52 Variations - Variation Six

Jedi

My son, like so many children is a huge Star Wars fan. Its not the Star Wars of my youth, but fun just the same. So with that interest my son asked that I make him look like a Jedi in this week's shot. I said, "sure, why not" he has a couple toy Lightsabers, how hard could it be. Boy I can be dense sometimes.

I'll get to the how we did it bit a little later. Below is what we ended up with. Gustavo holding a Lightsaber while wearing his hooded Jedi robe.

Not too bad in the end, there are a lot of things I would change later but I think it gets the general theme of Jedi with a Lightsaber across to the view.

However, as you would expect, the Lightsaber turned out to be a huge issue. It ends up that the toy Lightsabers do not generate any where near the amount of light needed. So I looked at taking the toy apart so I could attach a speedlight to the bottom of the colored tube. I knew that would be enough light. The problem was that my son still wanted his toy and I would have destroyed it to do what I want. I wanted my son to be happy and thus could not destroy the toy, what to do...what to do....

I was stumped. At one point I thought the shoot was scrapped and I would need to find another idea for this week. Of course, I had no other ideas for which I was prepared. I thought at one point I would not meet my goal for a shot this week.

Staring at the 430 EX sitting on my desk an idea suddenly came to me. I had a sheet of 1/2 green gel somewhere. I could wrap the end of the 430 EX and effectively turn it into a Lightsaber. So I found the gel and wrapped the 430 EX creating a tube on top of the strobe. It looked ok, but when held by my son's face it over-exposed his skin resulting in an unusable shot. Also, the tube of the Lightsaber was very transparent, not giving it the feel of solid light. More road blocks, what to do...what to do?

Well, my 9 year-old found the solution. What a creative child.

Gustavo thinks gaffers tap is the greatest thing ever. For those of you that don't use gaffers tape I suggest getting some. Think of it as duct tape that is easy to remove, and it was what I used to attach the gel to the flash and create a cap for the end of the gel tube. Gustavo noticed that the light at the top of our home made Lightsaber was stronger than in the main part of the tube. His suggestion, use more gaffers tape. Brilliant!!!!

Placing gaffers tape along the back and part of the side of the tube there was the dual effect of creating a reflector and gobo for the light. The tube took on a more solid appearance while keeping some the strongest light off my son's face. What a bright kid, no pun intended. :-) In the end we had a 430 EX (aka: Lightsaber) with a 1/2 green gel at 1/64th power as our main light

Once this problem was solved I just had to setup the fill light. A reflector would not work as out Lightsaber did not send off enough light to reflect. We ended up using a 580 EXII at 1/32nd power just a tad to camera right with a 1/2 green gel and a 1/8 grid to fill in the face. Worked just fine and kept the look of the glow from the Lightsaber going.

Below is a quick setup shot. Notice the speedlight based Lightsaber in my son's hand. Yes, that is a radio trigger hanging from the speedlight. And yes, he is wearing a sweatshirt as his Jedi robe. Its the best thing I could think of. :-)

So what does everyone think? Most importantly, and as always, did we achieve the goal, does he look like a Jedi?

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As always go to the Flickr set for all project pictures by Clicking Here. You can also find a full explanation of the project along with an index of the shots by Clicking Here.

52 Variations - Variation Five

Nerf Warrior

Let me start out by saying that my son is one of the gentlest children I have ever met. That is not just me, a proud father saying that, it is a common comment about him. That he is gentle to all things, almost to the point of harming himself so another won't be.

So it was a surprise to me when discussing this week's project shot when he said he wanted to show off his Nerf Dart side. I knew what he meant, he takes on a different attitude when playing Nerf Darts. He is so focused on eliminating his opponent it is amazing. By the way, that opponent is usually me and I'm a large enough target which means he rarely misses.

With the above in mind we decided to shoot him as a Nerf Warrior, someone intimidating and bent on victory. Below is our attempt at that. You will have to let me know if we were successful.

While executing the shot was not difficult, strobist info to come later, choosing a shot was hard. I ended up with two shots that have different feels to them. One was my favorite and one was my son's favorite. Below are the shots with a brief description as to why each of us chose them.

Shot #1:

Gustavo's pick because it made him look tough. In case you are wondering, and pick up on it a bit, yes he was growling when I took the picture. It was a cute growl you had to be there though.

Shot #2:

My pick because it shows a bit of the child he is while bringing out how serious he is about the game. I like how it reinforces his age. It could be his left hand or his face, I'm not sure, but it makes the capture for me.

What does everyone think? Which is the best and why?

Now on to the boring strobist stuff...

I was going for some dramatic lighting which I achieved using two speedlights. A 580 EXII above to camera right at 1/4 power with a 1/2 CTO gel and a 5" snoot to focus the light while giving some hard shadows. The second was a 430 EX level to his face and a touch to camera left at 1/2 power with another 1/2 CTO gel and a 1/8 grid to soften its shadows and act as fill and directional light at the same time. Below is the setup shot.

Yes, he was sitting through the shoot. It took me a while to get things how I wanted them so I let him sit so as to not tire him out. I just got on my stomach while taking the pics. Thank goodness the dogs were outside or I would have been licked to death.

So what does everyone think? Which capture is best and why? Most importantly, did we achieve the goal, does he look like a Nerf Warrior?

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As always go to the Flickr set for all project pictures by Clicking Here. You can also find a full explanation of the project along with an index of the shots by Clicking Here.

52 Variations - Variation Three

Snap Shot

Week three is here and I'm ready to post a day early...yet again. What momentum, what dedication, how exciting! Okay, posting a day early is not really exciting but I'll take what I can get, no matter how small and insignificant.

This weeks photograph was inspired by my son himself. Not in the way the entire project was, this time he told me what he wanted the picture to be. I love that he is taking an active role in the 52 Variations Project. Digressing for just a moment, he does love taking pictures and has a wonderful eye. I wish I could master the rule of thirds the way he does. Not bad for a 9 year-old.

So here was the idea, that I should take a picture of him taking a picture of me. How simple how beautiful. I'm ashamed I didn't think of it. My planned picture for the week was much more complex, and much more mundane. The brilliance of a 9 year-old, how I wish I were 9 again. So here it is, my son's brilliance at work.

Here's the how we did it. I gave my son my 40D, yes without the grip, (he is only 9 after all) and my Nifty Fifty (50 f 1.8). The trick was deciding how to trigger it. Expecting us both to push the button at the same time was too optimistic, so I called my buddy at FlashZebra (Lon) and ordered a cable so I could trigger the 40D with my CyberSyncs. It was a thing of beauty as I was able to trigger the 40D and 580 EXII (upper camera right at 1/4 power) at the same time. It was sweet, if I do say so myself.

The last two weeks I found I fell in a rut or was about to as I used a 1/8 grid and 1/2 CTO on my 580 EXII. This week I wanted the light source larger but yet soft, so I used my 43" Wescott collapsable umbrella in a shoot through manner. Worked like a charm, at least I think so. Let me know if you think I'm smoking crack on this one. Below is a quick shot of the setup. As always, please ignore my messy basement. (Note that the CyberSync triggering the camera is on the floor as the cable was nice and long.)

There are things I would do differently next time. For example my depth of field is too shallow and the Canon and 40D stamps on the camera are not sharp. Also, I had to crop out his right hand as his index finger was not on the shutter button. Kind of ruins the illusion of him taking the picture. However, in the end I'm happy with the outcome as long as I did justice to my son's idea while getting a bit creative by capturing him while firing his flash while softly applying lighting to his face and the camera.

So what does everyone think? I look forward to hearing your thoughts and input.

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As always go to the Flickr set for all project pictures by Clicking Here. You can also find a full explanation of the project along with an index of the shot by Clicking Here.

52 Variations - Variation Two

Piano Hands

Ok, week 2 is done and even a day early. I was motivated as I will be traveling on business as of tomorrow and if I did not get it done today it would not be done. I'm proud of myself as I do not want to miss my goal for the year.

This week the picture is of my son practicing the piano. I wanted to focus only on the hands and ended up achieving this with a similar lighting setup as last week with my 580 EXII above him to left on a light stand at 1/128th power while being gelled with a 1/2 CTO and using a 1/8 grid.

In the end the picture took very little post processing, just adding some edge darkening and some sharpening for the web. Other than that it is out of the camera. So here it is, Piano Hands...

On the whole I am pleased with the shot but there are of course some things I would change. For example, I would have pulled back the sleeve on the sweatshirt he was wearing as it invades his left hand. Attention to detail is something I need to continue to work on. Oh well, what is life without constant advancement. :-) But as I said, on the whole I am pleased with the outcome and my wife is already asking for a print. That is a very good sign!

And for those of you that like setup shots...

Feel free to leave some comments and let me know what you think.

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As always go to the Flickr set for all project pictures by Clicking Here. You can also find a full explanation of the project along with an index of the shot by Clicking Here.

52 Variations - Variation One

Focus

Here we go sports fans. The first of my weekly project for 2010. I'll do my best to keep these posts short, so lets get going.

My son like millions of other children loves video games, in particular, his Wii. Watching him play this evening I decided to get him playing to the glow of the TV. Below is my attempt at that.

The setup was simple. My son was sitting on the sofa, actually playing his Wii by the way, with my 580 EXII about 3 feet in front of him on a light stand at 1/128th power. The 580 was gelled with a 1/2 CTO and had a 1/8 grid on it to focus and soften the light. I didn't want the light to spread too broadly while not wanting harsh shadows, hence why I did not use a snoot.

By the way, did I note that my son does not love having his picture taken? Well, he doesn't as he has been my photography test subject for years. If you don't believe me take a look at the below from this week's shoot. It shows that he tolerates my obsession. Thank you Gustavo for putting up with me.

Well, what does everyone think? Do you like the lighting, do you get the feeling he is illuminated by a video game screen?

Oh and for those of you that like setup shots here you go. Just please ignore my messy basement.

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As always go to the Flickr set for all project pictures by Clicking Here. You can also find a full explanation of the project along with an index of the shot by Clicking Here.

Picture a Week Project - Week 1

Three Friends:

This is a picture that revealed quite a bit about the subjects to me. The shot is of my son Gustavo (center) and two of his best friends. The one on the right and my son are very close, they call each other best friend and how they are leaning into each other is typical. They have a genuine concern and caring for each other, typical of an 8 year-old friendship.

However, its the boy on the left that brings the story to the picture. He is a best friend of my son as well, but is a very independent spirit. He's a great kid, but you often see in his affect that he is independent and does not need anyone, that he is here by choice and could leave at anytime. He adds the character to the picture. The stark contrast of the two that cannot be separated juxtaposed to the one that is fiercely independent is fascinating to me.

I kept the processing simple, just doing some high contrast black and white. It allows the picture to remain simple while naturally placing the two close subjects brighter than the one off to the side. It just seemed to inherently exemplify the contrast (no pun intended) between the two themes.

Anyway, let me know what you think, the shot is far from perfect, but the story it tells is compelling to me.

Week 2: Transformer

Picture a Week Project - Introduction

Work has is very busy lately and I find my shooting has decreased to the point where I find it concerning. Thus the Picture a Week Project is born. The projects objective is simple and while I intend for this to the first of many projects, it is the first so I need to make my goal achievable.

The idea is not to force myself to try new things as ideas are not the issue, but to force myself to take pictures. That is what I need right now, I need to take pictures plain and simple. This does not mean there are no parameters or controls to the project. The pictures have to meet two criteria.

1. It got me out to take the picture.
2. An either or...

• That it tells a story about the subjects. or...
• That there is a story as to how the picture came to be.

To me photographs are about stories so that is the purpose, that there be a story and I get off my duff and take some pictures.

So sit back and enjoy and let me know your thoughts. Also, don't be shy about letting me know when I'm late getting up submissions. I'll need your encouragement to make this happen. I look at this like a weight loss program but in this case I want to lose spare time not weight.

Click Here to see the Flickr pool of images.