Quick Corks

In the cork snap in the previous post, I failed to mention that I was using a grid. The shot is basically the corks in a rocks glass on it's side. There is a flash to camera right as before, but this time I velcro'ed a grid to the light to make it more directed. This, plus the texture of the rocks glass gave the light more drama.

I liked the effect so I thought I would try a little more with it. The shot above I just dumped them on the white paper and shot through the g

rid again. But since a grid is basically a square with a bunch of holes in it, I thought I would further the effect by putting a metal grid up there as well. One of those metal trays with patterned holes that you use to grill veggies.

I like the drama, but maybe too much

So, I took the grid off the flash and just shot through the bbq tray. The next step is to monkey around with the distance the flash is to the grid. The closer it was, the more pronounced the holes. Look at this shot and the one below. The grid pattern in

the background is softer and further because I moved the flash around. I should have also moved the bbq tray around now that I think about it.I wanted to show a little more of the dark side of the corks so I added a second light on camera left with the power turned down very low. I also put up a piece of cardboard so the light would only fall on the back side of the corks.

Or at least that was the idea.

I think it was partially successful.

Flashes are flexible and cheap compared to pro lights, but it can be hard to visualize the effects and then evaluate correctly the impact. Remember that on the counter this just looks like corks on a piece of paper. In fact it looks like this:

There's the bbq tray leaning against the coffee maker. Fancy, no?

Spring forward

Lately Notes from the Road has been more like Notes from the Living Room. I've been working long hours and on nights and weekends I've mostly got head space to pick away at chores and zonk out. And that's been about it.

But this week was Spring Break, the work week was easier and I have a short week next week. I'm taking Thursday off to see McNally and Hobby speak in Dallas about small flash work. I'm taking Friday too just for the hell of it. This pressure respite coincides with the change in weather. And as someone reminded me, this weekend was Holi.

Holi as you likely know is an Indian holiday that I don't really understand. But it seems to be a Spring time transitional thing. Holi, Lent, whatever: it's time to clean house and bring the good stuff in.

My friend is moving as well and it's interesting to hear a different perspective on the move. Some things are the same in our situations, some different, but it reminds me to keep busy at it.

So these are more macros in the series. Same set up as last post.

I'm getting more comfortable building light levels.

Things like this that don't move or get impatient are good subjects to learn around.

Somehow things that seem obvious and banal when you say it come as sort of a surprise in practice. Like: you need more light to light dark things. Oh, well.

The techniques I'm playing with (off camera lighting with small flashes) is the subject of the seminar I'm going to next week.

Curious to watch folks solve problems and set stuff up on-the-fly.

These are coming out ok. I might get a new tripod. A clasp on the old one stopped closing, so you have to tape it in place or it collapses. THey are so spendy though.

Ah, whatever: it's time for new stuff. Spring forward.

The Brian Currier Alternative

More of these high f-stop macros.

I think I've started to solve the cranberry color issue.

Using less light helped.

I like these kind of shots because they don't seem like me.

Yellow is Healthy

Some more shooting this morning before running chores.

Same set up as the last couple posts: f45 at 300mm macro 1/250.

I've taken a 17x19" piece of art paper, set it on the counter in my kitchen and curled it up against the wall for a backdrop.

I'm using two flashes off-camera.

The one on camera left is pointed straight up. It hits the bottom of the shelf in the kitchen and bounces back to provide overall light.

The flash on camera right is very close to the subject and firing through a diffuser dome.

The flashes are on manual power, so you can play around with how much you give the two different sources to affect how lit. In the past I've used TTL (which is kind of like "automatic") and made +/- changes based on that to balance my light. Lately I'm moving away from that; especially in situations like this where things aren't changing on-the-fly much.

Anyway: the point is I wanted to shoot the fibery item above. I took a few shots, but the color always runs to cranberry instead of the rich burgundy it really is.

After about 6 snaps I espied the item below and switched subjects

Any sense of what it is? Looks woody, right? Kind of: it's the bottom of a dried mushroom.

I liked the model-city look that the hard light and high aperture gave it, so I kept shooting for a while.
Afterwards I was thinking: this is about the third or fourth thing in this color family I've shot recently. Not that I care one way or the other, but in my Art Theory and Criticism class we were trained to always examine our reactions and isolate the personal portion. It helps strengthen your critical muscle and teaches you about yourself.

So what's with all the yellow?

I think it's a sign of healthiness.

I don't entirely believe in Chinese Acupuncture medicine 100% but I've seen very strong results from it, so I pay attention. In the 5 Element school I am the Earth sign: yellow is my color.

Heck, as a jaundiced baby I was even born yellow.

And I am starting to turn the corner on the move. I still feel like I'm on a business trip, but it's coming around. I'm getting more active and less exhausted (although there is still a lot of that).

I think things spiral up and spiral down, so I'm trying to put more in as I'm on the ups. Do more, shoot more, go out more get active.

So basically: I like a yellow, creamy color.
On a side note: that cranberry color infected everything it touched. You only see it zoomed way in, but it was on this guy too. I edited those shots out

Prepone It

One of the vendors we work with was unable to attend a meeting I had scheduled on Friday. She sent me a note proposing to move the time a couple of hours earlier. So, like 11am instead of 1pm.

Her text requested that we kindly prepone the meeting.

Prepone? Ah; the opposite of postponing. I suppose that makes it just poning if you don't do anything.

Well, it wasn't the dumbest word I heard that day.

My counterpart supervisor was talking about this restaurant she had been to where the (female) waitresses and staff were all dressed very provocatively. It came as sort of a shock to her.

Later, I was in a separate conversation with other folks about differing BBQ places in the area. I mentioned the restaurant where the girls dress slutty. Everyone knew immediately what I was talking about: oh that place. That's a breastaurant.

A what now?

Breast-aurant. Apparently that phenomenon is pretty common here; they were all able to rattle off half a dozen of them. Oh, brother.

Anyway. I don't have much to report.

These are some snaps I was working on earlier.

I spent some time trying different lighting and aperture combinations to see what would happen. After a while, I had something I was amused with and started setting new arrangements. The brussel-sproat looking thing back there is one of those vase-fillers you buy at Target. I was happy with the sharpness falloff I was getting on it, so I was looking forward to editing them. Imagine my sadness when I saw that I had captured all the little ugly tears in the surface and sloppy glue trails that held it together.

Should have looked closer. Instead I preponed my editing and ended up with a smaller set of things to choose from. Even the "keepers" I'm showing you here you can see the glue amd stuff.

Bleagh

Ugly Up Close

I took some snaps of this thing this morning.

It's some sort of potpourri thing. I was interested in it because they look like little flowers, but are spiny and hard. They seem like the fossils of flowers or something.

Well, the point is the above shot is about what it looks like sitting on my table or in the viewfinder of the camera. Pleasant enough, good lines and nice way it scoops light to show the form.

Well, this is what it looks like close up at f42

The bone texture of the plant is more apparent, and so is every speck, mote and crack.

One of the things I like about photography is seeing what things will look like photographed. Sometimes it's fantastic, other times not as much. It's hard to know where to go when you get these kinds of results, because you didn't really have a goal in mind in when you started. You did it to see what would happen, and then were disappointed that what happened wasn't great on its own.

So then you get to the point where the experiment becomes more directed. Your results force you to recognize that you weren't really a dispassionate scientist, you had something in mind that was cooler, but you still don't really know what it was, so you just play around with different things. I like that the thing has a little beak in the center, I just want it to look less like paper pulp.

I need something more in the middle, something more like this.
There's still so much I don't understand at all. I need to get shooting more

Karma is Currency

So, I usually work 10 hours a day. Sometimes, less, often more. Today I was there 12 and they were tough hours. We had some problems and I have a bad story to tell tomorrow. I tell you this to set the stage for the fact that as I go home, I'm tired and possibly even a tiny bit crabby.

Nah, scratch that: I didn't feel crabby, just sort of tired enough to be less-guarded in my thoughts. The point is, on the way home I decide to stop at my local corner quickie mart deal and buy a cold drink. So, I do just that, navigating the aggressive drivers in around the gas pumps, find my parking spot and leg it in to the store.

I get my beverage and step in line. After a few moments of the line not moving, I step out of my brain fog to assess the cause. It's the gentleman in front of me. He's trying to buy a bottle of wine with his buddy and is having some sort of hold up. With nothing to do but wait, I have plenty of time to take stock of his attire.

The first thing I notice is that he is chewing one of those sword-style toothpicks. You know the kind- with the U-shaped end with the dental floss on it? Well enough. Then I notice that in case he needs another toothpick he has a dozen others on standby.

Sticking out of his hair.

He asks the counter-guy again how much his purchase is. $7.35. He counts out some change on the counter. And counts again. How much was the wine again? $7.35. More counting.

Now my uncharitable-side comes out. Look at this scum, I think. With his dirty, sweaty bills wadded on the counter into a tiny ball. Counting out his pennies to buy booze. Pah! When it's MY turn, I'm going to pay with a crisp 20 that is nice and neat. I'm much neater and cleaner than this fellow and his buddy who has taken a bunch of free coffee cups from the store to drink the wine with. Pah!

So, the dude figures out his (exact) change and it's my turn.

One six pack of imported fancy beer. $9 or so.

Here's your change, mister: a wad of grubby completely-unflattened out singles that 30 seconds ago were in the sweatpants of the dude with toothpick swords in his hair.

They never even made it all the way into the register.

Thanks for the comeuppance, Universe.

The teen behind the bar wishes me Peace on my way out, holding up the two fingers. Good advice.