Flags of the World ~ Old Glory

I think tonight I've been far to clever for my own good (that's the last time I listen to Earthdreamer and his go forth and excel advice)...

;- )

Not the shot I envisaged but it's kind of growing on me. Ach, I don't know!

People have been asking how I do this stuff, so here's a couple of pointers I've picked up since trying this. I'm no expert so this may not be technically correct and there may be better ways of doing it, but it works for me.

If I can do it, anyone can! Give it a go, you'll enjoy it.

Shoot manually

If you try this on an automatic setting it won't work.

I use the live review to help focus because I found it easier to use than the viewfinder. For this, flip the controls to either Av or Tv (Canon speak for aparture or shutter priority). This will expose "correctly" to allow you to focus clearly. Once done, you shouldn't need to re-focus again.

Switching off live review and flipping back to Manual all you need to do is set for a fast shutter (I use the max sync speed for my flash - 1/250) and a small aperture (I got between f16 and f22 depending on the colour of my flash filter and the brightness I'm looking for). Ignore the flashing exposure warnings because a completely underexposed image with a flash of colour (I used filters on the flash rather than post process colouring) is what you are after.

Test a shot to confirm focus is ok, then go for it!

Take lots of shots

I light an incense stick and photograph (portrait and landscape) until it dies. Lots of images but gives the maximum number of options in post-process. The highly technical aspect of creating shapes is down to a combination of blowing and wafting your hand in front of the stick!

Post process

Once your images are loaded wherever your workspace is it's just a matter of seeing what you've got and what you can make of it. I usually set contrast to high and darken shadows (to clear out any background ambient flashlight that might exist and less intense lit smoke depending on the look I'm looking for). Once I've selected my component parts (for composite shots such as this or yesterday's rose) I export the RAW files to TIF and load into my editing software where I combine them into the final file and save to export up to Blip.

I use Lightroom and CorelDraw Photo-Paint but I'm sure any editing software will let you do the same thing.