photo of one.

Connie

 

I wanted to show you some results I got by fooling around with lighting as you taught us yesterday. The first photos were taken with regular overhead light, camera flash on and manually adjusting the exposure brighness in the camera. The second was taken with a halogen work light set up to the left of the mannequin, no flash, and adjusting the white balance on the camera.

<img src="http://members.sparedollar.com/jls502/722-079.jpg"><img src="http://members.sparedollar.com/jls502/727-020.jpg">

Here's another example:

<img src="http://members.sparedollar.com/jls502/726-025.jpg"><img src="http://members.sparedollar.com/jls502/727-025.jpg">

I still have to set up a second light to the right of the mannequin to eliminate the shadow of her hand and the large shadows behind on the drape, but what a difference! Once again, thank you, Connie!

 

Jody, that photo (the second one) looks so natural. Sometimes i think some shadows add to the item looking like it is in a natural setting.

Connie, i am really enjoying this thorughly and my lack of comments only indicate how much i am trying some of this :live: and being a busy bee
chris

 

Well it looks like your getting the hang of things. Right on!

Remember, photography is an art. All the advice I'm giving you is just that. These are guidelines, not rules written in stone. The more you play around and experiment the better you'll get. I can even see it in my own photography. I'm taking better pictures of my clothes and artwork this year then I was last summer.

In any case, I'm glad you guys are getting something out of this!
Connie