how many shots in a bottle of wine??

Last summer my wife took the kids to visit her parents in Chicago. Home alone, I took out a bottle of Pinot, but I had no one to drink it with. So I shot it.

Take one. 3'x4' softbox camera left to produce a highligh that runs down the side of the bottle. White reflector camera right. Not enough separation especially on the right side, can use a little kicker light.

Take two. Switched to a lighter background (newsprint on cardboard). Shows more depth and separation, but right side still too dark.

Take three. Added kicker light camera right. Better, but the front of the label still has a dark band.

Take four. Added a piece of white paper cut out to the shape of the bottle, and taped to the back of the bottle. Snooted flash from behind point at the cutout. A different look.

 Take five. Snooted flash from behind without the paper cutout. Er, kinda cool, but no.

Take six. Back to black background. Hmm... need to tweak kicker.

Take seven. Kicker only. I like that...

Take eight. Snooted on-axis flash to light the label. Interesting...

Take nine. Silver reflector camera right as kicker.

Take ten. Switched main light to camera right, and used a gold/silver zebra reflector for fill. I like this one the best. With that, I went to bed with a smile...

Setup shot. So I'd remember what I did...

flash tips: in the blink of an eye

Remember: that itty-bitty flash will not light up the Grand Canyon.

Unlike with natural light, it is difficult to see the effects of flash before the picture is taken.  You can't meter it the same way with natural light. It seems to have a mind of its own sometimes. It's just, in a word, frustrating! I hope this short article will shed some, ahem, you know what...

Contrary to the beliefs of many a tourist, that tiny flash on the camera will not light up the Grand Canyon.  No, Sir.  So when you take a photo with flash, there's the portion in the scene that's lit by the flash, and the rest comes from ambient light. Balancing the two is the fun part.

TTL flash: a light conversation

Nikon SB-800 with Microwave Popcorn Snoot

Delux Butter Version with built-in barn doors

A light conversation between the camera and the TTL flash

Camera: "Light Infantry, initiate preflash sequence."
TTL flash: "Yes, Sir!  Initiating preflash sequence."

(Flash sends out a series of short flashes, hits the subjects in the scene, light bounces back Through The Lens, hence the name, hits the TTL sensor, onboard computer figures out the flash power required to properly expose the subject...)

Camera: "Give me Photon Blaster at 200%"
TTL flash: "Roger that.  200%"

(First shutter curtain opens, flash fires, second shutter closes.)

Mission accomplished at the speed of light. Sorta. Pun fully intended.