[fs999]

Frederic, The first flower in that last series has a very artistic look, nice touch. I thought the Soligor was Ruperts !!

Thank you Bob ! No no no ! Don't say that ever !!!!

1. FF Mode • 100 ISO • Porst Tele 1:1.8/135mm MC AUTO E


2. FF Mode • 100 ISO • Pentax DA* 200mm F2.8 ED SDM


3. Crop Mode • 1600 ISO • HD Pentax DA 560mm F5.6 ED AW

[Erictator]

Took these pics with the K-1 and the DFA 15-30mm

Nice set. Good to see some local activity.
Eric

---------- Post added 06-28-17 at 02:06 PM ----------

Thank you Bob ! No no no ! Don't say that ever !!!!

1. FF Mode • 100 ISO • Porst Tele 1:1.8/135mm MC AUTO E


2. FF Mode • 100 ISO • Pentax DA* 200mm F2.8 ED SDM


3. Crop Mode • 1600 ISO • HD Pentax DA 560mm F5.6 ED AW

Excellent set Frederic, the stamens in the 2nd pic are near 3D! ...and correct, make sure Bob knows, it's not Ruperts, I called it first!

Oh, are we doing furry woodland creatures now? Hold on... I've got one more...
Eric

---------- Post added 06-28-17 at 02:11 PM ----------

Here we go... One furry woodland creature (or tailess squirrel as far as Rupert is concerned)

Pentax K-1 smc PENTAX-DA* 300mm F4 ED [IF] SDM ƒ/5.6 300.0 mm 1/500 iso800



I think this one might be worth a full res option, just to look into those big brown eyes: https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4210/35158507221_31458327e5_o.jpg
You can even see a decent reflection of the tree canopy in there!
Eric

[Patriot]

Twenty Mule Teams
Death Valley National Park, California
D FA 24-70mm F2.8

[wtlwdwgn]

This afternoon's thunderstorms starting to build this morning. K-1 and D FA 28-105. Xpst.

[repaap]

Thank you Bob ! No no no ! Don't say that ever !!!!

1. FF Mode • 100 ISO • Porst Tele 1:1.8/135mm MC AUTO E


2. FF Mode • 100 ISO • Pentax DA* 200mm F2.8 ED SDM


3. Crop Mode • 1600 ISO • HD Pentax DA 560mm F5.6 ED AW

That porst shot is smooooth!

[eaglem]

Trying to hide.............

[BruceBanner]

Here you go:


So that's the soft box -- white on the sides and top, semi-transparent as they are. The black backdrop is a length of bargain-bin fleece from the fabric store cut to the proper width and left intentionally long. It rests at a near-L-like shape to maximize the distance from the subject toe the backdrop. For scale, the softbox is 24X24X24 inches (about 60cm in each direction.)

The 4X5 film backs -- I was shooting large format that day too -- are about where the flower was placed. I put different flowers in slightly different places. The flowers were cut from grocery store bouquets and held upright in a mason jar filled with rice. That let me position the flower as I wanted to.



This is a slightly better view of the light. So I intentionally put the flashes right against the soft box. That FLOODED the room with soft light that bounced around and re-entered the softbox. In addition to diffusion through bouncing, the light had to pass through the softbox twice, so this was REALLY gentle light. That said, not all the light passed through the softbox, so there was some nice, diffuse reflected light as an almost-all-encompassing key light aided by this really gentle multiple-times-bounced-around light.


Here's the two LED units on top. They provided steady light on the subjects that, alone, was not nearly suitable for ISO 100 work at f/16-32. At ISO 1600, they would have been okay, but harsh given their placement. So their relatively harsh light wasn't a huge issue but it did highlight some of the more luminescent parts and flower petal tips pretty well.

The black backdrop played a key role, too. A white backdrop would have made the photos very harsh. Using black was conscious and has an effect like putting a dark ND filter on the flashes, but only selectively. The light that bounced from the flashes toward the back of the softbox was largely absorbed by the black fleece. Fleece was an intentional choice because it absorbs light better than a black sheet, for instance. So the very little light, relatively, that reflected back from the fleece was super dim and soft.

Now how much light was this? A LOT. For my Pentax 540 FGZII, I forewent the use of AA batteries and just hooked it up to a 6V lantern battery to improve cycle time since I was shooting it on full for a lot of the shots. That killed the lantern battery in about an hour. 25,000 mah lantern battery -- dead.

That had an older Pentax AF360 next to it and on the other side were the Vivitar and Minolta. Depending on the flower, the Minolta would either point upward, like it was there, or to the left. Lighter-colored flowers needed more leftward light and dark flowers more upward-bounced light. That allowed me to control how deep into the flowers the light would penetrate. The 360 also got moved around a bit to adjust light for different flowers. The Vivitar and 540FGZII stayed in place the whole time with only minor adjustments. For control, the 540 was set to trigger on a flash and the rest were connected to generic RF units.

So if you want to start from scratch, the 24X24X24 box is discontinued, and I got it on clearance for like $25, so I don't really know what they cost. Probably twice that. The fleece was $3.50. The Vivitar, Minolta, and 360 flashes were free since they came with camera kits I bought on eBay (I buy cameras assuming the flashes will be dead and being happy if they aren't.) The 540 was like $500 new. The LED units were new, like the 540, and I think were around $50 each. I use them for YouTube, too, and they're very bright (they're the Neewer 256 LED units and use rechargeable Panasonic and Sony batteries as well as six AA batteries.) Realistically, using shop lights and bright CFLs, waiting to find the softbox and flashes on sale, and so forth, the whole kit could be had for under $100, albeit with different flashes in all probability. In lieu of so many flashes, reflectors paced behind a softbox (or used instead of a softbox with some layers of white sheets or pillow cases in front of the reflective surface) would work well as they'd reflect a lot of light and there'd be much less lost due to softbox escape. So there's probably 50 different ways to skin the cat here. The cheapest being a black background (such as an open window at night), pitch-black room, 30-second exposure with the camera on a tripod, and a small LED flashlight for light painting to sculpt the light profile for each shot. All you really need is a black background and source of soft light.

Excellent write up! I'm definitely going to have to get some black fleece, I shoot on black paper occasionally and understand the issues with light bouncing off the black sheet, fabric would be so much better.

Cheers once again!

Bruce

[LeRolls]

[jabobby]

Frederic, it surprises me at times how ones perspective in life can change, and interesting as to what influences those changes. I always attempt to capture images just as I see them with the naked eye. But I have to tell you that each time I look at your flower shots with deliberate areas out of focus I am of the same opinion, that is photographic artwork.
With those most recent shots of yours I click the view image & enlarge and also view them on flickr, and every time I am really impressed. No doubt many of you seasoned photographers have seen the images from this point of view for many years, but for me it is a change. Many of the images that you and others show with crystal clear IQ is for sure great, but now I see the artistic aspects in other shots that for some strange reason never saw before. I just wanted to share this with you and to thank you.
Eric, outstanding shot of that cute little furry woodland creature and thank you for the flickr link, that is much better then the view & enlarge. Soon I hope to join in with the furry stuff. And yeah man, you can see the trees in its eye. And to me with Frederic's shot it appears to be a reflection of him in that furry critters eye.
Mike, very nice Death Valley shot.
wtlwdwgn, love the cloud shot, recently I have taken some cloud shots & was thinking of some of yours from past post, I will post some soon.
LeRolls, I do not need to see photos like that just before going to bed, that is totally awesome and I bet I have sweet dreams.
Best Regards, Bob

[LeRolls]

B&W works for this one LeRolls! Nice mood.

Thank you kindly.

---------- Post added 06-28-17 at 10:59 PM ----------

LeRolls, I do not need to see photos like that just before going to bed, that is totally awesome and I bet I have sweet dreams.
Best Regards, Bob

Enjoy your dreams.

[Patriot]

Mike, very nice Death Valley shot.
Best Regards, Bob

Thank you Bob, a bit more from Death Valley National Park,
Zabriskie point
D FA 24-70mm F2.8

[bpv_UW]

A nice sunset after a couple of weeks of almost no clouds.

Very nice; one of your best.

[Hattifnatt]

Hattifnatt, The portrait shot with the 77 is very nice and the lady is beautiful.

On the behalf of the lady, thank you

Your shots from Phoenix Park are really good, in particular the first with the dark clouds and the contrast of the different trees, a very nice composition. Most folks would not think an overcast day would make for beautiful scenes.

Thanks. I thrive for overcast days, clouds are like giant modifiers and light sometimes is very nice!

Two more shots from Mayo Peace Park with the 24-70.

[fs999]

Thank you Eric ! Nice little fat squirrel

Thank you very much Bob !

[jabobby]

LeRolls, Indeed, I did have good dreams.
Hattifnatt, Really like both of those Park shots, nice scenes & nice compositions.
Here are some cloud shots from on the old farm
Best Regards. Bob