There's a Reason I Don't Like Using the Flash!

Since I really got interested in photography, I have avoided using the flash. It always seemed to wash out my subjects. The colors would be off. I just didn't like it. (Of course, then I would get that blur that happens, but I worked hard to figure out ways to compensate for it and to get good in-focus pictures.) I got a strobe for Christmas (thanks Mom & Dad!) and now we are tackling learning how to use it in class. It is much harder than it looks. While I get the idea of how to bounce light off surfaces and can do that somewhat well, there's something called the inverse square law which you use to calculate your aperture and I just haven't seemed to master that one yet.

For this assignment, we were given the task of creating 2 pictures: one with direct flash and one with bounced light. I am finding that I like the bounced light better because the light is less harsh. For my bounced flash picture, I chose one taken on March 7th, after the final performance of Lil' Abner at Hickman High School. I was hoping to possibly take some pictures during the performance but they made an announcement that flash photography (and recording the performance) was strictly forbidden. The subject of the photo, Austin Popham, talks to family and friends. Austin played General Bullmoose and had several solos during the musical.



I also really liked this picture:



But the white balance was off! All these things to remember...

For my direct flash picture, I chose one taken from the going-away celebrations for Whitney Wright. Whitney was moving on Friday to Denver, Colorado, to be closer to her family, and Wednesday, March 11th was her last day at the University. I took pictures at hew work party and her dinner at Flat Branch Pub & Brewery. The subjects of my select, Amber Harris (l.) and Whitney Wright (r.), worked together in the Department of Internal Medicine at MU and are friends outside of work. They were discussing the merits of So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing with the Stars. (I think The Real Housewives of Orange County came up in the conversation, too.) I liked how it gave me that Hollywood expose feeling. I just wish that Amber's face wasn't as hot. (Easily correctible in Photoshop, but in this class, we're not correcting things like that...)

Project: Glass

For our second project, we were given the task of either lighting glass or metal - no small feat! I was teamed with Vivian Esparza. Originally, I was going to do metal and she was going to do glass, but we both kept thinking of ideas for the other to shoot. So we decided to switch. I had two ideas. One was to shoot a hurricane lamp and some old photographs. The one I chose instead was one I titled, "Decadence." My caption read: "Decadence reigns as the champagne is poured. Stacked in a pyramid three glasses high, traditional symbols of excess are displayed: champagne in glasses containing an antique gold ring adorned with diamonds and rubies, chocolate-covered truffles wrapped in blue foil, and fresh succulent strawberries." I was torn between two pictures. And I really wanted to photoshop out a slight imperfection in the image - a spot on the light board.

Here's the image I submitted:



Here's the lighting diagram for the picture:



And here's the one that I also really liked, but didn't choose because the ring wasn't lit as well.



I ended up really liking the bubbles. Vivian wasn't as big a fan, which is why I got rid of them, but in the end, it seemed to give some added energy to the image. If I had to do it over again, I would have had the bubbles and the snoot. (Or else I'd photoshop some of the one onto the other. Hmmm...)