Another episode in my\u00a0long, painfully slow saga\u00a0of\u00a0becoming a decent photographer. In this episode, I set up my new equipment. I recently acquired a set of light boxes, a backdrop stand, and three backdrops – white, black, and grey watercolor; a Yongnuo 560 IV flash and transmitter, some reflectors and an umbrella. I surmised that these were the basic minimum I might need to attempt some indoor portraiture. Of course, I failed to account for the fact that I don’t have an actual studio space with controlled lighting, so that just upped my challenge level. I also failed to account for my innate inability to understand technical instructions for electronic equipment, which meant that I couldn’t use my new flash until I watched a bunch of youtube tutorials explaining what all the buttons on the gizmos are for and how to put things together. Sometimes I make myself despair. But then I get over it and keep trying!<\/p>\n
The kids were more than eager to help me out as models for this photo shoot; and Megan had a new red dress that inspired me to start with a black backdrop. Granted, it came straight out of the package and up onto the stand, so it still had fold wrinkles, but that’s ok.<\/p>\n
Anyway, since I didn’t know how to make my flash work yet, I decided to see what would happen with just using the soft box lighting. I only used my 18-135 lens and did what I could to minimize the ambient light. I was working fast and without an assistant, so I didn’t have anyone to hold a reflector, which would definitely have made for a little better lighting on the faces. There was plenty of noise, which meant I had some photoshop fun awaiting me when I was done. I am always surprised when something works well in spite of my deficiencies, and one or two of these shots of Megan make me quite happy artistically.<\/p>\n
I’m definitely looking forward to mastering this flash business, though.<\/p>\n