Training Exercise (Week Two)

So, I've managed to make it to week two without failing to post something on time! Huzzah!

This week I decided to do something I haven't done before... play with toy soldiers and an RC Helicopter in the name of photography!

It was during the stupidly hot last weekend that I decided to give it a go. Usually I just take photos of what's already set up and ready to go (ie landscape), but I wanted to try something with a little more creative control. To be honest, it was a little harder then I thought, especially getting the depth of field and lighting right. I did think about setting up a lightbox, but didn't have the materials on hand at the time. It was also surprisingly difficult to get the little soldiers in the right places to get the best effect.

So, this is what came out. I'm reasonably happy with it, but something about it is a little... plain? I don't know, maybe I should have tried a different angle or something. I did pull of the effect I was after, though, which I'm quite pleased with. Due to lighting constraints I had to get the propellers moving so they didn't cast a shadow on the cardboard. I also got to play around with my relatively new flash gun (Canon 580ExII), which was quite fun! Oh, and I guess the attack chopper and toy solders were fun too :p

I think the cropping is a little too tight, but couldn't be helped as I didn't want a shot of my bedroom (didn't have enough cardboard). Although, I did learn a bit about bouncing the flash off the roof, which will be hugely helpful in the future.

If you want to see more of my photos, I've started adding more of them to flickr and redbubble. Links are at the top of the page, in the red banner.

Thanks.

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