Orchids! This was taken at the Los Angeles Arboretum, and is a stack of 12 images to get the all of the orchids into focus at one time. So 12 different images were taken and stacked together only using the pieces that were in focus. This is one solution to increase the DOF of an image. Taken with a 180mm macro lens at f11. Stacked with Zerene stacker software.
This weeks image of the week is a learning exercise. Last weekend I took two courses on using speedlight flash on and off camera, this image is practicing what I learned. Most of what I learned from David Honl is applied in this image. The flowers are from my garden and my wife had picked them and had them setup for me when I got home on Valentine’s Day. We had made a decision about not buying flowers for “occasions” such as this, but this was a nice surprise. This image uses 4 flashes all set on manual and all using different power settings. The first flash was overhead and had a grid to focus the light into a small spotlight, there was also a slight warming filter on this flash. Then there are two flashes, one on each side with green filters to had some fill and interesting color, as the top lighting was creating harsh shadows. The background by the way in not “wrinkled” it is merely “textured”, or at least that is what I am stating! Then to add some fill on the front I used another flash with a snooted grid and a green filter to fill the front slightly. It was intended to be a little on the darker side. Overall I am happy with it and it was as I envisioned the project to look like, so I would say that the exercise was a success. It is not a piece of wall art, but I had fun experimenting and it helped cement the concepts that I had learned in the class.
Here is an image that is a little outside the norm for me, taken at a class on using flash. The class was specifically how to use speedlights to light a subject, it was actually two different classes, one on Saturday which covered using mostly ettl and on camera flash. Then Sunday was more about using the flash in manual mode and with light modifiers. Both classes also dealt with removing the flash off camera and using it more creatively. This image of Brittany was taken against a wall in shadow from the sun, so it was very even and dull lighting. A single flash with a warming gel was used with a small softbox. It really did give some nice light on the subject reminding me of sunset colors at the the beach. I thought it worked really well and the model was really great to shoot. She had some great poses and was very patient. This shot is almost straight out of the camera, very little editing was done and no cropping. Taken with a Canon 5Dm2 and a 580exII with a Honl 8 inch portable softbox and a CTO gel, 24-105mm lens at 82mm. I was quite happy with both classes and it was through the Julia Dean Photo Workshops, got a lot out of the classes, especially on the Sunday. Julia Dean taught the class on Saturday, Crash Flash I. David Honl taught the Sunday class, Crash Flash II.
Here is a shot from inside the San Gabriel Mission, this is a small alcove off of the main church interior. The green color comes from the sun shining through green tinted windows up on on the walls of the main chapel. Why green I do not know but it made the whole inside of the church cast in a green light. The San Gabriel Mission was the 4th mission in California to be built, although it was not known as California then. It was founded on 8 September 1771, it is filled with all kinds of interesting historical pieces. The photo was taken handheld with a Canon 1Dm4, Samyang 14mm f2.8 at f.28 and ISO 3200.
