going bare

[Chad Simcox]

Here’s a shot I did the other day using a monolight. Initially I went with a 24″x36″ softbox but wasn’t liking the results, so I thought I’d go bare. I took the softbox and reflector off, pointed the monolight straight up and started firing. I shot this in my bedroom, near a corner and all the white walls and ceiling worked as reflectors to even out the shadows but not kill the directionality of the light.
For the set up I’ve got the monolight to camera right and a little bit behind the subject, The light is about 2ft above the subject, pointed straight up. There is a wall about 3.5 ft behind the subject and another about 5 or 6ft to camera left. Since the monolight is pointed straight up, the bulb is blocked a bit by the body of the lamp, therefore no harsh light from the bulb is hitting the subject. Had I left the reflector on, there would have been more light coming in directionally from above, and not allowing for as much bounce off the wall that is camera left. If you look at the shadows, it’s pretty much overhead light with just a bit of fill from the side.

Image processed in ACR, and a little dodging on the spool and eye in Photoshop.

http://society6.com/grainfarmer Fly Fishing and Landscape open edition Photography prints.

http://grainfarmer.vsco.co/ iPhone photos
http://instagram.com/chad_simcox Instagram

[david king]

When you bounce off the ceiling like that you get a nice smooth broad light like a huge lightbox. The bare bulb is really crisp like direct sunlight on a clear day. I’ve used a bare bulb flash with the power cut way back to add a crisp highlight on shinny fur and fibers.

[Neal Osborn]

I really like this shot Chad.

[Eric DeWitt]

nice shot.

[Chad Simcox]

Yeah David’s right, it’s not quite the same as with shooting a larger subject. Saying this is a bare bulb shot is kind of misleading. In this shot the source is actually all around because it’s reflected light coming off the walls and ceiling.
In portraits for example, bare bulb shots have a very contrasty look to them due to the point light source.

http://society6.com/grainfarmer Fly Fishing and Landscape open edition Photography prints.

http://grainfarmer.vsco.co/ iPhone photos
http://instagram.com/chad_simcox Instagram

[Grant Wright]

Nice shot…what’s the recipe for that fly?

[Chad Simcox]

Nice shot…what’s the recipe for that fly?

Thanks Grant, here’s a go at it
http://www.itinerantangler.com/cgi-bin/board/YaBB.pl?num=1236204913

http://society6.com/grainfarmer Fly Fishing and Landscape open edition Photography prints.

http://grainfarmer.vsco.co/ iPhone photos
http://instagram.com/chad_simcox Instagram

[David Anderson]

Yeah, lovely shot.

I love bounced light for products

www.dsaphoto.com

A picture is thousand words that takes less than a second while a thousand words is a picture that takes a month.

[Chad Simcox]

Any color cast from the walls ?

Nothing noticeable. The walls are barely off white, kind of egg shell color.

http://society6.com/grainfarmer Fly Fishing and Landscape open edition Photography prints.

http://grainfarmer.vsco.co/ iPhone photos
http://instagram.com/chad_simcox Instagram

[Bryan Gregson]

Killer shot!… and very creative too – Bravo!

[Ben Cochran]

Love the texture of your shot Chad, always have been a fan of your shots though but this one carries a certain appeal of nostalgia to it.

Have to tell you though, I was nervous and shaking as I opened this thread. Amazing what a Title can do to a fellow LOL.

[Author]

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