Rick recently popped by the gallery with his latest bronze. And what a piece of art this one is! I’m a fan, no question.
Normally Rick’s works focus around sea creatures. This time though, he’s taken a new direction. A stunning moth (no it’s not a Luna Moth but that was my first thought) sitting on a beautiful and colorful flower. Actually, the colors on this bronze really pop!
Rick had contacted me the other week to see about shooting this new creation, and I happily agreed. Anything you can do for the gallery artists! 🙂 So, the plan today was to setup and get a few nice shots of the bronze. Unfortunately I had brain freeze or something going on this morning, and I forgot my Pelican case. That’s the case with several Speedlites in it, and my spare AA batteries.
Opening my LowePro pack I found a few things I could use, so I made due. Of course, tomorrow I’ll bring all the gear and take another crack at the bronze.
What did I have?
- 5D Mark II: This is usually with me every day. You know, just in case I need to take a picture. 🙂
- 580 EX II: I always keep at least one Speedlite with me. I thought I had the 430’s as well, but go figure, left them in the Pelican case. The 580 still did a good job, I just wanted a second light source.
- Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 L: This is one of my favorite lenses now. It’s also one of my heavier lenses. Makes the camera feel like a tank. 🙂 Still, the results with this lens are always fantastic!
- ST-E2: This is Canon’s branded wireless solution. It’s good indoors with line of site. So I knew I didn’t need my Radio Poppers.
- Several Imapct Light Stands: I’ve been getting these portable stands here and there whenever I find them on sale. I brought 2 in thinking I’d have two Speedlights, got everything setup, then I looked in my bag and found that I only had one light!
- Westcott Umbrella: I actually brought 2 of those in too….but only needed one. I shot through the umbrella with the 580EX II. Pushed the speedlite +2.
So, there’s the gear used for this morning’s photos. Now, how was I shooting these?
Whenever I do these little “product” shots I go full manual on the camera. In the case of this last image here’s the recipe. I shot 1/1250th of a second, f/5.6, 24mm, and ISO 200. The ST-E2 was set to high speed sync and ETTL was on. Otherwise I couldn’t have shot at the speed I did! I worked around the piece trying out different angles with the speedlite. The shot above had the speedlight slightly camera left firing through the umbrella. I like the result. But had I used two speedlites (coming in from each side) I think more detail could have come across with the smaller moth on the right. Tomorrow I’ll setup in the print room with two stands and see what I get.
What I do like here is that I was able to eliminate the bulk of the background by leaving it in darkness. I didn’t move the bronze from its display in the gallery, so there’s a lot going on in the background, but I was able to eliminate it with only one flash. 🙂 You gotta love playing with these lights!
Alright, back to scanning and printing for the day!