Saturday 28 August 2010

Strobist Experiments

Inspired by a rainy day and an excess of garlic, I thought I would experiment with off camera flash.

I used two strobes, one fired into a white umbrella to the right on 1/4 power, another bounced on the ceiling above set to 1/2 power. I tried to balance the flash with the natural light coming in from the window to the left.

I then did a spot of dodge/burn in photoshop. Here are the results - which look much better in a larger size - click on the image for a larger version.



Undressed




Reclining

Tuesday 3 August 2010

The Legend of the Cheesewring, Bodmin Moor

I went back to Minions a few days ago, to show some friends how beautiful the landscape is around Bodmin Moor.

I climbed up to the Cheesewring and tried to make the most of the dramatic lighting conditions... because the light was bright with a lot of cloud the light was very patchy - and didn't always light up the bits I wanted it to!

View larger versions on flickr

Cheesewring - EXPLORED



Cheesewring



Cheesewring




The Cheesewring is a granite tor in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated on the eastern flank of Bodmin Moor.

The Cheeswring is a natural geological formation, a rock outcrop of granite slabs formed by weathering. It gets its name because the piled slabs look like a "cheesewring", a press-like device that was used to make cheese.

A local legend about this rock formation is the result of a contest between a man and a giant. When Christianity had just been introduced to the British Islands, the giants who lived at the top of the mountains were not happy about it. The Saints had invaded their land and were declaring their wells as sacred.

One of the larger giants, Uther, was given the task of ridding their land of the Saints. He confronted the frail St Tue, who proposed a rock throwing contest. If Uther won, the Saints would leave Cornwall. If St. Tue won, then the giants would convert to Christianity.

Uther took his turn first and easily threw a small rock to the top of nearby Stowe's Hill. St Tue prayed for assistance, and picking up a huge slab found it was very light. One after the other, they threw their rocks, stacking them up in perfect piles. When the score was 12 stones each, Uther threw a thirteenth stone, but it rolled down the hill. St Tue picked up this fallen stone, and as he lifted it, an angel appeared to carry it to the top of the pile of rocks. Seeing this, Uther conceded and most of the giants decided to follow Christianity after that.

Thanks Wikipedia
My flickr page