I had to shoot this job twice as the first attempt was very unacceptable. Initially I tried to shoot with 4 500w halogen lights, although 2,000 watts of light sounds like a lot it was not enough. Due to the slow shutter speeds the pictures were grainy, soft focused, and the halogens cast some really harsh shadows. Add in to the mix I had some pretty bad setup as well and you can safely say that the whole shoot was a disaster. Here is a photo from the first shoot. Needless to say, just about everything is wrong. The only good thing about the photos was the slow shutter speed allowed both the equipment and the laptop to be correctly exposed.
[attachment 13985 b1.jpg]
I then bought 2 JTL VersaLight160's and a flash meter. Wow, what a world of difference having the proper lighting makes. Also, I was able to learn from the setup mistakes of my previous shoot. Here are the pictures from the second shoot. These photos are going to be used in their company catalog.
This photo gave me some problems with the strobes. The strobes completely wiped out the computer screen. I had to shoot two photos, one with the flash, and one metered to the computer screen without a flash. I layered them together in Photoshop.
[attachment 13984 p3.jpg]
This photo came out very well. The color and sharpness should jump off the page in their catalog. Man, I am a huge fan of strobes now.
[attachment 13986 p4.jpg]
This photo photo is worlds ahead of the non-flash version that I had previously taken. Having the right lights really made this simple shot come alive.
[attachment 13983 p2.jpg]
Obviously I used Photoshop to modify the backgrounds. These photos were taken in a small, cluttered shop with just a bed sheet over a table and another bed sheet hung on a wall for a background. Equipment used was a Canon 20D, Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 lens, 2 JTL VersaLight 160 strobes, and a Konica Minolta flash meter.
[attachment 13985 b1.jpg]
I then bought 2 JTL VersaLight160's and a flash meter. Wow, what a world of difference having the proper lighting makes. Also, I was able to learn from the setup mistakes of my previous shoot. Here are the pictures from the second shoot. These photos are going to be used in their company catalog.
This photo gave me some problems with the strobes. The strobes completely wiped out the computer screen. I had to shoot two photos, one with the flash, and one metered to the computer screen without a flash. I layered them together in Photoshop.
[attachment 13984 p3.jpg]
This photo came out very well. The color and sharpness should jump off the page in their catalog. Man, I am a huge fan of strobes now.
[attachment 13986 p4.jpg]
This photo photo is worlds ahead of the non-flash version that I had previously taken. Having the right lights really made this simple shot come alive.
[attachment 13983 p2.jpg]
Obviously I used Photoshop to modify the backgrounds. These photos were taken in a small, cluttered shop with just a bed sheet over a table and another bed sheet hung on a wall for a background. Equipment used was a Canon 20D, Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 lens, 2 JTL VersaLight 160 strobes, and a Konica Minolta flash meter.
