Week 45: Think Outside the Ring
By: Dani Benton
Tags: blue, color, complimentary, curls, curly, DOF, eye, green, hair, orange, pocket wizard, Portrait, purple, ray flash, rayflash, ring flash, sb-900, scarf, Self Portrait, shallow, shallow DOF, strobe, Strobist, wrap
Category: Photography
| Aperture: | f/13 |
|---|---|
| Focal Length: | 50mm |
| ISO: | 100 |
| Shutter: | 1/0 sec |
| Camera: | NIKON D80 |
These past few weeks have been a struggle with headaches.. seems like I’ve had a headache every day. Not quite migraine intensity, but similarly sensitive to sound and light. So.. I’ll do my best to not sound grumpy 🙂
I’ve had the (loose) concept for this week’s shot in my head for a while now. It’s just been a matter of time. When I say loose concept, what I mean is.. I know it will have to do with my eyes and a scarf. That’s about how much I like to plan these weekly self portraits..
The theme lent itself well to the technical concept I wanted to try. I love the Ring Flash, and I love the look it can give. It’s intended to be mounted onto a speedlight, which is then mounted to your camera. It brings the light down, away from the top of the camera and disperses it evenly around the outside of the lens into a ring of light, creating a signature style of a nearly shadow-less face.
Here is my previous Ring Flash portrait, here.
So… what happens if you put the Ring Flash onto a speedlight… but don’t put the speedlight on the camera? I set out to find out.
I got out my favorite, softest, biggest, longest (and oldest) scarf I own. A present I received about seven years ago, and still remains my favorite scarf to wrap around me three times before venturing outside on brisk mornings. It’s shades of blue. Perfect for a warm / cool color combination.
I set my camera on a tripod and figured out how I would be positioned. My black fabric backdrop is hanging behind me. The only light in the photo is from the Ring Flash, eye level, camera right, nearly at a 45-degree angle. Fired with Pocket Wizards.
So the Ring Flash test? I love it. It still created the signature “ring” in the eyes. But it lit the subject very well, creating soft wraparound shadows.
Thanks for looking,
dani
www.danimouser.com
www.danimouser.wordpress.com
www.flickr.com/danitello
www.facebook.com/daniphotography
www.modelmayhem.com/1624265
dani photography : weekly photo challenge 
Leave a comment