Besides my morning ritual of pounding down some coffee I hit the computer for my daily hour of research. I skip most of the really important news items and concentrate on all things related to photography and design. One trend I noticed and tried in a previous post was shooting overhead…so…I decided to play around and get more familar and get the concept firmly embedded into my shooters tool kit. Here we go!
Hurrah for shooting overhead! I’ve noticed that I prefer shooting overhead, and have been trying to not do that so much because my food portfolio was starting to look a bit too samey. Must remember that life is 3d! 😉
Rick, I wanted to come by and thank you for the time you spent with Don making your video for our Project 52 group! I really enjoyed watching you work through the scene and hearing your thoughts on the business end of things. I personally do not have a lot of gear because finances say that’s not happening, but it’s still extremely important to me that I make photos that look professional; a lot of times that means bouncing the light from a $20 flash unit off the ceiling, using a lot of foam core as backgrounds and bounce cards, as well as using whatever else I can get my hands on to make the shot look the way I want. I started out using desk lamps, flash lights, book lights, and have even used the flame from a zippo to bump a tiny bit of light into the scene. It was great to see that all of the fancy gear isn’t what makes or breaks the shot; I mean, it’s something that I know, deep down, but then the self doubt would sneak out and whisper “you’re a fraud…. ” Thankfully I have gotten a grip on that little rascal and know better and can tell it off, but it really does help seeing working professionals using the same strategies and tools that I do.
I got some great tips as well out of the make-up sponges and A-clamps! I was just telling Don that I’ve had a new bag of those make-up sponges in my cabinet for ages, and now I can finally put them to use! I must say, the “fingers and dots” was a brand new one for me, and a couple of us have decided we’re probably going to build some out of wire coat hangers and things.
Thanks again for taking the time to demonstrate for us! I wish I could make it to your workshop; if I picked up that much information in 20 minutes, I can’t imagine what I’d learn in a whole day!