Plug And Play
Friday 5th March
This week’s photo challenge is Plug And Play. A couple of things came together for this one. Firstly, I’ve been experimenting greatly with my speedlite – I’ve been trying to come up with things that work in locations without proper power. I am aware of the strobists and I think I might have to start paying more attention (though I only have one light).
The other thing that influenced this shot was the use of oblique strategies. There’s quite a nice online version if you don’t want to buy a set of cards. Anyway, the strategy for this challenge was:
Everything comes from its opposite
Hmm… plug and play… my first idea was to have a playstation unplugged in the foreground with a couple of kids playing with a beach ball in the background. Unfortunately, free willing models are hard to come by so I went for another plan… plug/unplug… play/work… ah yes… so, what about when work becomes play? Oh yes… it is definitely playtime when the circular saw comes out!
Shot TTL with a speedlite through a softbox (you can see its reflection in the window). High-speed sync to subdue the daylight outside.
Now that’s a nice picture.
I think I have the same workmate.
Roger
5 Mar 10 at 6:51 pm
That’s a fantastic picture, I love it!
Jonathan
5 Mar 10 at 7:15 pm
Tremendous, Stu! How come you found the time?!
Lois
5 Mar 10 at 8:29 pm
It was only a 3 minute jaunt to the garage, Lois!
And thanks everyone for the kind words. I’m hot and cold about it… even within the space of five minutes I can like it and then not like it so much.
Stu
5 Mar 10 at 8:32 pm
Bloody professionals!
lordhutton
5 Mar 10 at 9:44 pm
That could have been shot in MY cellar, with MY circular saw! Bizarre!
lordhutton
5 Mar 10 at 9:46 pm
Nicely done, Stu. Battery strobes are a lot of fun. I have a set of three old, Japan-made Vivitar 285HVs that I find myself using more than my monolights. Add a set of cheap radio triggers and you’ve got a very capable 3-light rig for the price of one monolight. Fun stuff!
ScottJ
6 Mar 10 at 4:58 pm
Nice Stu.
Should have possibly flagged the light to stop the reflection in the window, or just moved the table further away from the wall, or changed it’s angle.
To be honest, I didn’t notice the softbox reflection initially, until you pointed it out.
Did you try any other approaches like snooting (in my case a pringle’s tube, with the bottom cut off and them covered in black gaffa tape, to make it look professional) or gridding (snoot, with black straws in it) the speedlight, to restrict the light even further?
But I really like the image you have come up with.
rollasoc
8 Mar 10 at 8:14 am
I didn’t notice the reflection until pointed out; the composition drew me away from that part of the image very strongly. I like how the plug doesn’t appear until three or four viewings later.
The atmosphere is awesome, you really feel invited to touch the tool and make more of that smelly sawdust.
sweavo
8 Mar 10 at 11:16 am