The Munchkin's Notebook

I’m still stuck at home, just like everybody else.   So that means no models thus more self-portrait work.   For this most recent self-portrait, my inspiration was Roman Empresses and to add a bit of challenge I used Rembrandt lighting. Light Set Up For this shoot the background was some window blinds and lighting was provided by one 430EXIII-RT speed light with a Lumiquest soft box attached.   The speed was set at a ¼ power with 24mm zoom. The speed light was placed on a light stand located 15 degrees left of center and raised above me and pointed down. The camera which was my Canon 80D with an 18-200mm lens was positions at 45 degrees right of center and pointed at my face. For this self-portrait session I used ISO 100, with an aperture of f4.0 and a shutter speed of either a 1/125s   or 1/250s and at focal lengths of 24mm and 28mm.   There were two challenges to creating this photo. The first challenge was getting the lighting right and the seco...

Since all of Ohio is on a stay at home order currently,   I thought I would update my headshot and take some photos of the potted tulips my husband bought me.   Lighting Set Up I used the same set up for both my headshot and tulip photos.   For these shots I was sitting on our couch or had the tulips sitting on the couch.   I placed a speed light with a small umbrella on a light stand to the camera’s right pointed at the subject.   When I was shooting myself, the center of the umbrella was slightly above the center of my face with a slight downward angle. For the tulips I angled the light down towards them, since they sat lower than me on the couch. The flash was set to a 35mm zoom and   1/4 power. I also had a silver reflector on the camera’s left to reflect some light to reduce the hard shadows.   (See image to left.) I used a Canon 80D, with 18-200 mm lens and a cable trigger.   I shot myself portraits and the tulips at ISO 100. F...

ISO 100, Aperture F8, Shutter 1/100s, Focal Length 18mm On February 9, 2020 I worked with the lovely Vida Muerta , to shoot an ivy and red flower headpiece I made last year and never got to shoot.   This is turning into an annual thing with Vida Muerta and I shooting in late winter when it is cold out.     For this session we shot at Oakes Quarry Park, because they still had some snow on the ground and in the trees.   I used my Canon 80D, an 18-200mm lens,   two speed lights (one as a flash the other as trigger), and one light stand. I kept the set up simple to allow for easy movement around the area. For this session I shot 100 frames, edited 61 images, and delivered 30 final images.   All frames were shot at ISO 100, with all but 10 frames were shot at an aperture of F8.   My shutter speed ranged from 1/50s to 1/250s with most frames being shot at 1/100s.   My focal length ranged from 18mm to 50mm, with most frames being shot at 18mm...

Time for the annual Katsucon Wrap up.   This year I only shot in the morning and afternoon,   I determined doing evening shoots was just too much for me. Yes, I’m getting old.   So, this year I booked 17 sessions,   of which four canceled the day of the convention due to flight, health, and prop issues, thus I did 13 sessions total.   I shot 1447 frames across two days. The most prevalent focal length used was 18mm, which was used on 55-percent of the shots.    The most prevalent shutter speed used was 1/250s which was used on 26-percent of the shots. The most prevalent aperture used was F5 which was used on 37-percent of the images. Finally, the most prevalent ISO used was ISO100 which was used on 45-percent of the shots.    Of the 1447 shots, I edited 1,069 images which is about 73-percent of the total shots taken.    Of the edited shots, 213 images were hall shots, which is an increase from last year due to canceled sessions an...

The year of 2019 was a busy year between running the Dayton-Columbus-CincinnatiCosplay Photo Shoot Group (DCC) which celebrated its 1-year anniversary,   making headpieces, doing several one-one studio shoots, attending conventions, working on a Masters degree, and getting a new position at work.   The first half of the year did not feel busy even though I was set up group shoots for the DCC, did several one-on-one creative sessions, attended a convention, and went on vacation to the Galapagos.   It wasn’t until I started my Masters program that I felt like I got busy and had no time.   The master’s program basically ate my weekends, due to having to write papers. However,   I did finish 9 of the 12 classes in the program in 6 months so I should finish that before June 2020.   Due to working on my masters, I did not shoot as much in the second half of the year as I did in the first half of the year.   I’m hoping once I’m done with the master’s pro...

On December 8 th ,   I participated in one of the Cincinnati Female Image Makers group shoots .   The theme for this shoot was White Out and it was held at Locust & Vince Studios in Cincinnati.   This was a small group shoot that lasted only an hour,   with four models and four photographers, we shot round robin style so that everyone worked with everyone.    It was a nice little group shoot,   the models were nice and it let me step away from hosting a shoot, and my school work.    (I’m in the middle of taking master’s classes, that is why the blog hasn’t been being updated as frequently.) For this session I shot 242 frames, edited 147 frames, and delivered 70 final images.   For this set up I used a Canon 80D, with an 18-200mm lens,   a light stand, a two 430EXII-RT speedlights (one was acting as a trigger/transmitter only) and small 9x9 inch LumiQuest softbox.   I was glad I brought the flash and softbox, because ...

ISO 400, Aperture F9, Shutter 1/250s,  Focal Length 18mm On November 10   I hosted a meet up of the Dayton-Columbus-Cincinnati Cosplay Photoshoot group at the Maple-Beech Lodge in Blacklick Woods Park which is part of the Columbus Metro Park system.   This event was the last event of the year and included a small basic posing workshop.    We had 6 cosplayers, 6 photographers, and 2 assistants attend, so the cosplayer to photographer ratio was relatively good.   I gave the short posing brief.   After the brief I had each coplayer come up pose for two photos, the first with no guidance on posing then the second with guidance after seeing how the first shot looked.   I used a tethered shooting method so   each cosplayer could immediately   see how they looked in the photos so they could adjust based on what they learned and group suggestions.   After the meet up, I provided each cosplayer with “contact sheet”   of each of ...