By Edd Sowden
I bought this during a scout camp in America. We did a week home hospitality after the camp before heading home. This was bought while we were out shopping for their son at a sports shop. Left this shot to the last minute again so had to photograph something near by.
Strobist: SB600, Shoot-though umbrella above and left of camera. 1/6th power. Cactus v4 triggers.
Shot using a DIY snoot. This is a flag that I picked up in an airport while on a trip to America back in 2002. Being really slow at uploading photos at the moment and even worse commenting on other peoples photos. For that I am sorry. I will try and sort it out soon.
Strobist: SB600, camera left, 1/16th power, DIY snoot, cactusv4.
This is my new (christmas present) swiss army knife. This was taken after a long day at work just before I crawled into bed. It was taken using some sheets of copy paper and desk lights. I thought about getting my strobe out but couldn't be bothered with the effort of the set up.
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Taken after arriving home from a fun weekend out of town. Right at this point I am ridiculously tired and just want to collapse in a heap on the floor. There really are days when I wish I could just scrap the project and pick it up in a month. This is one of those days.
Strobist: SB600, 1/16th power, 1m off the floor (I am 6" tall) angled almost straight up, fired bare. Triggered with cactus v4 trigger.
This was taken a little later than I would have liked and after a few more beers than is usually advisable to still be in control of the camera. Quite amazed that something is in focus if I am honest.
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Today involved me going down to Southampton to catch up with some friends. Getting down was a nightmare due to an accident on the motorway. I decided it would be a good idea to get my stand and umbrella out in the pub to snap some shots. Isn't that what everyone does when they want to grab a quick photo?
Strobist: SB600, 1/16th power through umbrella, 2m from subject camera left. Full CTO gel to match ambient. Triggered with cactus v4 trigers.
This was a windy shoot. It also reminded me how hard it is to work out how far I need to stand from the camera to fit in the frame. Still quite happy with how it came out, considering it was me rushing out the house at 11:00 knowing I had to return with something within the hour.
Strobist: SB600, 1/32 power, fired bare, 1m from subject 45 degrees round from camera (camera right). Full CTO gel. Triggered with cactus v4 triggrs.
This is a shot from me playing with my filter set and seeing how they can be used to create a coloured background behind an object. The downside of my playing is now that I want another strobe. Well actually I want lots more strobes but I will settle with one extra for the moment.
Before anyone points it out: yes I know Pikachu's nose is subtly out of focus. I didn't realise this till after I had packed up and uploaded the photos. Should have used a bigger aperture to deal with this. I was only checking the focus of his cheeks on camera.
Strobist: SB600, 1/16th power, Rosco 26 'Light Red' gel. 50cm from wall. Subject 80cm from wall. Triggered with Cactus v4 triggers. Subject lit using static light source.
Yesterday while in London I picked up a pack of gels to play with. Tonight I took them out for the first time. Most street lamps have a very orange colour to them and my strobe flash it is always very blue in comparison. I should now be able to counter this and then white balance the whole photo to something more normal. That is the theory anyway.
This shot was taken on the stairs outside the local public library. This is probably the most public location I have got my gear out in for a self portrait. It was quite nerve wracking watching everyone who walked around while trying to setup, grab the shot and tear down. Still I am quite happy with how it has come out.
Strobist: SB600, 1/2 CTO Gel, 1/16th power, through shoot through umbrella, 2 meters from subject, camera right. Triggerd with catcus v4 triggers.
This shot was taken in the pub whilst having a pint. This was me playing with my camera while waiting for Pete and Bob to come back from killing themselves smoking. The pub was The Chandos, a Sam Smiths pub which if you are in the Trafalgar Square area and want a cheeky pint there is no where better to get one.
I have been trying to take this photo for a number of days. I have tried many different techniques to get the shot, placing lights and umbrella's all over the place. Firing a strobe at a wall and letting it reflect back past me seems to work by far the best with the most even light distribution. This is actually pretty much straight out of the camera other than a little cropping and flipping to black and white.
Strobist: SB600, 1/8th power, fired in to wall 30cm away reflected back at me 60cm from wall. Fired bare. Triggered cactus 4v triggers.
Really late at taking this photo. This is probably one of the last photos I am going to be able to take of a random item from my desk. I think everything else has now been photographed. Still this is my new external hard drive that I got for Christmas.
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Asha and I popped out tonight with my DIY snoot. I knew the picture I wanted so that made it a fairly fast paced shoot. Unfortunately, shooting with a lens that lacks auto-focus and trying to be cocky, this is one of the only photos that came out in focus. Still it's also one of my favourite poses so everyones a winner.
Strobist: SB600, 1/8th power, 85mm zoom, through DIY snoot, 2 meters from subject camera right. Triggered using cactus v4 trigger.
Really lacked inspiration today. Tried a few different shots but nothing seemed to be working. I really want a day off from this project at the moment. Anyway this is what I look like when standing around trying to work out what I should take a photo of.
Strobist: There was a flash and umbrella involved in this shot but I can't remember how.
I am pretty sure if you own a guitar and a camera a shot down the guitar is basically the law. So to obey that law here is mine. I tried playing with silhouettes tonight but none of them came out quite how I wanted. This is me falling back to photographing an item I feel more confident with.
Strobist: SB600, 1/16th power through umbrella, 15 cm from subject. Triggered with cactus v4 trigger.