2nd Lily Panorama - 5 images stitched

[mjordan]

I posted a 3 image Lily panorama on here and decided to try a few more today. This is a group of 5 images with the camera in the vertical position taken from left to right. Stitched together with Panorama Factory (which does have a little bit of a problem getting everything lined up). Taken with my 10D, 24-70 2.8L, ISO 100 at f22.


http://www.sitnprettyphoto.com/display/lily6612x5.jpg

Mike

[mrclark321]

Very nice

[RAW]

Good job...

How did you make the background black? Can you share?

The way I am thinking is a black room, a light thru the window, and as far from the wall as possible...or...puting a black cloth behind, dark room, light from side...or layers in PS...but I doubt the last one...

[cmM]

very cool, great stitch job, I love the composition

[Pb2Au]

That is awesome.. very nice. Unique way of doing things.

[PhotosGuy]

Excellent !

[mjordan]

Thanks for the comments and for looking. Raw, I should have put my lighting information. The background was black seamless paper about 6 feet behind the flowers. I use it since I can take the background stand up to the ceiling (I only have 7' ceilings) and then when I shoot at a lower angle I don't get the white ceiling in the picture.

For lighting, I have a SP 6400 with 24x36" softbox to the right about 3' from the flowers. To the left I have a SP 3200 with a 24" Octogon softbox at about 3' also. Just behind and to the left of my tripod and camera I have a SP 1600 with a beauty reflector on it. The camera and tripod are about a foot and half from the flowers.

Mike

[Scottes]

That's awesome Mike. I may have to try this some day... That's very cool stuff.

[PhotosGuy]

I'm add a link to this thread to a new "Lighting" thread I just started.
"Negative Lighting – a simple technique that makes a big difference!"
Pour it in, or spill (flag) it out?
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=70824

[mjordan]

I've used negative lighting. I have a number of things that I've used before. From black nylon to black window screen material. Mostly I use white nylon or some other type of diffusion material. The 12" and 22" round Photoflex Lite Disc's are great to carry as they fold up into next to nothing with very little weight. I have a couple of Lite Disc holders (boom arms with clamps on them) that I use to hold the reflectos in the studio.

There are a lot of ways to help improve shots of flowers and other small objects out in the field. And it doesn't require adding 10 more pounds to the camera bag or back pack either.

Mike

[RAW]

Thanks for the comments and for looking. Raw, I should have put my lighting information. The background was black seamless paper about 6 feet behind the flowers. I use it since I can take the background stand up to the ceiling (I only have 7' ceilings) and then when I shoot at a lower angle I don't get the white ceiling in the picture.

For lighting, I have a SP 6400 with 24x36" softbox to the right about 3' from the flowers. To the left I have a SP 3200 with a 24" Octogon softbox at about 3' also. Just behind and to the left of my tripod and camera I have a SP 1600 with a beauty reflector on it. The camera and tripod are about a foot and half from the flowers.

Mike

Wow, thank you for your reply Mike. I am sorry to thank you so late, but I have forgotten of my post here :confused: , for I accidentaly found it while sufring the forum. I would love to see a step by step tutoring about lighting with explanation what will a certain type of accessory will do, or in other words what do I need to achieve good lighting in everyone of my photos...sorry, I am new to this and reading about SP 6400 makes me confused eventhough I would think that is a type of light, right?

I ahve read in the forum and books, I have a little Idea about it but not so much as to make my own studio...

Regards,
Artan

[weemannie]

that's a stunning image, well done:D

[mjordan]

Thanks Wee.

Raw, The SP6400 is just a name for one of the brands of studio lights (also known as a monolight). It has it's own flash tube and a modeling light with a reflector on the front. They are called studio lights because mostly you see them in phto studios with large umbrellas or big square softboxes on them. You have probably seen some of the other brands that are available, Alien Bees and Photogenic, to name a couple. They come in different flash powers (just like a camera flash can be different power) to produce different amounts of light. The bigger your area, the more light you need.

For this set up, I had one of my larger lights to the right of my camera. This one has a 24x34" rectangle softbox on it so it creates a very large light source (as compared to the size of the flowers). The larger your light source the softer the light. I had my second largest light to the left of the camera. This light has a 24" Octogon shape softbox on it. The shapes aren't really that important, I just happen to have a rectangle shapped one and a almost round octogon shape one. I also had my smallest light in front next to the camera. On it I had a 18" wide aluminum reflector tht is also called a beauty reflector because it softens the light it sends out. There are wider ones but they start getting expensive for the really wide ones.

The key to what I was doing here was to light the flowers as evenly as I could across them. As it was, I still got a few bright highlights along the stems. If I remember right, I did tone down a few in Photoshop afterwards. You need highlights and shadows to give a 3D effect, but you don't want them to be real obvious.

Here is a picture of a set up I use sometimes. I did not use the light tent with these pictures and the front light with the snoot had the wide reflector on it instead, but the positioning is pretty close to how I shot this one. Where the tripod is sitting is about where I have my camera. It's a little dark, I just grabbed a shot one time and didn't set it up very well as an example, but it will give you an idea. I plan on doing some better example shots one of these times since I have been asked a number of times how I was set up. And a picture would save a lot of typing... or generate more questions. :D

http://www.sitnprettyphoto.com/display/setup5832.jpg

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Mike

[MarkoPolo]

Really intense color and a very nice shot. Thanks for sharing.

[mjordan]

Thanks Mark. And thanks for looking.

Mike

[Meerkat17]

Fantastic shot

David

[mjordan]

Thanks, David.

Mike

[RAW]

Thanks Wee.

Raw, The SP6400 is just a name for one of the brands of studio lights (also known as a monolight). It has it's own flash tube and a modeling light with a reflector on the front. They are called studio lights because mostly you see them in phto studios with large umbrellas or big square softboxes on them. You have probably seen some of the other brands that are available, Alien Bees and Photogenic, to name a couple. They come in different flash powers (just like a camera flash can be different power) to produce different amounts of light. The bigger your area, the more light you need.

For this set up, I had one of my larger lights to the right of my camera. This one has a 24x34" rectangle softbox on it so it creates a very large light source (as compared to the size of the flowers). The larger your light source the softer the light. I had my second largest light to the left of the camera. This light has a 24" Octogon shape softbox on it. The shapes aren't really that important, I just happen to have a rectangle shapped one and a almost round octogon shape one. I also had my smallest light in front next to the camera. On it I had a 18" wide aluminum reflector tht is also called a beauty reflector because it softens the light it sends out. There are wider ones but they start getting expensive for the really wide ones.

The key to what I was doing here was to light the flowers as evenly as I could across them. As it was, I still got a few bright highlights along the stems. If I remember right, I did tone down a few in Photoshop afterwards. You need highlights and shadows to give a 3D effect, but you don't want them to be real obvious.

Here is a picture of a set up I use sometimes. I did not use the light tent with these pictures and the front light with the snoot had the wide reflector on it instead, but the positioning is pretty close to how I shot this one. Where the tripod is sitting is about where I have my camera. It's a little dark, I just grabbed a shot one time and didn't set it up very well as an example, but it will give you an idea. I plan on doing some better example shots one of these times since I have been asked a number of times how I was set up. And a picture would save a lot of typing... or generate more questions. :D

http://www.sitnprettyphoto.com/display/setup5832.jpg

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Mike


Thanks again Mike, just for the time spent to explain to me you get my fullest thanks to you and when I see the photo posted makes me wanna cry about the fact that we still have people in this world that help one another and that have the purest heart inside...thank you. I found people like you in this forum and on other forums where I have been in the past who turned me into an even better person...cheers for the good people out there.

Please accept my best regards,
Artan


P.S.

I don't have the money presently to buy lighting for my amateurish studio but in the future when I will be ready to do so I will turn to you for help on deciding what lights to buy...thank you.

[Reigh Higgins]

Beautiful work !

[mjordan]

You are very welcome, Artan. I've been helped a lot over the years on this forum and others like it and I try to pass on that help to others when I can.

Reigh, thanks for the comments and looking.

Mike

[crc_408]

Very nice shot!
And thank you for sharing your lighting techniques.

[mjordan]

You are welcome, Chris. Thanks for looking.

Mike