There are two popular programs to create HDR and Exposure Blend images: Photomatix and Enfuse. I’ve always been a Photomatix girl – I just prefer the user interface and the simplicity of the program over Enfuse.
I recently acquired a new computer (that’s a whole other post) and decided to download the Enfuse plug-in for Lightroom, just to see. I can’t say I’m an expert at Enfuse (or Photomatix for that matter) but thought I’d post a comparison between images for you.
For the test,to make it a more honest comparison, I spent only ten minutes on each image. Each image was composed of three bracketed images +/- 2 stops.
Where I grew up, in the Northwest, soda of all persuasions was referred to as pop. As in, “Do you want a pop?” When I was 11 or 12 I moved to Mississippi where everyone referred to pop as Coke. As in, “Do you want a Coke? Okay, what kind? We have Coke, Pepsi, Sprite, etc.” Things are very different (read: weird) in the deep south.
So, in honor of Palindrome Day (01022010)* here’s a pop!
Canon 40D
Canon 580 EXII at 1/132 CL, Nikon SB-80 at 1/132 CR, Nikon SB-24 at 1/128 straight on
Diffused by DIY (and falling apart) lightbox
*I love palindromes and just stared at that on my screen for, like, 20 seconds.
Larrabee State Park. Bellingham, Washington
3 exposure HDR
Canon 40D
Okay, it’s on.
[insert drumroll]
My little project has turned into an entire movement! PFRE All Stars Tyra Pacheco, Dan Achatz, Linda Sabiston, and Jeri Koegel have all decided to do similar projects! Should be some amazing images coming from this group.
I’ve created an alternate blog for my images and linked to it over on my sidebar. I plan to shoot a mixture of digital and film so there may be some holes in posting but be assured that I WILL BE shooting every day. And believe you me… it’s gonna blow your mind. ;)
TulipChain Everyday: A new day. A new photo.
A cool little app for your iPhone to document your lighting setups.
I just downloaded this but haven’t used it yet. As soon as I do I’ll post a review here. If you have experience with this app I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Edit: Just tried the app out.
Clamshell, Rim light, Hair light
I’m going to start a 365 project starting January 1, 2010.
(side note: 010110 is almost a palindrome! I wonder what it spells in bytes (bits?) binary)
It’s not going to be a “Hey look at a picture of me!” project but more of a personal exploration of the passion I once felt from photography. I haven’t yet decided whether the project will have a specific focus (read: 365 days of strobist, 365 days of flare, 365 days of my cat, etc)… I’m sort of leaning toward NOT having a specific focus. It will probably be a mix of digital and film (I have 3 drawers FULL of film in my fridge that I’d like to use up) but in the end I’m going to self publish a book of my little project. Get ready to have your mind blown!
Anyone who has modeled for me and/or followed my flickr photostream for any amount of time knows that I love using the clam shell lighting technique. This is my “go to” set up for most headshots. I love the simplicity of this basic lighting setup! Two lights and a subject. That’s all you need.
Lit with a basic clam shell setup
I invited my friend and ever-ready model, Nakema, over a couple days ago to help me demonstrate this lighting technique. This photo is an example of the basic clam shell setup. One light, high, with an umbrella at 1/8 power (this is your key light) and one umbrella, low, also with an umbrella at 1/16th power (this is your main fill light). These lights should be relatively close together, the bottom of the key light umbrella and top of the main fill umbrella should be almost touching, resembling an open clam shell. The photographer stands behind the lights and shoots through the opening, between the umbrellas.
Nakema standing in for photographer
This lighting setup creates nice, even light on your subject. By adjusting your power settings slightly you can create a more dramatic look or a soft glowing complexion. I’ve found that this setup works for all face shapes and skin tones beautifully.
You can experiment yourself but I’ve found that I like having a slightly larger umbrella on my key light. It helps wrap the light in a soft but more complete way.
For a basic clam shell setup like this it’s important to think about your background. For someone like Nakema, who has very dark hair, a dark background wouldn’t work as well as you’d lose a lot of the detail in her hair in the background. What do you do if your subject has dark hair and only a dark background is available?
When the online social networking boom began I was a total believer – I spent hours on MySpace, Facebook and Twitter. As the months (which turned into years) passed I grew out of them and closed all but my LinkedIn accounts.
Back in those days social media was about, well, the social aspect. My friends would tweet about where we were and what interesting (at least to ourselves) things we were doing in hopes of enticing friends out to join us. We’d post photo after photo of ourselves in our Facebook accounts in an effort to prove to our friends (and the world) that we were leading active and appealing lives. Definitely one to be jealous of.
Now days, though, there’s a different face to these social media sites. It’s not just LinkedIn that provides your professional online face – I keep hearing of photographers (and freelancers of all persuasions) receiving referrals from their Twitter and Facebook sites. How are they doing this? Last time I looked at a Facebook account it was so full of inside joke comments and gifts thrown at each other I couldn’t differentiate between the professional and personal. And this was the site of a colleague!
Tonight I’m thinking about different types of marketing and, though I can’t bring myself to create a Facebook profile, I have broken down to create a twitter. I’m still lost as to the professional benefits, though. How do I use this thing?!
Leave your comments or direct twitter me at @tulipchain and please fill in the holes!
