POTD 48 of 365

If you happen to have "liked" my facebook page facebook.com/gacphoto, then you'll already know that I picked up a new toy, a CanoScan 9000F scanner. All I can say so far is that it's really shiny. I figured I'd use it in tonight's post to try to control highlights.



My setup for this shot is my most cobbled-together yet, and that's saying something.



There's quite a bit to take in here, and, to be honest, this attempt wasn't entirely successful, but, it tells me what I need to do in the future.

The most important bits in this shot are the two Styrofoam insulation panels I have sitting on top of the third panel and presentation board. They're the actual key light in this shot. The 580EX II at 1/4 and 24mm is fired into them, creating (mostly) one really big light source above the scanner. There's enough spill to turn the sides of the presentation board into smaller light sources, which accounts for the "streaks" of light on the lid of the scanner.

The second light is one of the 430EZs, at 1/32 and 35mm, with a blue gel through a grid, positioned so that the top of the light beam just grazes the top of the scanner, and the rest of the light provides a nice blue glow on the table.

Obviously, a real light tent would have made this shot better, and easier, but that's expensive, and there's hardly any sport in it. Extending the sides of the presentation board would have reduced or eliminated the streaking, so, tomorrow, I'm off to pick up more white posterboard.

Not a bad shot - I'm pretty pleased that you can't see me or the camera in the mirror-like scanner lid, so, there's that.