I left work a little early and realized I had come home to think about work. Now, I had come home to avoid work, and here I am, only thinking about work was enough to put me off. In my effort to find a more worthwhile distraction than just acting as a human test subject for some search engine algorithm, I thought, “What about my project.” Then, the thought from the night before (picture the bubble over my head), “I should try rim lighting. I want to figure that shit out.” – and it came to me, let’s figure this shit out.
I had done all the usual, asking Google, ChatGPT, Bing, YouTube, and many more…only to find nothing like good, clean practice solved it. So, I break out the camera gear and figure that data weighs…nothing, so I have nothing to lose. Let’s start some light studies and see what we get.
It started simply enough: break out the setup from the weekend, a dish, a candle, and a towel. Just tuck my flash in behind it, and let’s go. The first image was not impressive; it was much less than it was looking for. Second shot, shit, the same crappy image (from the back of the camera). Time to mix it up. This is going differently than I want. Let’s try a few with a doll’s head, or as I call her, “Dolly” (I am not the first or the last to use that name, and smile while thinking that’s funny).
With Dolly firmly planted on a light stand that doubles as her body, I think about the flash. Where does that need to go? Circle of light…oh yeah, right behind. It seems to begin to come together, and I get excited and ask…what if…Before, I was not thinking about it, but this question is why Dolly appeared.
So what if I move to the kitchen and use the big table and those beautiful daffodils that my wife got? So, it starts. First, the flash looks good, but what if I move here…no, back the other way, no, back to the original spot. Okay, what if I try a continuous light, not that small one, get the big one, and don’t grab the softbox? Okay, let’s get it in position. OK, now we are having fun. I think I found some of that “flow” people talk about. Next, what if I bring in fog or mist…
And then I got too carried away…got some incredible shots, then spent 30 minutes cleaning up the kitchen, the water, and the mess I made.
So next time, what if…
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