Options

Welding - my turn...

M38A1M38A1 Registered Users Posts: 1,317 Major grins
edited December 31, 2014 in People
I decided to try my hand at shooting a welder in action this evening.

D700
105mm f/2.8
ISO200
f/29
1/3sec exposure
Tripod

i-4rp6PPs-XL.jpg

Comments

  • Options
    alaiosalaios Registered Users Posts: 668 Major grins
    edited December 30, 2014
    very nice Scott! Alex
  • Options
    jmphotocraftjmphotocraft Registered Users Posts: 2,987 Major grins
    edited December 30, 2014
    love the spark trails, well done.
    -Jack

    An "accurate" reproduction of a scene and a good photograph are often two different things.
  • Options
    HackboneHackbone Registered Users Posts: 4,027 Major grins
    edited December 30, 2014
    Excellent, those are always fun, just don't get too close.
  • Options
    M38A1M38A1 Registered Users Posts: 1,317 Major grins
    edited December 30, 2014
    Thank you for the kind words.... This was fun to shoot.

    I poked around dgrin a bit and read up on how others had done it so I had some good starting points. The first shot out of the box was actually not far off from this one exposure-wise, so the settings provided were VERY close to put you in the ballpark if you want to try this yourself.

    We played with a couple different rod sizes with differing results. Thicker rods at a given power seemed to spark better than thinner rods is about all I know. And the smoke generated from the rods (old stick welder for equipment) either added or detracted from shot to shot. If I try this again, I'll probably put a small fan to the side to actually control the smoke.

    I was about 15' back and a bit skittish with my 105mm f/2.8 and zero lens protection. But after the first strike and pass I saw that the sparks (molten metal) were not even close to where I was standing. Not sure I'd do THAT part again though. lol.

    I was worried about my ISO and the solution at first when I saw most were down around 50 and my body will only go to 200. That concern was removed when I saw my 105mm was f/32, so I had some room to still go with 200 and had at least two stops available from f22 to f32 made it easy.

    I let WB float automatically. Next time, I'd probably fix it at 5500 for all shots so post would be easy to keep them the same. What was interesting was, the quality of light tossed out did in fact change all the time, so now thinking I'm not sure a fixed WB would make post any easier. It boiled down to selecting the shot content I liked then a few little/minor LR tweaks to the finished product. About 90 shots were taken inside of 15 minutes and three stood out from the rest. CORRECTION: Just checked the camera resetting from last night and I DID have a manual WB set at 5560 for these....

    Here's a different one without the background. I flipflop on which I like better. In one respect the background gives it some context, ie: a shop, gun owner, mans man kind of feel. The other is 100% about the person illuminated only by the tool. Here's the other one sans background.
    i-5MSkPjW-XL.jpg


    .
  • Options
    jmphotocraftjmphotocraft Registered Users Posts: 2,987 Major grins
    edited December 30, 2014
    The sparks are better in the second one, and it's probably a stronger photo of the welder, but I admit I got a kick out of the bumperstickers in the first one.
    -Jack

    An "accurate" reproduction of a scene and a good photograph are often two different things.
  • Options
    SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
    edited December 30, 2014
    Good image!!

    I tend to like the first one best.

    Sam
  • Options
    D3SshooterD3Sshooter Registered Users Posts: 1,187 Major grins
    edited December 30, 2014
    Great capture with good light and dynamics. Well done
    A photographer without a style, is like a pub without beer
  • Options
    ian408ian408 Administrators Posts: 21,916 moderator
    edited December 30, 2014
    Really great job! Good choice on the stick welder too.
    Moderator Journeys/Sports/Big Picture :: Need some help with dgrin?
  • Options
    David_S85David_S85 Administrators Posts: 13,209 moderator
    edited December 30, 2014
    I'm liking the second pic due to its simplicity (no stickers in BG). Better sparks in that one too.
    My Smugmug
    "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky
  • Options
    jonh68jonh68 Registered Users Posts: 2,711 Major grins
    edited December 31, 2014
    Both have their merits depending on the use, but I like the first better. It is a more interesting picture.
  • Options
    M38A1M38A1 Registered Users Posts: 1,317 Major grins
    edited December 31, 2014
    Again, thank you for the encouraging words.
Sign In or Register to comment.