Len Payne's photostream

After playing around with the grid spot for the better part of an hour, I put the umbrella on instead. Leaving all other settings the same. This is the first and only shot I took. So much happier... but not as "dramatic."

The mane's getting a little long. This was an attempt at "butterfly lighting", with a single spot-gridded strobe, high, directly above the camera. It's not bad, but my eyebrows cause pretty mean shadows. I needed a reflector that I didn't have.

Episode Five of the Seoul Photo Club's 52 Project

Self-Portrait

I've been slacking on the 52-project, which sort of defeats the purpose of doing a 52-project, but anyway, now I'm just picking and choosing random ones to catch up.

This is from a little self-portrait session in my parents' bathroom. I was trying out some one-light portrait setups and needed someplace sufficiently dark. I'm happy with how things turned out, but could have been happier. Probably not the last self-portraits I'll take this year.

Lessons Learned:
• My hair starts to wilt pretty fast when I'm moving around.
• Sometimes, the best one-light portraits have two lights in them.
• I need an assistant

Gear Info:
Shot with Polar 85mm f/1.4 Aspherical @ ISO200, f/2.8 and 1/100sec on Nikon D40.
SB-80DX Grid-Spot @ 1/32, high camera left.
The nearby lamp may have been on.

Episode Two of the Seoul Photo Club's 52 Project

Environmental Portrait - Catch Someone in their Natural Habitat

My father is an amateur radio operator. Ham Radio. Seriously, my old man is into tropical fish, ham radio and Dungeons and Dragons. He's a nerd's nerd. I'm pretty sure there's a Simpsons reference about him. So when the "Environmental Portrait" theme came up, I knew my best "natural habitat" shot would be to get up in his "ham shack". I tried a few different angles, but think this is the best of the shots I came up with. You get the world map, the wires and even the reflection of the computer monitor in his glasses.

I'm sure others from the SPC will have better shots for their environmental portraits, but this is one that's going to stay in the albums for a while, and I don't regret missing out on the chance to go shoot baristas serving coffee, or nurses helping patients or firefighters cleaning trucks.

Lessons Learned:
• We need to clean out the hamshack to let me get better shooting angles.
• Mixing natural light and CFLs gives a strange colour combo.
• Be more conscious of glasses and reflections.

Gear Info:
Shot with Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM @ ISO800, f/1.4 and 1/60sec on Nikon D40.
No Flash.

Episode One of the Seoul Photo Club's 52 Project

Fluid Freeze-Frame - Flash/Splash Photography

This one was a team effort. I used my 85mm f/1.4 opened up to f/2, but my arms aren't long enough to drop things into a coffee cup that's five feet away. So I asked my dad to help. He's a photographer from way back, so I figured he'd like to be included. We got three decent shots in (and a half-dozen weak shots) before I had made a complete mess of the kitchen table, upset my assistant, and walked away with the winner.

Lessons Learned:
• My father is not a very patient assistant.
• I've gotten a lot better at manual focusing after all these goofy wrestling shots.
• I really need a remote shutter release and a clean working area that I can set up a tripod.

Gear Info:
Shot with Polar/Samyang/Vivitar 85mm f/1.4 Manual Focus @ ISO200, f/2 and 1/500sec on Nikon D40.
SB-80DX @ 1/8 Bare. Mounted on the camera, pointing at the ceiling. Keeping it simple.