Hey there
It's time for another post in my Project 52. This week the theme is Silhouette which was interesting, since here in PA it's kind of hard to get pretty lighting in the middle of winter, in the middle of a city. But, I refuse to give up this early in the project and so I persevered and made an attempt in my apartment, without benefit of natural light. This also would become my first self portrait attempt (using my self timer) since I was home alone.
Also, as I set up to take this shot (clearing some of the debris of the living room and shifting some lamps) I was confronted with the fact that a) my tripod was in my car. Which was 2 blocks away. And it was raining. And b) I was trying to create backlight using 2 floor lamps and needed something to diffuse the light so it wasn't a bunch of ugly bright bulb hot spots. Enter creative solutions to the rescue. First, let's look at the finished shot I came up with.
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Next, let's take a look at how I made this shot happen:
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Yes, that is an empty can (formally housing crushed tomatoes from my last soup) sitting on a book sitting on a chair, aka makeshift tripod. I put my camera vertically sitting so part of the grip sat inside the can to keep it stabilized. Then I leaned over, focused the shot and hit the timer and ran to get into place. Here's a pullback so you can see the entire setup:
.jpg)
It's time for another post in my Project 52. This week the theme is Silhouette which was interesting, since here in PA it's kind of hard to get pretty lighting in the middle of winter, in the middle of a city. But, I refuse to give up this early in the project and so I persevered and made an attempt in my apartment, without benefit of natural light. This also would become my first self portrait attempt (using my self timer) since I was home alone.
Also, as I set up to take this shot (clearing some of the debris of the living room and shifting some lamps) I was confronted with the fact that a) my tripod was in my car. Which was 2 blocks away. And it was raining. And b) I was trying to create backlight using 2 floor lamps and needed something to diffuse the light so it wasn't a bunch of ugly bright bulb hot spots. Enter creative solutions to the rescue. First, let's look at the finished shot I came up with.
.jpg)
Next, let's take a look at how I made this shot happen:
.jpg)
Yes, that is an empty can (formally housing crushed tomatoes from my last soup) sitting on a book sitting on a chair, aka makeshift tripod. I put my camera vertically sitting so part of the grip sat inside the can to keep it stabilized. Then I leaned over, focused the shot and hit the timer and ran to get into place. Here's a pullback so you can see the entire setup:
.jpg)
Please forgive the mess. I probably should have staged the shot better, but this is reality not some awesome studio. And there you have it. Makeshift softbox created by putting my chef's coat around a floor lamp (one of the ones with 5 adjustable heads) and another lamp sitting below it. And an awesome chair/tin can makeshift tripod. Overall, I'd call it pretty successful for working with what I have. Next up, preparing for next week's shot - Shallow Depth of Field.
Hope you've enjoyed - Do you have better ideas for creating a makeshift softbox?
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