Me, two 60 watt bulbs and the inverse square law

[lewerim]

Me playing with my new remote release and tripod.
Two sixty watt tungsten bulbs (see the double catchlight) about two feet away
a dark hallway (end of hall about 8 feet to rear)

My first attempt at a shot like this. I think I got lucky. I only had to boost the contrast a little to get this effect.

Any comments and crits are appreciated.



And sepia

[pjflan7]

Nice...I may have to give this a try on a rainy day!

[equilution]

Nice SP, Erik. I have yet to perfect that kind of lighting. Was it strobed, or a modelling light? Well done.

Thanks for sharing.

Jim

[SoxAddict]

Wow, that's perfect. I loved the thread title too. Geeky little scientist that I am. :-)

[Bob McClure]

Neat shot- did you play with the white balance or just go with the bulbs? I think the lighting added the soft color on the face without lighting behind you. Nice shot. (You could also use the tripod with a time delay but I wish I had a remote!)

[lewerim]

Originally Posted by equilution

Nice SP, Erik. I have yet to perfect that kind of lighting. Was it strobed, or a modelling light? Well done.

Thanks for sharing.

Jim

Thanks Jim,
I suppose it was a modeling light. Really it was two clamp lights clamped to a telescoping painters pole with a plunger (yep the plumber's helper) on the upper end to act as no-mar, flexible ceiling mount to take the place of a light stand. Just getting into this stuff really.

Wow, that's perfect. I loved the thread title too. Geeky little scientist that I am. :-)

Yeah, I'm kinda geeky myself. I love the science behind the art.

[kjonnnn]

You can also give the illusion of taking a "lit by candle light" photo. Take the same image, same set up, but add a lit candle to your right side in the frame. It will give the illusion that the candle is lighting your face ... be we know... lol.. its the light bulb. You can do this with anything that you want to give the illusion to be lit by candle light.

You could also try bring the lights just a little bit forward enough so that the light hits your left eyeball just a bit.

[lewerim]

Originally Posted by Bob McClure

Neat shot- did you play with the white balance or just go with the bulbs? I think the lighting added the soft color on the face without lighting behind you. Nice shot. (You could also use the tripod with a time delay but I wish I had a remote!)

I just set the White Balance to "Indoor" (tungsten.) I didn't really do any thing else with it.
The remote rocks. There was enough bad shots from this session to fill an album (YAY, delete button.) I can't imagine how many more there would be if I tried to use the self timer; compose, trigger, get to position (without tripping over a cord or the tripod) and "pose." I'm sure most would have been of me half in the frame trying to figure out where to put my head (hint: look for your reflection in the lens to get you roughly there.)

I was so happy to find a wireless remote (the market seems to be pretty devoid of accessories for Sony DSLRs, at least when compared to Canon or Nikon.) Hooray for EBAY, right around $20.

[lewerim]

Here's that whacked out light stand I mentioned. Works great. The hand clamps were for something else, they're just hanging out there.

From DPS