The Whipping Post

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Title: Blue Martini
Camera: Canon Rebel XT
Lens: Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8
Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/7.1
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 100

Strobist info: One snooted Sunpak 433AF fired wirelessly with Cactus V2s triggers (I got rid of this junk and replaced them with Cybersyncs) @ 1/4 power underneath and gelled w/ blue transparent Oxford binder organizers cut up to make 5 layers and taped over strobe for blue color. Strobe was placed underneath piano bench and pointed up towards white foam core for blue gradient background effect. Martini glass set on top of some cheap picture frame glass from Ikea which was set on top of the piano bench.

Very litle was done in post process in Photoshop - I just changed the WB to probably the 2000 Kelvin range on the RAW image file and cropped it a bit.
 
JaceTheAce said:
Click here to see it larger.

Title: Blue Martini
Camera: Canon Rebel XT
Lens: Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8
Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/7.1
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 100

Strobist info: One snooted Sunpak 433AF fired wirelessly with Cactus V2s triggers (I got rid of this junk and replaced them with Cybersyncs) @ 1/4 power underneath and gelled w/ blue transparent Oxford binder organizers cut up to make 5 layers and taped over strobe for blue color. Strobe was placed underneath piano bench and pointed up towards white foam core for blue gradient background effect. Martini glass set on top of some cheap picture frame glass from Ikea which was set on top of the piano bench.

Very litle was done in post process in Photoshop - I just changed the WB to probably the 2000 Kelvin range on the RAW image file and cropped it a bit.
Click to expand...

That... is just plain awesome! I wish I had the vision to see the ability to make shots like that... VERY well done!
 
JaceTheAce said:
Click here to see it larger.

Title: Blue Martini
Camera: Canon Rebel XT
Lens: Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8
Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/7.1
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 100

Strobist info: One snooted Sunpak 433AF fired wirelessly with Cactus V2s triggers (I got rid of this junk and replaced them with Cybersyncs) @ 1/4 power underneath and gelled w/ blue transparent Oxford binder organizers cut up to make 5 layers and taped over strobe for blue color. Strobe was placed underneath piano bench and pointed up towards white foam core for blue gradient background effect. Martini glass set on top of some cheap picture frame glass from Ikea which was set on top of the piano bench.

Very litle was done in post process in Photoshop - I just changed the WB to probably the 2000 Kelvin range on the RAW image file and cropped it a bit.
Click to expand...

Very well done good sir! The only thing I could think of would be perhaps to add some contrasting light. Wonder what a green or red gel pack would have looked like in the background with a secondary flash? Perhaps setting up a block for the blue light under the glass have the other color shooting up on the background?

How do you like the Cybersyncs? I have been thinking of going the Pocket Wizard route for outdoor portability and not needing battery packs. Still doing research on the best solution. How exactly are the Cybersyncs powered?
 
OhioStatePilot said:
That... is just plain awesome! I wish I had the vision to see the ability to make shots like that... VERY well done!
Click to expand...
Thanks! It's actually a lot easier than you think - I'm sure if you had a strobe and some triggers you'd do something even better.

bike21 said:
Very well done good sir! The only thing I could think of would be perhaps to add some contrasting light. Wonder what a green or red gel pack would have looked like in the background with a secondary flash? Perhaps setting up a block for the blue light under the glass have the other color shooting up on the background?

How do you like the Cybersyncs? I have been thinking of going the Pocket Wizard route for outdoor portability and not needing battery packs. Still doing research on the best solution. How exactly are the Cybersyncs powered?
Click to expand...
Thanks. For your suggestion, are you saying fire a gelled strobe on the upper part of the foam core and then a different color gelled strobe on the lower part? I think that would actually look awesome!

I absolutely love the Cybersyncs. I am in fact today I'm using them to do a portfolio-building photoshoot with a really gorgeous young lady. :D Anyway, I chose NOT to get the PocketWizards because I think they are overpriced and more bulky than the Cybersyncs. The Cybersyncs are very well built, made in the USA by a small company with amazing customer service, and they fire the strobes every time. Very very reliable.

The new PocketWizard Flex TT5s are neat, but their operation is supposedly interfered by RF noise emitted by Canon 430EX and 580EX, limiting the range to 30 feet.

The Elinchrom Skyports were my second choice, but they do NOT have removable AA batteries like the Cybersyncs and PocketWizards do. This could be an issue when you run out of batteries during a photoshoot. The Skyports unfortunately use a proprietary rechargeable battery that remains inside the enclosure - you just plug them in to charge like a phone. This could be a convenient feature but also ruin your photoshoot.

Price comparison between the 3 most popular wireless flash triggers assuming you want to buy 1 transmitter and 2 receivers:

PocketWizard Plus II (Transmitter/Receiver combined) x 3 = $507

Elinchrom EL Skyports Transmitter, 2 Receivers = $267

Paul C. Buff Cybersync Transmitter, 2 Receivers = $240

On a final note, I would highly recommend staying away from the Hong Kong eBay triggers like the Cactus V2s, or the other eBay triggers known as Poverty Wizards. They SUCK! They fire only 80-90% of the time, drain the expensive CR2 3-volt batteries, and are very poorly built. I made a battery mod to them to allow the use of AA rechargeable batteries, which significantly improved their strobe fire reliability, but they still sucked. Here's a photo of what mine looked like before I sold them for $50... ghetto...LOL:

4323902015_596524a6be.jpg
 
JaceTheAce said:
I absolutely love the Cybersyncs. I am in fact today I'm using them to do a portfolio-building photoshoot with a really gorgeous young lady. :D
Click to expand...

I actually did the same thing last night, except it was a pet project she wanted to do. I had the chance to borrow a friend's Speedlight SB-600 which was a new experience. The D5000 doesn't have an internal wireless trigger (at least that I could find in the menu) so I had to leave the flash on the hot shoe, but I did have a lot of fun bouncing the flash off of the walls and ceiling.

I am choosing to ignore the misfires where I forgot to re-aim the flash and bounced it off the floor. :D
 
JaceTheAce said:
Thanks! It's actually a lot easier than you think - I'm sure if you had a strobe and some triggers you'd do something even better.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the vote of confidence, but my skillz are still up & coming for sure. This one would be hard to beat!

Thanks. For your suggestion, are you saying fire a gelled strobe on the upper part of the foam core and then a different color gelled strobe on the lower part? I think that would actually look awesome!
Click to expand...
Yep, two separate light sources of different color so the martini glass stays blue and the background becomes a contrasting color.

I absolutely love the Cybersyncs. I am in fact today I'm using them to do a portfolio-building photoshoot with a really gorgeous young lady. :D Anyway, I chose NOT to get the PocketWizards because I think they are overpriced and more bulky than the Cybersyncs. The Cybersyncs are very well built, made in the USA by a small company with amazing customer service, and they fire the strobes every time. Very very reliable.

The new PocketWizard Flex TT5s are neat, but their operation is supposedly interfered by RF noise emitted by Canon 430EX and 580EX, limiting the range to 30 feet.

The Elinchrom Skyports were my second choice, but they do NOT have removable AA batteries like the Cybersyncs and PocketWizards do. This could be an issue when you run out of batteries during a photoshoot. The Skyports unfortunately use a proprietary rechargeable battery that remains inside the enclosure - you just plug them in to charge like a phone. This could be a convenient feature but also ruin your photoshoot.

Price comparison between the 3 most popular wireless flash triggers assuming you want to buy 1 transmitter and 2 receivers:

PocketWizard Plus II (Transmitter/Receiver combined) x 3 = $507

Elinchrom EL Skyports Transmitter, 2 Receivers = $267

Paul C. Buff Cybersync Transmitter, 2 Receivers = $240

On a final note, I would highly recommend staying away from the Hong Kong eBay triggers like the Cactus V2s, or the other eBay triggers known as Poverty Wizards. They SUCK! They fire only 80-90% of the time, drain the expensive CR2 3-volt batteries, and are very poorly built. I made a battery mod to them to allow the use of AA rechargeable batteries, which significantly improved their strobe fire reliability, but they still sucked. Here's a photo of what mine looked like before I sold them for $50... ghetto...LOL:
Click to expand...
Excellent write up! Thanks for taking the time. I am leaning toward the Alienbees even more now. Can't beat it for the price! I have heard many bad stories about the el cheapo triggers, so definitely staying away from those.

Ever visit the Strobist? Good stuff there about portable lighting.
 
Screaming_Emu said:
Thanks to this picture my wife and I are sitting at gate 3 in JFK about to board a flight to Prague.

Seriously, we couldn't figure out where to go until I was sitting on the couch on JC and saw your picture!
Click to expand...

Awesome! That actually makes me feel pretty proud and amazed at the same time. Nothing like being able to give a little inspiration through one's work. Glad you liked the pic and you will like Prague even more! Have a Pils or two for me :)
 
gne in prog said:
i like the background better than the one in the daily pic thread. it was a shame that one's rack blended in so well with the background.
Click to expand...

Indeed it was! Hopefully my next visit will yield better results. A few more here...

http://nicklasurephotography.wordpress.com/2010/02/04/rocky-mountain-wildlife/

i'd tone down the vignette a bit, otherwise looks good.
Click to expand...
v2.0

Toned down the de-sat & blacks and used less of a vignette. Went for a more au-naturale look :)

780986831_cd7VF-L.jpg
 
JaceTheAce said:
I really like this! How soon did it run off after it heard the shutter sound from your camera? Or did it even notice?
Click to expand...

Thanks! They were surprisingly calm around us. I think animals that live in protected areas have a better tolerance of humans. Whether or not that is a good or bad thing can of course be debated, but sure is nice being close (and relatively safe) with the camera.
 
Here's another I shot literally 2 hours ago in my bedroom "studio". Between yesterday and today we shot about 900 photos. We did a total of 5 different types of photoshoots and it took a total of 8 hours.

She's a good friend of mine - we did a lot of outdoor shots too, but for this one I was aiming for an Audrey Hepburn look...

4333736113_40154dcba6.jpg
 
JaceTheAce said:
Here's another I shot literally 2 hours ago in my bedroom "studio". Between yesterday and today we shot about 900 photos. We did a total of 5 different types of photoshoots and it took a total of 8 hours.

She's a good friend of mine - we did a lot of outdoor shots too, but for this one I was aiming for an Audrey Hepburn look...
Click to expand...

Very nice! The only critique I have is that I think i would have wanted to see either the whole top of the hat, or as an alternative, a bit tighter crop. I can't really say for sure though and I don't have a great eye for this yet.

Out of curiosity, when working with a model, how do you convey what you want her to do with her eyes? From the set I shot the other day and the one previously, that was one of the biggest problems I had... for some reason it just took shot after shot of the same pose until, "OH! THERE! That's it!" :D
 
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