[clackers]

Good morning all. I held a fancy dress party on Friday night, and my friend turned up with his new girl friend on his back.

When I opened the door , I asked, “ What have you come as?”

He replied “A turtle," then pointed to his girlfriend and said, “And that’s Michelle”.

I do think what we eat and drink is revealing. Coffee can tell a lot about people.

Latte drinkers are neurotic, while cappuccino drinkers are obsessive.

And Frappacino with extra cream drinkers are diabetic.

Last week, I'd like to talk about using flash to freeze motion.

When there's ambient light, you control the exposure with your shutter. The K-70 can freeze motion at up to 1/6000s. Whether there's enough ambient light to see anything when you're only letting it in for 1/6000s is another matter.

The typical way for high speed photography is to reverse the lighting scheme. The subject is shut off from all ambient light so that a black image will result, and a flash or strobe is used to provide a momentary burst of illumination. It does not really matter how slow the camera's shutter speed is.

It can be left at 1/100s, for instance, because a flash on high power might only let light out for 1/300s anyway, that's all that will be recorded. At its lowest power setting, it might only emit light for 1/20000s, and that's what you can freeze the action with.

Of course, lower power settings mean the flash is going to have to be closer to the subject.

I took the shot below with three Elinchrome strobes, the Pentax K-1 and maybe the Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 zoom. It was probably equivalent at that power setting to 1/10000s. The studio's assistant is using a hose from up a ladder camera right. He had a mop to use afterwards on the black sheeting protecting the cyclorama underneath.

To finish with is the story of the young man at a local restaurant after a day of roaming around in Mexico. While sipping his tequila, he noticed a sizzling, scrumptious-looking platter being served at the next table.

It looked good.

It smelled good.

He asked the waiter, "What is that you just served?"

The waiter replied, "Ah senor, you have excellent taste! Those are bull's testicles from the bull fight this morning. A delicacy!"

The visitor, though momentarily daunted, said, "What the heck, I'm on holiday down here! Bring me an order!"

The waiter replied, "I am so sorry senor. There is only one serving per day because there is only one bull fight each morning. If you come early tomorrow and place your order, we will be sure to save you this delicacy!"

The next morning, the man returned, placed his order, and then that evening was served the one and only special delicacy of the day.

After a few bites, and inspecting the contents of his platter, he called to the waiter and said, "These are delicious, but they are much, much smaller than the ones I saw you serve yesterday!"

The waiter shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Si, Senor. Sometimes the bull, he wins."

Find the rest of the series here: Clackers' Beginners Tips (Collected) - PentaxForums.com

[robgski]

Very informative tutorial. I need to try more photography using a flash, especially to freeze motion.
Great image.

[clackers]

Very informative tutorial. I need to try more photography using a flash, especially to freeze motion.
Great image.

Thanks, yes, I think good lighting lifts our images, and if we don't find it, we can create it!

Many of us work nine to five, so flash lighting lets our photography happen seven days a week instead of two.

[photogem]

And Frappacino with extra cream drinkers are diabetic.

Isn't that Grappacino?
The bull's testicle story was great!

A blonde hits a rock in the parking lot with her car and has a dent in her fender. She is shocked and wonders what to do; unfortunately it's not her car.
A drunk passes by and advises her to blow hard into the exhaust pipe and thus the bulge will pop out again.
Hardly said is already implemented: She makes an effort, but it doesn't work at all.
Another blonde comes along, sees the completely unnerved colleague and asks her what on earth she is doing there. The other tells her of her accident, of the advice of the passer-by and that it would not work.
Where upon the other immediately shakes her head and names the logical reason: "That can't work as long as the windows are stilll open."

---

Last edited by photogem; 11-06-2022 at 11:22 AM.

[pschlute]

Thanks, yes, I think good lighting lifts our images, and if we don't find it, we can create it!

Many of us work nine to five, so flash lighting lets our photography happen seven days a week instead of two.

So true.

There is a saying...."photography is all about the light". Once you realise that you can control light yourself, it opens up a whole new world.

For many years I had a single flash in my bag. A few attempts at single, straight flash with no diffusion produced flat images and the flash went back in the bag for another few years. About six years ago I decided to conquer my flash demons and learn how to use it properly. Using multiple off-camera flashes with a variety of diffusers (umbrella/soft box/socked dish/snoot) will transform any portrait or indoor scene. These days there is a wealth of information on the web, and of course with digital cameras we can see our results instantly, and adjust the lighting as necessary to get the picture we want, rather than the picture we are stuck with.