To be the best there ever was.

I didn't anticipate making a new post every day, but there have been a lot of exciting/interesting photo events in my life in the last three days! This is a good thing, it means I'm excited, engaged and doing/trying new things. The more I blog the more that's happening. With that said...

Today I started my final project for my color photography class. I took along my digital camera to get some double checking done on the lighting. I also wanted some immediate gratification for myself and to show others! Fingers crossed that my rolls turned out well. I bracketed all my shots.

My biggest issue with shooting people against a white backdrop is getting the paper to be completely white, corner to corner. I did better this time than I have in previous attempts, this time including two lights pointed at the backdrop instead of one. It occurred to me after the shoot was over that I could have placed one light behind him on the ground, but instead I pointed two of them at the background from either side of the camera. I suppose this looks like it has a bit of a vignette, but I wanted it to be white corner to corner.

I was trying to get some semi-dramatic lighting while still treating the light softly. It could have been more dramatic but I'm pleased with the coverage on him. I placed one 2x6" softbox to his right, and a 3x3" to his left, concentrated on his face and torso. I'm trying to decide if I feel I should have used a rim light for his hair, but I think he stands out from the background fairly well.

I forgot to take a photo of my lighting setup. I always think about it after the fact! I should put a diagram into my iPod touch. I downloaded this great application, I believe I read about it from the Strobist website, called Strobox. I can create lighting diagrams, great for reference.

I'll close with one last photo just for kicks. I look forward to more exciting incidents to blog about!

-MJ