Lighting seemed to be a big theme for me on Friday’s visit to Princeton. I noticed it as I was editing the photos. I thought I’d dedicate today’s blog post to it.
I love this old campus and the architecture…the fine details in things like lighting, doors, decorative details blow me away!
To view more of my HDR or Tonemapped Photography click here: http://jenweaverphotography.smugmug.com/gallery/3868580/1/238418792
Firstly I needed to share this because it’s so me!
Today I spent another couple hours walking around Princeton University taking multiple exposures of the campus as well as the beautiful church on the campus which became my favorite part of the day for photos.
A few hightlights from today’s visit to Princeton University. I stopped in the huge church on campus and got some wonderful HDR shots:
To view more of my HDR or Tonemapped Photography click here: http://jenweaverphotography.smugmug.com/gallery/3868580/1/238418792
That’s right…I was working on photos from July of this year! I’m determined to clear out this backlog of photos since the weather prediction for the next 3 days is RAIN!
Kite flying over Liberty State Park:
My sister and I visited Weehawken, NJ and Liberty State Park to capture the NYC skyline. I edited a ton of skyline shots from Weehawken back in July but there were many that I didn’t get to. Here are some from Liberty State Park that I worked on today.
The view from Liberty State Park.
The view of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty from Liberty State Park:
CRR of New Jersey:
CRR of NJ is located within Liberty State Park. It’s an old train station which was converted into Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty ticket office.
A couple others from today’s editing:
My family Christmas:
What would a photographer be without their camera during the holidays…well it wouldn’t be me!
These are my favorites from Christmas day. I shot them with the SB800 flash (mostly) pointed straight at the ceiling. What a great light it creates in the room when you bounce the flash!!
I love this one of my Mom:
My Cousin (he loves to make this face for photos):
My Aunt:
My Aunt & my Cousin (her son):
My Mom and the “gravy” (yeah, we’re Italian…we call tomato sauce “gravy”):
One of my favorites of the day… My Grandpa who we got to smile/laugh.
The pic of him I took before this one…looked like quite the grumpy gramps.
Ed & Amy:
And of course…every year I make the family pose for a group shot (thank goodness for a tripod and a remote shutter release!):
Wow this website is filled with great information:
Lighting Essentials:
http://www.lighting-essentials.com/
Also, another DIY treat for those who want to save money on a diffuser:
http://www.diyphotography.net/just-fab-s-turkey-pan-beauty-dish
DIY Studio Lighting – The Strip Light That Won’t Strip You
http://www.diyphotography.net/the-strip-light-that-wont-strip-you
A link to 150 great blogs abput photograohy
http://chasejarvis.com/blog/2007/11/150-of-your-favorite-blogs-and-my-new.html
AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST - This just may be the answer to my backdrop hanging woes! A compression pole from the Home Depot! Watch the video on this site to see how wonderful this invention is for us DIY photographers!
PHOTO STUDIO COMPRESSION POLE
http://www.diyphotography.net/photo-studio-compression-pole
After you watch the video in the one above and you get the idea – THEN CHECK OUT THIS POST - THIS may be the answer for me! I’d prefer to not have to put the one above together and this one also lets you place it on a diagonal.
“THIRD HAND” Lighting Pole
http://www.diyphotography.net/home-studio-third-hand-lighting-pole
So, it looks like I might be purchasing a set of these soon:
http://astore.amazon.com/diyphotography-20/detail/B000067S12/105-0886295-3838818
In the Christmas spirit here are couple Christmas tree ornament macros I just edited from yesterday:
My table is all set up for Christmas day tomorrow… 
A few of my favorite decorations:
My mom gave me these salt & pepper shakers for my Birthday Saturday…I love snowmen and these are too cute.
Can you tell I adore snowmen??
And this is my tree:
Comic courtesy of http://www.whattheduck.net/
Did a lot more reading today…didn’t take a single photo today though.
I upgraded the virus scans on our 2 PCs and our laptop…that’s about all the fun I had today (NOT!)
I didn’t even edit a single photo…:(
Some reading on brought me to these articles which I thought were interesting:
The art of portrait photography
So you’re interested in portrait photography, and you want to know what separates snapshots from art? Here are the things blogger/photographer Eric Hamilton considers vitally important:
http://www.dilvie.com/2007/11/art-of-portrait-photography.html
16 Inspirational Portrait Photography Techniques
by Brian Auer
http://blog.epicedits.com/2007/12/10/16-inspirational-portrait-photography-techniques/
Photoshop Techniques
by Brian Auer
Today is my birthday!
Didn’t do much in the day but we’re going out to dinner tonight so I’m looking forward to that!
In the mean time I was keeping busy with my birthday macro lens.
I took a shot of an eye and the surprise was that you could see a reflection of me taking his photo in the eye! I loved it!
I’m calling it:
The “I” in His Eye
Also Santa Claus came to my town today and I snapped a shot:
I know it has nothing to do with the above topics but I just edited these shots of an ice sculpture we watched in Bryant Park in New York City from last week’s visit.
I haven’t taken anything new in a few days…haven’t had much energy for it. Instead I’ve been editing a lot of the New York City series I took last Saturday.
Tonemapping the single RAW file has produced unbelievable results. When I compare the before and after it’s an amazing difference!
This photo from Times Square has become another favorite of mine from the day mainly because I love how the sun is shining in the top left of the photo and then the light literally makes its way across the street like a spotlight.
Spotlight
Muted City
More of my Tonemapped and HDR photos can be found here: http://jenweaverphotography.smugmug.com/gallery/3868580/1/234754647
Lady??? Liberty
Lady in the City
I forgot to mention that when we were in the city we spotted ELVIS!
Yes, ladies & gents – ELVIS is alive & kicking in NYC! He was sporting a giant clock around his neck heading for McDonalds!
Santa also made an appearance at the Wall Street Journal in triplicate:
On another note have you ever wondered why you should use LAYERS in photoshop? I certainly have!
I found some links that help explain Photoshop Layers and I just realized I have a lot of reading to do!:
http://www.art.ncc.edu/courses/art130/unit3/layers.htm
http://www.webdesign.org/web/photoshop/photoshop-basics/introduction-to-layers.10947.html
Tonight I edited some of the New York City photos I took last Saturday.
When it came to the architectural shots I tonemapped the single RAW image to get some great simulated HDR shots.
I got to this photo and and I stopped in my tracks when I saw the shot after tonemapping!!! Take a look at the skyscraper on the left! The sunlight shining on the building created a…..HEART! I couldn’t believe it!! This was not maipulated!!! I completely LOVE it!
I’m calling it: I HEART NY
Some other favorites from NYC from this editing session:
Some people shots I really liked:
THE BREAKER
PORTRAIT
NYPD
I couldn’t decide between the following 2 effects on this photo:
So tonight I was practicing again (2nd day with the new Macro lens)…but I just can’t get the lighting right with the bulbs I have. I know it will take time to figure out but I hate the learning curve!
I will be seeking more advice on the best way to light the lightbox so I can avoid a ton of post processing! It’s just too time consuming!
For practice I decided to photograph things that I felt were meaningful to me.
The umbrellas were the gift that was given to all of the guests at my wedding shower:
My husband and my wedding rings:
A bracelet that was given to me by my friend’s mom before she passed away:
Was in my hair at my wedding:
Beaded jewelry hand-made by me:
Also, I took these for my brother-in-law’s birthday:
To view my MACRO Photography gallery click here: http://jenweaverphotography.smugmug.com/gallery/2753011
Well, it’s not my birthday yet…it’s Saturday. But my Birthday/Christmas gift has arrived today from B&H Photo.
I haven’t tried it yet…I know…you’re asking “why???” That’s so unlike me! Well, other things have gotten in the way of trying it but I think I will go and try it right now….
More to come in this post if I get a few shots off.
OKAY! I CONVINCED MYSELF! Even though I’m dead tired!
I just went and used my new lens for the first time! I shot for about 20 minutes and tis the season I went with mostly Christmas ornaments for the test shots.
These are unedited straight out of the camera….so that means I haven’t worked with the white balance and it may be off in these shots. I’m still experimenting with various lightbulbs and camera settings (and the flash).
These were shot in the new lightbox with the flouresent setting for the white balance on the camera, the Gary fong cloudy filter on, and the flouresent bulbs in the lamps.
And some non-Christmas items:
<a href=”http://jenweaverphotography.smugmug.com/photos/233600770-L.jpg
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Today I worked on my Do-It-Yourself Lightbox for photography. Below I detailed all of the supplies purchased, directions, as well as illustrations.
**CLICK EACH PHOTO BELOW TO VIEW LARGER**
SHOPPING LIST
The first thing I did was visit the HOME DEPOT. I purchased the following items (below is my actual receipt minus the foam board)
(they charged me for 4 large clamp lights rather than 2 large and 2 small so I had to get that adjusted…so the bill will be a few dollars cheaper)
THE BREAKDOWN
(1) 6 plug power stip
I purchased a really cheap power strip to make plugging in the 4 clamp lights easier.
(1) package of utility masking tape (white)
I visited the paint section at Home Depot to find the whitest colored masking tape I could find. I chose a tape approximately 2 inches wide. I read in another DIY tutorial that you should stay away from duct tape because the heat from the lamps will make the glue very messy. Masking tape is nice & lightweight and if you need to, you can take the tape off to re-adjust (but be careful if you take it off because it can rip off the top layer of the foam board!).
(2) small (5.5 inch) utility clamp lights
(2) large (8.5 inch) utility clamp lights
(For illustration purposes I am only showing one of each)
I was able to get 2 sizes of clamp lights as suggested by another DIY tutorial I found. I’m sure you could go with all 4 of the large size but I wasn’t sure how large the box would be in the end and I wasn’t sure if it would accomodate 4 large size clamp lights. The larger clamp lights say you can go up to 150 watt bulbs in the lamp and the smaller clamp lights suggest that you do not go over a 75 watts bulb.
5 Sheets of Foam Board 20×30inches
I purchased a 3-pack of sturdy foam board (also called foma core or foam poster board) size 30×40 inches ( I didn’t find 20×30). If you go to the local Staples, Office Depot or craft/art store you should be able to pick up large sheets for just a few dollars each (or find a 3 pack!)
Another suggestion I saw was to purchase the (premade) 3-sided science-fair-type boards to save yourself the work of taping the sides to the back.
(4) 100 Watt Light Bulbs
(Note that the smaller clamp lights do not recommend bulbs above 75 watts)
The only bulbs I could find at the Home Depot in 100 watt were the soft white but others recommend 100 watt Daylight Bulbs. I agree the daylight bulbs would work better — after testing the soft white light bulbs I found they have too much of a yellow cast to them. With your eye the bulbs may all look the same but the camera picks up different colors from different lights. It was mentioned on another tutorial that you can always use a flash and bounce it off the top of the box but some find that sometimes this is too much light and they get by well with just the clamp lights and no flash. I’ve heard that some people like to experiment with hand held florescent lights. They say it gives off a cool color.
OTHER
(1) T-Square which I did not have so I used a yard stick (a large level would work as well)
(2) Sharp Razor knife
STEP BY STEP
1) Cut the foam boards
If you were unable to find boards 20×30 inches and you were only able to find 30×40 inches you will need to cut the boards in half as I did. I marked the board at the 20 inch point…
…and then I used the box cutter/razor to cut the board in half with the yard stick as my guide.
The edges weren’t the smoothest after I cut the boards in half but I think I needed a sharper blade. Smooth edges are very important when trying to line the boards up later for taping!
I know it’s overkill but here are the results after cutting the board in half:
2) Now get ready for taping the sides to the back board
*You might want to ask someone to help you when you are taping the boards together.
Hold the boards horizontally (20 height and 30 width)
*It’s hard to explain but I will try my best…When you are taping the 2 side boards to the back board you will want to hold the side board edge in front of the back board when taping. Do not tape the edge of the side boards next to the back board or the top will not line up later.
This is how the taping looks from the back:
Once you tape the sides to the back board this is the result:
3) Now tape the top and bottom boards to the 3-sided board you already created
You will have some overhand in the front of the light box but you can trim that later.
4) Trim the overhang
I trimmed the overhang using the yard stick as the guide (you’ll need to rotate the box on it’s side to do so). I decided to leave a little overhang (about 2 inches) so I have somewhere to clip my clamp lights.
(Pleaes ignore my terrible jagged edges)
Other DIY tutorials I saw cut the over hang off completely and you literally cut out a section of the left and right sides so that the clamp lights are more into the light box. I’m still experimenting and did not want to do that until I tested the box out. This is an alternate example I found:
5) This is what the light box looks like with the overhang cut back to 2 inches hanging over the sides:
6) Attach your clamp lights
I’m not expert on lighting so you will need to figure out how to adjust the clamp lights.
6) Plug your lights in and turn them on!
7) Pick something to photograph!
Alternate Options or Additions to your lightbox:
I read about cutting a 3-sided hole (flap) in the top of the lightbox if you like to shoot the object from a top view. If you cut a hole in the top of the box, this is possible. Be careful not to cut too much, you’ll want to score the part you don’t cut, that makes it bend with ease. I haven’t done this myself but I wanted to mention the option in case you were interested.
Also you can cut a square into the sides of the lightbox and cover it with a sheer fabric so that you will be able to side light your lightbox as well. The fabric can be a white muslin fabric found at your local arts and craft store or people suggested other fabrics like White Nylon. You can use masking tape to secure the fabric to the sides of the box in case you want to try out different fabrics.
THE RESULTS
These 2 examples were taken with the soft white light bulbs and the flash on with the bounce aimed towards the inner top of the light box.
As I mentioned earlier I didn’t like the results of the soft white light bulbs so I adjusted the RAW file in Adobe Bridge to get it to look closer to what I was interested in seeing.
(Note: I mistakenly had the ISO at 1600 for the 2 below so they look grainy when you enlarge)
I tried some compact flouresent bulbs to see if they gave a different effect. I only had 60 watt compact florescents so I tried to see what I could get with 4 x 60 watt bulbs.
I also did some tests with adjusting the white balance to the flourescent setting on the camera while using the compact flouresent bulbs. Even with that change I still had to adjust the 2 photos below in Photoshop so that there wasn’t a yellowish cast.
Getting the lighting right will take me some time and research. I want to get it perfect because I don’t want to be forced to adjust each and every photo I take in the lightbox. If you have any advice on how to properly set ths lighting portion up and what to set the camera (Nikon D80 with SB800 flash) please let me know.
I also read that you should be able to take the photos with the 4 lights and no flash while setting your camera up on your tripod. I tried that as well but since I didn’t have the right light bulbs in my results were not what I wanted at this time so I used the flash for these 2 shots with the Gary Fong Lightsphere on (the cloudy colored cap was on) and used my tripod.
TIME NEEDED
I’m not sure of the exact amount of time it took for the total project because I completed the projet throughout the day. I’d leave at least 1-1.5 hours.
REMINDERS
*Be careful when you with the foam boards when placing objects in and out of the lighbox. The foam boards seems very easy to scratch or mark up and make scuff marks. You’ll want to be very careful and make sure the bottom of the object is clean so that you will avoid the pain of having to clone out marks in photoshop for each and every photo.
*4 lights can be a bit heavy on the front of the lightbox so I suggest placing something on the top/back of the lightbox (not too heavy) to balance out the weight on the front of your lightbox.
PROBLEMS I NEED TO RESOLVE
*I will be on the hunt for the proper light bulbs and information on how to set the camera properly for these types of shots.
*I need to solve how to avoid seeing the seam/crack where the two boards meet together (between the back board and the bottom board). Unless you are looking diagonally downward over the object you are photographing you will see the the seam/crack in your photos. You can painstakingly remove it in Photoshop or you can find a way to avoid it.
I’ve read that people have used a tape to make the area curved but I think you will see the tape! I also read a good idea which was to purchase a piece of regular poster board and tape it in a curved angle from the back/top of your lightbox to the front of your bottom board. This will give you a smooth curved appearance for your background.
I’m going to stop at the local office supply store and puchase the posterboard and try that option.
Here is an example of a simple way to make a home studio which is even MORE simplified then mine: http://www.diyphotography.net/homestudio/cheap-homemade-diy-studio-no-lighting-needed
THANK YOU AND PLEASE COMMENT!
Thanks for reading my step-by-step tutorial. I hope it works for you!
Please drop me a comment on this post to let me know what you thought of it. If you decide to make one for yourself please let me know how it worked for you as well as any suggestions that you may have for me!
Today my husband and I made our way into New York City.
The weather was freezing cold to spend hours walking around the city streets but we bundled up and made our way on the NJ Transit train into Penn Station.
Once we got there we made our way around the city to see the “touristy” sights of the Christmas season. We saw the Empire State Building, Macy’s window displays, Time Square, Bryant Park, Grand Central Station, Rockefeller Center & the tree, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, St. Barts, and Radio City Music Hall. We also saw our share of some great “people” sights. A random Elvis, Statue of Liberty People, breakdancers, Santas, various musicians, street artists, a large Doggie, an Elmo (LOL!)
We had a great time even though we coudn’t feel our extremities! LOL!
I’ll try to post some photos as I edit them. As of right now I started at the end to edit the night photography:
The Empire State Building
Radio City Music Hall
St. Patrick’s Cathedral
Rockefeller Center
St. Barts
Grand Central Station
More of my night photography can be seen here: http://jenweaverphotography.smugmug.com/gallery/2753068/1/232758801
BTW:
Tonight when I got home I bought all of the ingredients to create my very own DIY Lightbox at The Home Depot (4 utility lights, 4 100 watt lightbulbs, light colored masking tape and a power strip (I had foam boards already).
I will try to photograph the entire process and post it on tomorrow’s blog post. I have some websites I will be using to reference and let’s just hope I get it right!
This series is from the hour I spent last Saturday on the Princeton University campus. I don’t see a lot of architecture that is as beautiful as the craftsmanship of these buildings too often!
In Black & White:
To view all of my HDR Photos click HERE.
Last weekend I finalized my Christmas card. I decided to do another “make your own” card of one of my photos.
The past 2 years I had my Black Lab Lucas on the card…one with a Photoshopped Christmas hat and last year he was sitting in front of the Christmas tree.
I decided to not do another Lucas card so I photographed my ornaments on my tree and picked my favorite one…show below:
Some that weren’t chosen for the card:
Some good news! My husband ordered my Birthday/Christmas gift from B&H Photo. On Monday my Nikon Telephoto AF Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR (Vibration Reduction) Autofocus Lens should arrive! I can’t wait!!
I’m looking forward to creating my own softbox (hopefully over this weekend) and working on Macros to make my own Birthday Cards/Special occasion cards for family & friends like I do for Christmas every year. I think it’s a great way to send them something personal while saving the $4.00-$5.00 that card companies charge!!
I want to find cardboard cards that have the open hole in the front where I can slip the photos into. Otherwise I have to figure out how else to make the cards. I haven’t done any research yet on the best ways to do it but I’m sure once I search ideas will come out of the woodwork.
Ok, this post is not about global warming (as the title might suggest) but it is about a Greenhouse!
I stumbled upon this lovely broken down greenhouse the same time I found the old barn that I posted yesterday. They were both on the same abandoned street…. I’m tellin’ ya…it was creepy!
It was completely fenced in all the way around with no way to enter (darn it) but I stood in the field that was next to it because it was a bit of higher ground and I was able to get above the fence in a lot of the shots. Other ones included the fence in the photo but I didn’t mind it at all (kind added to the strange abandoned place).
“Not so long ago, an evil doctor genetically engineered some plants in the greenhouse. Shortly thereafter, the evil doctor, his plants, and the entire neighborhood vanished….” (written by a fellow forum member for these pics LOL!!!)
That’s a huge turkey buzzard on top of the chimney…
Central New Jersey Photographer specializing in children's, family, engagements, & high school senior portraits.
If you're interested in booking a session please contact: jen@jenrinaldiphotography.com
Website: http://jenrinaldiphotography.com/
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