Setting up for a Balloon Burst

I took some shots of bursting balloons this weekend using the Trigger Trap Flash Adapter. The photos below illustrate the flash and camera set up that I used

Two SB900 speedlights fired using Pocket Wizard triggers (although any simple triggers will suffice as TTL information is not required.) I covered the backlight with a zip lock back to protect is during the burst. The 2nd Flash is fitted with a snood to focus the light on the subject and avoid ambient light falling on the surrounding area.

Two SB900 speedlights fired using Pocket Wizard triggers (although any simple triggers will suffice as TTL information is not required.)

I covered the backlight with a zip lock back to protect is during the burst. The 2nd Flash is fitted with a snood to focus the light on the subject and avoid ambient light falling on the surrounding area.

I used Trigger Trap Mobile to trigger the Flash guns. The Mobile App has a Sound Sensor mode that will fire the flash when a sound is picked up by the phone. This can be either the sound of the balloon bursting or in my case the sound of a Nerf gun firing the dart at the target. (I modified the Nerf dart by adding a pin in the tip)

SB900 connected to Trigger Trap flash adapter and dongle. (I have a 3m extension lead added for convenience)

SB900 connected to Trigger Trap flash adapter and dongle. (I have a 3m extension lead added for convenience)

Settings:

This technique works best in almost total dark, this way the camera shutter can be left open for a few seconds to allow time to aim and fire the Nerf gun.

Set your flashes to manual and the power to the lowest setting (1/128th power in the case of SB900's) The Flash pulse is at it's briefest duration when the power output is low and this will help freeze the subject.

Camera Aperture and ISO can be varied to ensure that the flashes correctly expose the subject. In my case F7.1, ISO 400 and a 2 second shutter speed worked well.

NOTE: Watch out that the mobile app does not pick up the sound of the camera shutter. I suggest experimenting with the level of sound required to trigger the flash. The Nerf gun is a lot louder that the camera shutter so it is easy to set up.

Example Balloon burst. Backlit with an SB900 and side lighting with a small softbox

Example Balloon burst. Backlit with an SB900 and side lighting with a small softbox

Here are a couple of out-takes from the same session... mildly addicted to the click, thunk, splosh of a nerf dart bursting a water filled balloon in the dark

Balloon Bursts

I have to say that I am delighted with the performance of the Trigger Trap Flash adapter.

I took exactly four shots and these are the results. Faultless performance of the trigger meant that each shot was on the money.


I used a nerf gun to pop the balloons (needle embedded in the dart)

2 x SB900 flash guns @ 1/128 power  triggered using the Triggertrap Mobile App, Flash adapter and Pocket Wizard triggers. 

Photography and Presbyopia

Over the last two years I have noticed my near vision slowly deteriorating and finally I decided to visit my opticians for an eye test. It turned out that I had Presbyopia which is basically a loss of close focusing ability due to my ageing eyes.

The immediate solution was glasses that I could use for focusing on close (arms length) objects such as computer screens etc.

If I'm honest the slow loss of close focusing vision and transition from 20/20 vision to the requirement for glasses impacted my photography. I found I was less likely to pick up my camera as I am not a fan of looking through an eye piece whilst wearing glasses and if I utilised the dioptre I still needed to wear the glasses to view the camera LCD and settings.

I have found that I have barely used my camera in the last 18 months and decided to re-start my photography this year. Investigating solutions to my reading glasses problem I discovered 'Monovision contact lenses'

Basically the solution is to wear a contact lens adapted for distance in the dominant eye (left eye in my case) and another adapted for near vision in the other eye.

Contact lenses are not for everybody and there is in-convenience and cost to factor in but I am giving them a trial and will post updates in the coming weeks...

 

Fuji XE-2

I recently bought a Fuji XE-2 Mirror-less camera to partner with my existing Nikon D800. I plan to use the Fuji to cut down on equipment for overseas trips.

I've taken some test shots in my local park and will update the blog as I get time to use this camera more in the coming weeks.

Creative Cloud for Photographers

During today’s keynote at the Photoshop World conference in Las Vegas, Adobe announced a special Photoshop CC + Lightroom 5 bundle deal which can be seen as a concession to photographers. Just as a reminder, when Adobe announced the pricing scheme for their Creative Cloud, many people voiced their concern about the fees being set too high for the amateur or prothusiast photographer. Adobe later announced that they would figure out a solution for photographers, and well, here it is. For those who sign up until December 31st of this year, Photoshop CC will be available bundled with Lightroom 5, a Behance Pro membership and 20 gigs of online storage for merely $9.99 per month. While this still adds up to almost $120 per year, it’s still much less than the regular Photoshop CC subscription fee.