more light painting

[KerryPierce]

Happy New Year to all!

Nikon D200 ,Nikkor 70-180mm f/4.5-5.6D AF ED Micro
13s f/14.0 at 85.0mm iso100

[mudder]

Wow Kerry, this is lovely stuff... The only thing that comes to mind is wondering whether the two flowers seems to point in the same direction and (fo rme) it makes the flowers look a little posed, maybe if they were pointing slightly away from each other?

This "light painting" series of yours has been stunning mate, very very nice... Love the reflections in the dark... What type of surface are you using, the colors and reflections look beautiful in that dark background... The occasional water droplets work well too... Not sure about having the flower stalk in front of, and going through the reflection...

Oh, and Happy new year mate

[marcotrov]

Beautiful work with your series on painting with light. I'd love you to outline your technique. Love the contrast and the beauty of the reflection that tends to make me a gree a little with mudder regarding the stem. Though an interesting variation and it does lead the eye to the master at work may interfere a little too much with the gorgeous reflection. Still fabulous work Kerry. You are really hitting your straps with the D200
cheers
marco

[KerryPierce]

Andrew and Marco, thanks for the very kind comments.

Andrew, here's the lowdown on how the shot was done.

Lighting was achieved with a AAA penlight, in the dark, for a light painting exercise. The 13 sec exposure was simply a result of experimenting with the shutter speed until I got something similar to what I wanted.

The setup is rather simple. I have a piece of flat, dark, smoked glass. It will "mirror" the flowers or other subjects fairly well, but for these shots, I wanted more, so I puddled water on top of the glass.

The d200 was mounted on a Feisol ct-3401 tripod with a Manfrotto 490 head. I used MLU mode to release the shutter.

The original shot was in RAW, sRGB I, converted in Bibble 4.5 plugin in CS2, resized and sharpened for the web, using LAB mode. Very little post processing was done on the shot, just a slight curves adjustment in LAB mode.

[Dug]

have you tried putting a diffuser over the lens halfway through the exposure?

It gives and interesting effect that can be varied from very soft to to sharp with a soft edge.

Just change the amount of time and amount of diffusion I have used a sheet of frosted glass with interesting effect.

Cheers doug

[KerryPierce]

have you tried putting a diffuser over the lens halfway through the exposure?

It gives and interesting effect that can be varied from very soft to to sharp with a soft edge.

Just change the amount of time and amount of diffusion I have used a sheet of frosted glass with interesting effect.

Cheers doug

Hi Doug,

Thanks for the suggestions.

No, I haven't tried anything like that. I'll have to look around to see what I've got available.

The last frosted glass I had, was filled with Johnny Walker Black and ice cubes.

[Dug]

that will do, just empty it first

where do you live I'll come round and help!

If you live by yourself, check the fridge it usually has frosted glass near the crisper.

If you are married and want to stay married avoid using this method.

[Dug]

I just saw what was annoying me, the rose petals on the mirror are the wrong colour!

They should match the rose or the flowers you are using, it just looks a bit odd.

cheers doug

[blacknstormy]

Damn but you're good at this !!!!

[Alex]

Kerry,

This is a beautiful shot. Thanks for running us through how you did it. Do you normally use LAB mode for posprocessing? I'm currently reading a fantastic book by Dan Margulis on PS in LAB mode - very eye opening.

Alex

[KerryPierce]

that will do, just empty it first

where do you live I'll come round and help!

You're more than welcome, just let me know when you're in Detroit and I'll get a couple more cases.

If you live by yourself, check the fridge it usually has frosted glass near the crisper.

If you are married and want to stay married avoid using this method.

hmm, now that gives me some ideas.....

[KerryPierce]

I just saw what was annoying me, the rose petals on the mirror are the wrong colour!

They should match the rose or the flowers you are using, it just looks a bit odd.

Shirley you jest!! Having matching petals would make the shot look contrived and staged, rather than natural, don't you think?

[KerryPierce]

Kerry,

This is a beautiful shot. Thanks for running us through how you did it. Do you normally use LAB mode for posprocessing? I'm currently reading a fantastic book by Dan Margulis on PS in LAB mode - very eye opening.

Hi Alex,
Thanks for the kind comments.

LAB mode use is new to me, but I've been playing with it on a number of shots. It seems quite useful. I also have the Margulis book, but haven't had the time/inclination to read it yet....