Went to give the mug I photographed from a few posts ago back to its rightful owner, and had a pleasant chat with the guy. Their stuff ain't cheap. That mug cost $15. He gave it to me to say thanks for the sample photograph. Not that they aren't positively overflowing with the guy's wife's handmade pottery, but the gesture was greatly appreciated nonetheless.

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Had an idea. The hottest thing since sunburns in photography is the ringflash. It's a circular flash that surrounds the barrel of the lens and gives a nice shadowless glowing light. Very popular in fashion photography. Pulled this off Google's image search for illustration. It's not mine. :-(



Well, I figured why couldn't I achieve a similar effect by just placing my silver reflective umbrella directly behind the camera position rather than at the usual angles from above. I hoped it would give a reasonably similar effect without having to shell out the $400 I don't even come close to having for a ringflash unit. So I set up a makeshift studio in the garage. Invited Angela to come over after work, but she was busy, so you get... me! Greasy hair, unshaven, laundry day t-shirt, and all.



Ok, so in this first one I look like a deer in oncoming headlights. But you can see where I'm trying to go with this... right?



For this one I squatted down and tried a more over-and-under lighting scheme (evidenced by the catch lights in my eyes) with a bounce card down by my chest.

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And I decided to add my logo watermark. I feel all official now.