dkCambridgeshire Posted November 17, 2012 Share #1 Posted November 17, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) Last week at Peterborough Photographic Society's 'Practical Evening' I prepared a lighting demonstration using 3x800watt Arrilite tungsten redheads and a 4ft Lastolite Cubelite fitted with a vinyl sweep. Subjects were a soprano saxophone, cornet and trumpet - deliberately chosen to offer a lighting challenge. The subject supports are 'end of line' wall display shelves/blocks purchased as a job lot from John Lewis' summer sale. The instruments are also supported using 'blu tack' to avoid them falling over. Under the vinyl sweep is a large sheet of hardboard supported by wooden blocks - this enables the vinyl to fall smoothly and seamlessly over the front. This is the set-up: Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ... and this is the result: ... both photos taken with my Leica X1 which has a focal length of 24mm (36mm FF equivalent) ... not the ideal lens for this type of photography. Exposure for the 'result' pic was f11 @ 1/60sec, ISO 400. My X1 was tripod mounted and to avoid camera shake a 2 second delay was set with the self timer. This set-up had to be assembled and then dismantled as quickly as possible because of the limited time available; this required several hours rehearsal at home. Although it looks to be a simple set-up, a car load of equipment was used. Exposure experiments were made and demonstrated using both camera meters' reflected light readings and handheld meter incident light readings. The incident light readings were the most accurate thus use of manual exposure modes was also demonstrated ... plus setting of both tungsten and custom white balances. Club members were quite surprised at how the Cubelite controlled the reflections and good results were obtained by most participants. Best wishes dunk Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ... and this is the result: ... both photos taken with my Leica X1 which has a focal length of 24mm (36mm FF equivalent) ... not the ideal lens for this type of photography. Exposure for the 'result' pic was f11 @ 1/60sec, ISO 400. My X1 was tripod mounted and to avoid camera shake a 2 second delay was set with the self timer. This set-up had to be assembled and then dismantled as quickly as possible because of the limited time available; this required several hours rehearsal at home. Although it looks to be a simple set-up, a car load of equipment was used. Exposure experiments were made and demonstrated using both camera meters' reflected light readings and handheld meter incident light readings. The incident light readings were the most accurate thus use of manual exposure modes was also demonstrated ... plus setting of both tungsten and custom white balances. Club members were quite surprised at how the Cubelite controlled the reflections and good results were obtained by most participants. Best wishes dunk ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/192459-lighting-demonstration-at-the-camera-club/?do=findComment&comment=2169202'>More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted November 17, 2012 Posted November 17, 2012 Hi dkCambridgeshire, Take a look here Lighting demonstration at the camera club. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
pauledell Posted November 17, 2012 Share #2 Posted November 17, 2012 Dunk, Great results with the X1. Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Geschlecht Posted November 17, 2012 Share #3 Posted November 17, 2012 Hello dunk, Nice photo. Best Regards, Michael Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hiles Posted November 18, 2012 Share #4 Posted November 18, 2012 Beautifully lit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sydkugelmass Posted November 25, 2012 Share #5 Posted November 25, 2012 Very impressive. BIG 'like'. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuny Posted December 5, 2012 Share #6 Posted December 5, 2012 Very nice. A nice opportunity to learn, too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyril Jayant Posted October 21, 2013 Share #7 Posted October 21, 2013 Advertisement (gone after registration) Nice story and of course a very good shot and it is well executed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkP Posted October 21, 2013 Share #8 Posted October 21, 2013 It's so good you should consider entering it in a competition Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkCambridgeshire Posted October 21, 2013 Author Share #9 Posted October 21, 2013 Nice story and of course a very good shot and it is well executed Thank you for resurrecting this thread! I assume you found it via the thread on 'Assisted Photography'. The photographer in the first photo would not have created a good photo. He is not using a tripod and thus risks camera shake - unless he is using a very high ISO setting. The main mistake he is making is that he is holding the camera much too high above the subject - so he will have to point it down to frame all the instruments - with the result that each instrument will be pointing outwards ie the image will show diverging verticals. He could not be bothered to bend his knees and thus line up the camera lower down - he will not make a good still life photographer. There is a lot more to still life photography using a small FF or APS camera than people realise. The best camera position for this subject would have been head-on / square-on with the camera parallel to the subject plane and at the mid point - without any tilt. The other mistake that most club members make at these demos is that they do not look long enough into the viewfinder or right into the corners of their viewfinders. They think their camera will do all the work without them giving enough consideration to the viewfinder image. If this chap had looked a bit longer , preferably using a tripod, the diverging verticals would have been very apparent in his finder. Instead of looking long and hard he has waded in with both feet without thinking - and the result he obtains will be second rate. The second picture I took with my Leica X1 but I made sure the camera was parallel to the subject and at the mid-point both horizontally and vertically - thus not creating any diverging or converging verticals. Corrections can be made in post processing but it's much easier when it's done 'in camera'. Best wishes dunk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkCambridgeshire Posted October 21, 2013 Author Share #10 Posted October 21, 2013 It's so good you should consider entering it in a competition I entered this in a photo society competition - and it was placed 2nd. I was not that interested in the place or the mark - I was more interested in the judge's comments and what he made of the composition. He did not like the blocks used to support the instruments and was critical of them. If I'd got rid of the joins he would have been happier. Judges get confused by this type of composition in photographic society/club competitions because so few members submit still life studies. And judges do not really appreciate the amount of work that goes into this type of image. They have to assess the image in less than one minute - and with still life pictures (other than ubiquitous flower studies) they can stumble and be lost for words. I was quite surpised when the judge held the image back for assessment with his final 10 selections - and even more surprised when he awarded it second place. Best wishes dunk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karl G Posted October 21, 2013 Share #11 Posted October 21, 2013 Very much enjoyed, Mark. Thanks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkP Posted October 21, 2013 Share #12 Posted October 21, 2013 Dunk, I'm glad it did do well in a competition but I was actually trying to be funny in light of your other thread Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkCambridgeshire Posted October 21, 2013 Author Share #13 Posted October 21, 2013 Dunk, I'm glad it did do well in a competition but I was actually trying to be funny in light of your other thread Yes I realised you were having a dig It's all good fun. dunk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hiles Posted October 23, 2013 Share #14 Posted October 23, 2013 The other mistake that most club members make at these demos is that they do not look long enough into the viewfinder or right into the corners of their viewfinders. They think their camera will do all the work without them giving enough consideration to the viewfinder image. If this chap had looked a bit longer , preferably using a tripod, the diverging verticals would have been very apparent in his finder. Instead of looking long and hard he has waded in with both feet without thinking - and the result he obtains will be second rate. A frequent problem. Often, the person behind the camera not only does not really look in the viewfinder, he/she does not even look at the results with a critical eye. Self-criticism fails and is displaced by self-satisfaction. The only photo seminar I every attended spent much effort on training attendees to recognize what a good print looks like - a surprisingly uncommon ability. Then we learned how to get from here to there - i.e. the basics of making a good print. Same basic approach applies to images on screen. Good photography requires thought, work and a critical eye. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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