So I've decided to try something new. I've been so impatient for spring photography that I thought I'd try my hand at some indoor photography with a white sheet. So I went to the store on a rainy ugly day on the weekend & bought a nice new white sheet. After several ironing attempts it took laundering the sheet twice to get all the fold creases out of it. Got myself a little set up in a corner of the living room and stole both desk lamps from our office for my little project.
Shooting indoors against white is harder than I thought. For starts, for outdoor photography, I almost always set the white balance on my camera to "Cloudy" because I like the warmth it captures. But it was making the white sheet very yellow so I adjusted it to 'tungsten' in order to 'cool' the white down. This helped with making the white look whiter.
However, due to having lights on both sides, I found I was getting a lot of ghastly shadows so it took several shots & light repositioning. I also noticed that if there were any creases in the sheet, they would cast a shadow too. So I pinned & pulled & straightened it as much as I could.
Lone pineapple - desaturatedThe pineapple, by the way, was a very willing & patient model. Hardly moved a muscle! The pinecones, however, got attacked by my meowing assistant and eventually busted into crackles on the floor. The assistant was then fired & sent outside.
I also tried different levels of flash output. Eventually I found that if I wrapped one piece of tissue around the flash gave me just the right amount of light. And with the two desk lamps pointed just so and the shutter speed slowed down, I could still get enough light without the flash at all.
So, I spent the better part of an afternoon snapping & flashing, repositioning and learning. Then I got to the post processing on the computer for some more tweaking. I've only just begun & have realized that there is a lot more to it than I first imagined. And that with a few afforable tools, I've discovered a whole new world of photography to learn. Definitely a great way to spend a rainy cold afternoon. With a little practice, I might be able to turn out some pretty good shots.
Another suggestion, I found on the internet, is to use a large white cardboard instead of a sheet...but I will continue with my sheet testing a little longer.
Your photography is always incredible, but a pineapple for a model kind of shocks me, you are trying new things in a completely new way.And by the way I like to move it move it.
ReplyDeleteI was going to suggest white cardboard or even a large ream of heavy paper. Sounds like a fun time of experimenting. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteGirlio!!!! Pineapple???? you???? Way to go for conquering your pineapple fear! Love ya!!
ReplyDeleteAh yes, my pineapple fear revealed. I have to say, after tasting these for the first time in Africa, I fell in love with them. But only the real thing, none of the canned stuff and still never on a pizza. Yech!
ReplyDeleteSquirrel - I think I'll be trying the cardboard next! Looks a little less wrinkly!
Very cool, my friend. I've never thought of doing such a thing as this. I imagine this is how some of those terrific stock photos which command outrageous prices are created. Can we do this together sometime? I think it looks way neat.
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