i'd keep an eye out on craigslist too for any good deals on used gear
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Digital SLR / DSLR Camera Question / DSLR Thread 2
- Thread starter gar1013
- Start date
Cycle61
What the shit is this...
Okay, a couple more looks from Sunday's shoot. Critique/discuss/hate/etc. 
First location, right in front of the RR tunnel marked 1909 along Niles Canyon. On the tracks. I'm kicking myself for a) losing her foot off the left edge of the frame and b) not getting a setup shot. One light in the octabox directly above, one high and behind on the right side for some accent.
Same location, on the wall this time. She tore a pretty good run in her nylons on the tracks, and we had to shoot around that. First from below, trying to include her as a detail in the multi-leveled mural. Light was one AB800 at full power, in my attempted snoot. My plan was to light just her, with the rest of the wall fading into darkness, but I wasn't able to restrict the spread of the flash very well. Again, flare at the edge of the frame. I like it, but opinions vary.
Mostly the same, but now I'm up on the wall with her. SB-800 on optical trigger is set up at camera left, a couple of stops down from the (kinda) snooted AB on the right. Didn't do as well with the hard lights as I had hoped to.
Second look at the RR tunnel. Octabox up close, second strobe with reflector high and behind, angled the lights to fade the wall to blackness behind her. Wish I had been able to get some more light up into her eyes. A white or silver reflector just out of frame below her face would have been a nice addition.
I really wanted this one to work, and we spent some time trying out different poses, but never really got anything I loved. Maybe next time.
Another attempt, similarly with her against the wall. Octabox is on my right with the edge directly against the wall feathered away somewhat. Bare SB-800 on a stick also along the wall, in the upper left corner of the frame. Wanted to get something to process into a hard, gritty urban look but never got a pose and look that I really cared for.
Second location: Little clearing in the trees just off the side of the road west of the sweeping white bridge, by the call box. One light in octabox above and slightly left of camera position, I was basically tucking the lens right under it. Second light behind and to the right. I have a couple different versions of this, some with a bit of lens flare and some without. The 35/1.8 actually handles light on the front element better than many more expensive lenses.
Another look at the same location. Used both AB's from the front, one above the other. Octabox on top, shoot-through umbrella on the bottom, with the power set about 3:1 stronger on top. SB-800 up high and behind on a stick (held by the makeup artist) for accent on the hair and shoulders.
MUA needs some shots for her website, so I had her come around in front of the same lights I had setup for the headshot, and pretend to work on Crisieda's face. Dialed shutter speed to get some background, and we're set.
And the last setup, the one we almost walked away from. The lights were already taken down and back in their bags when it struck me that the deep clover and grass we'd been walking around in had some potential. I glance around, choose a patch we hadn't trampled too badly, and pick an angle to get a decent background. Octabox ended up right on the ground in front of Cris, and Amber held the SB-800 on a stick high and behind. There was bright sunlight breaking through the trees in places, including on the model's face and arms, but the Alienbee gave me enough juice to dial an aperture way down and kill the splotches. All that's left is a nice highlight on her far arm.
(and yes, an annoying shadow from the bare strobe on her left ear, facing the camera)
Setup shot. I really need to do more of these. Might save me some typing.
First location, right in front of the RR tunnel marked 1909 along Niles Canyon. On the tracks. I'm kicking myself for a) losing her foot off the left edge of the frame and b) not getting a setup shot. One light in the octabox directly above, one high and behind on the right side for some accent.
Same location, on the wall this time. She tore a pretty good run in her nylons on the tracks, and we had to shoot around that. First from below, trying to include her as a detail in the multi-leveled mural. Light was one AB800 at full power, in my attempted snoot. My plan was to light just her, with the rest of the wall fading into darkness, but I wasn't able to restrict the spread of the flash very well. Again, flare at the edge of the frame. I like it, but opinions vary.
Mostly the same, but now I'm up on the wall with her. SB-800 on optical trigger is set up at camera left, a couple of stops down from the (kinda) snooted AB on the right. Didn't do as well with the hard lights as I had hoped to.
Second look at the RR tunnel. Octabox up close, second strobe with reflector high and behind, angled the lights to fade the wall to blackness behind her. Wish I had been able to get some more light up into her eyes. A white or silver reflector just out of frame below her face would have been a nice addition.
I really wanted this one to work, and we spent some time trying out different poses, but never really got anything I loved. Maybe next time.
Another attempt, similarly with her against the wall. Octabox is on my right with the edge directly against the wall feathered away somewhat. Bare SB-800 on a stick also along the wall, in the upper left corner of the frame. Wanted to get something to process into a hard, gritty urban look but never got a pose and look that I really cared for.
Second location: Little clearing in the trees just off the side of the road west of the sweeping white bridge, by the call box. One light in octabox above and slightly left of camera position, I was basically tucking the lens right under it. Second light behind and to the right. I have a couple different versions of this, some with a bit of lens flare and some without. The 35/1.8 actually handles light on the front element better than many more expensive lenses.
Another look at the same location. Used both AB's from the front, one above the other. Octabox on top, shoot-through umbrella on the bottom, with the power set about 3:1 stronger on top. SB-800 up high and behind on a stick (held by the makeup artist) for accent on the hair and shoulders.
MUA needs some shots for her website, so I had her come around in front of the same lights I had setup for the headshot, and pretend to work on Crisieda's face. Dialed shutter speed to get some background, and we're set.
And the last setup, the one we almost walked away from. The lights were already taken down and back in their bags when it struck me that the deep clover and grass we'd been walking around in had some potential. I glance around, choose a patch we hadn't trampled too badly, and pick an angle to get a decent background. Octabox ended up right on the ground in front of Cris, and Amber held the SB-800 on a stick high and behind. There was bright sunlight breaking through the trees in places, including on the model's face and arms, but the Alienbee gave me enough juice to dial an aperture way down and kill the splotches. All that's left is a nice highlight on her far arm.
(and yes, an annoying shadow from the bare strobe on her left ear, facing the camera)
Setup shot. I really need to do more of these. Might save me some typing.
Cycle61
What the shit is this...
Also, in attempting to shoot a self-portrait tonight, I accidentally switched my SB-800 from manual power at 1/64th to Automatic, and when it saw the hellacious pop from the AB's it went off at full power, six inches in front of my face while staring straight into it. 
Attachments
Last edited:
nick, send me the file and imma get rid of the shadow if you want me to...
dos.images@gmail.com
dos.images@gmail.com
Cycle61
What the shit is this...
wannabe
"Insignificant Other"
Nick,
You asked for some constructive critique, so I guess I'll try to give you some. I always think that you don't learn anything when people just tell you how good you are.
Just out of curiosity, how many stops under ambient did you go for your shots? Did you purposely want the background dark? Or, were you just stuck with the dark background because it was a foggy day? I'm just asking because I think this shot would would have been much more epic if the background were exposed better. Can you give us your thought process on how you got to the lighting and exposure settings?
You asked for some constructive critique, so I guess I'll try to give you some. I always think that you don't learn anything when people just tell you how good you are.
Just out of curiosity, how many stops under ambient did you go for your shots? Did you purposely want the background dark? Or, were you just stuck with the dark background because it was a foggy day? I'm just asking because I think this shot would would have been much more epic if the background were exposed better. Can you give us your thought process on how you got to the lighting and exposure settings?
Cycle61
What the shit is this...
Wannabe, thanks for the input. I tried a number of different exposures for the background. It was foggy, but there was enough light to get it about 1 stop under at 1/30th of a second, which I can hold pretty steady. The one above was at 1/100th(?) or so, about 2-3 stops under. The background really didn't look that great, IMO when it was brighter. One of those "salt to taste" kinda things, I liked this one, but I'll upload some of the brighter ones for you to check out when I get a chance later.
Flash exposure was dialed in by a couple of quick test shots, to get the power in the strobes set for f11 to f13 or so, and then playing with shutter speed for desired ambient.
Flash exposure was dialed in by a couple of quick test shots, to get the power in the strobes set for f11 to f13 or so, and then playing with shutter speed for desired ambient.
wannabe
"Insignificant Other"
From my last studio shoot:
wannabe
"Insignificant Other"
Thanks, Nick. I saw some of the fog in the other shots. I figured that it was kinda dark. It's definitely a personal preference thing on the location lighting.
Did you choose F11 or F13 to keep the background in focus?
Cycle61
What the shit is this...
Partially to keep it in focus, and partially because I was really enjoying having that much flash power available. No way am I getting f/13 out of a 4' softbox with a little speedlight.
wannabe
"Insignificant Other"
Holy crap! It works! I just made a set of dirt cheap external battery packs for my Vivitar 285's.
http://www.comatosed.ca/writing/writing/reviews/DIY_Vivitar_285_HV_Battery_Pack.html
The recycle time is so much faster with these things. I can't wait to try them out on a real shoot this Saturday. I'm gonna be all pimped out now. New camera, Pocket Wizards, and now some long-lasting external battery packs. Hopefully, now the whole flow won't be interrupted by me having to swap out batteries.
http://www.comatosed.ca/writing/writing/reviews/DIY_Vivitar_285_HV_Battery_Pack.html
The recycle time is so much faster with these things. I can't wait to try them out on a real shoot this Saturday. I'm gonna be all pimped out now. New camera, Pocket Wizards, and now some long-lasting external battery packs. Hopefully, now the whole flow won't be interrupted by me having to swap out batteries.
Cycle61
What the shit is this...
Okay, who else used gaffers' tape to finish wrapping presents tonight?
wannabe
"Insignificant Other"
Okay, who else used gaffers' tape to finish wrapping presents tonight?
Thanks for reminding me. I need to get some more.
Storm Shadow
Herro???
Okay, who else used gaffers' tape to finish wrapping presents tonight?
lol, i used electrical tape.
electrical trade.
VeloceMoto
New member
For what it's worth, I was in the same situation as you last year. Instead of buying a D40 (which was the predecessor to the D3000), I decided to go with a 4 year old, 6.3 MP Nikon D70 on Craigslist, for the same price ($450, body and lens). I have been immensely happy with the purchase. Autofocus is much faster than the D40; it has an internal AF motor, so it auto-focuses with almost any Nikon lens I would want; 6.3 Megapixels seems small, but on a DSLR is a bazillion times better than any 10 MP point-and-shoot; top LCD, better buttons for quick access to all the settings you neeed; optical slave (Nikon CLS) that fires external flashes (VERY VERY COOL!); very high flash sync, 1/500.
Therefore, if you're looking to spend $500 or less, I'd say check out the D70, or it's successor, the D80. Even though they're used (and zOMG! 5 years old!), they'll be far better than your modern point-and-shoot in almost every regard.
As for the D3000, I have played with them in the store. I haven't been impressed and to be honest, I'd rather keep my D70 even if it was an even trade (which it is not), for all the features above. I really don't care about the additional megapixels or the big shiny 3" screen.
Some reading material for you:
D70: http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d70.htm
D80: http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d80.htm
D3000: http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d3000.htm ("Nikon's Worst DSLR — Ever.")
Enjoy.
And let us know what you choose!