The Texture of Red

I knew I had my chance to show off my favorite plate once I saw Jay'me's post. This is simply a plate that has the most gorgeous color and texture. I've photographed it before and I've photographed it with water. This is the first time it's made the blog:



Canon 30D
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro
Shutter 1/200
Aperture f/9.0
ISO 200
2 external flash heads through a light box

My thinking here was 2-fold. First, there was the red of Jay'me's backdrop. Second was the texture of the red fabric. I couldn't think of a better way to replicate texture than running water frozen in time. My only challenge is getting a quick enough exposure.

In theory, you can use the duration of the light source as surrogate to shutter speed. In fact, it's paramount to do just that. You cannot speed your shutter too much or it outpaces the electrical impulse to the flash head and you get dark images. So you are dependent on very fast flash times. My flash heads apparently aren't quite up to snuff. It's just another of those very specific features that cost very large amounts of money.

What I should have tried next is hot lights - lots of them - and sped up my shutter as much as possible. This would negate the need for quick flash heads and might improve the stop action. Tonight, I'm too tired to think about that (anyone else hate how early it gets dark!?!?). But I had fun with this and I hope you like it. Happy Monday all! I'm out!

Scott