Nailed It!

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    Week 82, Assignment 2 for Take A Class With Dave and Dave.

    Nails. Another great stock image can come up here. Don't be constrained. However... for those who dare, I think if you can create the motion blur image of a hammer hitting a nail, and you nail it, then tag with "money" and move to the head of the class. I think this will be a challenging shot, and not for the faint of heart. After your subject has swung the hammer 50 times you might want to bail out to the nearest Vietnamese nail shop.

    One of the nice features about the Canon 580 EX II is the multi-flash setting. It took a few tries to get the setting just right, but I eventually got it.

    I also did an alternate "nail" shot in case this one didn't work out.

    fuzzirella, lakshmi3, asphaltlake, and 7 other people added this photo to their favorites.

    1. staciecmorris 68 months ago | reply

      Very nicely done. Is this just one image with different flash times then?

    2. [collin] 68 months ago | reply

      Oooh, it's Mr. Fancy-Schmancy Pants with his cool toys! LOL. Great job with this-- love the DoF on the hammers.

    3. Cayusa 68 months ago | reply

      With the 580 EX II you can set the flash to multi mode which causes it to flash multiple times during one exposure. I set the camera to a 3/10 of a second exposure and worked out the settings on the flash to get 3 bursts in that time frame. The math of it still eludes me so it was more trial and error than anything else, but I eventually worked it out.

      LOL, Thanks!


    4. The Astrid 68 months ago | reply

      Brilliant - excellent job :)

    5. !!Kelly!! 68 months ago | reply

      As always....this is freaking awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    6. fromky 68 months ago | reply

      You definitely did get it. You clearly weren't "hammered" at the time. (Okay, I figured you needed a pun after that title!)

    7. Cayusa 68 months ago | reply


      LOL and Ugggggg!

    8. fuzzirella 68 months ago | reply

      Oh! So this is what that setting can be used for other than annoying your friends!!! awesome!

      Seen next to a fellow photo of Take a class with Dave & Dave. (?)

    9. Cayusa 68 months ago | reply

      LOL, yeah, this is the other use! You can also do things like this

      I Believe I Can Fly

      I'm still fuzzy on all the math involved in the settings so it is pretty hit or miss right now.

      If you are really looking to annoy your friends, put the flash on your camera and push the button on the bottom left near where the lens attaches. THAT is really annoying! LOL

    10. anna.hawaii 68 months ago | reply

      you have a great angle on the shot and the dof is impressive as well, love how that first hammer is blurred and as you get closer it gets crisp and in focus.

    11. Protagonist 68 months ago | reply

      Excellent execution. I haven't messed around with multiple flash modes on my 580 yet, but this is pretty exciting stuff. Move to the head of the class!

    12. Cayusa 68 months ago | reply

      In order to get this shot I first tried focusing on the nail and then hitting it with the hammer. That proved to be rather difficult to time. I finally settled on putting the hammer on the nail, focusing on that and then timing it to the 10 second delay and lifting the hammer away rather than striking the nail. With a shallow DOF the hammer bokeh'ed itself quite nicely rather quickly.

      When you do start messing around with it let me know if you figure out the math to it. I have read and re-read that section and it still confuses me.

    13. Gamma Infinity 68 months ago | reply

      Pretty cool stuff, like those old strobe photos. Wait, it IS a strobe photo. Fun.

    14. Cayusa 68 months ago | reply

      LOL, that it is.

    15. sazztastical 68 months ago | reply

      I don't get how you did this at all - I'm so not technical it's beyond belief. Definately this has to be a stock shot that someone wants somewhere, definately deserves the money tag :)

    16. Cayusa 68 months ago | reply

      Thanks. Basically, I did a longer exposure in a dark room with a strobe light. There is a bit more to getting the flash setting right, but that is basically what it was. A slow pulsing strobe light with a longer than normal exposure.

    17. David Reber's Hammer Photography 67 months ago | reply

      Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Hammer Time, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
