Camera Labs

Hi Slingshot, yes it was a 5 second exposure, let me explain...

Basically, you set the camera to a 5 second exposure in a very dark room, I also used a black background, so once the exposure is taken, there is nothing but black. Then I rigged my SB-800 flash unit to a sound trigger which I borrowed off a very good friend of mine! So the flash was now controlling the exposure instead of the camera.

To set up I started by clapping once, very quickly, to get the focus right and the exposure as close as I could, then went from there.

Then I inflated the balloon and used a long screw driver with a pin taped to the end to pop it, which was fun trying not to stab myself in the face with a pin in the dark!

The problem with the exposure was there were so many things to take into account which vary the final result. Anyone out there who thinks this is easy with a sound trigger, think again!

Things to consider:

1) Camera ISO and F-stop, to account for the long exposure and keep it dark so there is no ghosting image of a balloon, plus I had to compensate this to account for the flash speed, so every adjustment I made I had to look at the camera as well.
2) The flash had to be incredibly fast, anything slight too long left a ghost like balloon and a piece of dissapointing rubber hanging over your hand, also blew out the image "no pun intended"
3) I had to keep using the same type of balloon as they popped at different speeds, also I had to ensure I inflated it exactly the same every time otherwise it popped at different speeds as well, so the larger you inflate the balloon the quicker it popped.
4) I adjusted the sound trigger, by moving the position of the microphone it adjusted the reaction of the flash to the bang, there is also a trigger delay on the device which I used. So I ended up with the mike up my sleave right next to the balloon.

Any one item you adjust, everything else had to adjust, it just went on and on. As I have a 19 month old daughter in bed, I decided to go into the garage in the dead of night to get the shot, so all my neighbours heard loud bangs and saw flashes coming from my garage, I am surprised the armed response police were not called! LOL

It was an excellent experience to do this. I think a water balloon would be easier as it pops slower, so you can get a better exposure.

Sorry for the long explenation, hope it helps.

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Nikon D300S
My Photography Website
My Flickr

Oh yes. It helped a lot. I did consider flash obviously but the dark room never occurred to me so I discarded the flash idea thinking some blurr would have been visible anyway.
Oh well. Goes to show there is still a lot to learn. Thanks for a cool pic and the explanation.

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Canon EOS 450D. (soon a 7D hopefully)
Canon EF-S 17-55/2,8 IS USM
Canon EF 70-300/4-5,6 IS USM
Canon EF 50/1,8 II
Canon EF-S 10-22/3,5-4,5 USM
Manfrotto 055 XPROB
Canon Speedlite EX580

You should have added some kind of crazy / evil laughter

Nice story

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Canon EOS 500D + Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Canon EF 24-105mm 4L IS USM + EF 100-400mm 4.5-5.6L IS USM + EF 100mm 2.8L Macro IS USM + Sigma 12-24mm 4.5-5.6 EX DG HSM + Canon Speedlite 580 EX II + Nissin Speedlite Di 466

First submission to On Assignment!

I'm dubious as the quality of this shot, but I kind of like the lines and shapes in it. The association with noise/sound is the obvious pun on 'wave' but I also think of the sound of the ocean, as well as the peculiar fizzing/popping sound that comes with anything that has bubbles in it.

Hopefully my photos will improve as I learn my way around this chunk of machinery and potential you call a DSLR!

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Photography noob, please be kind

A question for those of you who enter into, or comment on, competitions such as this:

What guides your decision about aspect ratio?

For some reason, until now, I have been fixated on the format produced by my camera and will happily switch between landscape and portrait, but it hadn't occurred to me until recently that the area of the image may actually have an impact on the eye.

Where a competition specifies only the dimensions of the long edge, for example, does a square image of that size have more visual hitting power than a rectangle? Or is that just too much like gamesmanship?

I would appreciate the benefit of your collective wisdom on this.

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Brian,
Canon 5DII, 7D, EF-S 10-22, EF 50 USM 1.4, EF-S 60 macro EF 16-35 L USM, EF 24 -15L IS USM, EF EF 100-400L, Canon SX130

A great image is a great image regardless of the aspect ratio.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

I have little to no 'wisdom' to offer, but I can tell you that I shortened the vertical dimension of my shot because I wanted to emphasise the line of the wave, and anything much above/below that line was just more sand or more water

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Photography noob, please be kind

.
If the eagle-eyed have wondered where my submission posted this evening has gone I removed it. When I finally got around to reading the small print I decided that reversal of the usual invitation to "include a sentence or two with your photo describing what you were trying to achieve..." too restrictive for my own abilities.

No problem really as there's already a much better entry deserving my vote earlier in the list but I certainly hope that whoever wins the May competition reflects on the smaller than usual entry this month when choosing a theme for the July competition so that more members can have the fun of submitting an entry.

Bob.

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OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

Eh? When I posted, I'm pretty sure that the "include a sentence or two with your photo describing what you were trying to achieve" Bob mentions was part of the rules. I took it that I shouldn't describe the context of the photo (which I removed to my Flickr page) but leave the dry technical details for fellow photogs. Was that text later edited out?

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Nikon D3 with Tokina 11-16 (16mm only); Nikon 50 f/1.8; Nikon 70-300 VR; Nikon 28-200 G.

Well I was (very nicely) corrected by this month's contest organizer (Plymer) who wrote:
and indeed on going back to the rules they were explicit:


Well, it has been June for 17 hours here already. When does the voting begin?

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Brian,
Canon 5DII, 7D, EF-S 10-22, EF 50 USM 1.4, EF-S 60 macro EF 16-35 L USM, EF 24 -15L IS USM, EF EF 100-400L, Canon SX130

I hear you Brian, although my point was that when I posted there was still this text in the contest decription:



A quick Google cache check confirmed it for me - http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:ITqUSfuc4gYJ:www.cameralabs.com/forum/viewtopic.php%3Fp%3D192131%26sid%3Dec1e828f5545187049d963d9d1a8c8f5+%22Please+include+a+sentence+or+two+with+your+photo+describing+what+you+were+trying+to+achieve%22&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk

Because of Plymer's rule as well as the existence of the above text, I reasoned that I should remove details of the context for my photo (the part that 'tell(s) the story' as Plymer put it) while keeping technical notes for the benefit of those who find that interesting (the sharing of photographic technique is what I love about this forum over a resource like say Flickr). It sounds like Bob removed his entry because of the same text not being there, which is a pity if that's the case as it was when I posted.

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Nikon D3 with Tokina 11-16 (16mm only); Nikon 50 f/1.8; Nikon 70-300 VR; Nikon 28-200 G.

It was my fault - I included the usual request for details, then removed it later when i relaised it contradicted the rules set by Plymer. Sorry for any confusion. All descriptions should be removed.

The poll is now live. Brian, we have to wait a while as NZ is ahead of everyone else time-wise...!

Okay, I've removed my technical notes in case that contravenes the rule.

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Nikon D3 with Tokina 11-16 (16mm only); Nikon 50 f/1.8; Nikon 70-300 VR; Nikon 28-200 G.

caesartg,you have a gold material photo there! well done

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Gear: Nikon D80, 18-105mm, 35mm F/1.8, 85mm F/1.8, SB-600
Visit my work here

+1.

Bob.

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OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.