POTD #17

Photo of the Day

The Breakdown: I wanted to do a photo series of gems and all I had was this big faux diamond. I took the photo and in Photoshop added a hue/saturation layer, checked the colorize box and tweaked it until I got something that looked like and emerald. I added a layer mask and painted out the area I didnt want affected by the green layer.

I was having some trouble with my lights that day so rather than using two off camera flashes like I usually do I used one on my camera pointed at the ceiling so the bounced light would be softer and I used my second flash on a lightstand to my left triggered by a slave adapter. I also used a reflector to fill in the light in the foreground.

Camera:		Olympus E-500
Exposure:		0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture:		f/16
Focal Length:		43 mm
ISO Speed:		100
Exposure Bias:		0 EV

Here are links to some of the equipment I was using on Adorama.com (if the equipment I used is no longer available I have listed either the newer version or a similar substitute).

Photoshop CS4

Olympus E-520 - Replacement for the E-500

Olympus FL-50R - Replacement for the FL-50

Vivitar DF283 - A good alternative to the discontinued Sunpak 383

Adorama Electronic Slave Unit - Attach one of these to your flash and it will fire when it detects another flash

Smith Victor RS8, 8' Raven Lightstand - Very sturdy and just the right height

Photoflex Shoe Mount Multiclamp with Umbrella Holder - Use one of these to attach your flash to a lightstand and you can also use an umbrella with it

Adorama 40" White Interior Umbrella with Removeable Black Cover - This is really a great deal. You can use this to shoot through or to bounce. The bigger the better.

Westcott Photo Basics 304 5-in-1 Reflector Kit - Reflectors are great substitutes for lights if you are on a budget or just need to bounce some light

Sunpak 6601TM Tri-Monopod - This one is pretty close to what I was using at the time. Dont underestimate the importance of a tripod, even if you are using a cheap one it is the only way to guarantee tack sharp photos every time.

Olympus RM-1, Wireless Remote Control - A good alternative to waiting for your camera timer if you dont want to worry about shaking your camera when you are taking a photo.

All my photos are shot in raw and edited in Photoshop.

Please feel free to leave comments or questions.