Day 199 of an Unknown Number

"My Inferiority is Complex"

I believe I came up with the image's title before I thought of the image. I stuck a grid on a strobe, and played for the next thirty minutes in order to place the light in the correct spot. When working for a hard shadow (and shadows in general), there are a couple of things to keep in mind. First of all, a hard shadow requires some distance between the light and the subject. Also, a small light source is required, as one does not want the light to wrap around the subject, resulting in a soft shadow. However, given that my studio is approximately the size of a garage, I could only push the light back so far. In addition, the angle at which the light hits the subjects will dictate the the distortion of the shadow. While a more angled light location helped in separation between the subject and the shadow, it also results in a stretched appearance. As you may have guessed, this is a blending of two exposures. I made a point to maintain the same location, as I wanted the original shadow and the laughing shadow to remain consistent. In post, I simply had to swap out the heads. The grid on the strobe created the vignetted effect in the corners. Thanks for stopping by!!

#portrait #man #sad #sadman #silhouette #shadow #laughingshadow #studio #studioportrait #canon5dmarkIII #canon24105 #pocketwizard #paulcbuffeinstein #grid #paulcbuffinc #selfesteem #inferioritycomplex

Day 37 of an Unknown Number

"Image 37"

Today's image was a lesson in selecting a perspective. I decided I would photograph an onion skin I had stashed away for a future shoot. The only problem was, I had no idea how to approach the shoot. Should I shoot vertically or horizontally? Should I shoot the inner or outer side? What lens should I use? After some experimenting, I nixed the "shooting into a bowl" perspective, and walked around to the side of the skin. Much more interesting! That is to say, I think it was. Not only did I like the lines of the skin from this angle, but I also got to play with how our subject is perceived. What do I mean? Well, we are actually looking into the bowl of the skin, but from the side angle. Because of the way the human eye works, one might assume we are looking at the outer edge of the skin, and not the receding area of the skin. Because we perceive brighter things as being closer to the eye, our perspective is fooled a bit. The fact is, the far edge of the skin is brightly lit, whereas the near edge is almost in shadow. In reality, we are not seeing the outer edge of the skin at all, but our eye sees shadow, and therefore assumes it is the back edge of the skin. Make sense? In regards to the lighting.....you are looking at it! There is a strip box above the piece of black Plexiglass, and I changed the angle of the light until it made me happy. If I rotated the light a few inches either way, the onion skin would be floating in blackness. Are you still looking at it? Excellent. Thanks for stopping in!!

#onion #onionskin #skin #cells #macro #red #lines #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #plexiglass #vegetable #foodphotography #perspective #paulcbuffeinstein #paulcbuffinc #pocketwizard

Day 311 of 365

"Eye to Eye...to Eye.....to Eye....to Eye...."

Yes, I may have used my macro extension tube for this portrait. The initial concept for today's image was to freeze our young subject with a blast of canned air. If inverted, canned air becomes a freezer-in-a-can. Good times!!! Unfortunately, once frozen, our Musca domestica was unrecognizable. So, I went with the thawed version today. We used three strobes for this one. There is a softbox at camera-right, one at camera-left, and a ringflash on top of the camera. I really wanted to make sure to light all the intricate parts of the diptera's visage. Who knew there were so many parts to the face of a cyclorrhapha?!!! I attempted to focus stack several layers of our friend, but even the computer could not tell where on whisker stopped, and another began. Therefore, I only used two layers. The second one only defined the outer edge of the eyeballs. I have no idea why people are so disgusted by these things!! Thanks for flying by!!

#fly #housefly #disgusting #proboscis #insect #macrophotography #macro #closeup #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #paulcbuffeinstein #paulcbuffinc #rayflash #ringflash #pocketwizard #canon

Day 253 of 365

"Victory for Mankind"

I'm not saying that the electric fly swatter is the greatest thing since sliced bread.......but I've never witnessed a piece of bread kill and cook a fly at the same time. We shall let history decide. We have occasional periods of massive fly infestations, and we still don't understand why. I have carnivorous plants, we've used fly paper, spray, fly bags, I've fixed the screen, I've taped every hole to the outside world....but the flies continue to invade our home. So, I just discovered the electric fly swatter, and I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that it has changed my life. Ironically, there is not a single fly in the house, but I'm sure that will change in the near future. I should certainly digress. The lighting was accomplished with three strobes. I used my trusty Light Blaster to project an image of a bull's eye target on the white seamless background. Next, I positioned a speedlight with a purple gel behind and beneath the swatter. It is the complementary color to the foul yellow color of the swatter, so I thought they would work nicely together. Lastly, I tightly snooted a speedlight to light just the company's name. Very lastly, heed the warning on the tag....this is NOT a toy. Assuming the device used just enough zapping power to down a housefly, I had to play the role of human guinea pig and test it for myself. Have you ever smelled the odor of burning human flesh? Ok, it did not hit that hard.........but it hurt. Please be warned. Thanks for buzzing by!!

#flyswatter #bug #fly #housefly #electrocution #productphotography #bugzapper #deadfly #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #canon580exII #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #lightblaster

Day 172 of an Unknown Number

"Price of a Snack"

Unfortunately, I found today's model under our recycling bin. He or she had clearly been there for some time, and apparently had been caught off-guard during a meal. My apologies. The question is, what in the hell was our subject eating? It looks like an enormous snack!! I mean, he/she was partaking in a Fred Flintstone-sized tidbit!! I digest. Our key light was a strip bank at camera-left. Then a second strip was brought in on the camera-right side, just to fill in some shadows. I originally shot this with a ringflash, but did not care for the reflection. He/she was reclining on a piece of white Plexiglass. Thanks for stopping by for a morsel!!

#lizard #fredflintstone #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #foodphotography #animal #dragon #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #stripbank #studio #portrait #petrified

Behold, a masterpiece from my 👑cousin, created for The Many Faces of African Queens Project. Now The Many Faces of Black Queens Project. Armed with a Canon Camera, I captured this stunning shot against a white background. She nailed her makeup too!

✨Models: Geeky Model Chic

📷Photo and Retouch: Renaldo Creative renaldocreative.inspir3radio.com/portfolio

📷Camera and Lens: @canonusa

💡Lightstand and Reflector: @neewer

💡LED Light: @neewer

💡Light: @paulcbuffinc

💻Memory: @lexarmemory

📍Location: North Carolina

Please don't remove my photo credits. © Renaldo Everett. All Rights Reserved.

Please comment, share, like, tweet, and pin.

Yay!!!! Today is a milestone....about one-third of the way through the year!!! I hope I can think of a few more concepts. Anywho, someone was force......volunteered for a portrait sitting. Technically, she IS strapped into her chair, so she really had no say in the matter. With that said, she was smiling and laughing through the entire shoot. So why did I select this image? Because it was the vision I had before the shoot. The song, "Tears of a Clown" came to mind. Our key light is a gridded beauty dish, right down the center. Then my patented (no patent) strip lights are working both sides from behind. I love the rim lights on her chubby cheeks. She was an awesome participant today!! Thanks for hopping by!

#bunnyears #rabbitears #babyportrait #portrait #baby #girl #studio #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #striplights #boosterseat

Day 10 of an Unknown Number

"Image 10"

Today's image was a spec project. I was asked by a potential client if I could shoot a product in a style similar to their sample image. Though I was not paid for it, the shoot took about five minutes. Also, it gave me a reason to shoot something in the studio. We both win!! The sample images supplied all showed products with hard, crisp shadows on white paper. That made the assignment relatively easy to recreate. That is because hard shadows mean.....small light sources!! All I had to do was to position the key light at the "correct" distance to create the quality of shadow I desired. So, I placed a snooted (without grids) speedlight about four or five feet at camera-left, and it created the lovely shadow. If I had brought the light any closer, the shadow would have soft edges, and that was not the assignment. With that said, given the small size of the light source, I knew it would leave unattractive specular highlights on the glass. Specular highlights are simply the direct reflection of the light itself on the subject. I don't know about you, but I don't care for tiny dots of light in my images. Therefore, at the last minute, I brought in a strobe with a long strip light, and moved it in very closely on the same axis as the original speedlight. It delivers that fun swish of light at the bottom of the neck of the bottle. Had I had more time to play around with it, I would have brought the light directly next to the bottle, and it would have supplied a nice, even highlight along the entire bottle. Again, I was not being paid, and......nobody cares, aside from myself. In post, all I had to do was to mask out the bottle from the first image, but use the lovely, sharp shadow. Start to finish, the project probably took about twenty minutes.....but don't tell your client that. Thanks for stopping by for a drink!!

#skyy #vodka #alcohol #foodphotography #drinkphotography #bottle #blue #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #canon580exII #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #pocketwizard #stripbank #drink

Day 110 of an Unknown Number

"Image 110"

Is tomorrow Easter? Oh......right. So, I've been sitting on this image for a while. After coloring eggs for an egg hunt, my five-year-old says to her Jewish atheist father, "Here Daddy, take a picture of this!" The girl has a good eye. Long story short, this egg has been sitting around for a while. For the record, it does not stink at all. So, I stuck the egg on a black piece of felt, and positioned a small softbox at camera-left. Considering the size of our subject, I knew I would not need a large umbrella. I just had to make sure the modifier was close to our young model, as I knew I wanted the falloff on camera-right. In an effort to make the table and background go a nice dark shade of black, I shot at a relatively small aperture and bumped up the light output. I used the macro lens which allowed me to create the shallow depth of field. Aside from sharpening, nothing was done in post. Thanks for dropping by!!

#egg #easter #easteregg #easterisover #cobweb #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #macro #crack #pocketwizard #paulcbuffinc #paulcbufeinstein

Day 260 of 365

"Spoon Bending"

Any Uri Geller fans out there?!!!!! No? Alrighty, then. I was writing a potential client about photographing flatware, suggesting that we shoot against a black background, and not white. Because we typically define metal with the use of highlights, shooting on a light background can result in overexposed backgrounds. So, I thought I'd put my lighting where my mouth was......? I first placed a piece of plexiglass on top of a piece of black felt. This provided a shiny black surface on which to photograph my spoons. I then lowered a medium Octa almost straight down upon the spoons. An Octa is an eight-sided box of light. This large light source is literally a couple of inches above the spoons. This was done to fill as much of the reflection surfaces with the light. Because I was shooting with a 100 macro lens, my field of view is very small. Though the background is simply a piece of plexiglass on a top of a piece of black material, it is the direct reflection of the light that becomes our background. Without that direct reflection, the surface would truly be black....but then the lighting would most likely be very specular and uninteresting. If the camera were lowered a bit, one could see the end of the glass, and it would fade to black. Though the gradient was sort of cool, I decided to keep the surface consistent. I initially focused on the foreground tip of the spoon, but then everything behind the tip was completely out of focus. I then decided that the bend in the spoon was more interesting. I added the two additional spoons at the last moment, just for some symmetry. Thanks for dropping in!!

#spoons #silverware #flatware #reflection #tabletopphotography #productphotography #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #pocketwizard #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #octabank

Day 277 of 365

"Who Shall I Be Today?: An Ode to 'Westworld'"

My Body Kun DX Set (Gray Color Ver.) finally arrived!!! I know....it IS exciting. The little articulated action figure is used by artists to render specific poses. He comes with a gun, sword, and a laptop. The laptop is very imposing. Sure, he can shoot you or cut you up.......but he can also destroy your online credit. I have named him Super Choppy Martial Arts Credit Killer Man. As for the lighting......we have only one light working. It is a strip bank at camera-left, and it is aimed well in front of him, thereby allowing most of the light to pass Mr. Super Choppy Martial Arts Credit Killer Man. I wanted to show off his physique, and this lighting allowed his muscles to really show through. I used a piece of foamcore directly opposite the light, and it delivers that sliver of an edge light at camera-right. When I got him against the black background, I thought of the storage facility on HBO's "Westworld", where they keep the decommissioned robots. I am planning more scenarios with Mr. Man in the future. Thanks for chopping by!

#bodykun #figurine #actionfigure #martialarts #killer #geico #model #man #studio #portrait #westworld #dynamic #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #striplight #blackandwhite #pocketwizard

Day 328 of 365

"Balls and Bokeh"

Tinkering yet again with some of the products from an ongoing job, I am working on showing the scale of the company's products. These are the larger ball bearings used as a coating for some of their metal tubing. As I understand, some of these little guys were attached to the Mars Rover. I had envisioned a bouncing wall of these tiny spheres, but timing it was near impossible. I could have used my Mumford Time Machine to trigger the shutter off of the sound of the balls hitting the Plexiglass, but that is a whole production. I also didn't want thousands of tiny balls on the floor. Yes, one can slip on a few of these things. So, I focused on the tip of this pen, and corralled a few of the balls around the pen tip. As I dropped a pinch of them on the glass, one little guy managed to hide in the nib hole. Since I've been having so much fun with it, I attached my macro extension tube to my 100mm macro lens, and focused on the tip of the pen. Because the depth of field is so small, everything outside of that field blurs rather quickly. Despite what one might believe, I performed no post work on the image. The bokeh (the dreamy appearance of the out of focus balls) is natural, and works nicely with the reflection in the Plexiglass. Our key light is a strip box, very close at camera-left. One can see the white highlight in the edge of the tip of the pen. The second light is a bare speedlight, and it is bouncing off of a white seamless behind the piece of Plexiglass upon which the pen lies. I gelled the speedlight with a purple gel, and because the glass is simply reflecting the paper, the glass appears to be purple. The slight gradient from top to bottom is the result of the light illuminating the lower part of the paper, and the light dissipating as it reaches higher on the paper. Thanks for dropping in!!

#balls #ballbearings #marsrover #pen #macrophotography #depthoffield #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #macro #plexiglass #gels #purple #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #stripbox #pocketwizard

Day 322 of 365

"Image 322"

I was playing the mandolin this evening, and..............oh, that's not exactly true. Actually, I was using a mandoline while preparing dinner. If you don't have a madoline, go on the internet and buy one now!!! Not only are the good ones rather expensive, but they ALSO are extremely sharp, and you are likely to cut yourself just taking it out of the box. You can get one now at Williams Sonoma that used to be $313, and now it is going for a cool $249.95!! Reasons enough? Calm down. So, I was preparing dinner, I wanted matchstick potatoes.....but it gave me ruffle....things. I decided to make lemonade out of potatoes, and saved a slice for today's posting. I shot two different images, and went with the first. I have a new, sexy black piece of Plexiglass, and it seemed appropriate for my abstract potato portrait. Our key light is a strip bank at camera-left, and it is feathered towards the camera in order to prevent the light from leaking on to the white background. Why did I use a white seamless background for this image? Well, I'm still working on another job that uses a white seamless, and I was too lazy to swap it out for a black one. Fortunately for me, assuming you don't throw light on to an object, it will appear......................black, that's right!!! My second light is a snooted speedlight, and it is directly above our spud stud. It delivers the glow. I had one piece of my macro extension tube on my macro lens, and focused on the near edge of the tuber. Thanks for popping in!! As-salanumʿalaykum!!

#potato #chip #potatochip #mandolin #mandolinslicer #abstract #macrophotography #macroextensiontube #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #stripbox #plexiglass #spud #tater #vegetable

Day 335 of 365

"Still Life 335"

There is a great scene in "Papillon" where Steve McQueen's character, in an effort to ingratiate himself to the stranger, shares a cigar with a leper. When the infected man asks how McQueen knew that the man suffered from dry leprosy (the non-contagious version), McQueen replies, "I didn't." I love that scene! Anyway, the film came to mind when I saw this tiny squash in the kitchen. With a model with such texture to her dermis, the lighting makes all the difference. One obviously wants to accentuate the texture, not hide it. Also, this was a perfect opportunity to use chiaroscuro lighting. What the hell is that, you ask? Look it up! In reference to photography, it basically means to create a gradient from dark to light, and back to dark and light. In this image, the camera-left section of the background is dark, then the edge of the cucurbita is light, then it fades to dark on the camera-right side, then the camera-right side of the background is light. In this case, I believe the image explains the term better than I. Our key light was a strip bank at camera-left, and it is very close to the squash, and it is feathered to towards the camera, in an effort to prevent any of the light hitting the dark side of the background. Our second lights is a beauty dish at camera-right, and it is used simply to light the camera-right section of background paper. One squash, two lights, so many memories. Thanks for stopping by!!

#squash #vegetable #food #foodphotography #chiaroscuro #renaissance #lighting #papillon #stevemcqueen #canon5dmarkIII #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #striplight #beautydish #canon100macro #macrophotography #gourd

Day 163 of an Unknown Number

"Image 163"

I just completed a little DIY project. Actually, I half-finished it, and it is 7.5 feet tall. I made a V-flat! What is it, you ask? It is basically a black and white foam core wall that folds in the middle. It can be used to block light from hitting your camera, or as a foldable background. Very exciting stuff! I am going to make second one when I have the time. I managed to get this lovely woman to pose for me, as I am tired of being my own subject. She gave me about five minutes to complete the project. I asked her to step back as far as she could into the V-flat, and to give me her best melancholy expression. Apparently, all she had to do was to think of our morning with our five-year-old. Fun times!! Anyway, our light is a gridded beauty dish at camera-left. About half of the light is blocked by the left panel, and it is aimed at the camera-right side of the V-flat. This allowed for just a strip of light to hit our lovely model. I love it!!......the woman and the inanimate wall of foam. Thanks for stopping by!!

#portrait #woman #studio #vflat #studioportrait #canon5dmarkIII #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #canon24105 #pocketwizard #beautydish #grid

Day 159 of 365

"Rose Under Glass"

I recently picked up a can of Crazy Aaron's Liquid Glass.....and then I couldn't find it. Actually, when you open the can, you might think you were duped into buying an empty vessel. The stuff is completely clear, and has the consistency of a stiff slime. When rolled into a ball, it looks like your standard rubber ball. However, once it is allowed to relax, it sinks into a puddle of.......nothing. With that said, this is an image of a rose stuck in this goo on my shiny black tile. Oh, it is also standing vertically. The only give away is the outer edge and the tiny air bubbles along the stem and flower. As for the lighting, there is a large Octa at camera-left, right up against the tile. It supplies a majority of the light, and also delivers the highlight on the upper-left edge of the goo. There is a snooted speedlight at camera-right, and it is aimed at the rosebud. One can view the light falloff at the bottom of the frame. Thanks for stickin' around!!

#crazyaaronsliquidglass #slime #goo #rose #flower #floral #petal #leaf #superfineart #canon580exII #canon5dmarkIII #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #octa #pocketwizard #bubbles

Day 362 of 365

"Portrait 362"

Today's image came to me in a vision.......a vision in the form of my phone while looking at Instagram. That is to say, I was inspired by a fellow photographer. I was taken by the shooter's use of a red rimlight against a somewhat golden key light, and the dark eyes. I deconstructed the inspirational image, and along with my subject, we came up with this silly portrait. Watch out Tinder users!! Just kidding. I'm not even sure if I get that joke. On to the lighting!! Our key light is a strobe with a dappled reflector over our subject's right shoulder. It delivers the harsh light to the camera-left side of his face. Next, there is a strip bank with a red filter working on the camera-right edge of his mug. We had to play around with the power on this one, as we wanted some intense saturation without blowing out the exposure. Next, because I don't own a blue background, I was forced to strobe the grey paper with a blue gel behind our lovely model. It just offers enough light to separate our model's head from the background. Lastly, there is a ring flash on the camera, filling in the shadows a tad, and delivering the catchlight in the otherwise dead eyes. Thanks for taking a look!!

#portrait #man #studioportrait #intense #sad #redandblue #rimlight #canon5dmarkIII #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #canon580exII #rayflash #ringflash

Day 76 of an Unknown Number

"A Thing of Nightmares"

When your friend posts an image of a creepy-crawly recently found in their home, one naturally requests that said creature not be disposed of......right? Well, perhaps I am in the minority. The hand-off went down like a scene in a Grisham novel. We agreed to meet at the park.....we both have kids.......so it seemed plausible. She handed me the baggie with the insect, and I brushed the side of my nose. After that.....our kids played together, none the wiser. When I returned home, I quickly realized my model was........expired. Last time I do business with her! I slapped on a little (very little) makeup, and we prepared for our shoot. I initially shot from directly above, and while everything was in focus, I did not get a great view of this mug. So, I decided to go low, and lit from above with a long strip light. I tilted the light up on the front edge, resulting in the gradient appearance of the light. I feel it helps to force the eye to look more at our subject, and less at the overexposed background. I used my 100 macro lens along with my macro extenders on the lens. It creates a very shallow depth of field, focusing on just the face of this tiny monster. While the backside is also interesting.......he's missing a few legs. Thanks for creeping by!!

#creepycrawly #maybeacentipede #macrophotography #animal #insect #antennae #monster #creature #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #striplight #gradient

Day 288 of 365

"Enjoy the Flavor....Through Your Neck"

I've never once inhaled a cigarette!! I tried once in my youth, but it was unsuccessful.....and completely disgusting. However, when traveling, I enjoying picking up unique and eye-catching souvenirs. I found this pack in Thailand. The image on the pack brought to mind a warm country breeze, so I Light Blasted an image of such a scene on the background. The pack itself is lit from camera-left by a small softbox and speedlight. The pack is being lit by the back edge of the softbox, allowing the light to wrap around the pack, much like the way smoke fills a room when all the windows and doors are closed. The light is also positioned in this manner to avoid any of it from contaminating the lit background......much like the way in which the 4000-plus chemicals in cigarettes absorb the oxygen in a room. I kept the lighting simple so one could inhale the tang of the image. Thanks for taking a photographic break!!

#cigarettes #smoke #packofsmokes #thailand #visitthailand #vacation #productphotography #canon5dmarkIII #canon580exII #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #softbox #lightblaster

Day 207 of 365

"Portrait of Woman in Front of Canvas"

Today's portrait is of a woman in front of a canvas. We used three lights for this one. Our key light is a very snooted speedlight at camera-left, and it is just out of frame. It is focused directly on her visage (face), and nothing else. The closer the light, the tighter the focus. The second light is a ring flash (around the camera lens), and it fills in the shadows and lights her body. Lastly, there is a beauty dish lighting the background. The background light is actually supplying a little hairlight at camera-left, and that kiss of light on her right tricep. I actually did flag the light, but just a tad of light crept around and gave us the rim light. It ended up supplying a little separation. I don't mind it. Thanks for stopping by!!

#portrait #woman #ladyportrait #studioportrait #studio #orbisringflash #canvasbackground #canon5dmarkIII #canon24105 #canon580exII #pocketwizard #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #dress #whosthatgirl

Day 186 of 365

"Chalk Up!"

Anyone who knows me is aware that I am an avid pool player. In the days before children, my team actually made it to the nationals in Las Vegas a few times. Those were much simpler times. I digest. Anyway, I was playing last night, and an image came to me. My friend dropped a talc bag, and it made a lovely cloud when it hit the floor. Though I don't own a talc bag, I knew that I could get a similar image with chalk. My key light here is a strip bank, directly at camera-left. I used a strip bank because it is slim and vertical.....like my pool cue. I added a piece of white foam core on the camera-right side, just to fill in the shadows. A large light like a strip bank produces a beautiful quality of light, but it drops off quickly, leaving the camera-right side of the cue in the dark. The old Inverse Square Law at work! Lastly, I snooted a speedlight, and stuck it directly above the cue tip, looking straight down. This would guarantee that the chalk would be frozen when I snapped the shutter. While my shutter speed was only 1/125th of a second, it is the strobe that freezes the motion. I placed a small pile of chalk on the tip, blew on it as I snapped the camera remote, and came up with this. I believe I took ten exposures, and this was my favorite. Hindsight, I would have shot wider in order to capture the entire cloud of chalk. However, I also wanted to really go macro to show the detail in the chalk. Here is a happy compromise. Thanks for following my post!

#pool #billiards #poolcue #cue #chalk #poolchalk #tip #ferrule #sports #poolhall #canon5dmarkIII #macro #canon100macro #pocketwizard #mcdermott #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #stripbank

Day 127 of 365

"Future Cover Story for 'Fast Company'"

Today's portrait is of a young entrepreneur. While we are not sure if she will take on the role of lemondae vendor, President, archaeologist, or astronaut, she will inevitably grace the future covers of many magazines and journals. She is a neighbor and friend, and her two sisters will hopefully be future subjects. In regards to the lighting, we have two strobes working here. Our key is a gridded beauty dish, located just out of frame at camera-left. She is looking into the bottom of it. Please notice the light drop-off. The light extends to the top of her arms, then quickly vanishes. Lastly, there is a very large diffused umbrella directly above her. She is standing just inside the back edge of the umbrella, and the light just subtly separates her from the grey canvas background. I suggested how she might pose her arms, and she did the rest! If only all my subjects we so anxious and agreeable!! Thanks for dropping in!

#model #younglady #portrait #beautydish #fastcompany #entrepreneur #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #pocketwizard #smile

Day 52 of an Unknown Number

"The AL-X File"

This character has been haunting my thoughts for a few weeks. He has been laying on my desk, and I was not sure what to do with him. I took him to my laboratory, and stood him up on my patented (no patent) black Plexiglass. I set up a gridded strobe at camera-left, and it made for an adequate portrait of our little friend. However, why not experiment for a moment, right? I then moved my solo light behind our subject, but failed to get enough light on to the front side. Finally, I decided to place the strobe directly above our lovely model. It gave just enough light to illuminate the front edge of his body, and both sides of the tube. The initial exposure was very bright, and I almost settled for it. After I started to underexpose the image, it only then got interesting. The finished image reminded me of H.R. Giger's work, and I was happy. Thanks for visiting!!

#alien #xfiles #testtube #martian #wearenotalone #canon5dmarkIII #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #canon100macro #hrgiger #slime

Day 302 of 365

"You Don't Gnome Me"

Merry Halloween!! Without question, this is my favorite holiday. With that said, because of the little ones, I no longer get to dress up and party down. I digress. One of today's models is a very old, tired, creepy gnome. The other model is a cute, vintage doll. I thought I would go with a very simple concept this year.....and show less chest hair than last year. I just purchased a small reflector for my strobes, and I thought I would put it to good use. It is basically a deep bowl which fits over the strobe head, and tightly funnels the light forward. It is a small light source with lots of punch. I asked our gnome friend to pose while facing the light at camera-right. I held up a piece of foamcore, just opposite the light. It delivers that subtle edge to the gnome's camera-left side. I then had our friend step out, and I stuck my creepy mug in his place. With the identical lighting, I knew the faces would blend well...though not seamlessly. In Photoshop, I laid my visage over that of the gnome, and played around with blending modes. I wanted enough of my face to make the image gross, but enough of the gnome's to make it cute. Have a terrifying Halloween!!!

#halloween #gnome #doll #creepydoll #doubleexposure #canon24105 #canon5dmarkIII #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #reflector #stuffeddoll #vintage #troll #chucky #studioportrait

Day 291 of 365

"Edge of Vision"

Today's portrait is hopefully eye-catching.................nothing? I couldn't come up with a better title or opening. Anyway, as with yesterday's glass ball image, today's image was shot with my macro lens and my new macro extension tube. As I mentioned yesterday, holding focus is extremely difficult, as even the most steady human is not able to remain completely still during the manually-focused exposure. This was certainly the most crisp image from the bunch. The depth of field is so shallow that it is even difficult to find one's subject through the lens, as everything is blurry until you lean in, and suddenly something is in focus. Our young subject is directly in front of a softbox, and is positioned at the very near edge of the diffusion panel. She is probably about four inches from it. I wanted soft light, and quick drop-off. In some of the other images one can see the fine braids in the iris. I will post some of the other images in the future. Thanks for having a look!!

#eye #eyeball #cornea #macro #anatomy #closeup #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #fotodixpro #softbox #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffinc

Day 220 of an Unknown Number

"The Hottest Model I've Ever Photographed"

How hot, you ask? Well, she comes in at a blazing 1.2 million..........on the Scoville Scale. Sure, we may be talking Scoville Heat Units (SHU), but that is bloody hot. How hot is 1.2 million? Well, for comparison, a pathetic jalapeno comes in at a cool 2,500. Makes you think, huh? So, especially considering the times in which we live, I am always apprehensive to touch a model. However, in this case, I used rubber gloves.....for everyone's protection. Have you ever inadvertently rubbed your eyes or used the facilities after touching a pepper like this? I have......please don't do it. Our subject is currently chilling inside a dehydrator. As for the lighting, there is a gridded strobe at about 10 o'clock, delivering the hard shadow. I initially shot the portrait with a ringflash around the lens, but I went with the off-camera light in the end. Thanks for stopping by!!

#trinidadmorugascorpion #scorpionpepper #chili #chilipepper #foodphotography #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #canon5dmarkIII #scorpion #pocketwizard #canon100macro #redchili #capsicum #scoville #scovillescale #heat #hot

Day 19 of an Unknown Number

"Translum"

Today's image features a recent purchase. In front of our subject hangs a roll of Translum. It is simply a piece of diffusion in the form of thin, frosted plastic. It can be used as diffusion, a backdrop, and for silhouettes. I decided to test out the silhouette option....wishing to hide the subject . There is a bare strobe behind our model, and he is almost pressed up against the plastic. The closer the subject is to the material, the sharper the image. This is a multiple exposure, and I turned my head both directions after taking one exposure while facing forward. I can envision a multitude of uses for the material, and have just begun to experiment. What about a large hairdo? What about for nudes? Who knows? Thanks for passing through!!

#silhouette #diffusion #translum #savagetranslum #profile #portrait #studio #canon5dmarkIII #canon24105 #pocketwizard #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #multipleexposure

Day 40 of an Unknown Number

"Elizabeth"

Today's image had a brief evolution. After watching the opening ceremonies for the Winter Olympics (go, team!), I spotted one of the flowers in an aging bouquet in the kitchen. It appeared so symmetrical, I thought it might make for a purdy picture. With my trusty Plexiglass on the work bench, I flipped on my background strip light I had just used on a beauty care product shoot earlier today. The light created a direct reflection of itself, so the black went white. It was not very interesting. I then moved the light to camera-left, and I immediately liked the pink Dahlia against the black. As I was about to wrap-up my thirty-second shoot, I naturally thought that I should probably try to freeze the flower with some Dust-Off. For those of you who don't already know it, if you turn a can of compressed air upside down, it becomes a freezing weapon. I have frozen/burned myself several times with a can of Dust-Off. So, I inverted the can, and started spraying the flower. Within a few seconds it was frosting over, and I grabbed about four images. This was my favorite because the flower maintained its form for a few seconds before wilting. Also, I loved the frozen areas on the glass. It reminds me of a spot light on a figure skater. I hereby dedicate this image to the ice skaters at this year's Winter Olympics!! Thanks for drifting by!!

#flower #floral #flora #pink #ice #frozen #iceskater #winterolympics #dustoff #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #pocketwizard #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #stripbox

Day 43 of an Unknown Number

"The Unbearable Tranquility of Being in One's Own Skin"

Today's image originated as a red apple with a shark tooth in the side of it. Then something went terribly wrong. The apple by itself was not very interesting. Also, it was sitting on a white sweep I've been using for a product shoot I'm wrapping up. I then decided the apple should be sitting on something, so I brought in a miniature couch from a doll house. Unfortunately, the apple would not rest comfortably on the chaise. There was only one thing left to do......I would have to use......a potato. Suddenly, everything fell into place. The spud did just was he/she was supposed to do. It reclined, and relaxed through the whole shoot. A real pleasure to work with. As for the lighting, I wanted to go small, as though we were shooting a portrait in our subject's home. So, I handheld a speedlight with a small softbox over our starchy friend's head. It was aimed a little towards camera, as I did not want the background to go too bright. The one light not only delivers this beautiful hairlight, but it also partially lights the background, and bounces some light off the paper to fill in our subject's shadows. Then, my memory card crashed. Thanks, SanDisk. I then reshot the image. Our internet then went out for a period, and I lost this whole story. I'm quite sure the first version was hilarious!!!! Well, thanks for taking a seat for a moment!

#potato #spud #couch #chaise #recline #carbohydrate #starch #canon5dmarkIII #canon24105 #pocketwizard #paulcbuffeinstein #paulcbuffinc #canon580exII

Day 128 of an Unknown Number

"Talenti: Minute Serving"

This year I am making an effort to observe things at a new level. Where better to do that than in one's ice cream lid? Every time I open my pint-sized container of Talenti Peanut Butter....something, I have noticed the ice crystals on the inside of the lid. Today I decided to make an attempt at documenting the diminutive guys. Using my macro lens and my trusty extension tubes, I manually focused on the crystals...........and they melted immediately. I got off two exposures, and this was the first. The second image is of a tiny puddle. Not so interesting. There is a gridded strobe at camera-right, delivering the relatively soft shadows of our miniscule subjects. This is because of the relative size of the strobe head in relation to the minute crystals. The light source is rather small, but the subject is extremely small. Because of this, the light source is relatively large, and creates the relatively soft shadows. Thanks for taking a look!

#icecream #ice #crystals #icecrystals #talenti #sorbet #peanutbutter #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #extensiontube #macrophotography #snowflakes #snow #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #grid

Day 304 of 365

"Portrait 304"

Today's image is brought to you by my niece. Yet another tooth has fallen out! Can you guess how? I'll give you a hint.....Halloween. This is the actual piece of candy which extracted her molar, and I kept it in place for posterity. At her mother's suggestion, we kept it in a dish until I was ready to photograph the specimen. I used two lights to display the little fella. There is a beauty dish at camera-right, with a "sock" on it. A sock is simply an elastic piece of diffusion which goes in front of the beauty dish, providing a slightly softer light. It is moved in very close, delivering the subtle shadow on the camera-left side of the taffy and tooth. Lastly, there is a snooted speedlight in the background, with a purple filter on it. Purple is the complementary color to the yellow taffy, and I thought it would make the whole image a little more.....appetizing? Thanks for sticking around!!!

#taffy #candy #chewy #tooth #dental #dentist #yellow #sticky #foodphotography #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #macrophotography #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #beautydish #canon580exII #pocketwizard #treat

Day 273 of 365

"Ode to Alva"

Thomas Edison's middle name was Alva. This is a replica of Edison's 40w, 110v E26 base squirrel cage filament incandescent light bulb. I found it online (which is probably where he stole the idea from!!!!...I won't go there), and I had to have it. I initially started to set up to use multiple exposures in order to expose each part of the bulb properly. Then a light bulb went off, and I went another route. I exposed for the filaments (which glow much brighter than the rest of the bulb), and brought in a strip box at camera-left. It is at 1/128th power, and it delivers the obvious strip of light all along the edge of the bulb.....and the lighter version on the camera-right side. I now had the traditional photograph of a cool bulb. Sort of boring. I found a fern on my walk this morning, and at the very last second, decided to plop it in front, and then behind the bulb. I thought it worked nicely with the graceful symmetry of the bulb. Thanks for checking out my semi-bright idea!!

#edison #edisonbulb #thomasedison #inventor #dcinthehouse #incandescent #bulb #light #lightbulb #fern #plant #glass #filament #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #softbox

Day 270 of an Unknown Number

"Image 270"

He will be a professional soccer (football, to most of the world) player one day. Mark my word. He and his family were in the neighborhood, and dropped by for dinner. He graciously gave me about ten minutes for the shoot, and we walked away with this portrait. He was laughing in most of the outtakes. There were three lights working in this one. Our key is a socked beauty dish at camera-left, and it supplies all the light on his visage. At camera-right and behind G is a second strobe with a blue gel. I always like a rim light to separate the subject from the background. Lastly, there is a third strobe at camera-left, and it adds a more subtle edge to his right shoulder. Three lights, one faux hawk....and a hell of a lot of personality. Thanks for stopping by!!

#fauxhawk #portrait #boy #soccer #football #player #sports #athlete #rimlight #canon5dmarkIII #canon24105 #canon580exII #paulcbuffeinstein #paulcbuffinc #studioportrait #losangelespremierfc #adidas #attitude

Day 280 of an Unknown Number

"Jennifer"

I just had the pleasure of working with Jennifer. She is a real estate agent extraordinaire, and was looking for something a little different in a headshot. We shot several looks (including one in a real estate blazer), but this was one of my favorites. It is not an actor's headshot, nor is it exactly a corporate headshot. It is precisely that thing in between. There are three strobes working in this portrait. As one can see in her eyes, there are two strip banks, tilted to give a nice highlight. If you look very closely, you can see the white reflector beneath the lights, just filling in the shadows under her chin. Lastly, there is snooted speedlight behind her, aimed at the grey background. It provides a subtle halo effect, just giving a little separation from the paper. While the lighting was a little involved, Jennifer did most of the work, and made it easy and fun for me. Thank you, Jennifer!

#portrait #studio #headshot #realestate #woman #canon5dmarkIII #pocketwizard #canon24105 #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #snoot #canon580exII #realtor

Day 31 of an Undetermined Number

"Image 31"

Damn! Now I am going to have to perform some math in order to make sure that my day numbers are correct. Dan! Oh, that is today's subject's name. I figured I would include some current work in my posts this year as well. We will call our subject/client Dan.....because that is his name. He contacted me because he was in need of a new (more fresh than five years ago) headshot for a new job. For this iteration, we used a large softbox at camera-left. I then brought in a reflector on a stand, and scooted it in at camera-right. I also kept the strip light we had used for a previous look, and it provides the edge light on his right cheek. Lastly, there are two strobes working on blowing out the white background. I like the horizontal framing, as it allows for the feeling of some motion, and is a less static image. We shot an f./4.0, so his shoulder goes a little blurry, and his eyes get our attention. Thanks for letting me share, Dan. Thank you all for stopping by!!

#headshot #corporateheadshot #man #portrait #canon5dmarkIII #canon24105 #studioportrait #studio #dailypost #photooftheday #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein

Day 313 of 365

"Portrait of a Lawyer"

This is Jeffrey. Jeffrey is a lawyer. Jeffrey is a nice lawyer. I had the pleasure of photographing Jeffrey at his office. As is the case in most offices, there was not a lot of space in which to work. There is an old joke that ninety percent of photography is moving furniture. That was pretty much the case in Jeffrey's shoot. I brought my seamless paper, my hand-painted canvas, and a pop-up background. Naturally, we ended up using the wall. It is amazing what one can do with a bare wall, assuming you have some space and lights. Our key light is beauty dish with a sock at camera-left. By feathering the light, I avoided any of the light spilling on to the wall behind the good lawyer. I knew I was going to light back there, and did not want the light contaminated. It is just in front of Jeffrey, and is feathered to the wall at camera-right. I had to take down a painting from the 1980s (I'm not judging), and used the white wall to fill in the shadow's on our subject's left cheek. I then placed a pop-up fill card just under Jeffrey's chin. It fills in some of the shadows under his chin. The beauty dish is a relatively small light source, so bounce and fill help in some areas. Lastly, there is a snooted speedlight in the background, creating the halo-like light on the wall behind him. While I would have loved to have the room to insert another light to rimlight the camera-right side of his cheek.....there was no room. Sometimes having no options is an asset. Thanks for dropping in!!

#lawyer #jeffrey #horowitz #shermanoakslawyer #corporateheadshot #headshot #losangelesheadshot #lawoffice #portrait #canon5dmarkIII #canon24105 #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #beautydish #shermanoaks #suitandtie

Day 227 of 365

Today's portrait was taken on my niece's third day of school in the U.S. of A. She came home beaming with stories of yet another friend.......then I promptly asked her to pose as though she was surviving in the Dust Bowl during the Depression. She's good. Our key light is my gridded beauty dish at camera-left. I was going to go smaller with the light, but I couldn't help including her luxurious hair in the portrait. I then stuck a ring flash onboard, just to fill in the shadows, and to put that little dot of light in her eyes. Lastly, my old Light Blaster is projecting a creepy forest image on the background. All one needs for a portrait is some nice light....and a wonderful and cooperative model. Thanks for stopping in!

#forest #portrait #studio #woman #girl #lightblaster #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #beautydish #canon5dmarkIII #canon580exII #canon100macro #depression

Day 96 of an Unknown Number

"Too Many Cooks in My Kitchen"

So, I thought it might be interesting to photograph something through the tiny magnifier on my magnifying glass. I tried my finger, then a quarter. It was interesting...but not very interesting. Then I decided to skip the magnifying glass, and just employ my macro extension tubes. Then I brought in the leaf. The veins and structure looked rather nice against the black background. It was then decided that a drip of blood might add something to the image. I then went another direction, but it was too late to remove the blood. I then thought it could be fun to shoot a light through a comb. What would it look like? I didn't know until I tried. I angled the teeth of the comb to line up with the gridded strobe, as I needed to make sure that enough light got through to backlight the leaf. Because the backlit drop of blood lost all depth and dimension, I brought in a ringlight at the last moment. It clearly provides the circle of light in the drip. Because of the extremely shallow depth of field, I made a point to focus on the veins of the leaf, and let the blood drop go soft. So many ideas....such a little brain. Thanks for dripping by!!

#leaf #macro #blood #comb #hair #ringlight #rayflash #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #paulcbuffeinstein #grid #paulcbuffinc #blades #green #nature #structure

Day 204 of 365

"Bento Bugs or Cheese Plate: An Ode to 'Lost Boys'"

Now I know what happens when you miss one trash pick-up. The garbage becomes ripe for the creation of new life!!! Naturally, my first thought was how I might photograph (and wrangle) these little guys. My 4-year-old was anxious to assist in the collecting of our subjects, and even held the bowl of them up to her face, appearing to rock them to sleep. So cute!! As you may have heard (or experienced), these little critters smell EXACTLY like cheese. I opened the bowl when I was ready to shoot, and the waft of cheese was undeniable!! I nearly ate one....but somehow resisted the urge. Now for the lighting. I initially shot our lavae from a lower angle, and projected an image of a window pane on the white background. Unfortunately, this lower angle did not allow for a complete reveal of our tiny friends. So, I angled a strip box above, from about ten o'clock. You can clearly see the direct reflection of the box on the left side of the table. The larger source offers a clean, airy look to the image, and also avoids the potential overexposure on the spoon which could result from a small light source on a highly reflective, white surface. I took about twenty exposures, only adjusting the angle of the spoon and chopsticks in relation to the grain of the wood...and allowed the maggots (that's what they are) to do their thing. Thanks for sticking around to read this!!

#maggots #worms #larvae #foodphotography #cheese #canon5dmarkIII #canon24105 #studiolighting #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #stripbox #stripbank #bentobox

Day 13 of an Unknown Number

"Inner Superman"

The subject of today's portrait is a computer genius. My computer was doing some unkind things, and this man came to the rescue. Before leaving, he agreed to pose for a portrait. I gave him very little direction, but he clearly found his inner Superman. While he was not sporting it today, he's been known to wear a Superman shirt under his civilian clothes. The lighting seemed befitting a super hero. The rim light was supplied by a strip bank at camera-right. The hand-painted canvas background was lit by a snooted speedlight, and our on-camera fill was supplied by a ring flash. While I typically abhor a rim light lighting the edge of a subject's nose, I actually planned for it in this case. The shape of his proboscis does something nice with the light. We knew we would be going black and white, as the background canvas was too similar in tone to his skin. If you have a problem, and no one else can help, and if you can find him, maybe you can hire......The B Team!! Thanks for stopping by!!

#portrait #man #superman #superhero #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #pocketwizard #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #rayflash #canon580exII #studioportrait

Day 65 of an Unknown Number

"Image 65"

This is Eunice. She keeps my wife and myself sane......to some extent. She looks after our children on occasion. As she was heading out today, I asked if she would pose for a portrait. She was game...as I knew she would be. Our key light is a medium-sized deep Octa at camera-left, and it is feathered well ahead of her. This was done to give maximum wrap, and to avoid spilling much light on to the grey background. There is a white bounce board at camera-right, and it bounces some light into the shadows on that side of her visage. I initially had a second light creating an edge light on the camera-right edge of her, but I quickly pulled it after the first exposure. It was just too much for this simple portrait. I asked her to look into the light, and she did the rest. Thanks for stopping in.

#portrait #woman #studio #canon5dmarkIII #canon24105 #pocketwizard #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #deepocta #lookintothelight #blackandwhite

Day 55 of an Unknown Number

"Sciatica: My Fesse of Pain"

Last week I caught a case of sciatica. For those not familiar with the condition, it is excruciatingly painful. I would not wish it upon my worst enemy.....unless they were really a jerk....because then I would. As I compose this posting, I am punching my leg and stomping my foot....and not in a fun way. Anyway, on to the image. For today's portrait, I wanted to incorporate my pain......and make it really confusing. So, what you are looking at here is a piece of Plexiglass which is reflecting the image of a mirror, in which I am glaring. Make sense? Simply put, I am standing to the right side of my camera, which is pointed at a slight angle into a piece of Plexiglass on a work bench. To my right is a tall, thin mirror. I am staring into the mirror, at my camera, whose reflection is bouncing off the Plexiglass in front of me. That makes sense......right? There is a gridded strobe on a C-stand directly behind the Plexiglass (and directly in front of me), and it is aimed at the mirror at my right. I adjusted the light so that the strobe's reflection was looking directly at me. At the last moment, I tilted the camera slightly, and sprayed the mirror with water. Only part of the water is in focus, as I was shooting at a 2.8, and the mirror was not flush with my face, thereby creating a rather shallow depth of field. Is someone actually still reading this? Let me read it back to myself. Makes perfect sense!! Thanks for taking a look!!

#reflection #reflectionofareflection #selfportrait #plexiglass #confusingselfportrait #studio #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #canon5dmarkIII #pocketwizard #canon100macro #mirror #rain #blackandwhite #sciatica #painintheass

Day 319 of 365

"Portrait 319"

This is Dr. To. She is our daughters' dentist. My oldest does not know that she has two cavities. Their second meeting may not be as pleasant as their first. I digress. I had the pleasure of photographing Dr. To and her staff today. Her office is two minutes from our home. That is awesome. So, when deciding on a lighting scenario for corporate headshots for a pediatric dentist, a lot of ideas come to mind. It seemed logical to go with light and poppy. This is a four-light (should have been five) set up. Our key lights are two strip banks, making an inverted "V" around the camera. They deliver the distinct highlight in the eyes. Just beneath the camera is a pop-up white reflector. It fills in any shadows under the chin. Everyone benefits from that little bounce in the neck. At camera-right, over the good doctor's shoulder, there is a softbox, supplying the subtle rim light on the subject's left cheek. It is just a little something extra, and it separates her from the background. I used one (though I could have used two) strobe to light the white background. Knowing that the headshots would be relatively tight, I knew the second one was not critical, but would have made for a more uniform supply of light. It took three trips to the car to get all the equipment into the office to light this image. Ah, the irony of working with light. Thanks for popping by!!

#portrait #drto #smilingsea #shermanoaksdentist #pediatricdentistry #corporateheadshots #headshot #canon5dmarkIII #canon24105 #paulcbuffinc #paulcbufeinstein #dentist #pocketwizard #studioportrait

Day 275 of 365

"Under My Skin"

Today's image dawned on me......in the bathroom!! My daughter plays with this plastic onion....keeper.......preserver thing in the tub, and I realized that it has these cool ridges to it. My vision for the onion thing was that there would be a sort of sun-rising horizon in the background. I snooted a speedlight and positioned it behind our subject. Once that light was set up, I was most of the way there. Then I only had to decide how our subject would be lit. Because of the reflective properties of our plastic friend, I knew that specular highlights would be the issue. With that in mind, I moved my strip light from the side, and positioned it directly overhead, and then pushed it way back, and tilted it. This way there was a nice highlight on top, and the rear edge of the light would bounce off the Plexiglass sheet, and throw some light under our subject. I love that little highlight where the plastic meets the glass. I hope your eyes didn't burn!!

#onion #tears #preserver #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #canon580exII #pocketwizard #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #striplight #foodphotography #cry

Day 34 of an Unknown Number

"Portrait 34"

"Oh, fine!" was the reaction from my five-year-old when I asked if she would sit for a portrait. Every time I ask her sit for me, she says she will on the condition that I only shoot one photograph. I never agree to this, but she still attempts to depart after the first exposure. She then insists on reversing the rolls, and tells me how to pose. She is not bad...though I will not reveal the outtakes. While I typically post the more serious images of her, I thought I would go with a sillier one this time. Our key (and only) light is a deep Octa at camera-left. The reflection can be seen in the eyes. I have her close enough to my grey background that it gets a little light. At camera-right is a bounce board, supplying that subtle edge of light on her cheek. I could stare at this portrait all day. Thanks for taking a look!

#smile #portrait #redhead #girl #studio #canon5dmarkIII #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #pocketwizard #dimples #octabox