Playing with Color

Yes, when we were young, we played with a crayon in school and learned color. What colors look good together, and what colors do not? Who knew that I would play with color again? Not crayon’s but with flashes with gels. We heard the term RGB but what does it mean? Red, Green, and Blue. With these colors, we see all colors. Like your TV or computer is RGB. But what happens when I combine all three? If you said white, you are correct. I saw this setup in the book Studio Anywhere, and I always wanted to do it. In my family room with a white wall, I set up 3 flashes equal in power and in-line with the subject. I placed a filer on each (red, green, and blue). Next, I took the shot and got this.

Remember, RGB equals white. Noted on the subject, but what happens in the background or shadows? You see Red and Green = Yellow, Green and Blue = Cyan, and Red and Blue = Magenta. This is what you see in the background. Now I know what you are saying. Why? Well, maybe a picture of something different? Plus, the understanding color will help your photography and what you can do with flash if needed. Last I wanted to do it, and I did it. Ok, what makes black? Combine the cyan, magenta, and yellow, and you have black. When we print, we print in CMYK and see our TV or Computer Screen in RGB.

Little time for Me

Nothing like having a little time for myself. While traveling up in Wisconsin, I finally got some fall pictures I have been after. No pressure, time to think and look at different angles. Look at the light and what it was giving me because I forgot my tripod. I handheld this picture. Using F8 ISO 200 and speed of 100. Next was to take it in Lightroom, I cropped and vibrance the colors. Last went to sharpen it using Topaz. I love my time. It gives me a chance to take a deep breath, get what I am thinking, and practice my skills again.

Product Photography

There is so much out there to get documented for someone needing a picture. This could be the high stress of a wedding, maybe a landscape or travel, and the list can go on. One advantage of product photography is that you get a chance to think and then take the picture

Product Photography

When your present employer finds out that you are a product photographer, you got it; they ask if you could take some pictures. So that is what I did above for an upcoming show.

My setup was using white paper on a roll for the background and then placing the rolls about 8 feet away from the back of the roll. This time, instead of flash, I used 4 continuous lights. The significant advantage of constant light is that I can see where the light is and make adjustments if necessary. The other benefit of this project was color. The color had to match. With my background in the printing industry, I do a process that we call ICC profile. What is that? Make it simple it's a process to make sure everything is calibrated from camera to post-processing to print. I use X-Rite Color check for this process.

Why 4 lights? I used two of them to light the back of the paper to make it white. With no light, it would have been dark gray. Two to light the back even. The other two, I used one for the backlight of the roll and the other to light the front.

After taking the pictures of the single rolls, it was time to put them together. The advantage of the single is that it gives the client multiple ideas and uses how they want. In this case, they are using both single rolls and various rolls. I know because I am working with them on an advertising project.

Bed and Breakfast in Michigan

Love summertime. I finally get the time to enjoy what I like: water and boats and more. Any time Lisa and I get, we head to Michigan to be on Lake Michigan. As we say, it’s our Florida in the summer. For the past few years, we have been staying at Bed and Breakfast and enjoy them. The hosts are so friendly, and you get a sense of relaxation in a home environment. This year was no different. Lisa and I headed to Saugatuck, MI. This year we stayed at the Sherwood Forest. While we have not stayed at a lot of Bed and Breakfast, this one had a theme in every room. I think ours need no explanation.

Ok, for those who did not get it, here is another clue.

Ok, it’s the Africa Room. Yes, everything is coming from South Africa. You see, our host was from South Africa. Our hosts were so friendly and a pleasure to talk with. We talked about South Africa and the journey to America. Back to our room, it was super large with many memory enables of South Africa. We had a large porch that looked upon the forest.

In comparison, we saw no Elephants, Lions, or Monkeys. We did see deer. Ok, what about the breakfast part?

The breakfast was great. The food was fantastic and well prepared. (South Africa style) I have traveled many parts of the world, and for the first time, we stayed at a place with no TV. What no TV? How do you survive? Then asked about TV, they said this time to talk. Well, that is what we did. What about the internet. We did have internet, but this area is very poor when it comes to the internet. (Verizon) The biggest thing was a lovely relaxing weekend on the Lake and with lots of boats.