What on earth does a "grid" actually do?

I was asked recently what the purpose of a grid is on a flash, and while I can explain it easily enough a picture speaks a thousand words so here are about four thousand words worth in pictures! (...and a little text)

First up a flash firing directly at a wall (with a framed drawing hanging on the wall) without any attachments whatsoever:

As expected there is a large spread of light across the entire wall in front of the flash. The flash is set to 35mm.

Next up the exact same shot but with a grid attached to the front of the flash:

Snooting a Snoot is very snooty indeed!

Had to snoot my snoot today to get the shaft of light exiting the front a little more tight and controlled to highlight a label on a wine bottle. Here is the snooted snoot:

Piece of cardboard from a recent tent purchase (not a light tent, the camping kind) with a round hole cut in and a toilet paper roll cardboard tube stuck in the hole tightly. All taped on with some masking tape. Worked. No more to say.

And here is the result, well two of them really, one with a white background and one with a black background:

Comparison between Polarised and Unpolarised images.

After all these years the effect of a circular polarising filter still seems a little magical to me. First picture is without and then a few seconds later I took the second with the circular polarising filter applied. I am sure you will agree which looks best!

Like I said... magic!

This is a beach in Landskrona, the building is a clinic of some sort and in the distance you can see the island of Ven. The concrete blocks in the foreground are left over fortifications from the Second World War that Sweden built just in case the Germans invaded. They remain unused to this day, to the great relief of everybody in Sweden.

Nikon D300s, Nikkor 35mm 1:1.8G DX AF-S, Circular Polarising Filter, M mode.

Nikkor AF-S 85mm f/1.8 G = Smooth as butter backgrounds!

Even on my crop frame D300s and at a small distance from the subject this beautiful lens renders lovely out of focus backgrounds! This was set to f2.8. Taken during our Sunday cycle through the countryside.

Just to give an idea of how sharp this lens is, here is a pic also taken on Sunday with the 85mm f/1.8, and included is a 100% crop of the windmill section below that:

100% crop:

One last point, if there is any distortion from this lens I am totally unable to see it! :-)

Photographing an Easter Egg Display

My wonderfully creative wife made a beautiful little Easter Egg display and I just had to photograph it... before I eat and demolish it! ;-) Love you Älskling! ♥

...and a quick pull back shot to show how simple the lighting is:

"On Location" Studio Portrait Shoot

I shot a series of portraits for a someone over the weekend and decided to share this one simply because this wonderful man's face really caught my eye, some people are just great to photograph and he was a natural!

I had a load of fun and was reminded once again that I am in this because I love working with people, and seeing them happy with something as personal as their portrait just makes my day!