Sony A7x lounge

navydoc wrote in post #18363920
Thanks Carlo. I used a strip softbox on the left (bottle right) that I just got today and my 24" square softbox on the opposite side. I had a black cloth hung from a picture frame as the background and a black foam core board as the 'stage'. I'll probably get a 2nd stip box so that I can match both sides on my subject. I was supposed to have 3rd flash delivered today but it didn't arrive so hopefully, I'll have it by Monday.

For this shot, as I did on the Bacardi 151 bottle, I placed a piece of stiff gold foil paper that was glued to a square of styrofoam and shaped like the bottle behind the bottle to reflect light back through the glass.

Definitely post the pull-back shot of the set-up next time! I'm always interested in ways people are shaping light...there's really an art to it.

idsurfer wrote in post #18363926
I love that feature.

Both of those metering modes are really cool. The metering to the highlights mode is really useful for outdoor portraits so I don't blow out the sky.

Until I get the other items I want to shoot glass with, here's a pullback of the simple setup I used for the Bacardi shot. A black cloth is hung from a picture frame for the background and I used a black acrylic sheet as the 'stage' sitting on a wooden kitchen cart. Softbox on one side and bare flash firing through a round diffuser opposite. You can see a bit of the gold foil paper cutout behind and above the bottle from this angle. I also had a piece of gold paper behind the glass. I used tea and acrylic ice cubes in the glass.

This pullback shot shows more detail with a dark background. Try viewing it by clicking on the pair of glasses at the right of this post.

Alright one more a6500 test I did that I'll share with you guys. High ISO test.

a7rII of course fared better, but not by as much as I thought it would. There's visibly more noise in the a6500 but nothing that makes more breaks the image. Like the a7rII, the noise in the a6500 is very uniform. No banding, no visible chroma noise, and the color fidelity is still good (blues still contrast well against tungsten lights)

a7rII @ ISO6400:

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/Vdft​9k

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/TYCw​mt

Carlo, Have you rented the a6500 for a trial? Thanks for your comparisons between the a6500 and A7rII!

Here's a quickie shallow Dof shot of some lavender with the a6500 + cheapo E50 1.8.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/UC55​VG

I decided to backlight the bottle of white wine shot. I added a new layer on top and using a large, soft brush at 20% opacity, made the circle of light. I picked the color from within the bottle. Using the quick selection tool, I created a selection of the bottle and deleted the backlight over the bottle. Then by clicking on the chain icon on the layers panel, I separated the mask from the light. That way, I could move and resize the light without affecting the masking of the bottle.

I blurred the backlight and using the transform tool, resized and relocated the light to where I thought it looked best.

idsurfer wrote in post #18364158
Carlo, Have you rented the a6500 for a trial? Thanks for your comparisons between the a6500 and A7rII!

Here's a quickie shallow Dof shot of some lavender with the a6500 + cheapo E50 1.8.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/UC55​VG Lavender. by Cory Shuler, on Flickr

I borrowed it from a friend who is a Sony APS-C guy.

I'm really impressed with the a6500 and am pretty much sold on this being a complement to the a7rII. I say complement instead of back-up because it has some notable upsides vs the a7rII. APS-C cameras have come a long way from my old T1i days.

navydoc wrote in post #18364181
I decided to backlight the bottle of white wine shot. I added a new layer on top and using a large, soft brush at 20% opacity, made the circle of light. I picked the color from within the bottle. Using the quick selection tool, I created a selection of the bottle and deleted the backlight over the bottle. Then by clicking on the chain icon on the layers panel, I separated the mask from the light. That way, I could move and resize the light without affecting the masking of the bottle.

I blurred the backlight and using the transform tool, resized and relocated the light to where I thought it looked best.

Hosted photo: posted by navydoc in
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forum: Sony Digital Cameras

Really cool. Every try firing a gelled and flagged speedlight into your backdrop?

mystik610 wrote in post #18364196
Really cool. Every try firing a gelled and flagged speedlight into your backdrop?

Thanks. I would, and will when I get my new flash. Adding a light in PS isn't too big a deal or I could also take the time to take multiple shots with the flashes I have then blend in PS since everything is locked down. The easiest way is to just use a separate flash for the backlight to begin with as you suggested of course. My new flash is "out for delivery" and will be my 3rd flash. I'll be able to have each flash in its own group so I can control them independently from the camera using the Nissin Air 1 Controller.

Gene what was your gimbal again? is it only for the Sony ActionCam or also for compact cam like the Panasonic LX100?

vinmunoz wrote in post #18364270
Gene what was your gimbal again? is it only for the Sony ActionCam or also for compact cam like the Panasonic LX100?

Vinz, I got the Feiyu Tech GM-G4-S 3-Axis Gimbal for Sony Action Cameras. I don't know how it compares with other gimbals but for as little as I use it, the price was within reason.

Here's the link to it on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com …_detailpage?ie=​UTF8&psc=1

Another time lapse .. a6500 with 16-35 f4.. in flushing meadow park , Queens nyyes another day of gloomy clouds

I think I finally got it figured out ..

well for me , seems i'm getting better results with LR and PRemiere pro ..
i'm hoping to start a project , now that I have it figured out , settings in camera and Post ...
will try and make the next one more than just a few second clip

vinmunoz wrote in post #18364270
Gene what was your gimbal again? is it only for the Sony ActionCam or also for compact cam like the Panasonic LX100?

The Zhiyun Crane is widely commented as being one of the better gimbals on the market. If you're going to use one for your LX100, the Crane M is an option and it's more affordable than the regular Crane ($400 or so for the M, $580-650 for the regular Crane).

This was my 1st test using a 3rd flash. For this shot, I wanted to try and put some red light on the edge of the wine bottle and glass to emphasize the red wine inside. I used a gridded 7" reflector with a red gel in front at low power to add the rim light. The rest of the scene is lit by the two softboxes placed to the side and slightly in front of the bottle and glass.

I'd like to soften the light striking the sides of the bottle and glass so there isn't such a hard line and will have to figure out how to place some kind of diffusion material in front of the softboxes.

Here are the shot and a pullback. You can see a portion of the diffuser I used in front of the red gelled light in the back.

For now, I'm still using the black bg but will change that up too depending on what type of bottle I shoot.

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