Dinner with Aunt Denise & Uncle Jeff A Tale of Science Fair Photography
Ever since my parents died my aunt and uncle have done their best to fill some of the hole left in my heart. It almost feels like they adopted me in a way. They check on me. They help me clean. They helped me sort through all of my parents' belongings. And from time to time they invite me over for dinner when I'm feeling up to it.
Last week I got a new invitation. I had been feeling pretty lonely as of late so I graciously accepted. Before I left I saw my camera sitting on the table and realized I had this fancy new lens which is especially suited for taking pictures of people.
I thought to myself...
"This lens has only taken pictures of bridges at sunset."
Which is cool and everything, but I don't really want my only photos to be of bridges at sunset. I like taking pictures of other things.
I didn't have any lighting equipment handy—just a single external flash. And without a solid plan for how I was going to use it, I quickly packed said flash and headed westward. As I saw the sun lowering in the sky above the highway my big photography brain had an idea...
"I should take pictures of *people* at sunset."
I needed a reflector of some kind to bounce my flash against. I thought poster board would probably suffice so I stopped at Walmart and headed to the arts and crafts area. I found these tri-fold poster board thingies that grade school kids use to display their science fair experiments.
I got 2 for $7!
What a deal!
After I arrived I asked if my aunt & uncle minded having their photo taken. My aunt said she was fine with it but warned me that no one had ever been able to take a decent photo of her.
I'm typically not one to be braggadocious, but I replied...
"Well, that's because you've never had your photo taken by ME."
I'm not sure I should have been so cocky considering my lighting equipment is typically used to display the life cycle of earthworms, baking soda volcanos, and... potato batteries—which was the delightful and totally real project I just found on Google.
Science Fair Entry from Billy, Age 10
After a delicious feast of bratwurst, salad, and non-electrified potatoes, I convinced my aunt and uncle to sit for a sunset photoshoot. They even helped me set up my science fair project.
Science Fair Entry from Froggie, Age 42
I decided to do a quick test indoors to make sure my plan would work. Jeff volunteered for my first experiment.
Without my contraption...
With my contraption...
I think my experiment was quite promising. But would my idea hold up outside during the sunset with constantly dimming conditions?
We moved everything to the backyard. The tri-fold poster board was a bit ornery regarding its uprightness and needed to be tamed. My Uncle Jeff used a large rock, some pillows, and a step ladder to keep the makeshift reflectors in place.
I started taking test photos without the flash to figure out the background exposure.
Those pesky power lines were going to need to be zapped later in Photoshop, but I was really digging the scenery.
I dialed everything in, started taking photos, and even on the little rear camera screen I felt like they were turning out well. With the sun setting the sky looked like it was on fire. But then the batteries died in my flash and I was starting to lose that fiery sky as darkness began to creep into view.
Unfortunately, all of the potatoes were in our bellies so my aunt scrambled to find regular batteries in the house.
This photoshoot had become a complete team effort with everyone doing their part to make it a success.
Surprisingly it was my Uncle Jeff was giving me some bona fide model poses. He just naturally has some sort of... resting model face. Very masculine and authentic. And my Aunt Denise is just pure sunshine manifested as a person. So I had no problems getting nice expressions from her.
So... would you like to see the pictures?
Will I get a blue ribbon on my science fair project?
Am I building up the suspense too much?
Okay, here we go...
I suppose the only validation I really need is from the person who has never had a decent photo taken of them.
Let's see the verdict.
All of those hours and hours of photography training helped me learn the problem solving skills I needed to pull off a photoshoot with seven dollars in supplies.
Take a small light source, bounce it off something larger, and you get a big light source.
And big light sources make people look snazzy in photographs.
Easy!
Are you kidding me?
I lost to the potato kid?
What kind of rigged nonsense...
Next time I'm going to take a picture of people in front of a bridge at sunset.
