Fishermen ... and friends! Small group portrait shot in Green Harbour, Massachussets

Fishermen ... and friends! Small group portrait shot in Green Harbour, Massachussets, a photo by Nicola Zingarelli on Flickr.

This is one of those shots you keep in your library for a while, until you realize that is something you really like. I do love it, as simple as that, I think is really good, and even if is not humble or politically correct to say that you like something you have done, I don't care, I honestly believe is a good shot. It's got the colors, orange is a great to have in a photo, it's got the sunstar sneaking between two of the guys, which is, let me say it, way cool, and it's got a decent light on the subjectsagainst the backlit sunset. It took me a century to be able to focus on these guys because of the sun sneaking in, but I think it was 100% worth it. Figure this out, even my buddies were having fun !

Molix Vario lure shot in a tank with splashing water and two lights

Molix Vario lure shot in a tank with splashing water and two lights, a photo by Nicola Zingarelli on Flickr.

Yesterday, strongly pushed by my 7 years old daughter I finally filled up the fish tank and set my home studio. I really wanted to try to make the photos that I have seen done by other guys in Flickr, so I did. First mistake was to try using a black background, is my favorite but I soon discovered that with the set up I was using wouldn't work. The tank was reflecting everything like a mirror and couldn't get a decent transparent view of the glass. Off the black goes, in the white comes: problem solved.

Once I had everything settled I soon found myself looking around for something that would keep the front glass of the fish tank clean from the water drops. It is ridiculous because every time you drop the lure it would splash it again, but it felt more professional doing so.

I had two lights, both SB800 triggered with Nikon CLS; one on the left side through a transparent umbrella at the same height of the water surface, the other on camera right through another umbrella, facing down to the tank slightly angled to the background. The left speedlights was in charge of the main light and the right one would also take care of the background, trying to keep it as white as possible. Thinking it back, I believe that next time I will change this light setting, more in another post.

I tied a thin fluorocarbon trace to the upper section of a fishing rod and the lure on the other end, handed to my daughter and with the lure sitting in the middle of the tank I manually focused at that distance with a Nikkor 60mm f2.8 Micro and the D7000 on a tripod.

Then we started shooting, first with my daughter working the lure, until I decided to make a change, and put her at the shutter button, and me at the rod. This worked way better because I could tell her when to press the button and I could play the lure the way I knew it would have worked better.

We worked with 4 different lures, for at least a couple of hours, deleted at least 70% of the takes and saved the decent ones. Another good hour was needed in Lightroom to clean up things.
The result is in front of you, far from being perfect yet is a start, I have learn few important things and most of all, I have found another way to enjoy my studio work, which I love.

Orbis Ring Flash for macro shots

The guys at Orbis Ring Flash have been so kind to post an article about my product photos using the Orbis Ring Flash, you can find it by clicking here

Thanks!

Costa Rica, Fisherman with a Broomtail Grouper (Mycteroperca xenarcha)lit with an SB800 off camera flash and edited in black and white

Costa Rica, Fisherman with a Broomtail Grouper (Mycteroperca xenarcha) lit with an SB800 off camera flash and edited in black and white, a photo by Nicola Zingarelli on Flickr.

I was in Costa Rica in March and apparently it wasn't the right moment, in fact it was a very wrong one. Thus, even though the fishing was as slow as a dead snail, we enjoyed our stay in that wonderful country, together with our hosts: a french gentleman and a Tica guapa y simpática, who took care of us as they would have done with their own family. Eventually, during the last day we also made contact with a lot of fish, once a part of our group decided to use bait instead of lures.... This Broomtail Grouper was caught on a bucktail jig though, I lit it with an SB800 through a Lumiquest Softbox III
www.pechesportivecostarica.com

Dubai, large yacht moored at the dock with the city behind it. Fake HDR, 3 exposures +2 and - 2ev

Dubai, large yacht moored at the dock with the city behind it. Fake HDR, 3 exposures +2 and - 2ev, a photo by Nicola Zingarelli on Flickr.

This image has been sitting there for a couple of years now and when I saw it yesterday I thought it was sure worth a try. I edited in Lightroom and couldn't get where I wanted so I made a couple of virtual copies, at +2 and - 2ev and tone mapped them in Photomatix. I wanted details and contrast, and eventually I managed to get both of them. In my humble opinion is quite a well balanced image, with a lot of interesting elements to keep your eyes scanning it for a while.

www.nicolazingarelli.com
www.caranx.net

Sunset on the spanish fields.

Sunset on the spanish fields., a photo by Nicola Zingarelli on Flickr.

I didn't have much time on a late Saturday afternoon, we were playing cards until 6:00pm and with the summer days getting short couldn't scout too many places. I wanted to go back to a lake I have photographed a couple of years ago but eventually I got lost and couldn't find it. So I took an anonymus dirt road and looked around for a nice place to photograph. To be very honest with you, I didn't find anything interesting so I took some average photos waiting for a better light to come. When the sun disappeared behind the horizon, the sky started to turn into a deeper blue and the puffs of clouds picking up the colors of sunset. Here's what I got for you today, nothing to rave about, yet a serene sunset on the spanish fields. Life's good!

The Spanish meseta. Dark sky, bright field

The Spanish meseta. Dark sky, bright field, a photo by Nicola Zingarelli on Flickr.

Sometimes thinks cannot go any better than this. The sky is dark, gloomy and menacing and the sun sneaking from under the clouds, around sunset time. The light is almost perfect, and the whole atmosphere is pretty dramatic. The converging lines bring the attention of the viewer to the dark sky that for me is the most important subject of the image, together with the color contrast. I worked hard on Lightroom to enhance the colors, clarity and contrast of the image and make it look the way I saw it. Sometimes, things don't get any better that this...

Bijagos islands, Guinea Bissau. The boats ready to leave for the day's fishing

Bijagos islands, Guinea Bissau. The boats ready to leave for the day's fishing, a photo by Nicola Zingarelli on Flickr.

Nice memories of a fishing trip not so successfull in terms of fishing, yet beautiful as far as scenery, wildlife and photography is concerned.

For this shot I had to be in the water with the camera, something I'm more and more afraid to do nowdays... Anyway, the sun was coming up fast, as it happens in the tropics, and the fishermen all excited and getting ready to leave. For someone who love the sport is one of the best moments of the day.

www.caranx.net
www.nicolazingarelli.com

Iguela, Gabon. Surf fishing at sunset

Iguela, Gabon. Surf fishing at sunset, a photo by Nicola Zingarelli on Flickr.

If you notice, this image has been cropped on the horizontal side. The reason is that I didn't have a tripod with me on that trip, and had to put the camera on top of the cooler, and a corner of it was visible in the shot. The sunset on the western coast of Africa is pretty dramatic, and even though the colors have been saturated they're not far from what we could see every evening.

www.nicolazingarelli.com
www.caranx.net

Andaman Islands, India. Red Snapper (Lutjanus bohar) caught with a stickbait. SB800 through Orbis Ring Flash

Andaman Islands, India. Red Snapper (Lutjanus bohar) caught with a stickbait. SB800 through Orbis Ring Flash, a photo by Nicola Zingarelli on Flickr.

The Orbis Ring Flash sure is a great light modifier for my fishing portraits, is just a tad bulky to carry on a suitcase full of lures, reels and all kind of tackle. Fort this reason I not always bring it with me, but when I do I never regret. She is pretty, has a gorgeous smile and can perfectly hold a fish, a great plus for a fishing photo. I love the specular ring on her sunglasses, is a kind of brand signature of the Orbis.

SB800 through Orbis Ring Flash triggered with Nikon CLS