If you still think these types of shots take tons of wallet draining gear, hit the Jump and think again.

As you can see this is a shot of what I threw together to get the shot at left. I have better gear, as well as a more suitable area for this type of photograph, but I wanted to show that it’s easy to get quality shots with minimum gear.

The setup, which was in the floor next to a bed, is 2 basic off-camera strobes triggered with hotshoe optical triggers. Both strobes/flashes are diffused with simple typing paper. The background is black foam core with a piece of plate glass to provide the glossy under-reflection. Shot with a Nikon D80 w/ 50mm f/1,8D lens. Shutter is set to flash sync speed of 1/200th second, and f/stop is set to 8 to control the amount of light reaching the sensor. Remember when using a flash, it is aperture, not shutter speed, that controls the exposure. So what about cost? Below is a quick rundown …

• Vivitar 5250 = ~$15-25 or less
• Vivitar 5600 = ~$10-15 or less
• 2 x Black Matte Foamcore = $7
• 2 x sheets of typing paper = Free
• 1 x 16″x20″ plate glass = Borrowed from a picture frame
• 2 x Wein Optical Triggers = ~25-35 each

So for less than 100 bucks you can be set to do this kind of photography. Sure, you could spend upwards of 1000.00 on this exact same setup by switching the old Vivitar strobes for brand new ones from Nikon or Canon. Upgrading the foamcore to seamless paper or cloth. Shoot through umbrellas, light stands, and all the other little things photogs have. But I can promise you that the outcome will be so close that you might not be able to see the difference. So get out there and try this technique. Its great for smaller things where you want to capture alot of detail. Flowers are excellent, small antiques, eBay auctions, as well as any type of creative still-life shots. But, don’t stop there, you can use the flashes as off camera lighting for portraits or any other shot to get all kinds of professional looking effects.

(Pics Link to the Full Sized Images on Flickr)

Infrared photography is an excellent option for getting intriguing shots in the middle of the day. Infrared light is defined as a band of frequencies of the Electromagnetic Spectrum that is invisible to the human eyes. Cameras, however, are highly sensitive to IR light. So much in fact that camera manufacturers go to great lengths to create sensor filters that block this light. But, like most devices, there is no real 100% solution, and therefore some IR light is able to pass through the filter. All you need to try this out is an IR filter for your lens. The filter blocks all visible light from passing through to the camera sensor, so yes, it IS supposed to be completely black. Laugh if you like, but I have actually been asked if a IR filter was “defective” because it is opaque.

IR photos generally require longer than normal exposures, amount of time is dependent on the camera and the amount of IR available. At this point it is strictly trial and error to get the right image. Be advised that the picture will come out of the camera very red, this is just the nature of how the camera reads the light. Cameras can read IR light, but obviously LCDs cannot display it, and even if they could you wouldn’t be able to see it. Therefore the camera CPU pushes the image back into the visible spectrum, and since Red is the first frequency in the visible spectrum, the image comes out red. Don’t worry though, this will be fixed in Photoshop.

Traditionally speaking IR Photos are Black and White, which makes post processing very easy if this is the look you’re going for. If you want the “false color” effect, bring up the Channel Mixer in Photoshop and invert the Blue and Red channels. Then with some slight tweaking you can produce an amazing set of outcomes that is bound only by your imagination. Get Creative! Below is one of my personal IR shots. The IR look can make otherwise mundane shots into something spectacular.

Other options include going inside to get images that shows the mid-day light spilling into the interior in interesting way. Another, is to shoot in the shadows, this too can show some interesting play between light and shadow. So what if there is no light at all? While most people put the camera away, or fire up some harsh on camera flashes, were going to try our hand at time lapse photography. Time lapse is a method where light is minimal, and works best after dark or in a dark room. It requires very long exposure times, sometimes in excess of 1 minute.

Your camera will need to have a “Bulb” mode (be aware that many times DSLRs require some sort of remote trigger to activate the bulb mode) which allows you to open the camera’s shutter for as long as you require. Long exposures allow you to pick up very faint light, or to capture light in novel ways. One such way is “light drawing,” below is an example of a light scribble made with a Nikon D40 and a LED mounted on a finger.

So, there you have it, a great tip and two new ideas on how to push the boundaries of your photography outside the basics. Stay tuned for more information and new tips!