Nikon D610 + 24-85mm kit lens + Speedlites, Grid Spot, & Reflector

Day 3 with the Nikon D610 and I’m thinking it’s time to shake it up a bit.  I was going to grab a couple of speedlite softboxes, but then I saw my gridspots lying there and thought it would be fun to play with them. 

And, it just so happened the Mrs. had my cordless drill and a couple of other tools lying around after assembling a dresser from Ikea, which gave me an idea.  Why not do some shots with the tools using hard lighting from the grid spots on a couple of speedlites? 

Let’s have a look at the set-up. (click on any of the photos to see larger version)

Nothing fancy here.  I just cleared off my coffee table, moved it away from the couch for some seperation, and started playing.

Camera left, I've got a speedlite with a grid spot on it atop a Manfrotto Nano stand. 

Camera right, there's another speedlite firing into a piece of foam core that I'm using as a reflector. 

Here's a close-up of the speedlite with the gridspot attached via velcro strap.  You can see the wireless receiver between the speedlite and the light stand mount.

 Here's another angle showing the gridspot more from the front. 

And here you can see the speedlite camera right pointed at the foam core.  The speedlite is sitting atop a wireless receiver sitting in a speedlite foot stand. 

***Side note: Please don't tell my wife I'm showing you messy photos of our living room :-) ***

Nikon D610 + 24-85mm kit lens + Speedlites, Grid Spot, & Reflector

This shot is pretty much straight on, and you can see it's a little two dimensional.  Probably should've angled the drill a little more for a little more depth of perspective.  Still, not bad.  

Nikon D610 + 24-85mm kit lens + Speedlites, Grid Spot, & Reflector

Nikon D610 + 24-85mm kit lens + Speedlites, Grid Spot, & Reflector

Nikon D610 + 24-85mm kit lens + Speedlites, Grid Spot, & Reflector

Nikon D610 + 24-85mm kit lens + Speedlites, Grid Spot, & Reflector

I like the dramatic effect of the hard light coming from the grid spot on the speedlite.  Makes for an interesting look. 

Nikon D610 + 24-85mm kit lens + Speedlites, Grid Spot, & Reflector

The play of light on the head of the hammer in this close-up looks interesting to my eye. 

Nikon D610 + 24-85mm kit lens + Speedlites, Grid Spot, & Reflector

The reflections on the surface of my black coffee table make for a nice effect too.

As far as positioning and lighting details, I'm basically just moving the two speedlites around a bit, as well as repositioning the tools until I get the light and the reflections to look how I want them in the photo. 

Nikon D610 + 24-85mm kit lens + Speedlites, Grid Spot, & Reflector

Power settings on the speedlites haven't changed through-out the shoot as I recall.  I pretty much set the speedlite camera left to 1/4 power and the speedlite camera right to 1/8th if memory serves, and then just backed them in and out to finess as required.

Nikon D610 + 24-85mm kit lens + Speedlites, Grid Spot, & Reflector

The nice thing about using a grid spot on a speedlite is that you get a pretty controlled, focused beam of light that allows you to control where the light is hitting your subject.  

Nikon D610 + 24-85mm kit lens + Speedlites, Grid Spot, & Reflector

Nikon D610 + 24-85mm kit lens + Speedlites, Grid Spot, & Reflector

Nikon D610 + 24-85mm kit lens + Speedlites, Grid Spot, & Reflector

Nikon D610 + 24-85mm kit lens + Speedlites, Grid Spot, & Reflector

Nikon D610 + 24-85mm kit lens + Speedlites, Grid Spot, & Reflector

If you haven't played around with grid spots on your speedlites, I heartily recommend you give it a try.  You can get some pretty nice effects from them, and it's just plain fun!

The Nikon D610 performed admirably in this type of studio style shoot, as did the 24-85mm kit lens.  In fact, I think the the D610 is well suited as a studio camera.  With it's rich, full-frame, 24 megapixel sensor, it delivers very detailed, very nice images with plenty of latitude for post-processing.

Equipment used in the shoot:
Nikon D610
Nikon 24-85mm f3.5-4.5G ED VR AF-S
Nikon SB-26 Speedlites (check out the Yongnuo YN-560II as an alternative)
Opteka Gridspot for Speedlite 
Cowboy Studio Wireless Triggers & Receivers
Manfrotto Nano Light Stand
White Foam Core Reflector