Gear
« Previous EntriesSome G11/portable camera kit pictures from Valentine’s
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010Not a big update today, but I wanted to share a few of my re-edits from my unfortunate loss last week. I took my portable camera kit out on my wife and my Valentine’s date a couple weekends ago, hoping that maybe something would pop that we’d want to photography. We used the Lumiquest Softbox III and the SB800 in one of the pictures, the rest we took next to this very cool looking wall that also happens to be very background/photographer friendly. I also took some pictures with my DSLR but I figured these pictures taken with a point and shoot were more interesting, considering it was a point and shoot after all.
I should note that I shy away from retouching because, frankly, I’m not too good at it. So if you see any stray hairs, it was a windy day, and I’m no Photoshop master.
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Some results from my G11/SB800 portable kit
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010
I know that sometimes I write about something and leave you guys hanging and waiting for more info (like my year old promise that I’d review the 28″ Westcott Apollo Mono softbox) but today that is not the case. I was so excited after putting together that portable kit that I went ahead and did some preliminary shots using models a few of my buddies as subjects. It took me a brief moment to put it all together (including the Lumiquest Softbox III), I used the light meter to get my readings for aperture and distance, and then we were set to go. This is exactly the reason I put this together and am so excited going foward: its quick, its light, and for what it is it produces respectable results. Remember: this is a point-and-shoot.
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My portable kit: a love triangle between a camera, flash, and softbox
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
The saying goes that the best camera is the one that’s with you, and mainly that’s used to talk to about cell phone cameras, at least in recent times. That’s all well and good, but didn’t you buy that spiffy new Canon G11 or S90 (or maybe a Panasonic GF1 if you’ve got the funds) to take with you everywhere so that you always had a somewhat reliable, manual control camera with you? I did. But I found that the camera itself wasn’t enough for me. After spending so much time with off camera flash and depending on its capabilities to create the pictures inside my head, I wanted to have it with me all the time. Kind of like ” the best camera and flash are the ones that are with you”. So I set out to create a portable kit that would meet my needs.
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From an old LG flip-phone to the Motorola Droid: what can I as a photographer get from a cell phone camera?
Friday, January 8th, 2010
If you look at the marketing points for the Motorola Droid, Verizon’s latest and greatest (and heavily advertised) smartphone, you’ll see some interesting tidbits: 5 megapixel camera, dual LED flash, ability to take shots at night, calculate missile flight patterns while simulateously making you the best omelet you’ve ever had. You’d be correct if you assumed those marketing points mean almost zip. We could discuss the technical matters at length, but I’ll just say this: trying to cram all of that stuff into a tiny area on a phone probably isn’t going to get you the best results. But more on that later.
Instead, after playing around with cell phone cameras, specifically the ones on my most recent two phones, I’ve really wondered at what I as a photographer can realistically get from photos I take with my phone. When you think of what you need to take a quality photo, a cell phone really doesn’t fit in there anywhere, at least not for me. Yeah, some people like Chase Jarvis have been able to find a market for that sort of thing (a very small market), but, personally, I find the pictures in his book to be pretty… boring. Perhaps its not my taste, but, do I really want to see a picture of a ladder just standing upright with a little mobile Photoshop thrown in? What’s so compelling about that? Anyways, I hope not to offend, I respect Chase’s work a lot, but for that particular project I just don’t “get it”.
Nonetheless, I won’t say that quality photos can’t come from a cell phone, and as the saying goes, the best camera is the one that’s with you. So, what is the point of all of my rambling then? I guess I’m just trying to figure out what my perspective should be when it comes to camera phones: is it an artistic tool or is something that you’ll get a cool picture or two out of by sheer luck (i.e. conditions being just suitable enough for the camera on the phone to be able to take a decent picture). To be honest, recently I’ve seen it as both. Let me explain why.
New year, new stuff: the Motorola Droid, VisionMongers, Canon S90, and the Lumiquest Softbox III
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010Happy New Year everyone. I’m sure you’ve heard the question asked, but, where did the year go? It seems like it was just yesterday that the stock market was rallying back from its historic losses with a few pessimistic analysts proclaiming a sucker’s rally (they were partially right), but that was this very day back in 2009. It seems that life’s fast pace just keeps speedily increasing. But enough pondering about those sort of things, we’ve got some photography topics on the agenda.
Within the next week, I’m going to be working on putting up a few different pieces on a pretty wide range of topics. First up, I’m going to look at cell phone cameras. I’ve recently become the proud papa of a Motorola Droid, and I absolutely love the thing. Having information at my fingertips at all times of the day has proven itself to be very useful and entertaining. But one of the big marketing lines for the Droid was its 5MP camera and naturally that’s reason to give photo enthusiasts a little tingle inside (along with a healthy dose of skepticism if you understand the tech). But, just how good is it, if at all? I’m going to look into and I’m going to bring along some recently discovered photos I have off of older and current phones that’ll serve for comparison.
Second, one of my most wanted gifts for Christmas was David duChemin’s book VisionMongers: Making a Life and a Living in Photography, and thanks to my mother and father-in-law I got it. Not only does it talk about an area that I, and I’m sure many of you out there, routinely heavily consider, going full on working-professional, but it features photographers who I regularly read and follow, such as Zach Arias. I’ve only had the opportunity to get a little ways in, but I’m hoping to get going on it soon, and when I do, I’m going to share everything I gleen from it with you readers.
Lastly, we’re going to aim to feed a little of the gear bug in all of us with a look at the Lumiquest Softbox III , which I also received for Christmas thanks to my parents-in-law, and the Canon PowerShot S90, which was my wife’s new Christmas present from yours truly. A good comparison with the Canon G11 is order, and with regards to the softbox, I’m just going to say that while it’s not revolutionary, I think you’ll be pleased with what you see.
Be sure and check back as I’ll have these updates up just as soon as I can finish typing. Thanks for reading, and Happy New Year!
All white seamless background: lessons learned
Thursday, March 12th, 2009It was probably almost a month ago now that I had the time and energy (at least I thought) to try and attempt Zach Arias’s all white seamless background tutorial. I love the effect and I wanted one more trick to add to my bag, and surely something as stylized and simple looking as this would be a great addition. I should have realized this wasn’t on sure footing when I came down with a fever.
I’m not going to reteach Zach’s tutorial because he quite frankly does a good job of it already. However, I will share some things I learned that might keep you from either wasting time or going down a dead end road. In the end I was only able to come out with two images, neither of which are portfolio worthy in any aspect. But it was a learning experience and it wasn’t a costly one. I’ll gladly take that anytime. Let’s a look at somet things you might want to be aware of:
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Another quick comparison: shoot through umbrella vs. bounced /w cover
Monday, February 2nd, 2009Last week, after I put up the post comparing softboxes and umbrellas, I had a lot of people here and in the Flickr Strobist group mention how much they appreciated the information as well as how useful it was in helping them decide which modifier to go with. I had planned to do a much more thorough comparison, which will be saved for the future when I have time to do it right, but what was most helpful was the pictures comparing the spill and seeing how the light was controlled with either the softbox or the umbrella.
One reader asked if I could put up a picture, using the same set up, of a reflective umbrella bouncing the flash inside, and I thought that was a pretty good suggestion. But, I think I’ll take it one step further. To answer another question floating around forums, “What umbrella should I get: a shoot through or bounce?”, today we’re going to compare the spill and spread of light when using a white satin “shoot through” umbrella as a shoot through as well as a bounce, plus we’re going to throw in another covered umbrella just cover all of our bases.
Click to see a comparison of shoot through vs. bounced umbrella lighting.
Umbrella vs. Softbox: a quick comparison
Thursday, January 29th, 2009
After receiving my new Westcott 28″ Apollo Mono softbox for Christmas and putting it to work for some family shots, I was curious to see what uses it would provide me over a shoot through umbrella/brolly. I’ve been using umbrellas for a while and I’ve gotten some nice results, but I’ve always had a problem with spill, mainly because I’m doing all of my shooting in a small room in my house so it’s very hard to control the spill from the brolly (note to self: make more money, buy larger house, create dedicated studio).
I’ve also seen many questions asked around photography forums about what light modifier people should buy: a softbox or a brolly. Many replies go for the umbrella: it’s cheaper, more versatile (shoot through or bounce), and it’s a whole lot easier to transport and set up. That’s true. They are cheaper, by far, in comparison to softboxes and I can’t do two different techniques with my softbox (bounce or shoot through). However, the great thing about the Westcott Apollo Mono softbox is that it us on an umbrella-type frame. So, it’s just like carrying around a large umbrella (the kind you buy to stay out of the rain) and it sets up in only a little more time than a regular brolly. What is important, though, is the different quality of light you get from each and that’s what we’re going to look at today.
Initial shots with the Westcott Apollo Mono 28″ softbox
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009When I was in North Carolina with my wife and some of her family, I had my first chance to set up my new Christmas present and test it out. I really wanted to take some pictures of Sarah’s sister’s newborn baby Hayden and his mother, Angela, was more than willing to offer him up (what mother wouldn’t be?). So I pulled out the Westcott softbox and we went to work. I would like to say most of the flash settings for the SB800 inside the softbox are 1/4 power, but I don’t know that for sure. We were so focused on getting baby Hayden to sleep that I honestly lost track of what the settings were. The cute little guy, who usually didn’t open his eyes that much, would not close them and sleep and therefor kept moving around, namely putting his hands in the way of his face. Cute to watch, but frustrating when you want to get a shot with his face in it.
Cheap macro photography with an old, dusty Nintendo 64
Wednesday, December 10th, 2008We take a look at doing cheap macro photography using an old Nintendo 64 and a Canon 500D Close Up lens.
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