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Fun with Nikon Images

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Lloyd

Active member
Thanks to you both, Steve and Jorgen.

Jorgen, in answer to your question, no, not always. I chose the D3s for this particualar evening (a family dinner at my brother's house) knowing that the lighting would be very poor. I didn't want to use flash, and only used the 50/1.4. For casual shooting I often use the D300 or my M8.
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
Thanks to you both, Steve and Jorgen.

Jorgen, in answer to your question, no, not always. I chose the D3s for this particualar evening (a family dinner at my brother's house) knowing that the lighting would be very poor. I didn't want to use flash, and only used the 50/1.4. For casual shooting I often use the D300 or my M8.
That makes sense. I always carry a camera myself of course, but try to avoid the big ones at social occasions.
 

Lloyd

Active member
I tried a little experiment today. This was inspired by Daves (dmeckert), who used a beauty dish with a grid and a "shower cap" (under the grid) both on the beauty dish at the same time. I wanted to see the difference with different modifiers.

Slightly, :OT:, I know. I'd put this in the lighting thread, but since Daves shots here inspired it, I thought I'd put it here.

Here's the setup. The small statue is 9.5 inches tall, exactly 3 feet from the background and 16 inches from the beauty dish. The beauty dish is a Mola "Demi" 22". I shot with my D3s (tripod mounted) and the 24-70/2.8. All shots were at 70mm, ISO 200, 1/125, and f8.0; WB set for Flash. The strobe is an Elinchrome Ranger RX, set at it's lowest power. Light was metered, using a Sekonic L-358, with the reading taken right between the two faces. All of these are straight out of the camera, except for resizing for web viewing.

I did not feather the dish, but kept it centered on the statue. BTW, 16" was as close as I could get to the subject without the dish getting in the way. Relative to the subject size, 16" is a long way, so the resulting light is fairly hard.

To my eyes, the differences are subtle. I think they're most noticeable in the shadow to the left of the statue. Also, the last shot (with the grid and the shower cap), looks to me to be about a stop underexposed relative to the other shots, but I think it may actually be the most accurately exposed.

I'd like to try this again with a human model. I think the light-to-subject distance here might make the differences harder to detect.

I'd appreciate anyone else's take. Thanks.

Set up:


First shot - Beauty dish with no modifier:


Second Shot - Beauty dish with the shower cap:


Third Shot - Beauty dish with grid:


Last shot - Beauty dish with grid and shower cap under the grid:
 

dmeckert

New member
interesting...very interesting.

big time thanks for taking the time to create these images, and posting them, Lloyd. :D

i'm at school currently on a poor quality monitor...i'll check them again once i'm home on my 27" imac, for a more critical look.

initial impression is that there isn't a whole big difference...probably because f the size and distances involved, at least partly. it may also have to do with the mola design and how it treats light.

i think the results make sense though, once the mind wraps itself around them. took me a while to figure out what i was seeing. especially with the shower cap shot...took a moment to click. i think you ca really see the difference in how the shadow spreads over the back, behind the arms, and behind the feet...and less so on the paper. also, the shape of the highlights on the lady's shin.

again...i want to double check on a monitor that actually has some contrast and dynamic range to it. i'm sure i'll have more to blabber about. haha

thanks again!!

next time i have a model i'll have to produce a set of my own. it's always amazed me how many ways people successfully use beauty dishes.

EDIT: solely based on the photo...for my money, i like the last shot best. at least, this week ;)
 

routlaw

Member
I tried a little experiment today. This was inspired by Daves (dmeckert), who used a beauty dish with a grid and a "shower cap" (under the grid) both on the beauty dish at the same time. I wanted to see the difference with different modifiers.

Slightly, :OT:, I know. I'd put this in the lighting thread, but since Daves shots here inspired it, I thought I'd put it here.

Here's the setup. The small statue is 9.5 inches tall, exactly 3 feet from the background and 16 inches from the beauty dish. The beauty dish is a Mola "Demi" 22". I shot with my D3s (tripod mounted) and the 24-70/2.8. All shots were at 70mm, ISO 200, 1/125, and f8.0; WB set for Flash. The strobe is an Elinchrome Ranger RX, set at it's lowest power. Light was metered, using a Sekonic L-358, with the reading taken right between the two faces. All of these are straight out of the camera, except for resizing for web viewing.

I did not feather the dish, but kept it centered on the statue. BTW, 16" was as close as I could get to the subject without the dish getting in the way. Relative to the subject size, 16" is a long way, so the resulting light is fairly hard.

To my eyes, the differences are subtle. I think they're most noticeable in the shadow to the left of the statue. Also, the last shot (with the grid and the shower cap), looks to me to be about a stop underexposed relative to the other shots, but I think it may actually be the most accurately exposed.

I'd like to try this again with a human model. I think the light-to-subject distance here might make the differences harder to detect.

I'd appreciate anyone else's take. Thanks.
Lloyd I will throw in my two cents worth quickly before starting a session this afternoon. I agree all of the images have subtle differences (at least in this setup) rather than profound. While the last shot is darker I would not call it a full stop darker, more like a half stop to me. It does exhibit slightly more local contrast in some areas, perhaps brought out by the slightly darker exposure hard to say.

2nd shot seems about a 1/4 ± brighter than the first. Just guessing a bit but expect you might see a larger spread of differences as you move the beauty dish with different mods in and out from the subject. I am somewhat inclined to think this beauty dish for such a small object is still rather broad regardless of its modifiers thus eliminating most of the differences they might convey. Does this make sense?

Nice little experiment though.

Rob
 

Lloyd

Active member
Daves: Thanks for looking. I look forward to what you see on a decent monitor.

Rob: Great to hear from you! I agree with your take overall, and think we might see more significant differences with a subject that isn't just under half the diameter of the light modifier. I might have to go old school and use a head brace for the subject to eliminate any variations in positioning. :D

I will now admit this, however. The first three shots all metered at 8.0, and the last shot at exactly 5.6, so one full stop. I actually took a shot at 5.6, but it was a bit blown out.
 

rayyan

Well-known member
I tried a little experiment today. This was inspired by Daves (dmeckert), who used a beauty dish with a grid and a "shower cap" (under the grid) both on the beauty dish at the same time. I wanted to see the difference with different modifiers.

Slightly, :OT:, I know. I'd put this in the lighting thread, but since Daves shots here inspired it, I thought I'd put it here.

Here's the setup. The small statue is 9.5 inches tall, exactly 3 feet from the background and 16 inches from the beauty dish. The beauty dish is a Mola "Demi" 22". I shot with my D3s (tripod mounted) and the 24-70/2.8. All shots were at 70mm, ISO 200, 1/125, and f8.0; WB set for Flash. The strobe is an Elinchrome Ranger RX, set at it's lowest power. Light was metered, using a Sekonic L-358, with the reading taken right between the two faces. All of these are straight out of the camera, except for resizing for web viewing.

I did not feather the dish, but kept it centered on the statue. BTW, 16" was as close as I could get to the subject without the dish getting in the way. Relative to the subject size, 16" is a long way, so the resulting light is fairly hard.

To my eyes, the differences are subtle. I think they're most noticeable in the shadow to the left of the statue. Also, the last shot (with the grid and the shower cap), looks to me to be about a stop underexposed relative to the other shots, but I think it may actually be the most accurately exposed.

I'd like to try this again with a human model. I think the light-to-subject distance here might make the differences harder to detect.

I'd appreciate anyone else's take. Thanks.

Set up:


Last shot - Beauty dish with grid and shower cap under the grid:
Amigo, this here is mucho serious stuff! Just looking at the set-up I would

join some other forums a little north of here:D Cannot hold a candle to this work pal! I enjoyed the narrative too. Cannot contribute much technically..

I just use that small flashlight. :thumbs:
 

Lloyd

Active member
Amigo, this here is mucho serious stuff! Just looking at the set-up I would

join some other forums a little north of here:D Cannot hold a candle to this work pal! I enjoyed the narrative too. Cannot contribute much technically..

I just use that small flashlight. :thumbs:
LOL. Just goes to show what a magician you are with a camera, Rayyan.

Thanks pal. :salute:
 

routlaw

Member
Daves: Thanks for looking. I look forward to what you see on a decent monitor.

Rob: Great to hear from you! I agree with your take overall, and think we might see more significant differences with a subject that isn't just under half the diameter of the light modifier. I might have to go old school and use a head brace for the subject to eliminate any variations in positioning. :D

I will now admit this, however. The first three shots all metered at 8.0, and the last shot at exactly 5.6, so one full stop. I actually took a shot at 5.6, but it was a bit blown out.
Would never have guessed this… could be the grid was throwing the light meter off somewhat.

But let us know how that "old school" efforts go with live models. They are gonna love that. :D
 

dmeckert

New member
alright...now officially blind from squinting at the screen up close at home. lol

i'm going to pretty much stick with my assessment from before. though i noticed another place where there are differences, and that's the man's right arm, the one in shadow. i like the darker tonality of the bare dish and the gridded sock, but the gridded sock seems to have a slightly softer edge.

next spare moment i have, if nobody beats me to it, i want to put them together as a gif that cycles through them.
 

Lloyd

Active member
Thank you Steve and Pramote, much appreciated.

Beautiful and etherial image, Pramote. Great idea, impressive result.
 
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