lake tahoe

took this after class about a month ago.

-Jeff

Los Gatos Creek Park Pictures

Two photos captured during my bike ride on the trails.

Set From Today

Rim light / pop to mountain biker

Rider: John Hauer, Location: Cupertino, CA

One of the things I wated to experiment with this shot is to bring some pop to the rider and isolate it from its rather cluttered background. This is actually one of the few times I have positioned a flash behind the subject to created the effect and something I may have to consder doing more often as it seems to be quite effective.

Some of the difficulties of setting up this shot is flash placement relative to where you want to frame the rider (in the case of mountain biking, always dynamic), shadows projected from the light source, and potential blown areas /”glare” from the flash.

I admit that there are many flaws to this photo, but overall I am quite impressed at how the rim light brought punch to the rider and made it stand out. For my next attempts, I plan to position the light source further away and maybe even utilize a snoot of some sort to better isolate the source. I’ll share a setup diagram when I figure out a way that works well.

Best,

Ivan

Update: I just remember I have a photo of where the flash was positioned relative to the rider. It was situated behind the rim facing upwards. See below:

Sunnyvale Skatepark

A day in Santa Cruz

all shot with Olympus e-300.. cirular polarizer used for first and second last and last..

February 14th Sunset

Canon 20D / Tamron 28-75mm

ISO 200
1/200th
f/5.0
44mm

Location: Fremont Older, Cupertino

Specialized Bicycle in Sunset

I’ll start off with a self critique of the areas I thought need work. Please feel free to chime in.

- Sun from the sunset is too hot near the handlebar.
- Flash color is not balanced with the warmth of the sunset which takes away from the mood.
- Background is not very interesting and the wooden rail takes away focus from the subject.
- Angle is awkward and there are no dominant curves.

This photo definitely needs to be re-shot IMO.

"Light" Vignetting

At a recent indoor biking competition, I decided to play around with my Canon 580ex flash settings to see if I could come up with something a bit more interesting than the normal “on the camera flash look” where everything is uniformly lit. What I mean is trying to avoid the usual “flat” look that occurs with a single frontal light source and bring some ‘pop’/emphasis to the subject. What I describe below can probably be done in photoshop/pp, but I prefer to do what I can on camera.

Essentially, what I did was set the flash zoom setting (manual mode) different than my lens setting. I zoomed the flash unit more than my lens setting, thus not lighting the entire frame. Remeber that zooming the flash will decrease its coverage area. In addition, the use of a Canon Off Camera Cord helped aim and position the light to minimize shadows.

For example, below I used a 50mm zoom setting on my flash while shooting with a 28mm lens.

The flash was not aimed at the subject properly, but it gives you a sense of the light coverage. After another attempt, I was successful at capturing the rider and creating a somewhat natural vignetting around him due to the limited flash coverage.

(EXIF of image above)

Finally, another example of my Tokina 12-24mm set at 12mm and shot with the flash zoom at 75mm.

This technique will not satisfy everyones cup of tea, but it seems to add a nice touch when light is limited or when you want to get a little creative.

Cheers,

Ivan
ibwphoto.com

Ping Pong B&W

Not a true Black and White, but close enough ;P What do you think?

The Kitchen Faucet

Little was done [post processing] to this shot, which was taken with my old A85. What made this picture was the black background and nicely contrasting faucet/droplets. The setup was quite elaborate for a Point and Shoot. I setup two flashes (optical slave triggered), left and right of the faucet and turned the rooms light off before pressing the shutter.

Golden Hour

Details:
Shutter: 1/320 sec., Aperture: f9, ISO: 400, Manual mode with pattern metering mode., shot in raw

My brother actually took this shot of me as I was taking a break from the camera. I still remember yelling out the settings to him as I walked up the hill. What works for me in this shot is the texture of the rocks and the warm tint from the sunset. Another thing that benefited this shot was the fact that I was wearing a black sweater. This hid most of the hideous shadows that would show up if I wore a light color top.

A larger than life dime

Shot with A85 with Macro setup. I am surprised at the sharpness with a $200 camera and fairly inexpensive reverse lens setup.

Depression

A self-portait taken with my old A85 on a tripod and a slave flash to my lower right. My rightside is quite blown out since the flash had no manual adjustments. I guess I could have move the unit further back a tad or used some tissue paper to diffuse it.

Afternoon Flower

Shot wide open at 2.8. The composition is quite awkward but I like the vibrant colors. What do you guys think?

Japanese Tea Garden

A bit of an overcast, but I think it brought a nice contrast to the photo.