If you had told me 5 years ago that flash photography was this much fun, I probably wouldn't have believed you.
Single flash at camera right, aimed (in this shot) across the back of the teapot to a sheet of white office paper. Paper fill was at about a 45 degree angle between the background and the left side of the pot. Snooted flash with an old mousepad to keep the background dark.
I was actually trying to capture the steam, but by the time I figured out to shoot through the steam with the snooted flash, the top of the pot had enough condensation that it wasn't so pretty.
The tea, for whoever might be interested, is Tie Guan Yin I brought back from Malaysia. Also known as "monkey-picked tea" and translates to "Iron Goddess of Mercy", according to Wikipedia. The latter would be a sweet name for a metal band.
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Don’t Wait for Inspiration
1 week ago
This is perhaps your most elegant photo to date. LOVE it.
ReplyDeleteSo are you using your umbrella diffuser on many of these off camera shots? I'm about to buy a stand and diffuser because a friend has asked me to take some engagement photos and wedding photos for her. Thinking that will make a real improvement in my lighting. But most times I detect you just go bare flash, no?
This was bare flash, with a snoot to keep the light along a narrow path.
ReplyDeleteUm, I dunno about most. I use the ceiling or wall bounce quite a bit. I don't use bare flash often but want to experiment with it. (
And when I say bare flash, I mean the flash pointed directly at the subject without modifiers.) I use the umbrellas all the time for portraits and occasionally for product shots (I think I used umbrelllas for the sweet potato shot quite a while back).
I think umbrellas are nice for portraits because they can be so easily moved. For product shots, I think you can create a light diffuser out of paper, scrim, etc., and will be able to get a more uniform light.
I can totally recommend MPEX as a source of umbrellas, umbrella brackets, and stands. They are a strong sponsor of the Strobist community, so that is another reason I bought from them.
I'll send you an email, as this is getting long....