the power of a bounce

The wonderful thing about this Tigger is as well as being bouncy, it can be trained to sit very still.

It's my temporary substitute for an upturned eggcup and a pingpong ball, which will become a minor project over the next day or two.

A group of us found ourselves marvelling at the effects that an Anglepoise lamp could have upon a circle and a rectangle, whilst on the 10th floor of the Blue Fin Building in Southwark.

It was a session with a gang of well-known photography types and we were all picking up tips on better ways to shoot pictures.

It was 'all about the picture' rather than about the gear, and very good for it. I was particularly struck by a suspicion that I've had for a long time being confirmed.

I've often wondered whether all those extra modes and menus on cameras were really necessary, based upon my days with film where aperture, shutter speed, ISO and focus seemed to suffice.

That was the general gist in this session as well. Simplified to 'Go manual'.

So I'll need the ping-pong ball balanced upon the upturned eggcup and an anglepoise lamp to 'play god' with the lighting of a scene, to simulate sunrise to sunset and the different positioning effects it creates.

In the meantime, its a bit of an experiment with a couple of speedlights to tide me over.

Not to mention some further experiments with that variable light source I've got access to for free. Yes, daylight.