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Thread: Suggestions?

  1. #31
    Photo Guru SMB2's Avatar
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    Default Re: Suggestions?

    Looking good.
    I second Ricardo"s thoughts on the use of the flash. You really want to position it/soften it to get rid of the glare on the subject. You can try the flash outside the photo tent.
    Also if you have some type of daylight/UV filter on your lens (often sold with a kit, and to "protect" the lens), take that off.

    Lots of trial and error, make sure you keep tabs on what you are doing so when you get to the best result you will be able to quickly repeat it.

    You have made great changes in just a short time. Just a little fine tuning....!
    Last edited by SMB2; 09-22-2015 at 04:42 PM.
    Stan

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  2. #32
    Registered Member rickztahone's Avatar
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    Default Re: Suggestions?

    oh and also, your WB should be set to "flash" when using your flash

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  3. #33
    Registered Member Ardan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Suggestions?

    Thank you very much for the suggestions. I do think I forgot to set the WB to flash. LOL
    I will practice some more this weekend. I was using the HVL-F42AM flash on the hot shoe of the camera.
    I can't afford to buy a second flash at this time as work is the worst it's been in the 35 years I have been at this company.... only 24 hours work per week...

    I will try the flash outside the tent, hopefully it will diffuse the flash.

    Will it work to use the on camera flash and the off camera flash at the same time? or would that be bad lighting?

    Thanks again!!
    Ardan

  4. #34
    Registered Member Ardan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Suggestions?

    Quote Originally Posted by Second Hand Pat View Post
    Very nice improvement Ardan
    Pat
    Thank you Pat!!

    Ardan

  5. #35
    Registered Member rickztahone's Avatar
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    Default Re: Suggestions?

    Quote Originally Posted by Ardan View Post
    Thank you very much for the suggestions. I do think I forgot to set the WB to flash. LOL
    I will practice some more this weekend. I was using the HVL-F42AM flash on the hot shoe of the camera.
    I can't afford to buy a second flash at this time as work is the worst it's been in the 35 years I have been at this company.... only 24 hours work per week...

    I will try the flash outside the tent, hopefully it will diffuse the flash.

    Will it work to use the on camera flash and the off camera flash at the same time? or would that be bad lighting?

    Thanks again!!
    Ardan
    Ok, this will be a Sony specific thing I will mention here, so this wouldn't apply to other brand shooters.

    When shooting with off camera flash, many times, you face the problem of no LCD gain. I know Sony worked on this problem for a while, and I believe the a57 benefitted from this update. I will run you through what the problem is:

    First, you take your flash, you place it on top of your camera's hotshoe, this "syncs" them together. While they both are on, you simply pull the flash off the body. Now, the flash should be in wireless mode. Once in wireless mode, so long as you have line of sight, the off camera flash will fire when you hit the shutter button. Here comes the problem. When you fire off camera, you need the internal flash of the body to activate the other. That in body flash does not help AT ALL with the overall scene shot, in fact, it makes it worse. This is why so many people choose to buy triggers. The triggers I told you to conider purchasing are the PT-04's, that are similar to this:
    http://www.amazon.com/PT-04S1-Wirele...rds=pt+04+sony

    Now, the main problem I was referring to in the beginning is this, with the older Sony bodies, when you mounted a cheap trigger, like the one I linked to, it wouldn't acknowledge that it had a "flash" (trigger in our case) sitting on top of the body, so our Sony EVF (electric view finder) and LCD did not "gain" up to compensate for the loss of light. When you turn on your flash regularly, you will notice that the EVF and LCD both gain up to show you how your end result shot will look. This doesn't happen with cheap triggers. There are two things you can do, either buy more expensive triggers, like the Pixel Kings I own, or, and this may be your best option, do the following:

    You still place your flash on your camera hotshoe, sync, remove and once you remove it, you get an old piece of exposed film and place that in front of the pop up flash on your camera. This is important, the film has to be a USED piece of film. What happens is that the exposed film does not allow the flash to contribute to the overall scene (which is what you want), yet, it still allows for the IR signal to go out on line of sight. The drawback here is still that you are only shooting with one flash, and it absolutely has to have the sensor, on the flash, facing the sensor on the front of your camera. This is hard to do with modifiers. Triggers DO NOT need line of sight to fire.

    Again, my response is very long winded and I apologize for that, but these are important aspects of flash photography that I believe will benefit you greatly. If you EVER need to call me to ask me about something, please shoot me a pm and I will gladly give you my phone number. I already do this with a few people on the forum as it is, I wouldn't mind one more

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  6. #36
    Registered Member rickztahone's Avatar
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    Default Re: Suggestions?

    Your picture reminded me about photographing food. I remember this shot in particular was a real pain because of glare. I had 3 speedlights, one snooted, one softbox with grid, and one open ended. The glare from the open ended one was a pain, but I kept diffusing it and this was the result:

    Bisquits by Ricardo Vasquez, on Flickr

    also got some unwanted glare here but I reduced it significantly:
    Benedict & Hash by Ricardo Vasquez, on Flickr

    Click here to view my 75g Acrylic Tank w/ Bean Animal Overflow with 40g Sump Thread

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    http://i3.cpcache.com/product/162117...ht=75&width=75
    Want to look like Al did at his ACA talk with his white Simply Polo shirt?(You can catch Al's awesome Discus talk HERE)
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  7. #37
    Photo Guru SMB2's Avatar
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    Default Re: Suggestions?

    Ricardo, Ardan. Perhaps this is an easier fix: http://www.amazon.com/Aputure-Pro-Gr.../dp/B004FLLY1E

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvdU2Lwx_iw

    Ricardo may know if this doesn't work, and you have to be sure it is the right cable. But given that you aren't far away from the subject, you can move this around over the box for different lighting. With the camera on a tripod and cable release, should be pretty easy.
    Old fashion but a pretty cheap fix.
    Stan

    SIMPLY DISCUS IS AN OXYMORON

  8. #38
    Registered Member rickztahone's Avatar
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    Default Re: Suggestions?

    Quote Originally Posted by SMB2 View Post
    Ricardo, Ardan. Perhaps this is an easier fix: http://www.amazon.com/Aputure-Pro-Gr.../dp/B004FLLY1E

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvdU2Lwx_iw

    Ricardo may know if this doesn't work, and you have to be sure it is the right cable. But given that you aren't far away from the subject, you can move this around over the box for different lighting. With the camera on a tripod and cable release, should be pretty easy.
    Old fashion but a pretty cheap fix.
    That might work. With Sony, there are currently 2 different shoe types. MIS (Multi Interface Shoe is the newer one) and the iISO hotshoe from Minolta from years back. Always make sure you are buying for the right shoe. Of course Canon and Nikon have their own as well, so make sure you do not buy any other brand type. What Stan linked to would work I believe, but it is always hard to tell. The reason it is hard to tell is that they mention both the a100 and a few other bodies that do not have the same hotshoe that you currently have on your a57. This is why many Sony members were upset with Sony, but so long as you find one that is truly for your hotshoe (MIS), then you will be fine.

    Click here to view my 75g Acrylic Tank w/ Bean Animal Overflow with 40g Sump Thread

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    http://i3.cpcache.com/product/162117...ht=75&width=75
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  9. #39
    Registered Member Ardan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Suggestions?

    Thank you Stan and Ricardo for your responses!
    I think I will try the cable soon, that looks like it would help greatly!
    Great photos Ricardo!!

    Thank you both!!!

    Ardan

  10. #40
    Photo Guru SMB2's Avatar
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    Default Re: Suggestions?

    So Ricardo, do you cook like that at home?
    Sunday works for me!
    Stan

    SIMPLY DISCUS IS AN OXYMORON

  11. #41
    Registered Member rickztahone's Avatar
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    Default Re: Suggestions?

    Quote Originally Posted by SMB2 View Post
    So Ricardo, do you cook like that at home?
    Sunday works for me!
    I wish I cooked like that! However, the chef is a good friend and all the dishes he cooked, I got to sample each and every one of them

    Click here to view my 75g Acrylic Tank w/ Bean Animal Overflow with 40g Sump Thread

    Also, click here for my 25 group of discus grow out thread


    http://i3.cpcache.com/product/162117...ht=75&width=75
    Want to look like Al did at his ACA talk with his white Simply Polo shirt?(You can catch Al's awesome Discus talk HERE)
    You can get this and many more items such as T-shirts/Polos/hoodies/cups from our merchandise shop:
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