November 2012 – Jacques le Roux photography

Night photos session:

Went out for the 1st test night photo session. Some good results, learnt a lot and can’t wait for the next session.

You need:
– Sturdy tripod
– If you can bring a beanbag that would be helpful
– A remote trigger
– If you can get hold of a torch that you can change the light strength on and that doesn’t have a central light spot take it with to paint things with light on long exposures

Good bits:
– Fresh air
– Nice moody photos can be achieved
– You will be surprised by the results of a long exposure

Bad bits:
– If you don’t do some reading up about night/long exposure methods it’s trial and error till you start getting results
– A fish eye lens would have been helpful
– Any movement will make stars become a line, use a remote trigger on a sturdy tripod

Very rewarding experience when you start getting results but very frustrating as well. Use ISO 400-800 with exposure times from 5-30 seconds for night shots.
Photographs by Jacques …

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon 17-85mm F4-5.6

Water play:

First test with water droplets.

You need:
Glass or tupperware dish.
Water (fill it to the brim).
A small plastic bag or something to give a constant drop in the same location.
Some extra lighting (not a major one but will help).
A decent lens that can get close to the ‘subject’, around 25cm should be good.
Photo editing software.

Good bits:
– It’s very easy to do if you do some preparations.
– Trial and error is fun but frustrating.

Bad bits:
– If you don’t have a lens that can get close to the ‘subject’ then you are wasting your time.
– A external flash would be more helpful than using the built in one but overall it didn’t come out as a total loss and that is a win in my books.

Nothing beats better lighting and macro lens but overall not bad for 1st test.

Photographs by Jacques …

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 Kit lens