One of the many things I have wanted to do since I started on this camera journey was to get some portraits of the girls in shadows. My bedside light casts some great shadows on the girls, but I've never been able to really capture them - slow shutter speed and no tripod (because I'm usually sitting in bed when I try to take the pictures) have led to a lot of unsuccessful attempts. However, after some emailed conversations with my father and brother, and much reading on the internet, it became clear that that way to go about this was with an off-camera external flash.
I definitely have a lot to learn, but my initial attempts today give me hope that goal of getting photos of the girls in shadows might actually become a reality.
Of course, my first attempt resulted in a very good mug shot for Fi. A little bright. And my model is a little surly looking. But look at that snooter! What a great snooter!!! *ahem*
This next photo was actually intended. I have no doubt that it can be done better than it was done here, but I like the windows in the background, like somehow this photo was naturally lit (it wasn't, but that was the effect I was going for). Not perfect, but I like it.
In the same room, it was fairly dark, and while this isn't one of the 'shadowy' photos I am 'shooting for', I still like it.
However, THIS photo is definitely on the right track! I posted this to my crazy dog lady group on Facebook with the comment that I now have photographic proof that Abby has a dark side! I really like the half-light, half-shadow, but I LOVE that bright eye of hers! There are certainly things I can do better with this (and I will), but I am really pleased with this photo!
This photo is also along the lines of the 'shadowy' look I'm going for. I think I'd like to move the flash in a bit so the background isn't so light (and I'd like to move it down, so it's not just the top of Fi's head that is catching the light), but I really like the softness in her face and eyes.
There are some issues with this photo (like the unfortunate location of that wall right behind Abby's snooter), but I really like the soft light but the sharpness of the photo.
Now that I know how to make the flash and the remote trigger work, I have to learn about flash strength and how to compose photos, and all sorts of other stuff. But that's what makes this all so fun - the stimulating of 'zee little grey cells' to mis-quote Hercule Poirot.
Day 61/365.
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