While he was in Jeff Bennion’s workshop, Francisco Joel Hernandez captured a really interesting portrait. The photo is serene and almost surreal, with a model lying on top of a giant white ball. We wanted to know more about how he did it, so we chatted with Francisco about the shoot and he kindly shared a few images with DIYP. The photo was taken in Weese’s Pieces in California this June....
Ever done a shoot, and what you saw with your eye didn’t seem to translate to the camera? It happens a lot! You see a majestic landscape, you take a photo on your camera, but when it pops up on the screen it just doesn’t capture the beauty. The same happens with fire when you use a flash. It weakens the effect. I could always try shooting without a flash, but then I wouldn’t be able to freeze the motion....
Many users of flash feel quite comfortable with it in the studio. The studio makes things fairly straightforward. You expose to eliminate all the ambient light and then you add it back where you want it with your strobes or speedlights. But when many newer flash users struggle when they get out on location, where you can’t or don’t want to completely kill the ambient light, but need to add flash....
About three weeks ago, I asked DIYP readers to build a softbox. It was meant for fun and education. To add some zap the good guys at B&H chipped in with a Westcott Apollo Speedlight set and a strobe (Nikon SB700/Canon 430EX II) for the best design. I literally fell of my chair seeing all the great submissions. The amount of creativity with the build was huge with sizes and materials covering just about any possible element on the face of the planet (including the rare element IKEAtnium)....
Clear, well-lit photos of your projects are among the best ways to share your work with others. Few techniques highlight your project as well as an all white light box with soft, even, shadow-free lighting. Not only is the white background distraction free, it will also serve to bounce your light source onto your object from nearly all angles. This is an effective, inexpensive, and easy way to build a light box for project and product photography....
