lighting file

Resiliency

2011-03-17T00:36:00.001+08:00

Resiliency, originally uploaded by arnoldval.

..being able to respond to environmental changes..
Japan will survive, recover..

bare speedlite at camera-left
white plastic as reflector at camera-right

Camera Canon EOS 60D
Exposure 0.005 sec (1/200)
Focal Length 50 mm
ISO Speed 100

Chinon 50mm M42-mount lens
Extension Tubes

Handheld

Strawberry Kisses 1

2011-01-26T21:15:00.001+08:00

Strawberry Kisses 1, originally uploaded by arnoldval.

Main Light: Speedlite in Softbox at camera-left
Fill light: white styrofoam board at camera-right

Background: pitch-black, ambient-light was gone exposure at 1/125, F16

Inspired by the "Strawberry Kisses Ice Kacang" desert at Hougang Mall Foodcourt after a family lunch for a special day.

Half Full? or Half Empty?

2010-10-14T22:03:00.000+08:00

speedlite on softbox.

ISO: 100
Exposure: 1/200 sec
Aperture: 5.6
Focal Length: 65mm

Corny

2010-10-11T12:18:00.000+08:00

1 Speedlite on a softbox.

ISO: 100
Exposure: 1/200 sec
Aperture: 4.0
Focal Length: 71mm

Bawang

2009-02-23T12:57:00.000+08:00

Bawang, originally uploaded by arnoldval.

WHITE on WHITE

Exposure:	0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture:	f/16.0
Focal Length:	54 mm
Exposure:	+0.67
ISO Speed:	100

Lighting: single speedlite 430EX (diffused) slightly overhead of subject on camera-left at 1/64 power. White plastic board serves as background of the white subject. another white card is placed very near the subject at camera-right to fill-in the shadow-area.

power inside

2009-02-02T12:55:00.000+08:00

power inside, originally uploaded by arnoldval.

BLUE

Exposure:	30
Aperture:	f/8.0
Focal Length:	28 mm
Exposure:	+2.00
ISO Speed:	100

Blue-light coming from the PC's blue LED-light..
Long exposure used to let in more light while aperture is stopped-down to F8.

HIS

2009-01-26T11:29:00.000+08:00

HIS, originally uploaded by arnoldval.

filler photo for the theme "Masculine"
hope to come up with a better one in future hehe

single-light-source: 430EX on camera-left.

Exposure:	0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture:	f/8.0
Focal Length:	75 mm
Exposure:	0.00
ISO Speed:	100

the eternal feminine

2009-01-16T23:17:00.000+08:00

the eternal feminine, originally uploaded by arnoldval.

this is the same setup as the previous post.. i just thought the image formed by this instance is smokingly-sexy hehe

a tribute to all the women out there.. know that you will always be gifted with that graceful strength of 'the eternal feminine'..

even just for a moment

2009-01-05T12:34:00.000+08:00

even just for a moment, originally uploaded by arnoldval.

Theme: Capture the Quote 1

Subject: smoke from a lighted mosquito-coil (Baygon katol)

Photo-Quote:
"I wish to capture the present with the eye of the past." - Patrick Summerfield

Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/8
Focal Length: 75 mm

flash(with black foam as gobo) at camera-left at 1/8 power pointing upwards.. a cardboard on the opposite side bounces some light back to the subject..

--

even just for a moment, be still, stay with me, as it were..

2009!

2008-12-29T12:23:00.000+08:00

2009!, originally uploaded by arnoldval.

Theme: Bye 2008, Hello 2009!

taken at the marina-barrage, singapore.. the 15th water-reservoir and the very first reservoir located within the heart of the city.

Exposure: 10 sec (10)
Aperture: f/11
Focal Length: 28 mm
ISO Speed: 100

this is my nth try of fireworks and i failed (again)!
we waited for more than 7-hours (whew!) at the marina-barrage to get to get a nice spot ahead of the multitude of spectators and photo-hobbyists alike. This will be the first countdown from this new singapore icon. i only have 28mm on the widest-end of my lens so careful composition must be done before the fireworks goes-up!. after trying several test-shots, i decided to go for this , hoping that the fireworks burst nicely on the upper half of the frame. this way, i could have a few interesting elements: fountain of the marina-barrage on the foreground, the Singapore Flyer on mid-right and a few buildings of the city skyline.. then the clock ticks to 12midnight, greeting 2009 with bursts of fire in the sky, WOW! but hey! the fireworks are way off the left-side of my frame! :-( nevermind, later they will get spread out somewhere to center, even to the right. i said to myself, 'patience!'.. but it never came.. last half of the show i have to re-position my frame towards the left in haste.. struglling with the steady tripod and its controls.. smoke is all around the bursts by this time.. sigh! i may need to get back some other time.. and make sure i have with me my 18-55mm kit lens for a wider perspective.. happy 2009!, everyone..

ties-that-bind

2008-12-22T12:21:00.000+08:00

ties-that-bind, originally uploaded by arnoldval.

theme: Christmas 2008

we continue to strive to look through the glittering, sparkling lights.. beyond that is the real essence we celebrate the season..yearn to feel and experience the ties that bind us to our faith.. with Christ our saviour..

Exposure: 0.033 sec (1/30)

Aperture: f/2.8

Focal Length: 75 mm

ISO Speed: 400

Lighting comes from the cristmas-lights of the christmas tree at the lobby of Waterfront Hotel, Cebu, Philippines. Shooting indoor without flash is quite tricky as shutter-speed could go really slow. ISO speed has been bumped to ISO400 and aperture set at its widest opening to give me the fastest shutter-speed possible.. 1/30 sec still not fast enough so holding my breath halfway before slowly squeezing the shutter-button somehow prevented the possible blur..

toys

2008-12-08T14:54:00.001+08:00

65521111, originally uploaded by arnoldval.

bare flash at camera-left
white-wall at camera-right serves as fill
shutter at 1/200 knocks the background to darkness..

aside from the bus and MRT in singapore, you can count on the several taxi companies to bring you from your doorstep to anywhere in Singapore.. for in example, you can dial +65 6552 1111 for this blue Comfort taxi.. =)

Mass Transit

2008-12-01T15:04:00.000+08:00

Okay so i missed posting an entry for this week! =(

First i planned of taking some commuters inside the MRT station.

Here's the initial plan:
sneak into one side of the station during rush-hour where everyone is walking briskly to catch the next train.. a stationary subject shall stay steady during the entire exposure time to remain sharp while all others around him/her gets blurred to show motion.. Will probably play a relatively slow-shutter speed 1/30, 1/15 for starter and go slower for effects..

somehow i was not able to carry on with this plan.. it may not be allowed for me to setup heavy-gear and tripod in the station (security may caution me or invite me for questioning later hehe). sure i can sneak-in a small compact cam next time given the chance..

Another idea that came to mind is to capture one of those lorries (small open-type truck) that carries most of the construction workers from their quarters to the worksite..

Since i already missed shooting and posting for the 'mass-transit' theme, i will just make it as an excuse to allow late submission of entries every now and then.

helper wheel

2008-12-01T12:14:00.000+08:00

helper wheel, originally uploaded by arnoldval.

never had the chance to capture a nice mass-transit photo..

posting this as a filler.. will probably update this entry once i have that photo i have in mind hehe

Food!

2008-11-24T12:13:00.001+08:00

Singapore supposedly abounds in international and local dish. That's why this topic was chosen to give no excuses for us this week. but i failed, almost..

okay, so i was not able to do any food/dish shot last weekend.. but i managed to do some test-shots during the week.. first i tried shooting the fresh(from the grocery store) strawberry fruit. putting the fruit on the table and shooting with a shoot-through umbrella.. nice diffused lighting but looks like flat so i removed the umbrella and tried shooting with a grid (yup, same as last weeks setup on water). i really don't have anything in mind of what output i need to accomplish. so i just tried anything..

Then i tried some M&M candies.. i waited til my daughter sleeps before taking her sweets as my subject.. i was hoping i could get some nice composition out of the colorful circles.. after a few random arrangement and plety of shots, i was still thinking of the strawberry for an entry..

it's already past midnight and i have to choose which one to share.. i particularly like the red-against-black in this frame.. a piece of paper is in camera-left very near the subject to throw some fill-light..

flash at camera-right.. 1/200, F8..

see you next week.. we'll be shooting anything about 'Mass-Transit'.. Singapore is proud to have efficient and convenient transportation system.. let's take a look at some commuter-scenes.. thanks for dropping-by..

[wk_test] water-of-life

2008-11-17T00:10:00.000+08:00

[wk_test] water-of-life, originally uploaded by arnoldval.

my first try of falling water droplets..
tint and saturation done in post-process

Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/11
Focal Length: 75 mm
ISO Speed: 100

tried putting the strobe at various locations:
camera-left, camera-right, directly over-head..
now i couldn't remember which position it is for this frame..

>a clear-glass is filled to the brim with water.
>turned the knob of the faucet just enough for some drops to fall at a nice interval..
>took some test shots for a baseline exposure then set the cam on a tripod. cam now set to manual-focus.
>attached a DIY-grid to a 430EX flash to direct the light into the subject only.. this will also hide the dishes lying around the sink =)
>played around the flash output from 1/4 to 1/16..
>with the flash at one hand and cable-release on the other, i manually timed tripping the trigger with a few drops checking the output in-between.

comments and critics most welcome to improve on my next try.. thanks!

//

So this is a dry-run for our 'photo-a-week' project. Just to have a feel of how it's gonna be like come January 2009 hehe

a-photo-a-week project

2008-11-15T21:45:00.000+08:00

a friend initially invited me to join him in his a-photo-a-day project for 2009.

i like the idea and objectives but the commitment of producing a photo per day was very daunting to me.. afraid that i may not be able to make it even half-way, i suggested that a monthly-photo project would be a more realistic target for me..

after a few deliberations, we settled for a weekly output..

this blog will just monitor my weekly photo-submission and note the Lighting used to come-up with each entry..

this will also be an avenue for circle friends and experienced-gurus in this hobby to share and give their constructive comments and criticism.. after all, this project is supposed to be another avenue for me to keep on threading the steep learning curve of taking nice photos..

too early to say but we hope we can keep our commitment for the project. and if i carry on updating this LightingFile blog, it will surely be a handy reference for any noob like me in the future.. =))

so stay with us week-on-week as we try to face our challenge in 2009..

you can visit my friend, Gido's blog for the detail of the 'a-photo-a-week' project..