patrik banas | photo blog: flash

Thursday, August 25, 2016

Flash to highlight the action

S Monikou sme mali skvelé fotenie s nádhernou modelkou Sárou. Je to budúca profesionálna športová gymnastka a/alebo modelka. Monika jej samozrejme nafotila svoje krásne portréty (ako napríklad tu), ale ja som hneď vedel, že chcem vyskúšať niečo iné. To že som mal k dispozíciu skvelo a plynulo skákajúcu gymnastku a zatiahnutú oblohu bolo jasným signálom na to, aby som vytiahol svoj externý blesk! A voilá! Kombinácia svetla z okolia (ktoré som podexponoval aby som získal dramatickú oblohu) spolu so svetlom z môjho prenosného slniečka - teda blesku Nikon SB-900 - dokázala vyrobiť tento záber! Zbožňujem ako Sára letí ponad hradby v mojom rodnom Bardejove, perfektne natiahnutá a s úsmevom! Vďaka blesku som ju dokázal oddeliť od pozadia a upriamiť VŠETKU pozornosť len a len na Sáru.

Ak sa chcete naučiť ako dostať váš externý blesk pod kontrolu a ako skombinovať svetlo z okolia a svetlo z blesku, tak sa pridajte do nášho PPSOP kurzu "Záhada blesku odhalena", ktorý vediem s Bryanom Petersonom. Viac info o kurze nájdete tu! Začíname 9. septembra/září.

PS: Záber bez použitia blesku je nižšie - celkom rozdiel, čo poviete?

Nikon D800, Nikkor 16-35mm @27mm, f/11 @ 1/160 sec, ISO 160.
Nikon SB-900 in manual mode, off camera, triggered with Pocket wizard at 1/2 power.

Sunday, May 10, 2015

flora - garden in my living room [p52 | w18]

Yes, I know, everything's in bloom and to shoot flora and flowers is very easy. But instead of getting my belly dirty and muddy, I've took our labrador Bonnie for a walk and pick up some wild flowers. Arranging them at home at the white mat semi-transparent board with two flashes was then easy. And while set up was ready, I just play with some other flowers found at home or in the garden (sakura petals looks very girlish, right? :)
PS: Behind the scenes at the bottom

Áno, viem, všetko vonku kvitne a na to aby som nafotil flóru stačí vybehnúť z domu. Ale keďže sa mi nechcelo si zašpiniť brucho, tak som si zobral našu labradorku Bonnie na vychádzku a nazbierali sme cestou lúčne kvety. Doma som si ich naaranžoval na polo-priesvitnej plastovej doske a spolu s dvoma bleskami to bolo fakt jednoduché nastavenie. No a keď som už bol vo švungu, tak som sa ešte pohral so zopár ďalšími kvetmi, čo som našiel doma a na záhrade (obzvlášť tie sakura lupienky vyzerajú riadne dievčatkovské, čo? ;)
PS: Spoza scény zábery nižšie.

Sunday, January 18, 2015

numbers - project 52 | week 3

Well, it is true, that Euro was rock and ROLLING this week...

In project 52 it is all about the numbers this week and I wanted to try this idea at home for a while,
so "number 2" on the coin came handy.

Shot below is one picture, NOT a composite, what you see has been done right in the camera within one shot.

Setup: Camera with long exposure of 2 seconds. And mainly my electronic flash NIKON SB900 set to REPEAT mode, which means that flash is bursting the light 10 times within one second! So while coin is rolling and moving, flash will "show" it on the picture always a bit further and further. It is like 8 different pictures taken at the same time, coin always somewhere else... Just pure fun with flash at home ;)

Big thanks to my lovely daughter for being a great assistant, as handling the coin, shutter and flash all at the same time was quite challenging. Thank you sweetheart!

Below few other experiments with the coin(s) rolling and rotating... Have fun and keep on flashing!

Nikon D800, f/22, 2sec, ISO 100 with Nikon SB900 at repeat mode, 10Hz frequency and power 1/32

Nuž, je pravda, že Euro bolo riadne rozkolísané tento týždeň...

V projekte 52 to bolo o číslach a tak som si vyskúšal niečo, čo som už chcel dávnejšie - a minca s dvojkou prišla celkom vhod.

Horný záber NIE JE kompozit, to čo vidíte vyliezlo priamo z foťáku ako jeden záber.

Nastavenie som mal nasledovné: Fotoaparát s dlhou 2 sekundovou uzávierkou. No a hlavne môj externý blesk Nikon SB900, ktorý bol v REPEAT (opakovacom móde). To znamená toľko, že počas jednej sekundy dokázal vyblesknúť svetlo 10 krát! A tak ako sa minca kotúľala a krútila, stále bola trošku ďalej, keď zablesklo svetlo. Ako keby sa nafotilo 8 rôznych záberov naraz, pričom minca bola stále niekde inde... No proste, len taká domáca zábava v nedeľu podvečer.

Veľké poďakovanie ide mojej drahej dcére, za to že bola skvelá a trpezlivá asistentka, lebo roztáčať mincu, stláčať uzávierku a kontrolovať blesk - to bolo už príliš veľa. Ďakujem bublinka!

Nižšie je ešte zopár ďalších záberov z tohto experimentovania... Užívajte si to a "blýskajte" ;)

Intention to rotate the coin / Pokus o roztočenie mince

Showcasing how and which direction coin will mov / Ukážka ako a ktorým smerom sa bude minca hýbať

Monday, November 10, 2014

ode to lemon - project 52 | week 29

I have started this year's project 52 with a mold in our fridge (see here) and by posting following pictures it might look we are quite messy household. But trust me - that is NOT true! ;) It just sometimes happens... You know, fridge might have a mysterious corners and lemon might be not needed for a week... But then, oh man, it is a joy to take a picture of it! So yes, it is an ODE TO LEMON and its beauty ;)

Thanks Monika for a cool tip!

Tento rok som projekt 52 otváral záberom na pleseň v našej chladničke (viď tu) a tak pridanie týchto fotografií by mohlo vytvoriť dojem, že v našej domácnosti panuje bordel. Ale verte mi – to v žiadnom prípade NIE je pravda! ;) To sa proste len niekedy tak vyvrbí. Však viete, chladničky niekedy mávajú také tajomné zákutia alebo proste človek niekedy nepotrebuje citrón aj celý týždeň...
Ale potom - to je ale skvostný objekt na fotenie, však?! Je to tak, ÓDA NA CITRÓN v plnej kráse ;)
A ďakujem Moničke z cool tip!

Sunday, June 29, 2014

project 52 | week 21 - the beauty of the metal

Theme of the week 21 is the beauty of the metal. So to do it right I went to the small local "home depot" to buy the proper screws - I have visualize them in my head before the shoot, so I knew what I am looking for! Well, they had them, but about hundred of them cost around 100 bucks! But the shopper assistant Pierrette was kind enough to agree, that I can return them following day, when I shared my story, why I need them. So I have spent the night screwing around ;)
Set up was easy - bunch of screws, two flashes and small flashlight. All of them with the color gels and I got several different combinations - what a program for Friday night! And here are some of the final results. Definitely beauty of metal! (Behind the scenes shots at the bottom).PS: All picture were made in the camera, no photoshopping, just a minor contrast and color compensations in LR.

Nikon D800, Nikkor 24-70mm, Nikon SB900 with blue gel, f/22, 15sec, ISO 100. Shot in the dark, and after firing the flash, pointing with small LED flashlight with red gel in front of it (see behind the scenes shots at the end)

Monday, May 12, 2014

stone sculptures

To continue with the stone sculpture story from the previous post, I have also added flash... but let me start from the beginning.

During my morning jogging around the Geneva lake I have met this interesting "Stone sculptures". Somebody had fun! At the first sight i though that it is just some artistic exhibition with a help of really strong glue, but I was proven wrong! They were just... well stacked stones. So I have memorized the place and the same evening I was back, hoping it wasn't ruined yet. Thankfully, Swiss are very disciplined and everybody appreciated the composition instead of ruing it. So I have tried several different angles (as seen in the previous post) but I was really mesmerized by the shot from the bottom against the beautiful cobalt blue dusk sky, which thanks to arriving storm got even more dynamic!
My camera with 11-16 wide-angle (obviously, so late on a tripod) I have aimed against the sky and decided for aperture f/16 which determined the correct exposure at 1/4 sec.
But already in the morning I got an idea to try, how those pillars would look like, if I would call for a help of my flash with some colored gels and lighten them against the darker sky. Unfortunately, I have forgotten to pack my color gels, but I have managed to overcome that by visit to local Office depot and brought with me a bunch of simple colorful, transparent sheet covers.

Flash in manual exposure has been set to full 1/1 power, distance apx. 1 meter (3ft). I have handheld the flash on my right and with a help of Pocket Wizard I have taken the picture above. And when I have impatiently checked the LCD monitor I have almost fallen to the lake, cause I knew I have THE shot I wanted and I have envisioned in the morning!
PS: You can see below also green version, but I am the first one to admit, that red against the blue is much better! ;)

Při ranním běhu kolem...

Sunday, March 09, 2014

project 52 | week 8 - it's a man thing!

OK, being a man it should be quite easy to come up with an idea specific for MAN, right? Well, it took me a bit of time to think - and then I got it! I've laughed and start to think how to visualize it the best way... Disclaimer first - I swear I am not one of us, who keep it up all the time, even though it might happen here and there... ;) But, yes, I think we are quite notoriously known for not putting toilet seats down back... However, it might be also one of the stereotypical features.
So I had the visualization on my mind right from the beginning (especially when we had opened this week our PPSOP.cz Flash course) and the idea is, that we are probably scared to put toilet seat back down again, as there must be something scary with the toilet itself! It has definitely nothing to do with being lazy!!!

Two flash. One with blue gel - front lit with 1/4 power and second one with a red gel hidden in the toilet (! see behind the scenes below!) with 1/2 power. Camera set up: Nikon D800 with 24-70mm, f/5.6 at 1/200 sec. Happy toilet seating :D

Monday, December 23, 2013

swatch detail (with pringles softbox)

In my previous post I have shared how to create a simple and very effective and versatile softbox with the empty pringles tin. Below you can find a close up picture taken with the help of this softbox.

As I have found WITH and WITHOUT the softbox picture remarkably different, I wanted to share the result with you as well. The first shot is obviously taken under the pringles softbox. You can see in the top right quadrant white shape of the long light source. I love the effect, which adds third dimension, adds "liquidity". Overall lightning is evenly distributed.

Nikon D-800, f/11, 1/200 sec, ISO 100. Nikkor 105mm micro.
Remotely fired flash Nikon SB-900 (with pringles tube) on 1/4 of the power.

Sunday, December 15, 2013

DIY mini softbox with Pringles

Let me clear this out right at the beginning - this came as an inspiration from diyphotography.net. And after the "aha moment" I had to try it on my own! So while playing and creating my own Pringles softbox, I have decided to share my version and mainly my pictures - which I found pretty awesome ;). Taking into a consideration what a simple lightning set up has been used.

So what can you get? Pretty cool "softbox", which can direct your nicely diffused light to a very narrow beam. It will utilize your own electronic flash (Nikon SB-900 in my case). And it will cost you almost nothing. Well, 3 bucks for a tin of Pringles, but those will be eaten by your family members anyway! ;)

What you will need:

tin of Pringles (no, it really doesn't matter what flavors)
duck tape
white fabric (old pillow cover, in my case)
sharp knife
your electronic flash

Cut out rectangular shape on the Pringles tin. Please be careful with a knife! Size is apx. 3 cm (1 inch) wide and will go almost through the full tin. Keep a bit a space on the side, so you can stretch fabric around it and the tin will still hold the structure.

Below you can see the aproximate size of the final cut.

Next step is to fit your flash into it. This is a bit tricky part. Every flash has a different size of the head. My LumoPro flash wasn't able to fit it into a tube. Nikon SB-900 went inside, even very, very tight.

Saturday, May 25, 2013

eiffel, part 5 (flash always available)

Back to my Eiffel series. This post is the second to last and then I will give you a break for a while. Picture has been taken just a 5 minutes after the one with carousel, about 200m away. On the way to the top of Trocadero stairs I have noticed this unusual angle and situation, where the tower would appear like growing from the bushes. Obviously, bushes were pretty dark on the picture, just a silhouette of it (see the shot at the end). So my flash came handy and during a 20 sec exposure I have fired a simple burst to lighten the foreground in front of me and achieve a sense of the tower nested in the green.

Nikon D800, 24-70mm at 42mm, f/22 @ 20 sec, ISO100. Manual, off the camera flash at 1/4 of power, with a distance about 1 meter.

Same as above, but no flash

Monday, March 11, 2013

golden surprise!

It got out of the egg. It is hiding behind the bushes and it glows with a golden color! What it could be?

Playing and utilizing set up and props Monika had for her Easter Spring collection (which I highly recommend to check out here!) As I currently love playing with my flashes, I brought two of them, connected them via PocketWizzards and set up an easy scene. One flash is lightning the scene in the front, actually bringing a bit of details and contrast to white eggs. And obviously, there is a second flash behind the grass, with a amber gel, imitating familiar "sunset" shot (which you can see for example here).

So, the question is - what is hidden behind the bushes?

Have a fun with flashes and enjoy your spring time!