Experimenting...

It has long been on my wish list to own a 'Lightscoop'. Right now I can't afford a fancy off-camera flash, or even a hotshoe flash, so I have to make-do with the pop-up. Now lets be honest, the light is AWEFUL from any pop-up flash and almost impossible to control in any way. I HATE it ~ with a passion! So much so that I would rather embrace the grain on noisy pictures, than use it. I'd love a prime lense, and yes, that is on my wish-list too, but for now I think a lightscoop would be the cheapest and most easy solution, but guess what... I'd have to have one shipped from America! Nowhere in the UK sells them (yet) :-( ~  So what to do..? Well, I found this little thing on Amazon for just £3, including postage :D. It came with three different colour shades, but I  doubt I will use any other than the white one. Problem was, although it did improve the pop-up flash slightly, it was not quite enough to convince me that I wanted to use the pop-up flash any more, only in emergencies maybe...


Then Sunday night we had a little shop-bought chocolate cake, and it came on a piece of shiny card ~ silver one side, gold the other ~ you know the kind? Bugs suggested he wipe it down and add it too the 'card making' materials. I thought that was a good idea and agreed. Well, it got wiped, but never quite got put away, so this morning I found it sitting on the kitchen table ~ and as I picked it up a light-bulb went on in my head!!


Remember this... 

well I just wondered... 


I'd been looking at the Lightscoop online just last night, and thought how simple the idea was. I was wondering then if I could make something myself that slotted into my hotshoe without doing any harm... With the design of the real thing in my head, my light-bulb idea was definitely worth a try...


I cut a strip off the shiny card and did this...

The diffuser shade is quite tight, so it sort of grips the sides of card nicely, such that it stays put really well.


I experimented...

And so did Bugs (with the cross bar from a broken chair) ...

And well... I think we can say that works!!! I couldn't be happier :D  ~ now I am all set to take shots for Baby's 1st birthday (in 19 days time) with the pop-up flash if I wish too, and not have to worry about editing out a stack of grain (and with it the details), or blowing the picture completely out!


And here's some more from today's play with it ~ just look at the catch-lights in his eyes to see how spread out that flash is :D. These are virtually SOOC (except for the BW conversion)...

That'll do me nicely  ~ for now at least!

A Little Project...

Today I got fed up of using my pop-up flash (no alternative on my camera) and putting up with all it's nasty blown-out areas in my shots. I decided to try to make myself a home-made version of a 'light-scoop' (bounce-box) ~ to deflect and reflect, I have white ceilings and fairly light walls...it was worth a shot.

So here it is;

And here's what it can do!

(for this one I held the camera upside-down and bounced off his blanket!)

Of course the images still need a little PP as a lot of the flash is lost and the exposures are a little dark (unless I push that ISO way up), but at least they are workable and not all blown out!

WordPlay Wednesday #1 - "NEW"

HERE GOES!!

The word for today is "NEW" - interpret how you choose!

My first shot was a new experience to me... turn around the swivel live-view screen so that I can't see the shot I'm taking and let the children tell me when to shoot!! :D They had a great time with this and it certainly was interesting!!

This was the best we got (with a little editing!!) ...

And then tried something else that was new... I HATE the flash on my camera (Canon S3) and then I had a brain wave! I put a piece of opaque greaseproof paper over the flash (and sort of lodged it there). This had the effect of diffusing the flash some, and this was the result - from quite close up :D ~ I think it kind of worked OK, don't you? One day I will invest in a lightscoop, but just now I don't have a hotshoe, so I can't :(

Now it's your turn. Please join in, spread the word and let's get the ball rolling!

For more details please click HERE:

WORDS FOR THIE UPCOMING WEEK ARE:

THURSDAY - FLY

FRIDAY - WHITE

SATURDAY - WAVE

SUNDAY - BALL

MONDAY - HOPE

TUESDAY - SNEAK

WEDNESDAY - LEAVE

POST ON WEDNESDAY (20TH) - A MAX OF TWO PICTURES PER DAY (THAT'S 14 PER ENTRY) - AND LINK IN :D

I LOOK FORWARD TO MEETING EVERYONE WHO CHOOSES TO JOIN IN!!

You Capture - Food

We were at a friends party and the children made these little hedgehogs. (Half a chocolate fairy cake, chocolate butter icing, pieces of 'Flake' bar and silver balls for eyes - messy fun!! ).

WARNING! Not the worlds best photos!

_______________________________

And then Monday there was this happening in my kitchen!! It just got funner- and funner!! :D

What do you think - a cottage industry in the making?..!

Now make your mouths water and go take a look at all the other lovely, yummy food shots this week over at Beth's You Capture.