View allAll Photos Tagged PaulCBuffinc
Day 106 of 365
"Ben......a Portrait"
Today's portrait is of singer, Benjamin Daniel. We thought we'd go for a simple portrait in front of my canvas seamless. Our key light is a large diffused umbrella at camera-left. There is a large strip bank behind Ben, at camera-right. If offers that edge of light on his cheek. Lastly, there is a snooted speedlight directly above Ben, just delivering a little hairlight. Simple, clean portrait. Thanks for stopping by!!
#benjamindaniel #singer #portrait #man #canvas #studio #topoftheworld #canon5dmarkIII #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #canon580exII #tamron70200
Day 221 of an Unknown Number
"Image 221"
If you have never used one of these, I probably don't know you. For those unfamiliar with our subject, it was a prop used in films up until the 1980s. Please notice the absence of an apostrophe. I used a two-light arrangement for this image. The key light is a strip bank at camera-left, and it supplies all the nice highlights in the telephonic device and stool. Then there is a snooted speedlight lighting the white (yes, white) background. I just wanted a little separation from the background blackness. I'm working on creating a clip which would allow me to wear the phone on my hip. I'm just worried the elastic cord will crimp the wrong way. Perhaps I'll just continue using my cell phone. Thanks for stopping by!!
#phone #telephone #alexandergrahambell #antique #retro #canon5dmarkIII #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #rotaryphone #pocketwizard #canon580exII #canon100macro #communications
Day 218 of an Unknown Number
"Image 218"
I just had the pleasure of working with McKenzie Westmore of "Passions", QVC and "Face/Off" fame. As "Face/Off (an awesome special effects makeup competition show) comes to a close this week, we thought we would shoot something a little less Syfy. You are looking at my DIY V-flat, of which I am very proud. Alright, you are not looking at my V-flat...but I don't care. McKenzie is wearing a velvet curtain which has been A-clamped in the back. As for the light, I had set up my large diffused umbrella at camera-left. However, when I saw the way her makeup was reading, I thought it my be interesting to remove the diffusion, and use the very specular silver interior. It was totally improvised, but I think it did a lovely job at adding a pop to the portrait. We shot about seven set-ups during our shoot, so there are more images to come. Oh, thanks to Julie Grace for the phenomenal makeup work. Thanks for stopping by!!
#studio #portrait #mckenzie #westmore #mckenziewestmore #faceoff #qvc #syfy #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #silverumbrella #canon5dmarkIII #canon24105 #pocketwizard #vflat #diyvflat #headshot #losangeles #bringbackfaceoff #juliegrace911
Day 54 of an Unknown Number
"Fridae"
I decided to have a little ice cream this evening! After struggling to scoop the frosty treat with a little spoon, I realized we recently purchased an ice cream scooper at our local restaurant supply store. Too lazy to go to the laboratory to fetch it, I got by with the spoon. The ice cream inspired me to photograph the scoop. I placed the contraption on my black plexiglass, and positioned a strip bank behind and above the device. I moved the light around in order to avoid any blinking highlights. While the image is essentially devoid of any color, I still converted it to black and white....just because I can. Thanks for plopping by!!
#icecream #cream #utensil #foodphotography #sundae #scoop #scooper #blackandwhite #canon5dmarkIII #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #stripbank #canon100macro #icecreamscoop
Day 202 of 365
"Portrait of a Button"
Today's subject was the only person available for a self-portrait. That's the way it goes sometimes. Let's ignore the subject, and just look at the light. First of all, yes, that IS my diy canvas background. Thank you for noticing. So, our key light is a gridded beauty dish, and it is at about a forty-five degree angle, right down the middle. A flag was used to block the top of the light, creating the shadow on the forehead. This was done to focus the viewers' attention to his mug. The next light is a ringflash on the camera. It fills in some of the shadows created by the rather harsh beauty dish, and creates that very light shadow against the background. When a subject is very close to the background, the ringflash creates that classic shadow around the subject. Lastly, a snooted speedlight was used to put a little additional light on the background on the camera-right side. Because the flag cancelled out some of the light on the top, this last light was employed to give a little separation between the subject and the background. In post I added a green tone to the background, and added a layer of an image of a rusted piece of metal. I then faded that layer, allowing just a bit of the texture to show through. Thanks for spending a tiny bit of your Saturday with me!!
#diybackground #canvasbackground #portrait #man #canon5dmarkIII #canon580exII #snoot #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #pocketwizard
Day 39 of an Unknown Number
"Self, Self, Self Portrait"
I almost didn't post this image. But......then I did. I won't comment on the content. Our key light is a large softbox at camera-left, as is evident in the eyes. To fill in the shadows on the camera-right side, there is a ring flash on the camera. It is the tiny dot in the center of the pupils. The concept came to me while staring in the bathroom mirror. Was I just born with extra skin? Can I donate it? While triggering the camera with my foot, I took three exposures as I stretched my face. So, there was a bit of work done in post. The only confusing part was figuring out which hands would be behind which hands. When that was decided, I simply masked out the undesired parts of hands. I don't have much else to say on the subject. Thanks for not staring!!
#face #portrait #stretch #skin #layering #canon5dmarkIII #canon50mm #hands #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #softbox #stretchface #plasticman
Day 324 of 365
"Image 324"
As I slowly lose mind while shooting my current job, an intriguing idea comes along on occasion. Part of the job involves photographing minute ball bearings (actually they make up a coating material), and when the little guys fall, they bounce like crazy. I thought, wouldn't it be fun to see how they would look while bouncing on a piece of black Plexiglass? That became another image which I may post at a future time. If your working surface is not completely level, these tiny balls go rolling all over the place, and on to the ground. In order to contain them, I grabbed a pair of tweezers. Once I saw the tweezers on the black surface, the tweezers became my new subject. I filled the tweezers with the little fellas, and moved my strip bank all around the place. If the light's reflection was seen in the Plexiglass, the background was white. If the light was not visible, the black Plexiglass was......black. However, if part of the light was visible, and some of it was not, one achieves this sort of watery look. That is what I wanted!!!! So, with my macro extension tube on my 100mm macro lens, I adjusted the focus, changed the height and angle of my lens, and experimented. This was my favorite. Thanks for rolling by!! To all you turkeys out there.......enjoy your Wednesday.
#ballbearings #plexiglass #canon5dmarkIII #macroextensiontube #canon100macro #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #tweezers #macro #macrophotography #abstract #pocketwizard #stripbank
Day 284 of 365
"Portrait 284"
When I'm not working in the dark, I'm basking in the sun's rays. Actually.....I hate the heat....and the sun. That's not true. Anywho, when I find an interesting bottle in the house, I feel compelled to photograph it. I don't know why those swirls are in there, but I HAD to photograph them. I was not sure how to approach an outdoor-based beauty product, but I figured sand would make sense. Quickly....to my cheap, leaking sandbag!!! Not only did the sand offer some context, but it also held the product in place. I thought about projecting a beach image on the background, but decided to go with a cleaner look. White and poppy!! Avoiding the family of angles which would otherwise cause a direct reflection into the camera's lens, I held a softbox almost directly over our subject. It provided enough light to light both the bottle and the sand. I knew I would be using a few layers, so the exposure on the sand was not essential. I then performed a little lightpainting. With a focused flashlight, I swept up and down along the label from above. Had I done it from the side of the bottle, the flashlight's reflection would be viewed. Lastly, I decided for no reason to lightpaint the sand with a purple gel over the flashlight. I figured that because the skin tones and purple are basically complementary colors.......it might makes sense......? Thanks for dropping in!!
#sun #bronzer #sunburn #sunblock #productphotography #bottle #sand #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #pocketwizard #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #softbox #swirls #lightpainting #beach #beautyproduct
Day 79 of an Unknown Number
"Image 79"
Everyday I see this dried trail of coffee along my mug. It has always reminded me of a still life painting from the Renaissance. I finally decided to paint it...with light. Our key light is a strip bank at camera-left. Because the light is relatively close to our subject, the light falls off quickly, leaving the camera-right side in shadow. Therefore, I used a bounce board to get a bit of light into the shadows. I thought that adding some steam to the image might add a little something, so I backlit the steam with a snooted speedlight. Because the light was so low, the back of the mug blocked some of the light, resulting in this severed cloud appearance. Though not intended, I liked it. For the record, that occurred in-camera, was not altered in post. Thanks for stopping by for a cup!!
#coffee #mug #cupofjoe #steam #mist #drink #beverage #foodphotography #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #speedlight #canon580exII #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #cloud #pocketwizard #villeroyandboch
Day 327 of 365
"Portrait of a Profiled Man"
Sometimes you don't ask your subject to do much more than to look to his right. You don't tell him to smile, you don't ask him to look at camera. You just light the subject and photograph him. That was the case with Benny. I have known Benny longer than I have NOT known Benny. We met early in college, and have been friends for many years. We have been friends for decades. Whoa. There is an Octabank in front of Benny, but his nose is lined up with the near edge of the light. That is what gives us the rim light, and that bit of light that creeps on to his cheek. I find the image more interesting as I stare at it. I find the line on his forehead interesting. I like that little highlight over his nostril. I really like the reflection of the light in his eye. I used a 100mm macro, shot at a 2.8, and just made sure his eye was in focus. Oh, I also like the curl of hair on his forehead. An interesting face stuck on the front of an interesting man.
#portrait #profile #blackandwhite #benny #studioportrait #canon5dmarkIII #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #octabank #pocketwizard #canon100macro #man #csun
Day 192 of an Unknown Number
"Image 192"
While I had committed to posting one image a day from that day, I had to make an exception. I was anxious to use my DIY V-flat, and thought that Penelope's dress would be a great contrast against the black board. There is a gridded beauty dish at camera-left, just left of camera. I pulled it back a bit, as it was only lighting her face when up close. While I had to raise the power on the strobe as I moved it back, it threw a wider pool of light. She struck a few poses, and we were done with this setup. Thanks for dropping by!!
#pose #vflat #portrait #woman #studio #whiteonblack #female #dress #canon5dmarkIII #canon24105 #pocketwizard #paulcbuffeinstein #paulcbuffinc #beautydish #grid #diy
Day 271 of 365
"A Shadow of Her Former Self", or, "The Early Bird Catches.....Death", or, "Bird's Eye View"
I stumbled upon today's subject as I was walking my daughter yesterday morning. When I spotted my little friend, I marked the spot and made sure to return to her later. I was not going to put her in my pocket, and didn't have a bag. What to do with a dead parrot.......o.k., it is not a dead parrot, but Monty Python was certainly the first reference that came to mind. I thought of simply shooting the bird against a black background and lighting from above. In fact, I did it, but thought it was a tad bland. Then I pulled out my trusty Light Blaster and shot an image of a sunny field on to the background. Not happy with the sky, I then superimposed an image of a better sky from Australia on to it. As for the bird's lighting, there is a strip bank directly above, and I then used a piece of foamcore beneath. I bent it in order to bounce some of the top light on to her belly, and a little on to the underside of her beak. Thanks for flying by!!
#bird #deadbird #deadbirdflying #bluesky #nature #outdoors #corpse #zombiebird #zombie #flyingdeath #montypython #birdseyeview #canon5dmarkIII #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #stripbank #stripbox #lightblaster
Day 267 of 365
"Time Inverted"
Once again I had no idea what to photograph for today's posting. Then, like an epiphany, I randomly spotted a miniature hourglass from a board game. I guess it is actually a minuteglass. How will we ever know? So, with my 100 macro on the camera, I placed a strip bank on each side of our subject. and gelled each one. The camera-left strobe has a doubled CTO (full orange gel), and the camera-right strobe has a double violet gel on it. They are complementary colors.....as you cannot see. With a shutter speed of 1/125th of a second (the fastest sync speed for my camera and strobes), I flipped the minuteglass in order to capture the falling particulates. Once getting to my computer, I realized that there was not enough color saturation for my taste. Then I thought (to myself), what if I simply reversed the colors, and took complete control of the color saturation? I agreed...and we did it. Thanks for spending some time with me!!
#hourglass #time #stoptime #strobes #sandsoftime #daysofourlives #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #inverted #negative
Day 355 of 365
"A Flip of the Hair and a Set of the Sun"
Today's portrait was stol......inspired by another photographer. It is basically a lesson in mixing of light sources. In this case, I used a beauty dish with an orange gel, and shot against the descending sun. I shot from low angle, as I wished to avoid trees and automobiles from distracting from my subject. I then proceeded to toss her hair in the air, and hit the shutter release. Once I had the "correct" exposure of the sky (it dictates the look of the image), I then raised or lowered the power of the strobe, creating the desired look. Thanks for stopping in!!
#canon5dmarkIII #canon24105 #portrait #girl #strobe #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #beautydish #sunset #clouds #sky #outdoorportrait #hairtoss #mixedlighting
Day 220 of 365
"Mona Lisa on a Thursday"
After a day at The Grove, what ten-year-old does not want to pose for a portrait? She actually volunteered to!!! Let's get to the lighting. Our key light here is a gridded beauty dish at camera-left, and it is tilted up a bit, in order to flag off some of the light from overexposing her white shirt. Next, there is a strobe with a CTO (an orange gel), just behind her left shoulder. It is supposed to mimic a bit of sunset after a long day working in the fields. Her friend (my niece) has a piece of bounce board, and is bouncing a bit of the key light on to the left side of her face. Lastly, my trusty Light Blaster (they really should be sending me free toys by now) is projecting an image of a sky and field against the white background. I first had her facing camera-right, but eventually thought that looking into the light was more pleasing. Thanks for stopping by!!!
#monalisa #painting #fields #bluesky #sky #portrait #studio #lightblaster #canon5dmarkIII #canon24105 #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #rimlight #canon580exII
Day 18 of an Unknown Number
"Tangled Vines"
While I am not much of a drinker, I do have a small collection of wine from my childhood. Of course it may all be vinegar at this point (I have some from 1990), but I am holding on to it for now. I decided to dust one bottle off, and shoot a quick portrait. I placed a strip box on each side of the bottle, and adjusted them until the highlights matched. Then, with a snooted speedlight, I lit the label all by itself. Lastly, I took one exposure with only the cork lit on its own. I just liked that little touch. Though not a complex lighting setup, I think it grabs the viewer's eye for a moment. Thanks for stopping in for a taste!!
#wine #alcohol #vineyard #tangledvines #cabernetsauvignon #sthelena #napavalley #californiawine #california #canon5dmarkIII #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #pocketwizard #bottle #winebottle #cork #coldspringsvineyard #howellmountain #canon24105
Day 219 of an Unknown Number
"123"
"She's ready for her closeup, Mr. DeMille." One might call today's image an extreme closeup. I used my macro extension tubes for this one, and it just makes things difficult. For starters, because the tubes are mounted between the lens and the camera, auto focus is not possible. Secondly, the depth of focus is so shallow that a minute movement causes the image to be dramatically out of focus. Though I first attempted to shoot my own eye, I immediately realized it would be easier to ask for a volunteer. Our model was patient, and sat for about five minutes as I held my breath, tilting the camera slightly forward or backward. Our depth of field is so shallow that one can see that the contact lens and the side eyelashes are in sharper focus than the iris. Our light source is a 36-inch strip light at camera-left. The reflection is clearly visible. I really like how the reflection of the eyelashes break up the reflection of the light. Fun stuff! Thanks for stopping by!!
#macro #canon5dmarkIII #extensiontubes #closeup #sunsetboulevard #eye #eyeball #iris #contactlenses #lens #paulcbuffeinstein #paulcbuffinc #canon100macro #pocketwizard #depthoffield
Day 115 of 365
"Kicking Dirt in My Own Face"
Todays' image really came to me in a vision.....though I was not sure if it would work. I guess it worked. So, there is a strip bank (a long, rectangular light modifier) at camera-left, wrapping around just enough to light the left eye. There is a snooted speedlight behind me, bringing up just a little exposure on the black seamless background (you can see it over the camera-right shoulder). In my hands is a piece of foamcore, and it is covered in dirt. With the camera remote in my hand, I tossed the dirt up, and triggered the camera. I like the bit of dust at the bottom, and the fact that some of the dirt is still in focus. This is one of the two I selected. Thanks for stopping in!!
#dirt #dirtface #portrait #manportrait #soil #dust #yousillytwit #canon5dmarkIII #stripbank #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #mudmask #pocketwizard
Day 272 of 365
"Portrait 272"
Sometimes photographers have to steal. Sometimes it is a concept, sometimes it is a crayon. Today's subject is a stolen crayon. Thank you, Mikey and Christina. If you are missing a crayon, I may know where it is. The inspiration for today's image was the technique of focus stacking. What you are looking at is a layering of about ten different images. Each one is focused on a specific part of the frame. When stacked upon one another, the image appears to be in focus, from top to bottom (or front to back). The reason for this technique? Well, when using a macro lens, there is a very small area in focus at a time when in so close to one's subject. The final image worked for the most part, though there are small areas where the image is still out of focus. If I were to have doubled the number of images, the photograph would have been considerably sharper. As for the lighting, there are three strobes working here. Our key light is a strip bank at camera-left, lighting our hero crayon. I filled in the shadows on the camera-right side with a piece of foamcore. There is a second strobe with a pink gel working the white background. Lastly, there is a finely snooted speedlight making the ball of light behind the crayon, in the center of the pink well. Thanks for focusing on this for a moment!!
#focusstacking #crayon #crayola #was #draw #drawing #macro #productphotography #canon5dmarkIII #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #softbox #canon580exII #canon100macro
Day 359 of 365
"In the Studio....Outside"
Why bring the studio outside, you ask? Why not?!!! The sun is located behind the fence at camera-left, and the son is located at the camera-left edge of the canvas. The SUN played no part in the lighting of this portrait. There is a large Octa bank at camera-left, and one of our subjects is looking directly into it. One of our subjects agreed to be in the portrait on the condition that we only take one exposure. This did not happen, and here are the results. This image has not been retouched. Thanks for swinging by!!
#familyportrait #outdoorportrait #canvas #family #canon5dmarkIII #mynewtripod #canon24105 #pocketwizard #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #octabox
"Hamlet in Your Face!"
I could lie and say that I shot this today, and post it as my image-of-the-day....but that would be uncool. However, I really liked it, so here it is. Our young model is positioned against my go-to painted canvas background, and is lit by a large softbox at camera-left. Simple.....but so impactful.........
#hamlet #shakespeare #stratforduponavon #will #skull #halloween #girl #portrait #studio #drama #stage #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #canon5dmarkIII
Day 64 of an Undetermined Number
"Image 64"
I thought I should occasionally post some of my current work...so here is some current work. This is Bronwen. She is an actress. She was in need of some new headshots. We shot a few different looks, but I like this set up for a punchy, bright portrait. There are five strobes working here, three of which can be seen in Bronwen's eyes. I created a triangle highlight in her eyes with three strip banks. They are surrounding the camera lens, and have been adjusted so that they don't intrude on the pupils. There are two additional strobes lighting the white seamless behind her. I like the horizontal orientation because film and television screens have a similar aspect ratio. Thanks for popping in!!
#Headshot #StudioPortrait #Portrait #Woman #Actress #Canon5DMarkIII #Canon241O5 #PocketWizard #PaulCBuffinc #PaulCBuffEinstein #Eyes #DailyPost #PhotoOfTheDay
Day 298 of 365
"Mouth of the Beast"
I was going to shoot today's subject in a vastly different method, but when I looked into its mouth, I knew I had to change tactics. The teeth were gnarly, and I thought I could possibly light the inside of the mouth as well. Much more interesting than my original idea!! So, there is a softbox just left of camera, and I light-painted the interior with a second exposure. I loved how the flashlight brought out the glowing purple interior. Again, I used my Fotodiox extension tube to allow me to get even closer to my subject. It allows for these extreme closeups, and a very shallow depth of field. Thanks for stopping by!!
#whatisthat #teeth #britishteeth #macrophotography #dental #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #softbox #pocketwizard #rose #flower #macro #fotodioxextensiontube
Day 225 of 365
"Portrait 225"
Her name is Tracy. She is my sister. She moved here from Germany. Now.....the lighting. Our key light is a gridded beauty dish at camera-left. It supplies most of the light on our lovely subject, and creates the highlights in the eyes. Next, there is a large strip light, high and behind our model. It makes the hair sing a bit. Were she a blonde, the hair would be glowing. Lastly, there is a ring flash on the camera. It just helps to fill in some of the shadows created by the key, and tosses a little light under the chin. Thanks for dropping by!!
#portrait #woman #studio #hair #hairlight #canon5dmarkIII #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #orbisringflash #beautydish #lipstick #canon24105 #pocketwizard
Day 201 of an Unknown Number
"Image 201"
Following my recent shoot with Penelope, I decided I would have to post at least a second image from our shoot. After all, we shot about eight different looks that day, and this was one of my favorites. With my hanging roll of polypropylene in place, I asked Penelope to start striking poses. There were several I considered posting, but something about this one caught my attention. It reminded me of something Josephine Baker might have done nearly a hundred years ago. Penelope was lit from behind with one focused strobe. The only challenge was to play with her distance from the roll of diffusion. The closer she was to it, the sharper the image. This is clearly evident by the appearance of her left hand. As always, it was fascinating to play with light. Thanks for dropping by!!
#silhouette #polypropylene #diffusion #canon5dmarkIII #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #canon24104 #pocketwizard #model #body #josephinebaker #kiss
Day 62 of an Unknown Number
"Flos Ignotum"
I spotted this flower on our freezing family stroll this afternoon. It is a rather small flower, but I thought it might be interesting under a macro lens. I lit it from directly above with a snooted speedlight. I placed a piece of foamcore underneath, just to fill in the shadows. Thinking I might go bright with this flower (I tend to go dark), I pulled down the white seamless paper. I planned to aim a second strobe at the paper, and blow out the background. My aim was clearly off, and it created a gradient. Upon noticing that dumb luck had a better idea than myself, I finessed the gradient, and came away with this image. Using the macro lens and extension tubes, the depth of field becomes very shallow. I focused on the center of the flower, rendering the near and far edges, as well as the stem, out of focus. Thanks for passing through!!
#flower #yellowflower #macro #macrophotography #flora #gradient #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #extensiontube #pocketwizard #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #canon580exII #yellow #studio
Day 344 of 365
"Still Life 344"
Today's image came to me when I realized that the trout I purchased the other day should be eaten very soon. I knew it could not be consumed until it had been exposed....to the lens....lens.....lens. I initially had it set on the black Plexiglass with my homemade brown canvas in the background. It was the traditional way to shoot it, and I actually did first photograph it in this manner. At the last moment, I decided to move the camera higher and shoot down on our little friend. While I'm not sure I made the correct decision, I definitely made A decision. Thinking of the great Dutch painters, I put a large Octa bank at camera-left, mimicking a window. I placed the edible props around our subject, and came away with this image. One fish, one light, one smelly piece of Plexiglass. Thanks for not turning up your nose!!
#food #trout #fish #foodphotography #stilllife #dutchpainters #canon5dmarkIII #canon24105 #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #octabox #softbox #pocketwizards #freshfish #plexiglass #garlic #citrus #lemon
Day 92 of an Unknown Number
"A Star is Bored"
I purchased my first starfruit the other day. I'm still not quite sure how to eat it. Anyway, it was time to photograph it. I tried shooting the broad side of it....and it was relatively interesting. Then I thought I'd shoot the end of it so it would be clear that it was a "star" fruit. I finally decided that the fin-like edge was most intriguing. There is a gridded strobe above and slightly behind the fruit. I then added a white card in the front in order to add a little light to the bottom. Because of the angle of the strobe, the viewer does not see the direct reflection in the black Plexiglass. Now I must figure out how to cut and eat the thing. Thanks for shooting by!!
#starfruit #fruit #food #foodphotography #stilllife #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro # paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #notmapplethorpe
You read that right! For some reason I still possess my first bottle of cologne from college. No, I don't know if it still smells good, but thanks for wondering. Yesterday I saw an image online of a similar ad, and I had to steal.........replicate it myself. The lighting could not have been easier.....though it was not easy. The bottle is laying on a piece of foamcore, and I positioned a snooted speedlight parallel and just above the bottle. The issue was of course how the light hit the bottle at different angles. By raising or lowering the light a few centimeters, the lighting would be drastically different. Once I was happy with the cologne rainbow at the bottom, I went in with 3 different exposures, highlighting (or shadowing) different aspects of the bottle. For example, at a certain angle, the liquid appeared rather swirly and interesting. In another exposure, the name was more appealing than in other exposures. After masking areas of the bottle, I was left with this final composite. Thanks for taking a sniff!
#obsession #cologne #productphotography #calvinklein #canon5dmarkIII #canon580exII #paulcbuffeinstein #paulcbuffinc #snoot #throwthatthingout #canon100macro
✨Models: Various
📷Photo and Retouch: Renaldo Creative renaldocreative.inspir3radio.com/portfolio
📷Camera and Lens: @canonusa
💡Lightstand and Reflector: @neewer
💡LED Light: @neewer
💡Light: @paulcbuffinc
💻Memory: @sandisk @lexarmemory
📍Location: North Carolina
Please don't remove my photo credits. © Renaldo Everett. All Rights Reserved.
Please comment, share, like, tweet, and pin.
✨Models: Various
📷Photo and Retouch: Renaldo Creative renaldocreative.inspir3radio.com/portfolio
📷Camera and Lens: @canonusa
💡Lightstand and Reflector: @neewer
💡LED Light: @neewer
💡Light: @paulcbuffinc
💻Memory: @sandisk @lexarmemory
📍Location: North Carolina
Please don't remove my photo credits. © Renaldo Everett. All Rights Reserved.
Please comment, share, like, tweet, and pin.
Day 259 of 365
"If Only She Would Talk"
What do you do when a friend/neighbor brings over a long-forgotten doll from yesteryear? Needless to say......it goes without saying. I figured I had to light her with a classic "monster lighting" setup, so I snooted a speedlight, and positioned it beneath her at camera-left. This uplighting was the classic Hollywood approach to lighting all of our favorite movie monsters back in the day. I knew I was going to use my Light Blaster, and went with a creepy house as our background. Lastly, I used a strip bank to provide the hair light. It is a three-foot strip, and is positioned above and behind our lovely model. I photographed her in an additional scenario, and will post it in the future. By the battery compartment in her back and the speaker in her stomach, it is evident that she spoke a long time ago. What did she say? I don't know....but I'll put in some fresh batteries and find out......if she she still has a voice. If she calls me by my name....I'm going to have to ask her to leave. That is, after putting on some trousers. Thanks for drifting by!
#doll #creepydoll #toy #monsterlighting #castle #hauntedhouse #lovethehair #canon5dmarkIII #canon24105 #speedlights #stripbank #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #canon580exII
Day 108 of 365
"Bees Revisited.....but Dead"
The bees are gone, and life goes on! However, when removing the tape from my composter, I discovered several specimens. Following a moment of silence, I realized they could not be tossed until I had photographed them. Don't judge me. So, with a few push pins and piece of styrofoam, I mounted our little friends for their final portraits. I've included two images for today's post, as I was undecided on which was more interesting. The first image is lit with an enormous (size is relative) diffused umbrella over our subjects, a snooted speedlight as a rim light from behind, and a ring flash on the camera. The ring flash gives us almost all of the light on the front of the bees, revealing the lovely stripes. To bee honest, I'm not sure the large umbrella did anything for the exposure. It was sort of a mystery. As for our second image, I only used the rim light (hair light) for this one. It just created a different mood. Alright, I think I've got the bee portraits out of my system!! Thanks for beeing patient.
#bees #beesinmybonnet #honey #macro #honeybees #beesonpins #nobeesdiedinthemakingoftheseimages #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #canon580exII #snoot
Day in the life of Lawrence Atienza moments via iPhone Instagram. follow me on Instagram at LAmoments ift.tt/21tBdnK or go to ift.tt/1iJkwdG to see my portrait and wedding work and ift.tt/1fyK4Qt for more commercial/editorial/high fashion images
Day 113 of an Unknown Number
" I Would Only Live on the First Floor"
One finds the most peculiar objects when one goes for a walk.....particularly when one tends to look at the ground while walking. I believe everyone in this area has one of these trees along the sidewalk, but I had never noticed the strange interior of the fruit they drop. I immediately knew this pod was crying out to be photographed. Who am I to ignore the cries of a......pod? Nobody!! So, there is a softbox at camera-left, and the light dissipates nicely as it does not reach the far side of our subject. Because I could not get a small light in close enough to light the layers of the interior, I decided to lightpaint the tiny levels. So, with a taped-off flashlight, I painted up and down during the two-second exposure. If I had it all to do again, I would have painted each level a different color. With that being said, my brain probably would have melted.....or exploded.....or BOTH! Thanks for stopping by!!
#lightpaint #tree #pod #treepod #canon5dmarkIII #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #pocketwizard #softbox #flashlight #longexposure #canon100macro
Day 267 of an Unknown Number
"Sucrosaurus"
The real reason the dinosaurs went extinct!! Cavities.......that is how it happened. There was no asteroid. Cavities. I recently acquired some sprinkles (Fancy, to be specific), and was looking for a way to use them. I had recently constructed this dinosaur with my daughter (the T-Rex is a 1:1 replica), and I thought the sprinkles could make for an interesting texture on the T-Rex. There is a diffused beauty dish at camera-left, and it delivers all the front light. The second light is a strobe directly behind our subject, and it is aimed at the white plexiglass behind our little friend. It lights the glass, and makes the background sprinkles pop. While I would not eat the clay.....I may very well eat all the sprinkles off the glass. Thanks for stomping by!!
#dinosaur #trex #sprinkles #fancysprinkles #dessert #candy #foodphotography #canon5dmarkIII #canon24105 #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #beautydish #portrait #playdough #googlyeyes #bigbang #extinction
Day 200 of an Unknown Number
"Up in Smoke"
When I was asked to photograph a pot plant a while back, I made sure to keep one of the leaves for a later shoot. I dried it in a 1924 edition of The Romance of Evolution......just because. I wanted to emphasize the shape of the leaf, as it currently adorns countless shirts, hats and tattoos in California. The edge definition worked perfectly, though it looks as though I poorly Photoshopped the leaf on to another layer. I beefed up the power on the single strobe (located behind and beneath our subject) in order to pump some light through the leaf, thereby revealing the color as well. At the last moment I decided the image needed a little something. So, I grabbed my trusty can of smoke, and pffted a waft of smoke behind the leaf. Due to the relatively shallow depth of field, some areas of the smoke are in focus, while others are not. I like that. Thanks for drifting through!!
#cannabis #leaf #weed #foliage #smoke # #marijuana #indica #edgelight #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #canon5dmarkIII #pocketwizard #canon24105 #rimlight #terpenes #fanleaf #cheechandchong #upinsmoke