This Week in the Digital Photography School Forums (24-30 May ‘09)

Weekly Assignment

It was a challenge, but this week we finished the Ghetto Lighting + Reflector assignment. A lot of people rose to the challenge and it really paid off. We were able to select some really well done shots this week! Our winner this week was mpenarandaa’s cat shot. This shot was taken using a LED reflected off of paper. You can also see a picture of the setup here. We liked this shot because of the fantastic clarity and the way that the cat is in partial darkness which created a nice sense of drama to the picture. Our first runner up was MissHK’s light reading. The lighting was done by putting a piece of kitchen foil inside the book to reflect the light from the TV back on to the face. Putting that foil inside the book really transformed this picture into a nicely lit portrait in a setting where there was a high risk of only getting a silhouette. The idea was really creative and well done. And last, but not least was ronnieg’s Pretty in Pink shot of the flower in the vase. The image was sharp and had good lighting. The photo was lit with a bed lamp covered by a white pillow case reflected on white paper, and the items were placed on a piece of glass that was covering a piece of white canvas. Great setup!

This week we also started our newest Abandoned assignment. There are several ways to define abandoned, so feel free to interpret it in any of them. As usual, there are a few rules for the mini contest. First, your photo needs to have been taken between 20 May – 3 June 2009. Second, your post must include the words “Assignment: Abandoned” and the date that the photo was taken. Finally, your EXIF should be intact and it’s helpful if you can post some of the main points in your post (e.g. camera, shutter speed, ISO, aperture). Next week’s assignment will be “Plants, but not flowers”. We are all guilty of taking flower photos, but this week we don’t want to see any flowers. Only plants. Find a creative way to make the plants look as good as their flower counterparts.

Hot Threads

• How to do post-production light painting: i speak in math shows us how to get well lit shots that have the kind of light painting that would seem to require a lot of darkness. Although the process is time consuming, it creates a very interesting result. Check out this easy to follow tutorial to add a bit of light painting to your shots.
• My first wedding shoot… do I tell them?: If you shoot events and weddings there had to be a first time that you shot one. Do you just assume that because they hired you they know your level of experience? Or do you feel a more personal obligation to tell them. How would you or how have you handled this situation? Come join in the forum discussion.
• Ideas for macro practice?: When the weather is a bit frightful and you’re stuck in the house, what is there to take photos of? More specifically, how do you figure out what kind of items make good macro subjects? Come make your suggestions for what to practice macro shots on when you just can’t get to the bugs and flowers.
• Shooting sports?: How do you get clean, crisp shots of fast moving spots action like skateboarders? Come offer your hints, tips and tricks for getting good shots of skateboarders.
• How many gigs of memory?: One of the harder packing decisions to make is exactly how much memory you should take with you when you go on a trip. It Do you take a lot of memory cards or do you take a laptop / external hard drive combo? And just how much memory is enough per day? Come give your opinions over in the thread.
• What Would You Do: Come join in our weekly post-processing thread where you get a chance to edit the photo of one of our forum members. It’s fun for all and it gives you a chance to practice your post-processing skills in a new way.