Butterfly's Are Paramount

Butterfly or Paramount lighting is a style I am drawn to, so I gave it a go.

A 4’ Godox octa just above Meg* and a small reflector (soft silver), with a hand held flash fired into it for fill. The flash units were at their lowest settings (1/128), with the maximum zoom width setting and dome diffusers attached to weaken their effect and still they were close to too much. The fill created the catch light, the diffuser is a nearly invisible soft blob at the top. I also tried the K & F Black Mist.

Gently, almost gingerly in search of a signature style to call mine (can’t force it, just follow the little voices until it feels right), I also went back to an old favourite, the square format, which I think for portraiture is the “right” shape.

Horizontal has the advantage of camera “rightness” and always allows cropping, but tends to enforce rules of composition, while a vertical or portrait orientation definately forces compositional realities and can feel cramped and “done”, while a square lets you frame as you wish within the unbiased frame after being originally shot as a rectangle. It is directly opposed to the wide screen 16:9 or wider used for video, so it seems I am drawn to extremes.

I will try this again with the 42” brolly in both shoot through and reversed configurations. Straight through is apparently close to a beauty dish in effect, a butterfly favourite, but the reversed may add the extra softness I want without losing brilliance.

*

*Something I have noticed since setting up the studio is, nothing is wasted. I stripped a plastic thread on one of my favoured Bowens S-Clamp flash holders trying to hold the huge octa’s stem, so I employed one of the older slip-on types, the ones that are to blame for several dropped flash units (along with me I guess). These use a metal on metal locking screw and it held. Nothing wasted.

Happy Birthday Daisy

Daisy is three (young adulthood in dog years).

Big day for us, probably not her (she lives in the moment, more than for the day).

She clearly dressed up for the occasion.

Her sister, Lucy, aka “Luce the Goose”, aka “get down off there”, aka, “Big Gooner”, is a touch older, but unfortunately we are only guessing, so in lieu of a “Horses Birthday”, we gave her December 1.

Coffee Culture

Nice to see people out and about.

Lighting, The Big Question

What I need to ask myself now, with so much at hand, is what is my best quality light?

This is of course a tough question to answer with only one answer, but if I am tasked with creating the best possible light (light source, modifier and application), what would that be?

I like certain mods for their versatility and I have a plethora of light to push through them, especially for stills (theoretically 7x gn 60 flash units and about 350-400w of constant light via 3 Cob and 6 LED’s of various types), but quality over quantity is the key.

Rory Lewis is a good example, a photographer I discovered recently, he can produce perfect light using just a decent light and a mod as simple as a shoot through brolly, 80cm soft box or deep silver reflected. I have these and more, so surely I can produce something in the same class.

From a big 4’ Neewer soft box with no extras.

To be fair, I have only been tooling around in this arena for a while (if you do not count a stint years ago as a pro’s assistant), probably getting lucky more than I should, becasue I know that doing is much more productive than reading and researching, but this has already given me a preference for the softer effect of reversed white umbrellas. These are inefficient, but reliable with smooth and gentle highlights.

After my tests recently, I became aware of the two distinct looks to mods. They are either gentle-soft or run hotter-contrastier. Even some of the more open mods can be hot, and some of the smaller ones can produce softer, smoother looks. Stem position, mod to subject distance and type (bounce or straight through) are the things that matter. One brolly of a decent size (42-52”), used at different distances, angles, reversed or as a shoot through, can be all you need and if a diffuser and grid are available, you have pretty much every base covered.

What I am chasing is a soft, clean brilliance, something I have noticed more from shoot-throughs or silver brollies. Maybe the hot spots I have been trying to avoid are there the brilliance lies?

This is the favoured look at the moment.

Maybe this is the better one to chase.

The options are many, too many probably, but in my rockery, no stones are undisturbed.

The 7’ white brolly (1). This is the Annie Leibovitz super soft look. I have used this for a group shot pushing two flash units into it reversed over an area of about 15x8’ and it produced a soft and even look, but it was flat and a little lifeless. It can have the potentially massive spill issue controlled by a light weight black blanket laid over it. Video or stills.

The 7’ silver brolly (1). This one has the interesting effect, being one of my more “open” or shadow reducing mods, but with some brilliance and it’s about a stop or more efficient than its softer partner. Like it’s companion, these are of limited use, being too big for some environments, stand limited and very easily wind effected. Video or stills.

42” white brolly (2). These are my favourites, probably my “desert island” mods (and handy in the sun and rain!), doing the job when others have been too complicated or difficult to work with and are largely responsible for my preference for reversed brollies over shoot through. Light spill is an issue, so they tend to get used in larger spaces. I used these recently in a 1 mod shoot as shoot throughs and they worked well. My hunch is, these will be my studio go-to’s but as shoot throughs. Video or stills.

4’ octa-umbrella soft box (4). I have two Neewer and two Godox in these, both a little different. They are broad, efficient, versatile and multi faceted. The two types are different, both in depth and finish and I have a few ways of deploying them. They can be used as straight, deep silver brollies (potential?), single or double diffused and gridded. For travelling jobs, these will be ideal as they are more resistant to wind and I really want them to work, but the jury is still out on them, but I am confident one of their forms will be ideal, with others to fall back on. Video or stills.

The 4’ used as a deep silver brolly, slightly feathered with a 50cm silver reflector for fill. I need more light on Megs eyes.

33” Neewer brollies (various x10). I have a ton of cheap little 33” brollies in silver, gold and white all bought in those cheap beginner sets early on, often to get the stands and I have to say, you could do worse. The 33” white is more neutral than the Godox 42’s and very similar in performance and the silvers are very good also. I have not used the gold ones yet, but it’s nice to have a warm option. Video or stills.

26” ArtDNA Soft box (1). This is a vexing beast. I had no luck using it with constant light as it was too intense up close and needed to be for softness. For flash on the other hand, it produced very nice light in comparison to the Neewer 4’ soft. It is also bulky to transport, clever, but fragile to set-up and small for the effort. It has a grid borrowed from the Neewer below, so directionality is good. The right hand image below is with the 26”, the left with the Neewer 4’. My preference is for the bigger modifier look, but …………. . This is only a stills option at the moment.

Neewer 24” square soft box (1). This one is similar in a lot of ways to the 26” above, so I use it ready to go in the studio as the non gridded version, although thinking about it, I should probably put the grid back on this one (done) as the hard sides may work better for control. These two mods are nice, but small. They work well in my small studio, but their annoying form factor and small size mean that will likely be that for them. Stills only as it does not fit any video lights.

Neewer 8x40” strip box (1). This wins the award for “least likely to go on the road”, being a right pig to assemble, but in the studio it will get much use. The shape is so easily controlled and promotes creativity, but I doubt it will ever be broken down in its working life. A grid would be good, but it can’t take one, so lesson learned. Not part of the master plan, more a creative problem solver.

Neewer 32” and 43” soft box umbrellas (1 each). These are both good units, but don’t add much to the equation. They are both umbrella types, so they can be transported easily and the 43” in particular adds another dimension to the brolly dynamic. I will likely add one or the other into a travel kit in case a windy outdoor application is needed, which being closed, they will be safer with. Too small for video lights

12x5’ white diffuser cloth (1). A huge sheet of white diffuser cloth, big enough to be triple folded, it is a real option for the “wall of light” effect and book lighting. It can even be pushed into service as a white backdrop with light coming from behind.

Reflectors (various-4-5). Not light mods as much as post lighting problem solvers, reflectors in many sizes are the first fill/light quench option and the second choice for diffusion. I recently shot some video with my Neewer 480 RGB through a 60cm one and it worked well.

40cm LED soft box (1). New today, this may make an LED panel (480, 660, 2x NL140) an option.

Ok, lots.

Right now, knowing what I know, what would be my one choice?

My heart says 42” as reflected. Hard to control but so nice and gentle and control is possible using a black blanket over their back.

My head says 4’ octa’s as work-horse mods. Are they the “ones that can do anything” mods I hope they are?

My gut says 42” as shoot through. The “B”option to the first one, but harder to control.

The reality is, exploring all the options and variants just one mod can offer can be the work of years.

We will see.

Mentors

You may have noticed I mentioned Caravaggio and Rory Lewis in my last post. One of these is an old influence, the other very recent.

Mentors and inspiration are important for any creative endeavour, but you have to be aware of the difference between a true mentor and an infatuation.

I stumbled over Rory Lewis as you do googling something like “one light portraits” or similar, but what ever, his style and inspirations really resonated. Gavin Hoey, Jeff Rojas and others are the usual culprits, but Lewis stirred something new in me.

His lighting is simple, as is the gear used (although cameras are usually top end full rame or medium format with matched lenses-why not, when you only have one job) as staying portable and working fast is a priority and he does not drive. I must admit, pinning down his gear has been a little difficult, with comments like (under “a essential my gear” post), “I prefer a deep silver brolly”, but I have looked at a lot of his behind the scenes posts and never seen him using one, almost always using a shoot through or occasionally a soft box? In another case he says he uses Canon gear, in others medium format.

Lastolite feature heavily, but other than that he really does not harp on gear, or lighting, saying he feels lighting is 20% of the job and direction the rest.

I am amazed at the quality of his work considering he often only used a shoot through brolly, maybe an octa or reflector, but little else.

One of his most interesting statements is that with the exception of specific past photographic masters, he never looks at other contemporary photographers work, developing his own style using only great artists of the past like Guthrie, Caravaggio etc, all exponents of clear portrait messaging and often stronger lighting.

Caravaggio has always intrigued me, being the most contemporary and photographic of the old masters.

It is no coincidence that my first studio session with Meg and Daisy, was against a black background. If the mark of a good portrait is to see the inner person (or dog), then I hope I will be able to do that.

I will try to find my own style, something that means something to me, but more importantly, to the subjects of my sessions.

So, Any Colour As Long As It's White

Well white it is. White top to bottom, side to side, all except the black floor.

So much for plan “A”, but happy enough to go with it. It’s only paint.

After painting my one intended white wall, my wife suggested I keep going with it.

The reality is, the tiny 8x10’ studio room looks bigger, brighter and cleaner this way and being small, I can control the brilliance with only a little effort (I hope).

For the longer right side wall I have a 12’ wide black backdrop.

For the left, I can use any of several 5-in-1’s ranging from 60 to 200cm wide or hand blankets etc as needed.

Pure ceiling white wall to wall. The yellowish tinge to the left wall is overcast day through greenery? The large backdrop is a 5x7 Neewer black/white cloth one that risked not being used (the outer seam is not super high quality so I have avoided folding and unfolding it too much), but in the studio, it will be ideal.

From this.

A single diffuser, flash, reflector and backdrop. No light splash.

Another very cool thing is there is room for a book case just for photo books.

First Try Of The New Studio

A little set of tests, starring my my long suffering wife and intrigued, but not entirely comfortable youngest, Daisy.

Keen to reassure myself that an all white studio would not be a mistake, I went black and Caravaggio-like. The backdrop is a 200x250 Neewer black/white soft cloth collapsible backdrop, one of the many things that may get a go now I have a studio.

All shots were taken with the Pen F and 45mm at f2 to 4, ISO 200.

Nothing in the league of Rory Lewis, but a start.

A single YN560 IV at about 1/8 into a feathered 26” double baffle soft box with grid, with a small silver fill reflector off to the side only just managing a little rim light. Meg is sitting just a foot from the black foldout background.

The 4’ Neewer, with no fill.

Again, the Neewer 4’. Very soft, very muted and a touch warm.

Lessons learned;

The Pen F struggles to ficus without its assist lamp in poor light,

Reviewing inmages on the rear screen in poor light continually tricks me into underexposing, which all of the above were to some extent.

Everything I have at hand now has a use, either as a studio, video or general stills item. I had a lot of bits accumulated over the last two or more years that ran the risk of not seeing use. Now my oversized backdrop, in fact all of my backdrops, my many reflectors and several mods including a strip box, 24” double baffle soft box (those that did not already get added to the video equation), are now going to be utilised fully.

Crossings, Action Resumed

Waiting at corners is a good method to find where people accumulate, but crossings and walkways are where they mix and animate.

Hugs

In just one short day, in a COVID savaged city, I saw so many examples of peoples need for contact.

Where there is ife……..

Corners, Where The Action Is.

Loitering on corners is an occupation for a variety of careers, street photographers included.

It’s because, this is where the action is and where it often stops for a moment or two.

Big Theatre

Along the same lines as a previous post on Mise en Scene, here a few more “cinematic” scenes.

I really love how cities shape light. The residents likely do not see it, just live it, but for a fresh eyed visitor looking for it, it is gold.

Unintentional Street Clown

Coincidence, humour or satire are often used for street imaging. I tend to avoid these as I feel good light and an interesting subject are enough, but even then, stuff happens.

Not my idea of street imaging, just a lucky (unlucky) coincidence.

More Studio Thoughts

Over on the tech page, I ahve outlined my studio aspirations.

I dont want much :).

I would like small space to feel infinately large, to have a brilliant light spac eor dark and moody one and i, knowing me, have to accomodate my many moods when it comes to colour and texture.

All in an 8x10’ space?

Wall colour has become critical (I am writing this while putting off the first strokes of white paint).

My thinking is this;

If my backdrop can be basically any colour based on a white and grey roll of paper/vinyl/cloth and C1 processing, gels or RGB LED’s, then I can create on that wall any mood. Texture is another matter, but I have other plans there involving separate panels.

If I then have a white wall on the right side and a dark (green/grey/blue?) wall on the left side, then all I have to do is modify one or the other to get a solid light or dark environment. For the right wall I have a 12’ Neewer black background cloth and for the left I have a selection of white cloth or panel reflectors.

The respective sides. The window light starts low right, moving up to the left by mid morning, so the white right wall will catch it.

If I am using both as painted, then one becomes the fill wall, the other, the negative fill wall.

Conversely, if I paint the whole room one colour (shade), then I will have problems when i want the opposite effect, needing to fill it all with white or black panels.

Ok, time to paint.

EM1x Rig Completed

The last bits of the EM1x rig are here.

They consist of a quick release adapter for the universal half cage, so I can now remove the EM1x by simply unscrewing the base plate screw and loosening the QR adapter, then just slide the camera out. This is just right.

A wonder of Camvate, Smallrig, Niceyrig and a little Neewer, it is mostly left-overs with a few needed parts.

A massive brute, but heavy like a pro camera and well balanced, especially with the weights attached.

Three leftover weights from my gimbal. They take seconds to add and make all the difference.

The camera is very secure in its housing, but it previously felt like I have to pull the whole thing apart to get it ready for stills. Basically from 5 screws to 2 and I only need a coin for a screw driver, not two sizes of hex key.

The final part, the quick release, joining the rig top plate to the hot shoe. Without this i had to unscrew two small hex nuts after taking the handle off.

Another nice touch is that the 197mm long side stem is now a perfect fit for this rig.

The Smallrig mini top handle, originally purchased as a protective side handle for the G9 has been replaced by a wooden handle (the one I bought the Camvate half cage with), but its true purpose seems to be here doing exactly what it as bought for, protection for a screen and a contact point for the AF by touch screen, hand.

The two Camvate cold shoes are just for options. They are very tight fitting, so I will have to double check anything I might want to add on using them (cannot take a Smalllrig heavy duty ball head or Neewer plastic shock mount, but fine with most else).

Even the upside down printed Camvate plate has a use. This cold shoe takes the Zoom F1-SSH6 mic combo.

The side-on profile is neat with no protrusions or left over stems.

I had mostly turned my back on Olympus for video, but recently a few things have changed my mind;

• Processing the flat files in DaVinci is very easy and pleasant.

• The stabiliser and heft of the EM1x are way better than the G9 except in static stabiliser mode, where the G9 draws even.

• The colours and look add another dimension (but needs 4k).

• The touch AF is very reliable as is the auto WB. The WB always falls within flat grading range.

• I can now match the look of the three cameras (EM1, G9, OSMO) better after acquainting myself with DaVinci’s options.

The Real Advantages Of Being A Still Photographer

Still photography and videography are obviously different forms of related media, but after a rocket six months of video adoption, I can honestly say that on the whole, the stills shooter has the easiest road to travel.

Formats;

Shooting in RAW is daunting for some photographers, but seriously, the power so easily at hand is a real gift. I almost never have to worry about miss-cued exposures or white balance in my stills work and with the quality of light meters, even on my lowliest cameras, there are few genuine stuff-ups. To be hinest the dynamic range of an MFT sensor and RAW, I can almost always retrieve something workable.

Video has the dual issues of multiple formats on several levels and for most of us, limited file flexibily. Just to add salt to the wound, different brands all have their own formats, that are actually different in processing response and processing is equally varied and more complicated than stills.

RAW to jpeg with all the quality you would want.

Delivery;

This brings us to delivery, or the end process and what it supplies you or your client (or self). Single images, often single shots taken from sequences or even entire shoot are simply a matter of open minded perseverence, adaptability and practice. Being creative is often just a matter of remembering a different lens, bending down or changing angle and the whole time you are thinking/looking/moving, you are not expected produce work, just the moments you commit.

Video delivery, like formats and processing has multiple options, so choices have to be made. Unlike an still image, not every format plays on every device. On top of that, I cannot upload the huge files, my Dropbox would hate me, so I have to hand deliver them.

Lighting;

Fast glass with fast AF in all but the most extreme circumstances will get any user of any format pu tof trouble. You also have more than enough pixels to shoot wide and stabilisers for single sots are getting better and better. Time it well and even a 1/8th of a second shot of an animate subject can work and of course that may come from a dozen or more images. Flash units are powerful for little outlay, super grunty for a little more. It is possible to overpower the sun with a $100 flash unit and modifiers are all the choices videographers have and many more. The assumption is also that these lights will be daylight balanced unless gelled or modified otherwise.

Video, being constant requires strong, continuous and colour corrected light. Strength is not an issue unless colour is, then the big, cheap flood lights builders use become an issue. Modifying these lights is also harder.

Easily balanced with a naturally lit still image, but hard work for video.

Storage;

I can chew through 5-800 images in a big project, which usually takes up the bulk of a 16gb card and maybe some of another. These cards are often base grade as I do not need more. A series of 20mp RAW images may tax the buffer, but I do not shoot that way.

After editing, I often ditch at least half of these images, storing the better original RAWS for later and putting the submitted ones into the cloud. Even with my relatively slow internet, they go up fast enough. I once lusted after a jpeg work flow, likely to be a Fuji based one as they at time produced jpegs that were close to their RAW images (sometimes better in Adobe), but I could not break the RAW habit.

Video eats up capacity and requires speed. Even 1080 with a reasonable bit rate and colour depth can be taxing. A reviewer of the new GH6 worked out that a full wedding day shoot with two cameras and backups at 900mb 6k would cost him $8500us in cards!

Quality;

20mp does all I need. I have supplied images for a billboard, several 6’ wide signs and a minibus, all from 20mp MFT files and all were cropped to some extent. Quality is not an issue these days. Too much quality can be, but no real risk of falling short in a techncal sense.

Most of us only need 720p for net use or 1080p for better, but the call of 4k and higher is getting stronger. The irony is, video needs less improvement in resolution than stills, but tends to be more obsessed by it. Ironically, we often chase the “cinematic” look, which requires sharpness reducing filters! Good video seems to walk a fine line between realism and objective quality. Too sharp and it is too digiatl video for most people. Too soft and it looks low grade.

Channelling The Early Days Of Colour Film

There is something about early (50’s to 70’s) colour that really talks to me. Reds, yellows and green-browns in particular jump out, partly for their iconic relevance and partly because Kodachrome film favoured them.

Kodachrome circa 1975? Maybe even a little William Eggleston, Harry Callahan or Harry Gruyaert.

Not sure about this one, but it screamed “film” to me.

Fuji Velvia maybe, the next wave of films that championed blues and cool greens, but struggled with skin tones.

Back to Kodak colours.

The early Olympus sensors and processors had a very Kodachrome feel.

Teal And Amber

Watch any current Hollywood or upper end TV production at the moment and you will see, more or less, a lot of ‘complimentary colour” technique. The current combination “on trend” is Teal and Amber or something close. I think one reason these two are so often used is they are commonly found in highlights with Anamorphic lenses, but it is likely more primeival, representing the sky and fire.

The clean, cool brilliance of Teal blue-green contrasted with the euphorically warm and comforting Amber, is addictive and a lot of current movie makers seem to have the addiction.

My wife is getting a little sick of my pointing out how it is used, but just in the last few weeks we have seen so many examples of theis. “The Responder” set in a night shift UK city setting is effectively shot exclusively with a tense contrast of these, the latest “Bond” movie, Star Trek, Most Marvel movies, to “Van De Valk” and even the last series of “Vera”, a show not often taken to using visual tricks, and so many more, use these two colours (or similar) to set and balance mood.

Meg in Melbourne. This is the little 17 f1.8 wide open and razor sharp in close. Love this lens.

Ticket shock.

The most common combination available to us all every sunny morning.

The New And Improved Zoom F1 Dynamic

The F1 Zoom looks to be a real game changer.

It has a few real benefits, some unrealised before purchase and some small niggles, but nothing that cannot be fixed.

• It has made the SSH-6 a fully realised shotgun on camera or hand held. The reality is, I would have struggled long term with the H5/SSH-6 shotgun setup, likely buying a whole other mic like a Diety D3 or MKE 600 Sennheisser, which to a fair extent would have negated some of the point of the SSH, which I consider to be a very good mic for the money if you have a Zoom to put it on.

• It is a better, more focussed recorder for the shotgun (or Lav), carrying less “fluff” and therefore less bulk than the H5. This means the menu is simplified, ideal for run-n-gun, as you have plenty to worry about already and some settings like the mid-side control as a one touch with clearer settings (increments of degrees rather than -25 to +6) are well thought out.

• It uses small batteries and small cards, same as the H1n, my other on the go mic. Consistency is great. I have one kit with these two in it and one with the H5 and its bigger batts and cards.

• Having it reduces dismantling and mount ware. The SSH-6 on the H5 needed to be dismantled to pack away and having no cover for the H5’s contacts, I replaced it with the XYH5 mic each and every time. These things are well enough made, but I could see this being a likely failure point sometime in the future. I will swap them out occasionally, but its nice to not have to.

• It looks cool.

• It turns on much faster. Turning off is the same 2 second hold, but on is super quick. There have been a few times, I have thought the H5 was on when it wasn’t and even a few when the delay has mixed me up a bit (it does not help that you cannot see the screen from any angle but above. The F1 has a little conformation light at the rear that helps.

• For the $400au it cost (all up), I could have an MKE 600 with 3.5 adapter, but I would not have all of the other features and benefits available like Lav recording, self contained recording, other capsule configurations etc (or the guarantee of a better pre-amp).

• It gives me a compact X/Y option. This is even smaller, cleaner and more robust than the H1n and with a dedicated shock mount.

• It allows me to have both capsules in action at the same time. Two mic options, so no tough choices to be made.

Ready for battle, the balance of the rig and mic itself is much improved and that dead critter really works.

• The buttons happen to be on the right sides (mostly the right side) for my usage. This is of course subjective, but the H5’s on/off is on the left side and hard to reach with the rig shown. The F1’s is on the right avoid the handle side.

• It recognises Lithium batts, the H5 does not.

Negatives (nothing terminal).

• The F1 is simpler and more compact than the “hub” H5, but with that comes a reduction in deeper specs, such as no -20db pad (not really needed for it’s input options), no equalising or modifiable attenuation and it records in stereo only. This makes menu navigation cleaner than even the H1n and leaves tons of room for it’s capabilities to shine.

• The shock mount is really solidly attached, but a pain to remove so I likely won’t unless I use it as a remote Lav. This makes the assembled unit too long and deep for my small travel cases, but I have been putting off buying one good hard case for all my mics anyway.

• The volume setting on the unit (not used with a capsule) is in ten steps, but rather than just setting ten numerical steps, Zoom have used Low-, Low, etc to High++. Why not just use 1 to 10 like their capsules?

The Struggle Continues

Colour or Mono?

I have fallen mostly on the side of mono for my personal work and colour for work (not much choice there).

Street tends to fall into a difficult place for me. Colour is my core process, mono becomes the fall back or change of pace, but sometimes an image forces my hand.

Not sure here. I saw mono when I shot it, colour when I processed it, then mono again when I revisited the file.

The Leaf Test

When starting out as a photographer or videographer, learning how light works is equally the biggest hurdle and the door to most advancement.

As an example, do this simple test.

Go outside on a sunny day. Photograph a leaf with the sun behind you (do one in shadow and one in full lght). Then shoot the same leaf into the sun, using the leaf to block the direct sunlight, or shoot at a slight angle if needed as you will likely also discover the full effect of “flare” on your lens.

The difference should be obvious and the effect on how you see light, just as strong.

Shooting into the light can cause you some technical issues, but there is no denying the added drama it offers.

My favourite lens for this type of shooting is the robust and versatile Olympus f1.8 17mm. It is not immune to flare and glare, but it can take a bit of pain.

The light does not have to be strong, just coming your way.

“Into the pink”. This is about the worst I will use, but is thankfully rare enough.