Soul Prospective

At the start of the day I expected to shoot some glamour shots for a model. However, after receiving a last minute cancellation, a change of plans was in order. Since my equipment was already set up, I decided to revisit smoke and water (splash/ stop motion) photography.

The first attempt at smoke photography was a good. However, I continually had to bump up the exposure in post just to get a decent image. Also, the levels has to be adjusted to keep the background black. So this time the strobe was increased to 1/8th power and the background was moved back 3 feet. By doing this, a cleaner image was  obtained. The next thing to do is to become more creative in post and use the smoke in creative portraits.

Here are the new attempts:

The first attempt at water photographer included using vegetables, a fish tank and a lot of water. This attempt involved less water, one strobe and a reflective surface. The purpose of the first attempt was to capture the motion of the water as the vegetable broke the surface. This time the goal was to capture the motion of the water as a single drop breaks the surface of the pool. As always, critical focus was difficult to obtain. However, I am certain that with practice the images will improve in sharpness and clarity.

(Note: Be careful what you use to bounce the light. It will show up in the surface of the water.)

Here are new attempts:

The same settings I used in the first attempts with smoke and water photography were used this time, except were indicated. The important thing to remember is that f-stops between 8 and 13 make critical focus easier. Also, manual focus should be used when ever possible (Being able to make fine adjustments to your focus can make a world of difference).