Light Anarchy

Been turning my attention to getting more serious with using off-camera flash. I'm particularly interested in lighting for portraits and a few books on the subject have been been my bedtime reading of late. Also seriously thinking of going to a class if I can find something suitable.

So today I took a step forward in my plan and bought a second hand 580EX MkI. This brings my total strobe count to three: 2 x 580EX + 1 x 430EX. These guys are not cheap but they do give the best bang for your buck and they keep their resale value if you look after them well. (Well, that's how I rationalize it.)

Tonight's blip is a result of playing around with the lights. I had a particular result I wanted to achieve but failed miserably. It's easy to create light (and lots of it) but it's another thing to control it. Like I said, I'm seriously thinking of taking a class.

My original idea for this blip was to show Emma's older pair of these slippers that are so terribly worn and beat up. They literally have holes in the toes and very few sparkles left, each clinging on for dear life.

We've had these nice new ones (though they are a bit worn now) for awhile but she would only wear the old ones till recently. I think because the new ones were still a little on the big side for her. Anyway, the old ones did not photograph well, or rather I was unable to light then in a way that made them interesting. Not that this image is much of an improvement but it's not as bad.

So be prepared for a lot of kid portraits in the near future. Assuming, of course, that I can get them to pose for more than five minutes while I try to work everything out.... Actually, I have a funny feeling it will be Addie we'll see featured in a lot of future blips.