Star Burst Christmas Lights

Dec12

Celebrating the one and only 12 (day), 12 (month) 12 (year)!
Over at "I Heart Faces" today was a tutorial on how to create a "Star Burst" effect with Christmas lights. Since I wanted to include a moving object in my version I had to make some adjustments.

First I set my camera up according to the instructions.

Settings: manual, 30 sec, ISO 100, F22, flash on Lens 50mm

This produces a great star burst effect. What happens though if your dog (or a person) decides to move during the 30 second exposure?! The result in a great star burst tree and a very blurry dog! Another little surprize, if your dog gets bored and decides to get up and leave before the 30 second exposure is up - well then this is what you get.

20121212-ghost
Kodee Ghost!
So to solve my problem, I took a photograph of just the tree using the above settings. Then I took a second photograph, focusing on Becky and changed my settings to ensure I would have a nice sharp image of her.

Settings: manual, 100 sec, ISO 100, F2.4, flash on Lens 50mm

To get my final photograph, I combined the star burst tree and the sharp focused photo of Becky together.

20121212-Edits

Did you know Kodee and Becky have their own blog? From December 1 - 24, I am creating my own"Dog Inspired Advent Calendar" and taking a photo a day of Kodee and Becky 

View my 2012 Advent Calendar Collection


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Joining the fun at:


and
 then, she {snapped}  Camera Critters

Oh My! Boudoir Furtography

Studio 12 Cav November 

Well obviously the girls were just thrilled to "volunteer" to pose while I practiced with my flash and umbrella. NOT.

Lady in Waiting Miz Becky

Dad! Your supposed to be the SANE dog owner out of the two of you! What gives?!

Her Royal Highness Miss Kodee

Seriously Becky. I personally think I look charming and find the crown quite fitting.

Snuggle Up

I've made a promise to myself to not let this winter's cold weather and bleak skies get in the way of my photography. To help, I have come up with a personal challenge to keep me motivated. I've decided to seek out natural light in my house as well as devote some time to setting up a home studio.

Natural light can be a bit of a challenge in my house. I have 2 rooms with good natural light so on those bleak days, I am also going to get acquainted with my my flash, umbrella and reflector.

Kodee and Becky are at the top of my list of things I love to photograph but they will only tolerate a few quick shots with a flash before becoming agitated. To make it easier on them, I make use of stuffed toys till I am confident I have the right settings. Their contract demands high reward, quality treats as payment.

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Participating in: Camera Critters & Daily Dog Challenge Flickr Group #394 Formal Portrait

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