Now That I Think About It

This is a busy day, hence the late post. Early this morning I snuck out to test my new gear, and to get some shots to post.

The main goal of this shoot besides enjoying photography was to test my new camera bag. Up to this point I've been using a Lowepro Slingshot 200. It's been a good bag, but I've kind of outgrown it. The new bag, a Flipside 400 AW is a really great replacement. Like the Slingshot, I can swing it around to access the insides on the go, but it's a much better process. It is stable enough fully loaded to act as a sort of staging table for switching lenses and cleaning the body. It's also much better protection for my precious glass, both in padding, and in weatherproofing, and is a better organized bag. I really like it, and I look forward to my next hike. It's much more comfortable to wear. (I spent some time wearing it even when I didn't need to, the shoulder pads are very comfy. Even with 3 lenses and body and flash and all my gear I forget it's there.)

The bag is now filled with new light shaping tools as well. I've picked up a Sto-Fen Omni Bounce, and a Lumiquest Pro-Max System. Both are really neat.

For this shot, I set up the 300mm on the tripod and composed the shot. I exposed for the background and set the body to be remote trigger. I then held the diffuser in my 5 in 1 reflector with my teeth, (I'm seriously going to need a light stand or an assistant or something if I keep this up!) stuck my SB 600 behind it (using the omni bounce for extra softness,) and triggered the shutter with my right hand. I moved the light around, experimenting with different distances and angles. This was the best of the batch. I think the diffuser was fairly close to the lily, with the flash a couple of feet behind it. The ambient light was even and low, it was very cloudy and early in the morning, around 7 o clock, so it didn't interfere. I kept the light high to avoid casting hard shadows from petal to petal, I think it was nearly overhead, and a bit to the left.

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