the real quarter spin shots

photobug · Nov 21, 2005

Not substantially better than what I posted in Bloopers, but at least the quarter is in these.

Not totally happy with these, but it was a learning experience and i have a new apreciation for those who do these type shots and really make them work.

Chase · Nov 21, 2005

You got some interesting results here, 4 & 5 are my favorites. That really does look difficult to shoot and get exactly what you want. How did shoot these?

photobug · Nov 21, 2005

It's a flaming PITA, lemme tell ya! :lol:

One table lamp and trailing curtain flash. Exposures between 1 & 2.5 seconds. The shorter exposures seemed to work better with the light level I had. It's incredibly difficult to tell if the thing will be in focus or not, I guess marking the table somehow for dof would help. So you'd know whether to bother tripping the shutter or not. Most of mine were grossly oof. I tried autofocus & manual focus & both didn't work equally well.

Having somebody else to spin the coin would help tremendously as well. Flick the coin, grab the remote release, try to time the spin, whew, that's tiring!

Anybody with suggestions don't be shy- speak up!

Rob · Nov 22, 2005

You could try a lighter background with more lighting to help the camera and yourself focus and freeze the motion slightly more? I do like the three lighter horizontal pictures together though - would make a nice triptych.

JonMikal · Nov 22, 2005

:thumbup:

photobug · Nov 22, 2005

Yeah, I've pretty much come to the same conclusion- more light!!! I think I'll cover the table with paper or something for a solid color surface as well, and move the background farther away.

The second series was with the flash and lamp tilted more toward the coin. I feel a second go somewhere in the future...