Tag: studio

Portrait of the Pears

The other day I went shopping deliberately for fruit to shoot.  Food photography can be fun, but it does require more of a set up than I use when I am shooting pictures as I work in the kitchen.  I bought pears, tangerines, and apples from Whole Foods, checking the produce out for perfect fruit, and because I really think they have the best fruits in the autumn and winter months.  I used flash with the MagMod, backlighting from my eastern-facing studio window, a Lastolite scrim, along with silver reflectors and white foam core.  Not everything was used in every shot, but I did enjoy playing around.  Camera was the Nikon Df and the Nikon 24-85mm f2.8-4 lens.

The purpose of this study was to work with equipment and to work with software. Just practicing a studio set up and then working with the light – which was done in the morning given the eastern window – was fun. Shooting outdoors is not the same as shooting indoors. Doing studio work helps me focus on thinking about light, shadow, texture, composition, color, ad infinitum. It is a good way to focus more than just the camera – it creates a consciousness of the environment, one which I can control to a certain degree.

Besides the learning curve of studio work – and the fun – I really enjoy still lives of plants, food, fruit, and vegetables. For me, it brings the beauty of the natural world and an appreciation of its diversity to the forefront – something easy to forget in the face of just the busy-ness of everyday life.

Enter the MagMod

MagMod 2

For Christmas, there were a few photography accessories on my list, one being the MagMod 2.0.  I must have been a good girl, because I got one.  It is an attachment for your speed light, and allows a grid to be added to the flash, along with colored gels, to focus and change the light of the camera.  It is made of rubber – or a rubbery substance – that stretches to fit the speed light.  I put it on my SB600 as well as the SB400 (which is smaller than the SB600) by stretching the MagGrip.

From there, using the MagGrid 2 and the MagGel 2 systems, I could change my image’s character.  Coupled with extra lights from the side, or backlighting, the results were rather nice.  What I liked was the fact the MagMod 2 is very easy to use and is modular – hence the “mod” in MagMod.  The grid reduces the divergence of the light spread from the flash and focuses it to 40 degrees, per the MagMod website; add another, and it reduces it to 20 degrees.  (Will a third halve it to 10 degrees?)  In looking at this site, it appears they are now developing a bounce and a diffuser, but they are not yet for sale on the MagMod web page.

Images taken using the MagMod 2 Grid and Colored Filters

The MagMod 2 is easy to use – and rather fun! The magnets do have north and south poles, and they will remind you of that when you line them up wrong. Quality seems to be very good. I am not sure how the filters are made. There are air bubbles in them, which move around, but they do not affect the image at all from what I can see. Also, a few months back, I emailed them with some questions, and I was very pleased with the promptness of their replies. For the price, some people may find this an expensive item, but the kit is a good place to start, and from there, you can add what you want. Modular they are, and you can buy pieces individually.

Finally, here is a video done by someone in the studio, using a number of them.

And here, you can see all their products in production and available for pre-order.  Altogether, this is a rather exciting product, I think, and look forward to the continuing development of the MagMod system.