Was asked to take photos of a friend’s car. Turned out okay, but I wish I had a wider lens and more speedlights! But lets not get into that. I’ve come to a realisation, despite what anyone says, it’s not about the body and it’s never about the lens. “But Michael-san what is the key?!” The key kids, is lighting. Let’s all stop worrying about what brand, what body and what lens you have and what that person has. Focus on how light falls on your subject and pay attention to every detail. Avoid hot spots (patches of stray light) and harsh shadows. Make sure your subject is all lit where you want it to be lit.

I am tired of hearing people arguing Nikon and Canon are better than the other or if they are superior than Sony (which they are of course ). Truth be told, all of these cameras produce the same quality and almost identical colours. In this day and age, after it goes through PP (Post Processing), you won’t be able to tell which one comes out of which camera. However, do watch out for noise at high ISO settings. It is ridiculously childish to say that your camera is better than theirs, your “better”camera is not going to help you learn lighting nor will it help you compose better (cue in shattering glass sound effect).

With that, lets enjoy this short photo set.
I took these photos with one SB-900 through a shoot-through umbrella. I set my shutter to open for 8-10 seconds and I walked around the car and flashed my speedlight manually. Probably can be classified as light painting

Michael.