Flowers 2013

[caporip]

Some marvelous shots on this thread

A900; Tamron 90mm; HVL58; Nissin Di866 and Hvl20:-

Both shot in situ with two off camera flashes, one behind an opaque sheet behind the flower and one bouncing off a pure white sheet at 90 degrees to the left or right of the flower.

[Birma]

Thank you Greg. The birdsong was a bit faint I agree. It was just the on camera mic(s) and I had to boost them a bit. (I'm new to all of this video stuff.) On studying the Beech path picture again in LR there are some tiny blown spots when I look at 100% on the file before exporting to a web friendly size. I guess the auto sharpening I have set on the export function is exacerbating this. Bluebells have a very reflective sheen and these were catching the sun so I guess it is this effect you are seeing. I will have to watch out for this .

Thanks Lionel. I had to go and look up Geoff Sample . He has a wonderful site of natural acoustics sitehttp://www.wildsong.co.uk. I don't think I'll be trying to rival him anytime soon. I will also not be adding voice overs for certain . May be some subtle subtitles. There was a cuckoo and a woodpecker that same morning, but they were earlier on that this clip. You may have been able to hear the near by stream, or it could be 'hiss' from me boosting the sound in iMovie.

The whole thing started while I was sitting in the wood last Sunday morning waiting for a lull in the breeze to catch the Bluebells nice and still. There was a lot of birdsong and I thought the bluebells swaying was actually quite nice (as well as annoying!). "If only I could capture the sight and sound of this scene" I thought. I then remembered I had quite a sophisticated video camera stuck on the tripod in front of me .

I think what I would ultimately like is a set of video and sound 'screen savers' that I could use as background on the monitor or TV. A sort of rolling window on the wild, while sat at home.

[Birma]

Although I've commented on these shots on Flickr, Caporip, it is worth saying again that they are both lovely . I was just reading about this technique of off camera flash, I think it was on the Wex website. http://www.wexphotographic.com/blog/fie ... phy-part-1

A few of questions if I may:
Did you do this out of doors? So you used the HVL 20 to trigger the other flashes? Is this a line of sight thing or does the HVL20 provide some wireless ability? What do you use to stand the flashes on?

[caporip]

Although I've commented on these shots on Flickr, Caporip, it is worth saying again that they are both lovely . I was just reading about this technique of off camera flash, I think it was on the Wex website. http://www.wexphotographic.com/blog/fie ... phy-part-1

A few of questions if I may:
Did you do this out of doors? So you used the HVL 20 to trigger the other flashes? Is this a line of sight thing or does the HVL20 provide some wireless ability? What do you use to stand the flashes on?

Hi Birma
Thanks

Yes taken out of doors. I used the HVL20 as trigger in wireless. Kind of line of sight in that one flash is behind an A3 opaque panel but is still triggered. the other flash is in between camera and subject at 90 degrees pointing a non opaque white A3 panel. Both fashes are on the little fold out stands and the panels are held up by "helping hands" clips that i got from ebay. If i have time tmorrow I'll take a shot of the set up I use.

[sury]

I love both of them caporip. One thing that bothered me (it is me, more likely than not) is that the
light transition was not as smooth as I would like to see in the lower right corner of the second shot
on the full flower at the bottom. May be because it was so even every where else that it caught my eye.

With best regards,
Sury

[Birma]

Thanks for the info Caporip. A picture of the set-up would be great.

Here are a couple of Orton style PP's.

First of all, not a Bluebell ( ) but Lady's Smock (also known as the Cuckoo Flower).


The Knapp 2013 - Orton Lady's Smock 1 by Birm, on Flickr

Then, back to Bluebells .


Orton Bluebell 1 by Birm, on Flickr

[sury]

Nice capture but too high key for my liking Andy.
This is with Sigma 70300 on A700 in macro mode at 300mm, f32, HVL58 in wireless mode, behind and below the flowers.

Sury

[caporip]

Cheers Sury

Like the Tulips (?)

Getting the light right is tricky the Sony was on on manual at half power while the nissiin was on full I suspect the light issue was by product of the direct light from the Nissin being two strong. this was the first time i tried the set up and I suspect there will be a lot of trial and error!

Birma

Set up as discussed:-



The weird magnifying glass/clip things are called "Helping Hands" and you can get them on Ebay for about £3.50 - very useful little things . Likewise the acrylic sheets are from ebay both 3mm thick at about £5 each.

[Omega892]

Nice capture but too high key for my liking Andy.
This is with Sigma 70300 on A700 in macro mode at 300mm...
Sury

Interesting, and attractive, exercise in colour and shade there Sury.

That Sigma intrigues me. About six years ago I bought a second hand Sigma 70 - 300 mm (they wanted close to £100 but I knocked them down a bit because of slight barrel wobble, that had a proper 1/2 macro extension facility which managed to stop down to f32. It was not marked as an EX but did have a thin 'gold' band around the lens barrel near the front. I don't have the lens to hand as it is on loan, permanent, to a grandson with the A100 and the Minolta 24-105mm that came with the Dynax 7. but I don't think it is the APO version which yours probably is.

For awhile I found this lens extremely handy producing good results. Is your quick and quiet on auto-focus without hunting.

The Sony 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 G SSM only stops down to f29 which is a shame but it is quick and smooth on the A77 with superb lock on even if the subject is framed by nearer twigs etc.

[Greg Beetham]

I was talking about the bluebell close-ups/highlights Birma, I probably should have made that more clear, there is no visible highlight problem in the path and tree photo that I can see, the only thing I did notice was the difference in the colour between the video and the still shots, if that is of concern of course, but I have absolutely no idea about colour in video so I wouldn't know if it was accurate or not.
Interesting lighting in the flower shots caporip, and the portable studio is interesting too, seems to work well.
Nice photo Sury.
Greg

[Birma]

Wow! Love the dramatic lighting on those Tulips Sury - great warm colours as well - fabulous picture. I am also very pleased with my Sigma 70-300 (it is the APO DG Macro version). It is probably my cheapest lens (£50 on eBay) and I still am amazed that it is FF as well!

Thanks for the example setp-up and description Caporip. Would the Nissin be placed behind the backdrop for actually taking the picture?

Ah, I'm with you know Greg. Those are the due to the direct sunlight catching the almost metallic Bluebell 'skin'. I will have to watch out for that. Bluebell colours are tricky. They vary a lot in exact shade, and some are more variegated on a single bloom than others. They also 'reflect' back there surroundings to a great degree. I have probably adjusted the WB in the video differently to LR, but it could equally be the changing conditions under the rapidly changing sunlight.

[caporip]

Hi Birma

No the set up is as shown. The Nissin bounces of the the card its facing. It doesn't have to be at rihght angles but that isd just what i am doing at the moment.

Here's one i did today of that very rare flower, the Dandelion.

[jbtaylor]

From my wife's garden.
a900 and Zeiss 135mm @ f2.0






Minolta 100 2.8 Macro @ f4.0

[Birma]

The Dandelion is my favourite so far Caporip!

Lovely Roses JB, and I lik the soft, 3D effect of those pictures - like you could pick them off then screen .

[Birma]

A (short) rest from the Bluebells. From today's early morning shoot.

Ramsons (also know as Wild Garlic).

Monkwood 2013 - Ramsons 1 by Birm, on Flickr

I suppose that technically this is not a flower, but a seed head. At least the bokeh is made up of Flowers

Monkwood 2013 - Dandelion by Birm, on Flickr

Both A99, first with Tamron 90 Macro, and the second with Sigma 70-300 APO DG Macro.