I’m trying to widen my repertoire of subjects and like everything in photography, lighting is the key. I’m still learning, I don’t think I’m going to stop learning. Learning is fun 
Anyway, weekend is upon me I couldn’t be happier 
Gear: Canon 7D + EF 100mm f2.8
Settings: f3.2 | 1/200 | ISO 100
Strobist:
Canon 580exii + shoot through umbrella @ 1/4 power on camera left (main light)
Canon 430exii @ 1/32 power on camera right
Trigger: Canon 7D’s built in trigger
Post processing:
- Cleaned up the image using healing brush
- Dodging and burning
- Played with blending modes
- Added a light vignette
Cheers!
/Mike
Today, there’s a boat show in Dubai; according to their website, this is the biggest boat show in the Middle East. I didn’t really went inside the boat show event, because I don’t want to pay, plain and simple. Anyway, there was a free Dubai Water Taxi that takes you from the parking lot to the Marina side where the boat show is being hosted. That boat ride was free! That’s the best thing! This was taken near the actual boat show, you can see the lights from the left side.
Gear: Canon 7D + Sigma 10mm f2.8
Settings: f5.0 | 1/15 | ISO 320
Post processing:
- This image came from 3 exposures, which I blended manually in Photoshop; It is a technique called DRI (Dynamic Range Increase)
- Adjusted contrast and saturation
- Applied some mild noise reduction and a touch of sharpening
I can’t believe it’s weekend again!
/Mike
Wanted to do something that involves pairing (since it’s day 69) and I had this idea of the water spray and the flower. I didn’t get the effect I originally wanted but, I guess this is fine for now. There’s always a next time
Gear: Canon 7D + Sigma 24-70 f2.8 HSM
Settings: f8.0 | 1/250 | ISO 100
Strobist:
430exii zoomed at 105mm @ 1/64 power on camera left
530exii + Lumiquest Softbox III @ 1/16 power on camera right
Trigger: Canon 7D’s built in trigger
Post processing:
- Combined 2 pictures, one with the spray standing still and one with me pressing it
- Masked out my hand (to hide it)
- Adjusted levels
Cheers!
/Mike
This is the Dragon fountain, right in front of Dragon Mart located at International City, Dubai.
Lately, there’s been a lot of work in the office… I can already foresee the difficulty on my 365; But, that’s fine, I’m looking at it as a challenge. Time to think some new ideas for the coming days
P.S. Today, I sold my Sigma 10-20 lens to a guy named Sermed, hopefully it will give him new perspective in his photography.
Gear: Canon 7D + Sigma 10mm f2.8 Fisheye
Settings: f8.0 | 3.2 secs | ISO 100
Post processing:
- Changed the white balance to tungsten to give that blue hour look
- Dodging and burning
- Applied some sharpening
Here’s another shot from a different angle:
“Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential” – Winston Churchill
Nothing much to say, just sharing a quote from Mr. Churchill.
Oh, and by the way, I missed shooting with my point & shoot cam, lumix lx3, so I decided to use it for today’s shoot.
Gear: Lumix LX3 + 580exii
Settings: f4.0 | 1/160 | ISO 80
Strobist:
580exii + LumiQuest Sofbox III @ 1/32 power on camera left
Trigger: Phottix PT04II
Post processing:
- Some dodging and burning
- Adjusted contrast
Thank you for following!
/Mike
Again, some last minute shot. I was planning to shoot with my Lumix tonight but, it didn’t work out somehow. So, I had to come up with something else. I was actually checking what to have for breakfast tomorrow so I checked the milk and found out it was already spoiled… And when I was about to throw it, this idea came to me So, the milk did not get spoiled in vain!
Gear: Canon 7D + EF 100mm f2.8 Macro
Settings: f16 | 1/160 | ISO 200
Strobist info:
580exii + LumiQuest Softbox III @ 1/32 power on camera left
Trigger: Phottix PT04 II
Post process:
- Colorized the plate
- Applied some sharpening
Cheers!
Mike
Today is day 65 of my 365 Now, I have exactly 300 days to go!
On my 365, I have lit a lot of things, lemon, shoes, smoke, water, flowers… etc. But I didn’t have a lot of people as my subject. Lighting is really critical and the thing about lighting is that, you need different approaches for different subjects. In my experience, it’s not an exact science, there is no single formula that will work with anything in any situation. But, once you know some lighting fundamentals it will help a lot. I am a work in progress, I’m new to photography (1 year) and I’m trying to learn as much as I can. Hopefully, I’ll get to have more opportunities in the future for photo shoots like this. I want to thank my make up artist Maria Isolde for this shoot. And of course, my lovely model
Gear: Canon 7D + Tamron 18-270mm VC
Settings: f8.0 | 1/250 | ISO 200
Strobist:
Canon 580exii + shoot through umbrella @ 1/4 power on camera left (main light)
Canon 430exii @ 1/32 power on camera right (rim light & hair light)
Canon 199a + 32″ softbox as fill (23 year old flash still working ) @iso400
Trigger = Canon 7D for 580exii + 430exii and Phottix PT04II for the Canon 199a
Post processing:
- Adjusted exposure, fill light and contrast in ACR
- Dodging and burning to enhance the mask and the feathers
- Added vignette
Cheers!
/Mike
Told yah I’m going to do smoke photography again This time I introduced another element, a spoon; it’s actually a large spoon shaped kitchen utility. I don’t really know what’s the actual name for that, but this is used for cooking.
Took me sometime to get the color combo I wanted, but finally decided to get the red black combo.
Gear: Canon 7D + Tokina 11-16 + 430exii
Settings: f9.0 | 1/250 | ISO 100
Strobist:
430exii + home made gobo on each side to avoid light spill and lens flare @ 1/4 power, placed on camera right
Trigger: Canon 7D’s built in trigger
Post process:
- Added hue and saturation layer and made the smoke red
- De-saturated the spoon to remove color cast
- Increased contrast
Thanks for following
/Mike
I’m trying to do something else today, but then I can’t pull it off because the flower keeps on falling down; Then I saw some nice effect with the water, so I just roll with it
Most of the time, mistakes lead us to something… might not be what we wanted originally, but still cool nevertheless.
Gear: Canon 7D + EF 50mm 1.8 + 430exii
Settings: f16 | 1/250 | ISO 320
Strobist:
430exii + LumiQuest Softbox III @ 1/8 power on camera left
Trigger: Canon 7D’s built in trigger
Post process
- Square cropped
- Adjust contrast and clarity in ACR
- Added a light vignette
Enjoy the weekend!
/Mike
Took this on the way home; I’m not driving I’m on the passenger seat so… Safety first
This is pretty much how Dubai road looks like at around 6pm. You can see on the right the Dubai Metro and the Burj Khalifa. I like the zoom blur effect created… Nothing much to say.
Gear: Canon 7D + Tokina 11-16 f2.8
Settings: f6.3 | 1/25 | ISO100
Post processing:
- Some blending modes to get some details of the sky
- Some dodging and burning to accentuate some details
- Added a vignette
Cheers!
/Mike
