BPI Science Awardee Shoot: Shedding Light on Excellence

I have known Denniell Ann (simply Denden to people in the department) since she fortuitously found her way into the B.S. Chemistry program about four years ago. Ever shy and self-effacing, I asked to shoot her for an article that I wrote for the USC Department of Chemistry's blog (which you can read here). I did this, not only to celebrate her many notable achievements, but I hoped to infuse her with a you're-only-limited-by-your-imagination kind of confidence before she headed out into the matrix real world.

As I have come to learn, it is always good to get your standard 'crowd-pleasing' keepers done before you experiment with something... less conventional. So, I went for an evenly lit, high-key-type look for the pictures below.

 

Even Steven

Three lights were used to create the look. Due to mixed light sources in the room, I decided to kill off ambient contribution completely. I used a flash set at about 1/16 power, above and behind me as on-axis fill. This allows me to build upon how the shadows in my image will look like before I bring in additional lights. A second flash in a Westcott Apollo soft box at about 1/4 power was placed above (pointing down) and to the right of the subject at an angle of about 45°. A third flash was shot through a LumiQuest SoftBox III and placed on a short stand behind the subject pointed up at the white projection screen. A few test shots, tweaks and adjustments in her pose gave me the pictures below.

The first was shot with a 70-200 mm lens.

A wider angle lens (17-50 mm) was used to make the picture below.

The white background with her white bolero (Yes, I know what that is!) made the wording on her plaque readable in the second image, so that in itself was a bonus.

Time to loosen the straightjacket.

A Song for Susan

Straight into the sky I soared

Under a blanket of uncertain stars,

Straight into the dark I bored

Amidst the glaring lights of wayfaring cars;

Nauseated by serpentine fumes,

Caught in the embrace of its coils;

Leveling my gaze at the road that looms

Ahead, I push on and toil.

I look for your light in a sea of lights,

Reinvigorated only by your glow, knowing

Each time I cross the midnight blue

Just brings me back to the dawn of you.

Happy birthday to my lovely (and not to forget, loving) wife, Susan. The music (and a lot of possible edits to the lyric) will come later. But God willing, I know we have the rest of our lives to make it.

Watching the World Go By

Personal Rain Cloud. We've all had a bad, even the occasional dreadful, day. During those days, it's not too much of a stretch to assume that the universe is conspiring to pull the rug from under your feet, just so that it can kick you in the ribs when you fall down. It also becomes easier to fall back on that sort of excuse every time life becomes 'unreasonably' difficult. Personally, I've always believed that the universe is ultimately fair by being indiscriminately unfair and that I never remembered anyone telling me that life is supposed to be easy. Not that I'm a pessimist (a 'reformed' cynic maybe), but without the contrast provided by one's struggles, life's triumphs would be mere ghosts of themselves. And so, the next time you find yourself in your favorite pair of shoes in an unexpected downpour, dance (or frolic, if you're rhythmically-challenged like me) in the rain because truth is — shoes can be replaced, but the moment you decided to write off the whole day as bad can't.

Light Arithmetic

I would like to believe that a significant part of photography is learning and speaking the language of light. And like learning any new language, there is a period of confusion and frustration. I have read a number of books on the physics and chemistry behind photography, but I admittedly still feel lost when math decides to be a party pooper comes into play. I can and will suffer through as much of it is necessary, but in deciding on how to light a particular shoot; I rely on something much simpler (though clearly less precise) — my gut.

It may not get me to within inches of where my flash needs to be relative to the subject nor does it reveal clear-cut power settings for each strobe, but it does a pretty darn good job of keeping my head from imploding. Although there is an element of insanity randomness to my method, it is the result of a few hundred hours of real-world testing. It's an odd, yet satisfying, feeling to be able to position and set a flash to within about under a stop of where I want to be exposure-wise. Some of you might argue that I could have just bought a light meter and saved myself the trouble, but with that money I would've bought one more flash without even blinking.