Tips & Techniques - Lighting Control

A couple of nights ago I went to the Orchid site to get some more images. One of the things I wanted to do was to share the results of using full sunlight, with and without fill flash and diffused light, with and without flash.

For consistency I set the camera up on a tripod, with the 1Dmk111, used the Canon 100f2.8 macro in Av mode at f9.0, and the metering set in Evaluative mode. All images were set to -1/3 EV comp and the subject distance was 0.69m.

I have just straight processed the RAW file - no tweaks, and just resized to 600pixels, and one light stage of sharpening just for the web and the colour space converted to srgb. Camera was set to AWB and unchanged in the RAW conversion.

For the flash shots, I used the Canon MR14 ring flash, set to ETTL mode. For the diffuser I used a large circular Lastolite diffuser that was hand held over the subject.

Click on the image to enlarge to see in better detail, and then hit the back button to get back as the images don't open in a separate window unfortunately

Full sunlight - no flash

Full sunlight with fill flash set to minus 1 EV

Hand held Diffuser - no flash

Hand held Diffuser - fill flash set to zero EV compensation

Hand held Diffuser - fill flash set to minus 1 EV

It would be good to get your feedback and comments as to what you think provides the most pleasing and natural image, and why you think that.

So over to you.

Martin

Purchasing Equipment

Its always good to hear when people are treated well with their equipment, both before and after sales service is very important, I had a letter from Nikon a couple of weeks ago about the possibilities of the 200-400 case being faulty and if there wasn't a 'T' on the base to fill in the on line details and they would replace the bag-well i filled the form in before my trip to Colorado and when i returned there was a prepaid box waiting for me, I sent it off on Tuesday and the new case arrived Friday-Top work from Nikon-very impressed
On the other hand i had a conversation with a Friend over the weekend who purchased a camera from Simply Electronics thinking that they were UK based,The camera took forever to arrive and then after taking some shots the images very extremely grainy(green grain on faces) in auto mode (compact camera) she had many conversations with the company via mail and they will not take the camera back-it seems that they are actually based in Hong Kong and she is now fighting with the credit card company to get the issue resolved-looks like she will be lumbered with a dodgy camera-so take note-only buy from a reputable company and steer well clear of this one-named and shamed

Dave

Local Patch - Damselflies

I mentioned that I had been seeing Large Red and Common Blue Damsels over my main pond a few posts back. I have also been watching Blue Tailed today and also saw my first Emperor Dragonfly over the garden too. Which brings me to the main part of today's post.

I went back to the Orchid site that is about 3 miles from my house. I had planned to write a tutorial showing the different effects when shooting in bright light on the Bee Orchids, using diffusers and also fill flash, but have chosen to share these with you instead, as I was pleased to get these today.

I had been getting a few shots of Common Spotted Orchids and noticed an abundance of these, so on went the 180 macro.

Common Blue Damselfly - Immature Female

Common Damselfly - Male

Common Blue Damselfly - Male

So look out for the tips and techniques on the lighting at another time. Oh yes and by the way, there are downs of Bee Orchids out now - so I was very happy.

Plus a really useful link to a web resource here on Damsels and Dragonflies

Martin

Technique-Backgrounds

The background of an image is just as important as the foreground-A messy background will spoil an image and a step to the left or right can make all the difference,Here are 2 images i took last week,I shot with a distant forest in the background giving a dark grey coloured background,Then with 2 paces to the left i shot with a close tree as a background,Both are fine and have very clean backgrounds but both give a totally feel to the image,When shooting some hummingbirds i had to set the tripod high and shoot on tip toes to get the background that i wanted-Take some time to get good backgrounds that don't detract the main subject




Dave

Local Patch - Warwickshire & Worcestershire

As I mentioned here I have been following the progress of some of the orchids on my local patch.

The stems that I saw just emerging in the previous report were in fact Pyramidal Orchids. which are progressing well and about a week away from being in prime photographic condition. I had been hoping that they were something else so was disappointed when I checked them out last week.

But going back last night, I found what I have been hoping to see for quite a while - Bee Orchids. I very nearly didn't bother to take the camera, but decided to on the off chance and glad I did.

The breeze was a bit of a problem, and they are not quite there so I will be going back a few times yet to get better images as they progress.

The Common Spotteds are now in great condition to photograph, but were suffering in the wind so I didn't bother with those at that site, but I jumped in the car and went to another site not too far away on the borders of Worcestershire, and found more Pyramidal, and a few Common Spotted that were easier for photography as the wind had eased a little. The sun was setting so the colour temperature was exceptionally warm so I slid it back just a fraction in the RAW processing to neutralise it a little.

Bee Orchid

Bee Orchid

Common Spotted Orchid

Common Spotted Orchid

Martin

Lets Talk-Nikon

My Nikon gear has been better than perfect since i bought it but last week the D3 showed a 'cd' error twice and after a phone call to Nikon NY they said to send it in for a checkup,Whilst this is a pain it needs to be done,The 'cd' error is a problem with the card reader in the body and when the error occurs the camera locks up and you have to either remove and reinstall the CF cards or replace the CF cards with different cards which can cost you some shots and last week in freezing conditions was hard to do-It needs a sensor clean so at least this will be done at the same time,The D300 was faultless and has been since i bought it-to me its the best camera body on the market for the money,
Before i went to Colorado i had a mail from Nikon saying that the lens bag for the 200-400 would need replacing if it didn't have a 'T' on the bottom as there a chance of the base failing-mine didn't and after filling in an onlone form Nikon sent a prepaid box to send the old one back which i have now done and should have a new replacement one soon
When i was up in the mountains my lens hood for the 600F4 VR came loose and fell off and was blown over the mountain,I phoned Nikon to get a cost and they phoned Japan and came back with a cost of $350 and that was just for the 1 piece (the lens hood is in 2 pc's) so hardly a bargain but something that will need to be ordered-when it will arrive is anybodies guess as the lenses are like hens teeth
So it just goes to prove that nothing is perfect but at least Nikon have acted in a professional way towards the D3 problem and the 200-400 bag problem,The lens hood is a pain in the wallet to say the least but that's life
New images from my trip last week have started to appear on my website for those interested and more will be added over the next few days, I shot 100% manual mode last week as the weather condition gave constant light and used flash more than i normally do but with the birds it really enhanced the shots and gave nice catch lights in the eyes

Dave

Corvids - In praise of the unloved

Rooks, Crows, Jackdaws get a bad press from all corners.

Well I quite like them - or least Jackdaws and Hooded Crows. These few images were taken on my recent trip to Mull.

Hooded Crows are found across the Highlands and remind me of Carrion Crows in Silver waistcoats - I think they look pretty cool. It is great to watch them for a while as they seem to be quite playful and have 'character'. They are not the easiest of birds to photograph, and have eluded me in terms of half decent images.

Jackdaws are not widespread on Mull - this image was taken on Iona. I had a great five minutes watching one on top of a fence post shouting at a black and cat that was sneaking up on some House Sparrows. The cat turned round and sat below the Jackdaw, being taunted very loudly. After a while the cat kept trying to jump up to shut the Jackdaw up, and as the cat jumped the Jackdaw just took off in a hover a couple of feet up and then back on to the post to resume shouting. It was a great cameo.

On the trip back south from Scotland, Dumbarton is usually where I see the last of the Hoodies, and a little sadness knowing that it will be another good few months before I am back to see them again.

Martin

Breezebrowser Downloader Pro

Last week whilst shooting with Phil Shaw i noticed that he was using Breezebrowser Downloader pro so i took a look, I am a big fan of Breezesystems Breezebrowser Pro browser,The downloader pro works nicely in conjunction with this and at under $30 its a steal, Once you have plugged your card in for downloading you can set it to automactically add data as it downloads like your name and description/ITPC etc, You can also send it to a specific file and it recognises duplicate images and only downloads one, I was shooting both D3 and D300 and a couple of times i had duplicate file numbers-this wont happen with this programme-looks a good product and one i am about to purchase-more info here

Dave