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So I had a whole mess of pictures from the last OCF session I had with Moi-Moi. Using multiple strobes, a 70-200mm, and a dog in a self-portrait is actually pretty difficult. Especially when trying to capture some barking/growling.
Strobes - I had the lighting set up and balanced the way I wanted, but my key light was firing at 1/2 power. After a couple shots, the recycle time took WAY longer than the rate I was taking pictures. I ended up with more pictures with my key light not firing than with it firing. Here's one I think would've been a great image had everything worked:
Long lens - Aside from the lighting, I realized how difficult it is to take a self portrait with a long lens. I was thinking about how this SF photographer (Dustin Diaz) frequently used a 200mm prime for his 365 self portrait project and now I appreciated his work that much more. I think this would been the best shot of the night.... had it been in the frame. Just missed, darn.
So, this was the original plan I had for this self-portrait session, but I didn't like it so much after I did it. For those of you who know me, I've developed a recent obsession for Rubik's Cubes.
Couple things I did not like about this. The shadows in the lower part of the frame distracted my eye. It's from a strobe I put down to light the background. But since I didn't have another light stand, it was just sitting on the sofa that was there, but it was catching the back of the sofa and throwing that shadow up there. I moved it, but couldn't get the same blown out background I kinda wanted. Also, I dunno, I just didn't like the way the cube looked. Maybe I need to snoot it or something. I think I might try that at some point.
So in the end, it came down to the one I chose and another one. I think I chose the other one because our expressions were more matched. But I still like them both:
Lessons learned - Balance lighting with strobes at lowest power you can keep them. I knew that before, but I wanted to test out the new SB-24 I just bought(used). That flash seems to be pretty solid, but I need to be carfeul if I ever crank it up to 1/2 power or more. Need to find a way to better mark a spot for me(or any subject) to stand. If you look at the last picture, you can see a little post it note I had on the wall. for where my center of focus was - Duh, need to have something that won't be in the frame...
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You need to have something that won't be in the frame or just use that handy thing called photoshop to take it out...
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