Pretzel and the Gypsy King - A Tale of Adventure (cum a spus de fotografie) for 2015
- Thread starter Pretzel
- Start date
Last night of the "advanced" class, and we got a model in the studio to pose as we wished... I *SO* need a lot more work in posing, but came up with a few shots I liked. We were shooting high key on a white paper background. Strobe on each side with a huge softbox for each, hairlight, and two barn door lights on the background. I also *SO* need a studio set-up like that! Anyway, we changed lighting positions, photographer positions, model poses... all on the fly. I was next to last, and everyone else had her standing up, so I went for some seated shots, and 1 "OMG it's SUPERMAN" pose. 
C&C is welcome
C&C is welcome
dh photography
Senior Member
I am *SO* jealous!! I would love to have a course down here like the one you're taking!! You are really putting forward some fantastic work, man. The progression and your attention to detail is really shining through. Congrats, and VERY well done!!
Can I just say... I LOVE THIS RAYNOX DCR-250!
Spotted this little spider several times over, here and there, when I didn't have time to stop and grab the camera, so when I saw him on the ceiling tonight I just about fell over myself rushing for the 70-300 and the Raynox! After a few failed attempts to hand-hold a shot on the ceiling, I gently convinced my model to move to a piece of paper, from which I transferred him onto a white styrofoam cup in the kitchen. He's a little camera shy, so after a lot of rotating the cup and trying to hit the right focus, he finally settled inside the cup and felt a little safer. That allowed me to prop on both elbows over the top and take my time to line up a shot. 23 pics, and I nailed 1. I have a WHOLE NEW LEVEL OF RESPECT for those extreme macro shooters!!! To get a feel for just how tiny he was, note the individual cells/grains of the styrofoam under his feet. 3 or 4 of these little fellas would fit on my pinky nail!
Again, this was with the 70-300 VR and the Raynox DCR-250. SB-700 at full power, and all other specs in the exif. What do ya think?? (cropped about 50%)
Spotted this little spider several times over, here and there, when I didn't have time to stop and grab the camera, so when I saw him on the ceiling tonight I just about fell over myself rushing for the 70-300 and the Raynox! After a few failed attempts to hand-hold a shot on the ceiling, I gently convinced my model to move to a piece of paper, from which I transferred him onto a white styrofoam cup in the kitchen. He's a little camera shy, so after a lot of rotating the cup and trying to hit the right focus, he finally settled inside the cup and felt a little safer. That allowed me to prop on both elbows over the top and take my time to line up a shot. 23 pics, and I nailed 1. I have a WHOLE NEW LEVEL OF RESPECT for those extreme macro shooters!!! To get a feel for just how tiny he was, note the individual cells/grains of the styrofoam under his feet. 3 or 4 of these little fellas would fit on my pinky nail!
Again, this was with the 70-300 VR and the Raynox DCR-250. SB-700 at full power, and all other specs in the exif. What do ya think?? (cropped about 50%)
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Wow. I think I'm gonna get me one. Good job Pretzel.
Thanks, Pete! Money well spent until I can afford the 105mm macro, IMO.
Thanks Mike!
Rain. ALL. DAY. LONG. (and looking like that for the weekend too...) Took a rare lull to run outside and grab a dandelion bloom and this wee little tiny thing so I could work with the Raynox a bit inside. Fun pics to come later, but just for a teaser, here's an uncropped, unedited shot of the little bloom at 300mm minimum focal distance. The rest of the shots a bit later were with the DCR-250 on the end of that same lens. FYI - that's an American dime that the bloom is on top of.
Here we go! All pictures are UNCROPPED (except to frame 4x5 instead of the native 4x6) and taken with the Raynox DCR-250 on my 70-300mm VR. Some "artistic" license was taken with the edits.
1st, I dabbled with a "common" dandelion that I brought inside.
Then I moved in the other bloom (seen in the previous post, sitting on a dime). I knew I wanted to settle on a zoom length that would allow me to "mostly" fill the frame with this tiny thing. That's this shot.
I also knew I wanted a FULL ZOOM shot to see just how close in I could get. This one was actually snatched outside during the "sprinkles" right before I brought the bloom inside. 300mm.
1st, I dabbled with a "common" dandelion that I brought inside.
Then I moved in the other bloom (seen in the previous post, sitting on a dime). I knew I wanted to settle on a zoom length that would allow me to "mostly" fill the frame with this tiny thing. That's this shot.
I also knew I wanted a FULL ZOOM shot to see just how close in I could get. This one was actually snatched outside during the "sprinkles" right before I brought the bloom inside. 300mm.
Shootin' pics of my daughter and her fiance yesterday evening... I guess informal engagement pics.
I think they like each other...
She's an AVID reader... and liked the look of these books. Since we're nowhere near Pennsylvania, though, do you think I should edit out the "Pennsylvania"?
It came to MEEEE (...my preciousssss...)
Really didn't get the look I wanted on this pic, and the gap for the sunset was VERY short... I did remove an ugly black handrail and an entire black metal park bench, though.
One of my faves from the evening, just because of their expressions.
B&W of the above shot... kept tweaking and re-tweaking the B&W contrast. Still can't decide if I want to go back and do a sepia or grainy sepia edit on it. I probably will.
I think they like each other...
She's an AVID reader... and liked the look of these books. Since we're nowhere near Pennsylvania, though, do you think I should edit out the "Pennsylvania"?
It came to MEEEE (...my preciousssss...)
Really didn't get the look I wanted on this pic, and the gap for the sunset was VERY short... I did remove an ugly black handrail and an entire black metal park bench, though.
One of my faves from the evening, just because of their expressions.
B&W of the above shot... kept tweaking and re-tweaking the B&W contrast. Still can't decide if I want to go back and do a sepia or grainy sepia edit on it. I probably will.
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A few more...
"Together Wish"
Ok... I had a bit more fun with this one than I should have, maybe, but with both being nerdy (myself included), and my daughter and I both being HUGE fans of the Lord of the Rings books/movies, I just had to dabble.
"Secret Road to Rivendell"
"Imperio!" That's the same as "marriage", right? (She's a huge Harry Potter fan too, if you couldn't tell.) The stairway here actually changed directions slightly at the landing behind their heads. All of my attempts to correct perspective and keep ALL the stairs straight wreaked havoc on the two REAL subjects of the photo, so I chose to keep the top stairs level and said "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH, I AM DONE!" to the rest. (after fiddling with it for entirely too long)
"Together Wish"
Ok... I had a bit more fun with this one than I should have, maybe, but with both being nerdy (myself included), and my daughter and I both being HUGE fans of the Lord of the Rings books/movies, I just had to dabble.
"Secret Road to Rivendell"
"Imperio!" That's the same as "marriage", right? (She's a huge Harry Potter fan too, if you couldn't tell.) The stairway here actually changed directions slightly at the landing behind their heads. All of my attempts to correct perspective and keep ALL the stairs straight wreaked havoc on the two REAL subjects of the photo, so I chose to keep the top stairs level and said "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH, I AM DONE!" to the rest. (after fiddling with it for entirely too long)
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Out grilling chicken for a family get together later today, and saw this little lady run off a black jumper twice her size. The other jumping spider I posted was also a Maevia Inclemens (or a "little jumper" as I call 'em), but I've come to find out it was a juvenile male. This is an adult female.
She was shy at first... hanging under the edge of the siding.
I was slowly convincing her to come out. For a size reference, that's the tip of a medium finishing nail in the left of the frame.
She finally came out where I could catch the yellow palps and the red coloring along her abdomen. She was a beauty!
The best shot was when she was hiding between a couple of boards leaning up against the wall, so she felt safe. Even so, when I got close enough for the shot, she perked up and was making sure to keep an eye on me!
MAN, but I love this Raynox DCR 250!
She was shy at first... hanging under the edge of the siding.
I was slowly convincing her to come out. For a size reference, that's the tip of a medium finishing nail in the left of the frame.
She finally came out where I could catch the yellow palps and the red coloring along her abdomen. She was a beauty!
The best shot was when she was hiding between a couple of boards leaning up against the wall, so she felt safe. Even so, when I got close enough for the shot, she perked up and was making sure to keep an eye on me!
MAN, but I love this Raynox DCR 250!
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Goofing around at a local cemetery on the way home, and found an interesting subject or two... just toying around with edits tonight.
OF COURSE, after weeks of rain, we had an all clear sky when I could have used some dramatic clouds for a backdrop. On this first shot, can't decide if I like more space, or a tighter crop. Leaning toward a tighter crop
And here's a throw it out there edit on an interesting not used gate... I have a mind's eye view of something a bit darker, just couldn't sort it out tonight. Any suggestions?
OF COURSE, after weeks of rain, we had an all clear sky when I could have used some dramatic clouds for a backdrop.
On this first shot, can't decide if I like more space, or a tighter crop. Leaning toward a tighter cropAnd here's a throw it out there edit on an interesting not used gate... I have a mind's eye view of something a bit darker, just couldn't sort it out tonight. Any suggestions?