What’s Your Preference?

Pichead · #1 (**permalink**) 06-10-2010, 01:38 PM

My wife and I brought home our second child this past week - a 6 lb., 1 oz. little girl named Ellie. I'm thrilled, of course, for many reasons. One of those reasons is that I now have a new subject at which to direct my lens...

For this shot, I used a black sheet which I purchased some time ago to act as a black background or to satisfy some other need with regard to photography. I cut two slits in the sheet, just large enough for me to put my hands through. I then threw the rest of the sheet over my head and stood there like a classic ghost but with human hands.

Before doing this, I set up two Nikon SB-600 flashes on light stands and with shoot-through umbrellas. I positioned the umbrellas on each side of my eventual subject and placed them in close proximity to the scene (about 3-5 feet away). Each flash was on Manual Mode and was set at approximately 1/2 power with the left-hand flash being set one tick higher than the right, as this was ultimately the setting which gave me the right amount of light. I tried several test shots with varying degrees of light power from the flash units but landed on this setup.

My Nikon D700 was placed on a tripod approximately 5 feet from the subject and at 'head level.' It was set to 1/250th shutter speed, which is the maximum sync speed available with the flash units I was using. The ISO was set to 200 which is the default setting I use unless I'm working in low-light situations and the aperture was set to f3.5. The 3.5 gave me enough depth of field to keep the head and my hands in focus, but it naturally blurred out the feet and the rest of her body.

I had my assistant (wife) help to position the two of us, as I had the black sheet over my head and couldn't see anything. I also had her trigger the camera when we were in position so I guess, technically, she took the photo...

She looks so peaceful when she's sleeping, except, of course, for when the flashes pop and her eyes squint - something she'll quickly get used to...

manindesert · #2 (**permalink**) 06-10-2010, 03:26 PM

Great shot, love it!!

dblayn · #3 (**permalink**) 06-10-2010, 04:04 PM

Great shot -- I love it. I really like the contrast! Is that how it came out of the camera or did you tweak it a bit? Were you using CLS to trigger the 2 sb-600s? Just curious. I've been debating whether I should buy a couple cheap triggers but I'm afraid I'd be trading one set of issues for another since I can't justify going top of the line. I went to your flikr and love the photo of your father taking your son for a ride on the lawnmover -- priceless. I'm in a similar place -- fatherhood is more amazing than I ever imagined.

Pichead · #4 (**permalink**) 06-10-2010, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dblayn

Great shot -- I love it. I really like the contrast! Is that how it came out of the camera or did you tweak it a bit? Were you using CLS to trigger the 2 sb-600s? Just curious. I've been debating whether I should buy a couple cheap triggers but I'm afraid I'd be trading one set of issues for another since I can't justify going top of the line. I went to your flikr and love the photo of your father taking your son for a ride on the lawnmover -- priceless. I'm in a similar place -- fatherhood is more amazing than I ever imagined.

Thanks for the comments.

I don't use triggers, although I'll eventually move that way. Most of the shots I take allow for the flashes to be triggered by my D700's CLS. Although, there are some that I have on my 'list of shots to take' that will require me to put the flashes in places that cannot be reached by the D700's pulse...

StephenJay · #5 (**permalink**) 06-10-2010, 04:46 PM

Now that was really neat, very very cool shot. Thanks for sharing the details.

dblayn · #6 (**permalink**) 06-10-2010, 04:55 PM

Oh, ok, thanks. Well, the results look great and that is what matters. Photog is mostly a hobby for me, so I try to get as creative as possible with what I own and if I find I can't do what I want, then I look to make a purchase that fits my budget. Photog can be so gear driven that I sometimes forget that. In the meantime, I keep snapping. Take care.