My second flash arrived today... yay! C&C

PopeBuckfastXVI

So my Vivitar 285HV finally arrived today... woohoo!

I got to playing, inspired by this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickwheeleroz/2220008689/in/set-72157603814966559/

Looked around and all I could find was some beers and a glass chopping board!

Here's the shot:



Setup details:
Nikon SB600 in a cardboard beer box fired straight up from underneath, hot shoe to household cable, 0.5 power, 85mm. 285HV, optical trigger at 0.5, 50mm fired into silver umberella at a slight angle to get the wall behind the beer too. I know theres a few burned out bits, but I'm drinking the beer now so I don't have the luxury of a second take!

Setup shot:



C&C Welcome

murpho999

I really like this shot but have a few remarks.

Technically I don't fully understand everything you did with the shot, as I am not fully au fait with flash and studio lights, but in your set up I would have done two things different.

Firstly, I would have angled the shot to include more of the reflection on the table.

Secondly, I would have sprayed some water on the bottles to give a more dramatic effect.

Some people may find I'm talking rubbish but that's what I would have done.

Mean this constructively as I still really like the result you got.

PopeBuckfastXVI

Thanks Murph... I agree with yout about the spray, bigger drops would definitely look better. I think if I had a better reflective surface I would have left in more of it, but the glass was fairly scratched and narrow, I'm going to pick up some tiles when I can to get that web 2.0 reflection look!

ThOnda

And use polarizer everytime you use glass as a table or background. You should almost eliminate reflections.
And I would reduce the power of the flash from the bottom.

I like it a lot and especially your selection of bottles. Czech bier is the best bier!

ttcomet

The flash on the right seems to be in the wrong place, you have left it inside the family of angles and so it appears on the glass. If you look real close at the blown out part on the top of the glass you can actually see the dark outline of the flash and stand that is being blocked when the light bounces back from the umbrella.

The flash from the bottom is also either set to to high a level or it needs to be diffused, I would go with diffusing it personally. Use an omni bounce or some sort of material to diffuse it.

I like the shot it just needed a few minor tweaks to be perfect. The idea from murpho99 with the spray on water is also a good one I think. I also think that using the chairs to support the glass plate was a great idea and I may "borrow" it in future

Can I ask where you got the Vivitar? I still have not decided what to do about a second and third flash. I am going back and forth between an all Canon setup (expensive but can be serviced) or part Cannon and then either new Vivitars or old Nikons. The Vivitars have reliability issues and the old Nikons cant be serviced but both are a lot cheaper then the all Canon option.

PopeBuckfastXVI

Thanks for the input all, very helpful

tt... I got the flash from mpex.com, they're the ones that do the strobist kits.

Borderfox

Mix some glycerine with the water in a spray bottle to give a better effect.