John Adkins Photography Blog

New Website, New Look!

2012-01-30T19:35:00.002-05:00

Well, its certainly been a long time coming, but I finally got around to updating my website with a new design, new photos (and hopefully) easier navigation. The blog got a facelift too and hopefully its easier to navigate as well.

With both the main site and the blog, text is bigger and I went with a simpler, "clean" look so that photos would stand out more, and articles would be easier to read. It was certainly a challenge for me committing to a white website and blog because I always felt that photos looked better on darker backgrounds, especially dark gray ones, but I've noticed over the last few years, that most of the websites I like, have white backgrounds so that's why I went that route.

Also, I have to say that I am definitely not a CSS/HTML guru by a long shot so to get most of the customizing done to the site, I had to spend a lot of time on Smug Mug's help blog Digital Grin. I certainly could not have made all the changes I did so seamlessly without the help of a few of the Smug Mug "Heroes". Their support is really incredible and made things really easy on a dumb button pusher. So I have to say a big THANK YOU to all you guys and gals at Smug Mug who stepped up and helped a fella out!

There are a bunch of new blog posts on deck and should be rolling out in the next few weeks as time allows. Having an uncanny busy first part of the year so far (which is a good thing) so the blog has been a little sparse but hopefully some new info will be coming down the pipes soon.

In the meantime, I'd really love to know what you think of the new look and layout! I'm sure I will be making a few more changes here and there, but if you have any input, I'm always all ears in that regard so if anyone has any suggestions or comments, please sound off in the comments section, and thanks for following the blog!

Oh, also for past clients, if you find you're having problems locating or accessing any of your galleries, please send me an email and we'll get that taken care of!

www.johnadkinsphotography.com

John

The Right Tools for the Job

2012-01-18T19:15:00.001-05:00

Many of you probably know my absolute love of my Nikon 18-200 VR lens. I've blogged about it, always have it with me and use if for almost 90% of the work I shoot. It simply will do just about everything I need it to. Its plenty sharp for me, has a huge zoom range and renders colors exceptionally well. Every now in then though, you have to put aside your "preferred" way of doing things for the "right" way of doing things. Let me 'splain...

A local artist and a friend of mine recently asked me if I would take some photos of his paintings so that he could get them on the web. I've photographed paintings before and knew this wouldn't take much time so I told him I would.

He came over with a selection of recent works and I immediately started setting up my gear. Once I had one shot done, the rest would simply be moving the other paintings in and out. I know from past experience that when shooting paintings there are three things to always consider. First off, you don't want to leave a big glaring reflection of your light source in the painting, and two, because it is a painting, you (usually) want to show a little texture in the image. Lastly, you want to make sure the photo you produce renders the colors of the painting as accurately as possible.

Fortunately for me, my studio is actually my downstairs living room which has neutral gray colored walls (planned it that way) and a glorious, white ceiling (also planned). I like the gray because that color doesn't seem to throw back odd colors when there is a little spill, and I love the white ceiling because I can easily bounce a light source off of it, creating any size "soft box" feel simply by zooming the flash.

To light the paintings, I decided to use one Nikon SB-800. I positioned it close to camera axis, zoomed it wide to 17mm (that's with the flip down diffuser in the down position) and raised it up to about 2 feet away from the ceiling. This light would give me a very large, diffused and even light to light the paintings with. In order to not let any of that light directly hit the painting, I used a Honl Gobo on the side of the flash facing the painting. This flash was triggered with my pop-up flash on my camera. I also held my hand in front of the pop-up flash so it wouldn't add any reflections to the painting either (even though, that light is so minimal, it most likely wouldn't have added any reflections anyways).

After setting my light up, I mounted my camera on my tripod ...HOLY SMOKE I ACTUALLY USED A TRIPOD!!! Actually, whenever I'm shooting any product photography or perfectly still subjects, I always use a tripod because it makes making adjustments so much easier. I used a shutter speed that would completely nuke the available light in the room, set my aperture to f/5.6 and ISO to 200, turned off the VR feature on my trusty 18-200 lens, set the timer for 5 seconds (so I wouldn't introduce camera shake when pressing the shutter) and took my first shot. It was a little dark, so I cranked up the power on the flash a stop. Bingo, looks great! Now I'm ready to shoot the other paintings.

Everything was going right along, the photos were looking good, so before tearing down my setup, I pulled the card out of the camera and went to the computer to double check everything just in case I saw something that would need an adjustment. Glad I did.

After I got the photos on the computer, I noticed right off that the rectangular canvases looked bowed... i.e. not square. I didn't think about it while I was shooting, and didn't notice this on the LCD but on the computer it was blatantly obvious. So I put the card back in the camera, and went to try again. I zoomed that lens to numerous different focal lengths and just moved the camera backwards and forwards, but every single shot looked a little bowed. Then it occurred to me, that zoom lens is distorting my shots. See below for an example....

I've read about this many times, that zoom lenses and the wrong subject-to-camera distance can distort your images, but honestly this is the first time I had it happen so noticeably. Now since my living room is not the most spacious in the world, I only had one other lens that might be a good option, my nifty 50mm 1.8. So I swapped out lenses and took a few test shots. It wasn't perfect, but in my eyes (and to my buddy the artist who was right over my shoulder the whole time) it looked way better, see the image at the beginning of the post.

So, in a nutshell, while I know its easy (especially for photographers) to get comfortable using a particular piece of equipment or a certain technique, its always important to consider the right tools for the job. In this case, I just happened to have a lens that worked and got me away from shooting with my precious. Always try to let your subject drive the lighting, composition, technique, equipment choices or whatever else to give you the best results, don't always go with what you know you're good at or with.

Hope this post helps a few others out there in some fashion or another. I know for one that I am a creature of habit (or OCD) so a good jostling of the senses every once in a while is a good thing.

Also, my friend Josh is an extremely talented artist, check out his Facebook page!

Rogue Flash Bender Diffusion Screens

2012-01-15T16:33:00.000-05:00

Do you already own a Rogue Flash Bender made my ExpoImaging? If so, then you will definitely want to pick up one of the new Diffusion Screens. These handy screens improve the light from the flash bender by diffusing the light giving it a softer quality, especially when used in close to your subjects.

The Rogue Flash Benders are handy speedlight modifiers that simply velcro on to your flash, and can then be adjusted and formed to better control and shape the light. The new Diffusion Screens simply velcro on to your already existing Flash Bender and help to spread and soften that light. The new Diffusion Screens also come in two sizes, one for the large Flash Bender and another for the smaller one. The large screen creates a 9" by 8" source of light and the smaller one is 9" by 4.5".

To give a frame of reference of the differences between using a bare flash and the Flash Bender with the new Diffusion Screens, check out the images below.

You can see in the photo above and to the left, what a hard shadow a bare speedlight creates, while in the photo to the right you can see how softer the shadows are and how much more diffused the light is by using the Flash Bender and Diffusion Screen. The flash used to light both of these photos was the same distance from the subject and also at the same angle. This modifier also appears to use roughly 2 stops of light. The only post work done to these photos was cropping, and combining them on one frame.

For something a little more useful, check out this portrait of my beautiful model using just a bare speedlight. While this particular model looks good in just about any light source, notice how hard the shadow lines are and how there is a little more texture and detail in the face. Also notice the shadow on the back wall and how sharp it appears.

In this next portrait, I used the large Flash Bender with the Diffusion Screen and right off you notice the better quality of light. The shadow lines appear much softer and the fall off of light on the background is much more subtle and diffused. Its hard to notice in these photos, but also the Flash Bender creates a larger catch light in the eyes, especially when using them in closer to your subject.

Another nice benefit of using these modifiers, is that they are light weight, and fold down so that they can be stuffed in just about any sized gear bag.

To see how the Diffusion Screens attach to your speedlight, check out this short video clip below...

The Diffusion Screens are sold separately from the Flash Benders so if you already own a Rogue Flash Bender (or two), you definitely will want to pick yourself up one of these. Maybe in the future ExpoImaging will come out with a deal for those folks that don't have either, which will include a Flash Bender AND a Diffusion Screen in one package. (hint, hint) :)

Need a Good Gear Bag?

2012-01-07T11:43:00.000-05:00

Looking for a good quality gear bag that can hold a little bit of everything? Then this bag might be for you!

I stopped by to see my friends at Outdoor Photo Gear the other day and they had just received a shipment of these bags in. While I wasn't really in the market for a new bag, I couldn't help but notice the size of this thing and how well made it is (its a Kata --duh). Its billed as a medium sized bag, but this thing looks like it will hold everything but the kitchen sink! So I had to check it out.

Its the Kata KT-OMB-75 One Man Band Bag and I believe it would store everything a one man band could possibly throw in it. Its surrounded by pockets all the way around and on top. The front pocket zips open to reveal a large, flat storage area with smaller, utility style pockets for everything from notebooks, to pens, chords and all sorts of smaller nick-nacks. It also has a flat pocket on each side and another voluminous one on top. On the outside top of the bag, there are straps that can be used to strap on a tripod or light stands.

The inside of the bag has a bay for storing your laptop and two removable, zippered pouches. There's also another strap inside to secure bigger items from moving around in the bag and has another two interior mesh pouches. It also comes with a bean bag to rest your camera on while shooting! On top of all that, the inside of the bag itself is spacious enough to hold several cameras, lenses, another tripod or could be used as a light bag to hold multiple monoblocs and pack-and-head type systems including small battery packs!

This bag is made really well with two straps on the side for easy lifting. It has an inter-locking rugged handle for carrying and a shoulder strap that looks like something that came from the space shuttle with aluminum buckles, that also has a quick release latch on it. The bag itself is made of reinforced Nycore grid fabric which basically means its going to outlive you!

Also, this bag isn't only for photographers. This would make an awesome accessory for videographers, DJ's or anyone else looking to have a quality way of storing and carrying their valuable equipment.

The really, really awesome thing about this bag? Outdoor Photo Gear is running a special right now where you can get this monster for only $99.95!!! That is a steal, but if you're interested, at this price I bet they go quickly and the sale is only good while they have stock, so once they're gone, that's it! Like I said earlier, I wasn't even looking for a bag, but at this price and considering the quality of the bag, I had to have one. As a matter of fact, I took their demo!!

The Nikon D4!!!

2012-01-06T09:19:00.002-05:00

Ok, I'm not one of those people who have to have the latest and greatest devices as soon as they come out. I mean, I didn't even get a CD player until two years ago (kidding) and I'm usually the last on the new, cool toy bandwagon. Even if I was one of those people, I'd have to sell my car to buy some of the new technological marvels that cause me to break out in cold sweats, as I gaze doe-eyed like a kid in a toy store. I digress

All of that being said, Nikon announced its new, flagship pro level dSLR today, the Nikon D4, and boy does it look sweet! I haven't had time to read all the tech. goodies, but let's just say I think this camera is going to set the mold for a new breed of dSLR goodness. Just sayin'

If your curiosity is more than you can bare, then step away from today's activities and peruse the links below. Be warned though, this information might make you want to cash-in your kids' college funds!

More after the jump!

First off, the master of light himself, Joe McNally, got his hands on one right out of the gate, and is already blogging about it!

Check out this video to get the low-down and its wireless remote capabilities and umm... its ability to communicate with iOS devices!!! Say what???

Ummm... it seems pretty darn fast too!

Not surprisingly, it shoots video too, doesn't all devices these days? Hell, my coffee cup does. Check out these samples over on the Nikon Rumors blog!

Also, Scott Kelby has a cool product tour video of the D4 over on his blog today!

By the way, if you want to get in on ordering this puppy, I believe (according to Nikon Rumors) that Amazon has already sold out if this beast IN LESS THAN AN HOUR! Not to worry though, it appears B&H Photo Video is still taking orders for it, but you might want to get in line.

So there you have it, all the most interesting info I could find on Nikon's new D4. I'm a little hurt that Nikon didn't send me one for review, but then again, I haven't checked my mailbox today either. :)

In all seriousness, this guy is probably a little above my budget for the year(s), but it really does seem to be leading the pack in professional dSLR's. Maybe somebody I know will get one and let me 'borrow it' for a little while. :)

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-31T11:46:00.003-05:00

Is it just me, or did 2011 fly by like an SR-71 Blackbird? Sheesh, it seems like it just started, now we're moving in to 2012. I guess time flies when you're having fun ...or getting old(-ish).

This past year has been an interesting one, with many ups and downs. I've learned a few new things, taken some pretty good pictures, taken some pretty outright hideous ones, played with various film cameras, photographed families, commercial products, pretty models, kids, my cat, cars, events, architecture, dabbled in a little street photography and taught a few folks the intricacies of off camera flash.

I also turned over the big 40th birthday this year, which pretty much means I guess I'm officially an adult now, or something like that. Except for the new aches and pains that rear their ugly heads like prairie dogs from a hole in the ground, I don't really feel any older and Lord knows my maturity level still hasn't caught up with my gift of so many years. Not sure it ever will really.

Its the time of year when folks start talking about resolutions and the things they plan on doing better in the upcoming year. I guess I'm no different than those folks, with one exception. I really don't believe so much in New Year's resolutions, partly because so many of them fall flat on their faces. Its easy to come up with something new that you're going to accomplish under a bout of heavy drinking, twinkling lights and wondering what poor sap is going to be willing to touch their lips to yours at the strike of midnight, but how many of those plans ever come to fruition? I hope for most that they actually do, but perhaps because of my curmudgeon like ways (or the gift of wisdom with 40 years in the can), I generally believe that most do not.

So rather than setting a few New Year's Eve resolutions that I will most likely forget on New Year's day due to a pounding headache and the cold sweats that only a frat boy can love, I usually take this time of year to simply set up a game plan for the upcoming year. You could probably say that these are resolutions (if you want to talk semantics) but really its more of a list of small goals leading to a bigger coup de grace at the end.

As a photographer, there's always the goals of self improvement, learning new techniques and trying to stay at the forefront of all the modern technology that seems to exponentially grow with every new year. There's also the goal of improving one's income and keeping the roof over the business. This year for me though, my goals are to become more attuned to the business side of photography. If it weren't for my poor (and very patient) fiance', I would have absolutely no business sense at all. I seriously doubt that I could manage a lemonade stand and turn a profit. I'd either be giving the lemonade away to cheaply, or simply drinking it all myself.

Don't get me wrong, I will most definitely keep trying to improve my craft. I hope that I always have the capacity to continue to learn and envelop my hard headed noggin' around new things, but where I think I need the most work, is trying to become a businessman, in addition to being a successful photographer.

So I guess I'm wondering, how many other photographers out there feel like they're pretty confident in their abilities of pressing the shutter, but not so proficient in the acumen of business. If I had to guess, I'd say that number is rather large, but maybe that's just my ignorance in a subject that seems to elude me.

In any case, I still believe in setting goals (small and large), regardless if its business related or just a passionate hobby, and the turning of a New Year seems the best time to do so.

I hope you have your new year laid out ahead of you and have nothing but success in the upcoming 2012!!

Oh yeah, may as well go ahead and go for broke this year, because the Mayans might be right. ;)

Shooting Tethered with Lightroom 3

2011-12-11T12:37:00.001-05:00

As a new user of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3, I have to say I am more than amazed at the features this program offers. I have always been somewhat ~~anal retentive~~ organized and methodic in how I store and catalog photos, but Lightroom simply makes all of this even easier. The way LR3 allows you to organize, file, add metadata to, and the fact that the editing tools are non destructive makes this program, for me at least, invaluable in those regards alone.

I'll admit I'm still a newb with this program, but am learning daily and very interested in how this program works. What sold me at first on Lightroom 3 is the fact that because it has so many easy to use editing tools, a lot of folks seem to do the most of their post processing (if not all) in LR3 alone. As a person who tries to do as little editing as possible, this really appealed to me. The idea that this program could streamline my workflow and cut down on the time spent in front of the computer was just another selling point.

However, the one feature that I have absolutely fell in love with is the ability to shoot tethered straight in to Lightroom. Basically, shooting tethered to a computer means that rather than viewing your photos on the LCD of your camera, you can now view them on a laptop, or another computer. This makes checking how your shoot is coming along in terms of sharpness, white balance, composition and color management so much easier by being able to see such a large preview of your photo.

What's so awesome about Lightroom 3 is that now you don't need any other software (just Lightroom 3) to shoot tethered. With previous versions of Lightroom, you still had to use another program to accomplish this. I know Canon users can use their included software to shoot tethered, but Nikon users have to buy Nikon's Camera Control Pro (which is costly) or another third party software, and those other programs don't offer the versatility that Lightroom does. I've used a few third party programs in the past to shoot tethered (usually in to Adobe Bridge), but the third party programs I have tried just didn't work well enough for me. I've also used Camera Control Pro but now prefer the editing power and features of Lightroom 3.

For many folks who already have Lightroom 3, and want to shoot tethered, now you can with no other tools!

To shoot tethered in to Lightroom 3, you need to use the little cable that came with your camera. It has a proprietary connection on one end (the end that plugs in to your camera) and a USB connector on the other. Simply connect your camera with that cable to your computer and turn your camera on. Then, open Lightroom and go to the File Menu and click on 'Start Tethered Capture'. You have to specify a few settings, like where you want your photos to go, how you want to name the files and whether or not you want to add meta data on import (another handy feature). Then click ok and you're ready to go.

By default, LR will open in the Library Module, but if you switch to the Develop Module, you can create a bigger preview of the photos as they are coming in. Choose the Loupe View, which is one preview of the current photo, and then you can collapse the side panels which will give you a full screen preview of the photos as you take them. Another handy benefit of tethering in to the Develop Module is that you can apply edits such as White Balance adjustments right to your photos as they come in, then set those edits to every other photo that comes in after that! Cool.

Another quick tip, is to make sure you have 'Auto Advance' enabled so that the preview pane shows the most recent photo taken. Also, when you're previewing your full screen photos, you will still see some of the Lightroom work area around your photo. If you want to make that go away, simply press 'L' once and that will darken the background, press 'L' again, and it goes completely black. Now you have a large, full screen preview of your photo with a black frame and nothing else, that is really slick!

A couple of things, you have to have Lightroom 3 or higher for this to work. I don't believe the older versions will shoot tethered without additional software being used. Also, if you're going to be doing this a lot, make sure that the computer you are tethering to has a calibrated display. This is important because if you're going to be editing, you want to make sure you have the most accurate view of your photo as possible, so that when you're finished editing, your photos will look their best on any monitor.

If you want to learn more about shooting tethered with Lightroom 3, check out Scott Kelby's book on Lightroom 3, videos on Kelby Training, or Matt Kloskowski's blog Lightroom Killer Tips.

As far as my rig above goes, I based this off of Joe McNally's setup with a few changes. First off, if you're going to use a rig like this, make sure you have a VERY sturdy, strong tripod to mount this setup. The arm that supports my camera and laptop is the new Vanguard Multi Mount Utility bar. Manfrotto also makes one, but its almost twice the price. The head I have my camera mounted on is simply the head from my tripod. I would however recommend a nice ballhead as opposed to the type I'm currently using. It makes articulating the camera easier, and is lighter weight. Vanguard makes a nice one that is also priced right. The platform for my laptop is actually one I made of plate aluminum with a simple hole drilled in the center to mount it. I use velcro to secure the laptop on the platform, but if you would prefer to buy one, Gitzo makes a nice one, and so far is the cheapest I've seen.

So that's basically it, and if you know some more cool Lightroom tips for shooting tethered, please sound off in the comments, I'm still learning myself!

Holiday Gift Guide 2011!!!

2011-12-04T15:50:00.000-05:00

Its that time of year again! Time to battle the crowds, the slow servers, the traffic, the weather and other shoppers. Its almost like an Indiana Jones movie, The Quest for the Holy Christmas Present!

If you have a photographer in your life that you need to buy something for, maybe this list will help. Every year I try to compile a photographer's Christmas wish list of reasonable priced items that would appeal to most photographers, without breaking the bank!

This year's list has some "oldies but goodies" and also some new items that just came out this year. Also, every product on this list, I currently use or would like to have. I don't recommend items that I don't like, wouldn't want or don't have any experience with. Hopefully though, this list will give you some good ideas!

More after the jump!

Here we go in no particular order:

1. Apollo Strip Light Modifier by Westcott. Good strip boxes for speedlights are a rare thing, and since Westcott has come out with one of these, I have been frothing at the mouth to get my hands one.

2. Joe McNally's new book Sketching Light may not be available by Christmas, but I have every single one of his other books, and they are all definitely worth the money. I'd bookmark this one, and grab it as soon as its available.

3. If you know a photographer who's just getting started in off camera flash photography, then I can't recommend anything better than this simple to use umbrella flash kit by Westcott. It includes their famous 43" shoot thru umbrella, with a mount and lightstand, and at $69.50 this piece of kit just can't be beat!

4. If you're going to buy them this awesome lighting kit, then why not throw in a cool set of gels by Expoimaging for their flash. These gels work easily and add a really cool dramatic effect to any photo with a multitude of colors to choose from.

5. One of the best sources of education in photography has to be offered by Kelby Training. I cannot tell you how much I have learned from this single resource over the years and they have lessons for every single photography related thing you can imagine. Want to give a photographer a REALLY cool present this year? Then get them a year's subscription to Kelby Training. I promise you they will love it!

6. One thing every photographer needs is a good, reliable case or bag to carry their gear in, and I can't think of a single better provider of every type of camera bag imaginable than Outdoor Photo Gear. They have bags and cases made in every style, color and brand that you can think of. Take a look through their inventory and find a bag that's right for your photographer!

7. One of my all time favorite light modifiers for speedlights is the Lumiquest SBIII. These fit on to any sized speedlight and are small enough to fit in any bag or case. They really improve the light from small flashes and can be hand held with your flash for portrait or any other kind of off camera lighting. I love this modifier so much, I now have three of them!

8. For photographers that shoot outside a lot, it can be really difficult to see that LCD screen to check how your images are turning out. Well fortunately, there is a fix for that. The Hoodman Loupe allows the photographer to see an undistorted, perfectly crisp and clean view of their LCD and is small enough to be worn around the neck. I absolutely love mine and never leave home without it!

9. While I am not a huge software user when it comes to editing photos, there are a few programs out there that I really do love. One of them being Topaz Adjust. It has tons of presets to enhance your images, works easily and seemlessly with any of your existing programs and produces awesome results. Plus, for the price, it is hard to beat! If you are software fan, check out all the rest of the Topaz line up, they have a huge selection of great editing tools at affordable prices.

10. Another really cool modifier that has just come out on the market is the Westcott Apollo Orb. Its basically an octabox type modifier for speedlights but collapses down just like any standard umbrella type modifier. I don't have this item yet, but I will be getting one in the very near future, it just looks too good to be true.

11. If your photographer likes to read, then the new book by Scott Kelby called Light It, Shoot It, Retouch It, will make a great present! In this book, Scott demonstrates various shoots, starting with the setup, how he does it, camera settings, lighting setups and then all the way through post processing. This really is a remarkable source of information and there is nothing else like it out there, so check it out!

12. Another tool that every photographer will need at some point, is a good tripod. Outdoor Photo Gear carries every kind of tripod imaginable and at every price to suit anyone's budget. Check out their huge selection and pick up one... or two!

13. While we're discussing tripods, we might as well discuss the new little gem by Interfit, the Strobies Boom Arm. This is an absolutely awesome tool to have in your bag and is probably the best priced boom on the market today. Its a small boom that can hold all sorts of lighting gear, expands to 82 inches and collapses down to be stored in just about any medium sized camera bag. I have one of these and love it!!

14. Something every single photographer should have in their bag is a roll (or two, or three) of a good quality gaffer's tape. This stuff can be used for everything from taping modifiers to your flash or strobes to taping down backgrounds and leaves no sticky residue like other tapes. I've literally used 100s of yards of this stuff over the years and I always have a couple of rolls around. They're cheap and definitely useful tools of the trade!

15. Another great resource for any photographer learning to use off camera flash is the new Strobist Lighting in Layers DVD boxed set. I personally don't have this one yet, but I have the first Strobist DVD set and I can't tell you how much information is packed in to these DVD's. David Hobby's Strobist blog is probably the single best resource for off camera lighting on the net, so I imagine his latest DVD's are right at the top of the list. I've been a really good boy this year so I'm hoping to get this latest set of DVD's myself. :)

16. Ok, I'm going to admit that this last one is a straight-up shameless plug, but if you know a photographer who's interested in improving their off-camera flash photography skills, then why not buy them a seat at my upcoming Advanced Off Camera Flash Photography Workshop on December 11th at Outdoor Photo Gear? This will be a full 6 hour day packed full of off camera flash techniques that is sure to help any photographer improve their craft. Don't delay on this though, as seating will be limited!

So there you have it, my 2011 Holiday Gift Guide for photographers. Hopefully this list will ease the pain of shopping for photographers that are on your Christmas list. Hope everyone has an awesome holiday season!

Just a Few Things I'm Thankful For...

2011-11-23T18:21:00.000-05:00

I am actually thankful for quite a number of things, not just good beer. :)

I'm thankful to still have a camera in my hands and to be shooting on a regular basis. While I have not yet achieved National Geographic photographer status, I still find that I have a churning passion to capture just about everything that throws itself my way, good and bad. I'm thankful that I find myself out there still searching for my best work and trying to help a few folks along the way.

I'm thankful for Nikon. I love my gear (albeit its starting to be a bit dated and well worn) and what it allows me to do with my photography. I'm thankful also for all those folks over the years who have begrudgingly sat in front of my lens just to humor me or to help me improve my own craft, especially my friends and family who I have more than thoroughly documented.

Of course I'm thankful for my family and friends. I was blessed to have a mom and dad who raised me up to not be a complete jerk, to be able to think for myself and to install an artistic desire in me that lead me to photography. I'm thankful for my mom's old photo albums that I've enjoyed over the years. I now have a fairly hefty collection myself and still enjoy looking back on them.

I'm thankful for every single person that has hired me for a photography job and put enough trust in me to provide them photography they needed be it commercial or personal. I'm also thankful and humbled that many of those past clients still ask me to do more work for them and refer me to others.

I'm thankful for the many folks out there that have taught me, inspired me, and helped me to become better at something I love. Specifically, guys like Joe McNally, David Hobby, Scott Kelby, Chase Jarvis, Zack Arias, David Ziser, Dan Winters and actually, many, many more have provided me with countless hours of motivation, education and a desire to keep pressing that shutter button.

'Back in the day' it seemed that it was pretty hard to learn from an accomplished photographer, but it seems the ethic has changed and more and more of these masters of the glass are stepping up to help others fulfill there dreams at becoming better photographers ...even better people.

I'm thankful for our cats, one of which likes me... some of the time.

I'm thankful for Chris and the guys (and gal) at Outdoor Photo Gear who constantly tolerate my spurious whims and keep me supplied in extra cool gear!

I'm thankful also for the myriad of friends I have who have supported me over the years and been like family to me. I'd list them, but they're just too numerous to mention, suffice to say, they know who they are... and THANK YOU!

I'm thankful for my iPhone. Years ago I would have told you that I couldn't care less about a stupid phone ...EVER. Well, the iPhone has changed that opinion, now if I could just figure out how to use it, other than just playing Angry Birds and taking photos with Hipstamatic ...love that app!

I'm also thankful for the day time job I have and the family that owns it. They have been like family to me and that is a hard thing to come by. I've also learned a thing or two while being employed there and while its not my dream job, its definitely been a great company to work for.

I'm thankful to have a roof over my head and a wonderful family to share it with. While I can't say I'm going to win any awards for being father of the year, I'm thankful to have the opportunity to help raise a few eager young minds. Its been quite the learning experience for a 7 year bachelor and I still fall on my face quite often, but they tend to not notice my faults as much as I do. Hopefully, the kids won't turn out to be jerks either. :)

I'm also eternally thankful to have a business manager / photographer editor / creative consultant / best friend and fiance' who can tolerate all of my misgivings, short tempered-ness and follies as a new daddy. Without her, I'd be less of a man and photographer than I am today. I am so thankful for Jenn.

I'm also thankful for coffee.

While I may not have the ideal life, or all the money in the world, I never have a problem finding things that I'm thankful for.

...I'm thankful that somebody out there other than me is reading this! That means I'm thankful for YOU!

Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving and can find things in their lives to be thankful for!

Advanced Off Camera Flash Photography Workshop!

2011-11-17T19:52:00.009-05:00

Are you interested in learning how to take your off camera flash abilities to the next level?

Not sure when to use what kind of modifier for your flash?

Want to learn how to seamlessly balance off camera flash with ambient light?

If so, then this class might be for you!

Back by popular demand AND just in time for the Christmas holidays, I will be teaching an Advanced Off Camera Flash Photography Workshop. This class will be geared towards folks who already have a general understanding of using flashes off camera but want to do more with them.

We will be covering a myriad of techniques, in a small, personal class over a 6 hour time period!

Things that will be covered:

5 Classic portrait lighting positions
Balancing flash with ambient
Which modifiers to use and when
Use of gels
Multiple flash solutions
Subject driven light
High speed sync

….and much, much more!

The class is graciously being sponsored by Outdoor Photo Gear, who will also be providing awesome door prizes as well as the venue for the class!!

To create a better learning environment and to ensure that participants get the most from this class, attendance will be limited to only 12 persons, so if this is something you are interested in, please direct email me john@fotographic.us to reserve your seat!!! Once we reach 12 reservations, the class will be full!

BONUS!! Cost for this workshop is only $129.00 (Cash Only day of event), however, if you attended my first off camera flash workshop, you can take off an additional $30 making this class only $99.00 for a six hour workshop!!!

When: Sunday December 11^th 2011

Where:

Outdoor Photo Gear

440 Commercial Drive Suite 101

Louisville, KY 40223

502-244-2888

What time: 10am to 5pm (with a break at lunch, roughly 12pm to 1pm)

Cost: $129.00 Cash at the Door (or $99.00 if you attended my first workshop!!!)

Rogue Gels Review!

2011-10-30T13:56:00.000-04:00

ExpoImaging (the same guys that make the really cool Flash Benders) has come out with two new, very cool products for speedlight users, the Rogue Gels Universal Lighting Filter Kit, and the Rogue Gels Filter Kit for the Rogue Grid. The Universal Gel kit is designed to work with all sized speedlights and the Rogue Grid Gel kit is designed to work with their ever popular Rogue Grid.

The Universal kit comes with 20 tabbed filters and a band to attach the gels to any sized speedlight. The kit includes various dramatic colors for effect, and a set of color correction gels to match your light with just about any available light from tungsten to florescent. A really cool feature of these gels is that each one comes printed with the actual color and the number of stops of light each gel uses. This can be really handy when determining how much light to use. These gels also attach very easily to any speedlight with the included band.

The Rogue Grid kit is designed to be used with the new Rogue Grid and these fit easily in to the Rogue Grid holder. This kit comes with the same tabbed 20 filters as the Universal kit and each gel is also marked with the color and number of stops of light each gel uses (I love this feature). If you already have the Rogue Grid then this is a must have addition, and if you don't have the grid, go out and pick one up, its priced right and easy to use!

Both kits come with their own carrying pouches which if you've used gels at all, you know how cumbersome it can be to keep these organized and stored for quick use. Also, both kits have tabbed dividers inside that tell you what gels it contains and information about each gel ...again this is an awesome feature! ...did I say that already?

I use gels all the time in my photography and you can never have too many. The new Rogue Gel Kits make it easy to have a broad selection of colored gels, organized and ready to use at a moment's notice. I included a short video below that shows you how to attach both sets of gels to your flashes.

The History of Photography thru Cameras!

2011-10-16T11:34:00.001-04:00

Are you interested in the the history of photography and cameras in general? Then you will definitely want to check out this quick behind the scenes video of Todd Gustavson's book Camera: A History of Photography from Daguerreotype to Digital.

oh, and a little FYI, this book would make a great Christmas present for the photographer in your family. :)

New Apollo Orb and Strip Light Modifiers by Westcott!

2011-10-13T19:21:00.000-04:00

Finally!! Someone has come out with, what looks to be, an awesome Strip Box for speedlights! Westcott over the last few days announced two new cool additions to their highly successful Apollo line up, the Apollo Strip Light and the Apollo Orb.

I've experimented with DIY strip lights and other off brands, but none of them have been easy to use, requiring customized speed rings or grips to accommodate a speedlight or have just been down right too expensive for my tastes.

The new Apollo Strip Light and Orb seem to be priced right and just what the doctor ordered. The Strip Light comes in a healthy 16" by 30" with a removable front diffusion panel, the ability to be mounted horizontally or vertically and a recessed front like that of the Apollo 28" softbox. The Strip Light also collapses down on an umbrella frame just like the original Apollo which should add to its portability and ease of use.

The Apollo Orb is a 43" octabox with removable front diffusion, a recessed front and also is built on an umbrella frame so it should be just as easy to use as the Apollo 28" and the Strip Box. As far as I know, this may be the first octabox designed for speedlights that doesn't require a speed ring or any DIY-ing to mount your speedlights.

Another cool tidbit about both of these modifiers is that they can be used with lights other than speedlights too which should make them really diverse pieces of kit to have in your arsenal.

I don't own either of these but I can assure you I will get my hands on the Strip Light as soon as I can (and the Orb soon after) because its exactly something that I've been looking for and the Westcott Apollo series has a very positive following which leads me to believe that the quality with these are just as good as existing models.

Ahem, Westcott if you're listening, I'd be glad to review either of these for you guys. ;)

5 Classic Portrait Lighting Positions

2011-10-10T18:01:00.000-04:00

For those interested, check out this informative video by The Slanted Lens on the five classic portrait lighting positions. He covers everything from Rembrandt lighting to butterfly lighting along with over head views to see the exact light placement.

Powerpax Battery Management System Review

2011-09-25T13:24:00.000-04:00

Chances are, if you're a photographer, you probably have dozens of AA batteries lying around. These days it seems like everything photography related uses them (if you're lucky), from speedlights, to radio triggers, to light meters etc etc. I know I have at least around three dozen batteries, all of which are rechargeables and it can be a chore to keep them all organized and together.

I have tried every method and product imaginable for storing and keeping my batteries organized but have now found a product I truly love! Chris at Outdoor Photo Gear tipped me off to the Powerpax Battery Management system. These little guys are a breeze to use, take up little to no space, and what I really love about them is that I can keep groups of four batteries together, in a small and compact, secure device.

These little guys are made of a hard, durable plastic and aren't much bigger than a set of four AA batteries in your hand. The batteries simply pop in through the bottom of the case and snap in to place, ensuring a snug fit. They won't fall out due to the design of the case, however you can easily pop the batteries out with one hand, which if you shoot weddings or other venues where you need to reload batteries quickly, this can save valuable time. When on an assignment, I always carry at least two sets of AA batteries in my pockets and up until now, I felt like I had aliens growing out of my legs due to the size of the case that I stored my batteries in, but with these new cases, you don't even notice them in your pockets.

Another thing I really like about this system, is that you can get these cases that will hold various quantities. I personally prefer the 4-packs because most of the devices I use, either hold four AA's or two such as my radio triggers. The 4-packs are handy to me because one important thing with batteries is to not mix and match them. In other words, when you get a quantity of rechargeable batteries, you always want to keep them in the original group, otherwise you can have problems keeping them charged. Some chargers will not charge batteries evenly when you have batteries of various charge levels in the charger. So, when I get a set of four batteries, I mark them with a sharpie so that I know which set goes together. The new Powerpax cases now enable me to keep those same four batteries together in a much easier system.

A couple of other cool tidbits about the Powerpax system is that they come in multiple colors which may help you even more in organizing your batteries. You can even get them in a glow-in-the-dark color! ...which should come in handy for all you night flashers ;)

This product has been on the market for some time and apparently, pilots, the military and other similar groups have been using these with great success. Now I can see these really taking off in the photography world.

To show how easy these are to use, I included a short video showing how to load and unload the batteries. (please excuse my poor video skills) Again I have to say I REALLY love this product and am planning on getting one of these for every set of batteries I have.

Product Photography: iPhones

2011-09-02T18:20:00.000-04:00

After reading a thread in the Flickr Strobist group about a shot of two iPhones done by photographer Peter Belanger, I decided to see if I could recreate his photo, but instead of using studio equipment, I wanted to see if I could get similar results using just a single speedlight and reflectors.

I decided to light the phones from the back (as I often do with food photography) and use reflectors to the sides and to the front to throw subtle fill/highlights back on the phones. So for my keylight, I used an SB-800 in a 24" Lastolite Ezybox almost directly behind the phones and at about a 45 degree angle. This might seem like nowhere near the size of the light source that the photographer used in the video, but a 24" softbox used in close to the phones appears to the phones as a HUGE light source which created a nice soft light. I triggered that flash with my D300's on camera pop-up flash.

Next I added my fill lights (or fill sources). Since my softbox was so close to the phones and I was shooting on a piece of white foam core, which is relatively reflective, all I needed to do was add a few more pieces of white foam core around the phone which would reflect the light from the softbox back on to the phone. I simply added these to both sides and held one in front below the camera lens.

To get the right amount of light I wanted from the reflectors, I simply took a shot, chimped a little, then moved the reflectors either closer or further away.

You can see in the setup photo (click on it for a larger view), my position of the reflectors except for the one in front. I was holding it, so I had to put down to shoot the setup folder. Also, I almost never shoot on a tripod but when doing product photography, I've that its really useful to use a tripod so you can keep the same framing, then adjust your subject(s) as necessary. If you do use a tripod, be sure to turn of the VR (vibration reduction) or IS (image stabilization) on your lens, otherwise it could create a little vibration and not give you the sharpest photo.

This is the image from the camera that I used for my final image. I knew going in, that this would be a more labor intensive photo in post production than I normally do but I still wanted the best image I could get to start my post work from. After watching Peter's video, I decide to use the same method he did, and shoot the phones while they were off, then add the desktop views afterwards in Photoshop. This is definitely not my strong suit, but I took a test photo with the phones on, and my key light reduced the contrast and color of the iPhones' desktop screens, so I thought adding them in post would be the best option for the best looking finished product.

If you look closely at this photo, also you will notice that we use protective screens on our iPhones which leave bubbles and scratches but actually does a pretty good job of protecting the face. We also use Otterbox Defender cases for more protection, but I took those off to take the photo. I also had plenty of nicks and scratches to remove in post as well.

To get the screen capture, I simply did a "screen shot" of the home page on our iPhones and texted them to my main computer to use in this composition. This probably would not be the best way to do this for a client as the screen shot is not that good of quality, but for just posting a photo on the 'net, it worked out fine.

After adding the home pages to the phone, I boosted the overall contrast and brightness a bit with a curves adjustment layer, then added the blue, vignetted background in post. I had a pure white version but I think the blue background just works better and adds a little color to the shot.

So as you can see, this is actually a pretty easy setup to do, but did require a little more post work than I usually prefer to do. However the post work really made a difference with this particular image imho. Another reason I shot this the way I did was to illustrate the fact that you can create pretty nice product photography without having a studio full of expensive lights and modifiers.

Hope this was helpful and if anyone has any questions, please sound off in the comments!

LMAO I couldn't have said it (or sung it) better!

2011-09-01T18:20:00.000-04:00

The new Strobist Japan correspondent, Irwin Wong, is not only a very talented photographer, but apparently he also has another gift...

Tidbits in the Photography World

2011-08-31T21:25:00.000-04:00

Been a while since I've blogged and I've seen a lot of cool stuff out there lately that I've been storing up to share.

First on the docket is Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photowalk 2011. If you haven't attended one of these, do yourself a favor and find the closest city near you that is sponsoring a walk. Its a fun time to hang out with other local photographers and to just walk around and shoot stuff in your neighborhood. Plus, you can win prizes too! This is the 4th annual photowalk and it just seems to get bigger every year!

Another thing Scott Kelby and his posse at Kelby Training have come up with, is the new Light It Digital Magazine for iPad owners. It has to be one of the best resources for photographic lighting yet to be developed and the first issue is FREE! Sure you have to have an iPad to view it, but at this point, doesn't everyone already have one except me? Actually, my fiance' has one so I was able to watch it on her's. :)

Perhaps maybe the biggest news of the year has been the release of the new, retro Fuji X100. If you live in a cave and haven't heard about this nifty little gem, Fuji has created a new, high performance camera in a retro-styled point and shoot body. Its a little pricey, but it looks totally sweet and has had some really good reviews (and a few negative ones too). If a dSLR is too big of a beast for you to swing, then you might want to check it out. If the price tag still pushes you away, then hold on to your dollars for a trimmed down version soon to be released called the X10!

If you happen to be a fan of Expo Imaging's Rogue Flash benders and their new Grid System, then you might be interested in their new gels as well. If you're using speedlights frequently, then you can never have too many gels around. Check these out!

Over on the Strobist blog, the latest installment of the Strobist Bootcamp is in full swing! Right now the current project is about Thinking Big! If you need a little practice or just want to participate in a fun lighting project, then hop over there and play along.

If you're still thinking about one of those new, shiny little mirror-less cameras and are a Nikon fanboy (ahem, guilty) then you might want to keep your eye out for Nikon's newest addition. So far its just rumors, but with all of the excitement of Fuji's new X100, I'm sure Nikon is wanting a piece of the photo pie. Plus, you may even be able to get it in a color of your choice!

Have you been shooting for a while and haven't been able to get published in any cool magazines? If so you might want to check out this cool article on Digital Photography School's website. Seems to be a lot of useful information there!

If you're looking for a little inspiration, then check out the work of Jonas Fredwall Karlsson. He has photographed a ton of celebrities and has a great sense of style and light, especially with environmental portraiture.

And last but not least, if you're feeling a little down, then check out this video of a kitten (totally not photography related but entertaining none the less) ...oh, the actual vid doesn't start til after the crummy advertisement.

:)

Nikon SB-600 Speedlights

2011-08-02T18:46:00.001-04:00

Update: SOLD!!

Parting can sometimes be just plain sorrow, but I need to sell off some tools to buy new ones.

I have 2 Nikon SB-600 Speedlights for sale, in great shape and good working condition, with little to no cosmetic blemishes. I have the original boxes, user manuals and Nikon plastic cold shoes. I can also give you serial numbers if you can't see them in the photos. They have served me well.

I'm asking $175 each or $330 for the pair! Email me at john(at)fotographic.us if interested!

More pictures after the jump!

...you know they'd look good in your gear bag, they always did in mine! :)

Sharing and Stealing: A Photographer's Nightmare

2011-07-09T13:44:00.000-04:00

I'm stealing your photos!

With the advent of websites like TinEye and Google's Image Search (websites that allow you to search the internet by photo), I have to say I was really appalled at the sheer number of times I've found my own copyrighted photos used without my consent. Literally, I found that images of mine have been used, without permission (or credit) more times than I could possibly ever track down and resolve. If you're a photographer, illustrator, graphic artist or something similar, and post your work on the internet, then I suggest you use one of the tools above to find out exactly how much of your work might be out there without your consent as well.

More after the jump!

This proposes a very complex problem for me as a photographer. While I really enjoy photo sharing websites such as Flickr, SmugMug and even a local variety in my own home town, I'm now starting to feel that places like this aren't the best way to showcase my work in the hopes of drawing business or generating photography sales. I really like the above mentioned websites and enjoy sharing with others. I also like to view the works of others for inspiration, or to just pass the time, and to also use those websites as sort of a "testing ground" to see how specific images of mine do from a popularity stand point. This helps me to gage what kind of photography will sell and where I should focus my attention in terms of becoming a more profitable photographer. Those websites also really aid in getting my photography recognized on a broader scale. However, do I want to upload photos knowingly that some uneducated jack leg, can just swipe it and use it for whatever reason they wish without any credit to me, the photographer, or any compensation? I'll expand on 'uneducated' in a minute.

Nope I don't... but I do want to share, and enjoy the photographic community, so what's the fix? Honestly, I don't think there is a GOOD one. There are ways to dissuade people from trying to steal your work, but really, those methods only work on those that are less determined to take your images. The bottom line is, IF SOMEONE WANTS TO STEAL YOUR IMAGE FROM THE INTERNET, THEY CAN. Read that again, I'll wait.

Basically, if someone wants to ~~steal~~ use an image of yours that you posted on the internet then there really is no 100% secure way of preventing them from doing so. Definitely though, there are precautions you can take that will slow them down. You can embed metadata in the EXIF, you can watermark your images, you can do logo branding on them, you can right-click protect them and lock them in password protected galleries for no one to see other than those you give the password to (there's the catch with that one) and those methods do help, but they're not fail-safe. So what's the fix?

I think a big part of the issue, albeit not a solution, is the lack of education in the usage of intellectual property. I honestly believe that a lot of folks simply don't look at photography on the internet as anyone's personal property. For instance, how many times have YOU surfed the net and saw a photo that would make a good background and saved it to your computer, without thinking really about what the owner would think? Ok, that's probably not the best comparison, but you get the point. Photography on the internet is really not considered personal property by anyone other than, say, other photographers and accessibility to photography and many other works have never been easier to obtain.

How can the value of photography as intellectual property be conveyed to the masses in the sense that music and other works are? I suppose its going to take some hefty lawsuits before this becomes a serious issue in the eyes of the general public. Now the other problem that I see with that is, how to make others care? I think this one is never going to be solved in the eyes of many. Some people simply don't or won't care about this issue... ever. There are those out there that work diligently at protecting the rights of photographers and their intellectual property and its also been thrown about in congress a time or two but for the most part, the general public doesn't look at "lifting photos" off the net as any sort of crime.

Another issue I've started to become very aware of, is that many photo sharing websites and their Terms of Service. Have you ever read the Terms of Service agreements where you post your photos? Most of them are pretty scary and NOT photographer friendly. I realize that those websites have an obligation to protect themselves but they could reword their TOS's to be more suitable for the contributing photographers and not read like the unabridged version of the works of William Shakespeare. In a nutshell, a lot (but not all) of photo sharing and networking websites, basically can do anything with your photos once you upload them to their website, royalty free and without giving you credit. I'm not pointing the finger at an websites in particular, but if you are uploading photos that you hope to make money from, you really need to think twice before posting them anywhere on the internet except in the most secure of locations.

So where does that leave us? Well for me, it has become a question of what can I tolerate the most. Do I completely stop uploading photos to the internet, or do I upload them at miniscule sizes, with huge watermarks, my logo and a threatening footer that says if you steal this my pitbull with herpes will bite you?

With new websites popping up all over the place like 500px and Google's new Google+ its hard to resist the urge to start throwing up portfolios everywhere, but now I'm a little bit more reserved in my attitude about sharing on the internet and may trim down some existing work.

So what do YOU think about this? Its really been weighing heavily on my mind and I'd really like to know your opinion, if you have a "plan", what your methods are for "protecting" your work and what you think about the possible use of your work without your consent. Also, maybe you're a painter, or a graphic artist or a web designer who looks for photos on the internet for use in your work; what do you feel about all of this, or do you even care?

Sound off in the comments as I'm hoping the advice or opinions of others will help me make up my own mind!

UGH ...GOOGLE+

2011-07-08T22:48:00.000-04:00

TECHINCAL DIFFUCULTIES...

So I deleted an album of photos from my Google+ account because I didn't want them on that website. They were an album of photos associated with this blog, now ALL of those photos are missing from my blog!

PAGES OF THEM!

Can anyone please tell me how to restore these photos? Otherwise, I have weeks worth of work to do to replace them.

I realize this was my mistake, but Google+ should have put something on their website that says deleting photos from there can also remove them from other Google associated programs.

This makes me sick.

Why Photography?

2011-06-09T18:03:00.001-04:00

John W. Adkins I 1941-2010

Photographers as a rule, seem to be a funny bunch (ranking myself high in the herd). Its hard to say why one chooses to become a photographer and I suspect the reasons number like the stars in the sky. Some folks may enjoy the sheer artistic merit of photography while others may just like tinkering with glass, plastic and magnesium alloy. Its also entirely possible that the reasons people are photographers have changed over the course of their maturity in to the craft. For example, someone may have bought a camera simply to enjoy chronicling their children's rise to adulthood, then discovered that they had a hidden talent or a simple passion for the desire to produce memorable images. Whatever the reasons, photography can be a rewarding pursuit in either hobby or career, albeit much easier in the former. ;) More after the jump...

I've often thought about what drives me personally to photography with its successes and frustrations. Its actually a pretty deep question to ask yourself if you're in this profession. I've had a camera in my hands since I was a young fella still playing with Star Wars and G.I. Joe toys. I would set up mock battles and then photograph them, having no idea why I wanted to do this.

Perhaps its because both of my parents were in to photography and documented every waking moment on every type of film imaginable. My dad had traveled the world while in the military and was interested in all the historic locations he had only previously read about, while my mom was more interested in photographing the kids and places around her hometown. In any case, I guess I just thought that they are photographers of some sort, so I must be too.

Being a child of parents who were photographers, gave me the opportunity to have a camera in my hands just about any time. My first camera was actually a Polaroid Sun Camera (you know, one of those instamatic jobs) and I photographed everything from my toys, to my sister asleep and snoring (I still catch hell for this one), to my friends, and I still have most of those photos and enjoy occasionally going back and admiring at just how sucky a photographer I actually was ...and to reminisce about what I captured.

As I got older in to my teens, I was always carrying a camera around with me snapping photos of my friends in school. I honestly had no desire to "be a photographer" but still enjoyed taking photos of things that were important to me. Around this time I also got into photographing sunsets and sunrises. Granted I saw a lot more sunsets than sunrises but they both fascinated me equally with all of the majestic colors and brush strokes that someone above saw fit to so caring paint on his canvas. Somewhere around this time I started to really "look" for things to photograph as I opposed to just grabbing a slice of time.

By the time I hit my late teens and early 20s I was having my rounds through college and as you may have guessed, I still had some sort of a camera with me just about all the time. I even convinced the yearbook staff at my first college that I was a true, honest-to-goodness photographer and managed to weasel my way in to a position as an "auxiliary shooter" for the yearbook, even though I didn't know the first thing about developing film. Hell, I could barely get film wound on the take-up reel or get it out of my camera, much less develop it ...that's what labs were for. However, in my infinite slyness I managed to procure an old Nikon F2 with a motor drive and a nifty 50, now I WAS a photographer... or at least that's what I managed to convince so many unsuspecting pretty young ladies in college of. I took so many portraits I had a boot box full of 8x10 prints of a LOT of students, most of them pretty young girls, and a few photographs that the college even used. I must've have angered someone though (most likely a jealous boyfriend) because one weekend while I was gone, my bootbox of photos got stolen out of my dorm room. I went on hiatus from photography for a while after that.

After I came home from school, I didn't get started back in to photography for a few years because I was used to shooting rolls and rolls of film and having them developed for free at the school lab. Trying that in the real world, proved a little too costly to keep up shooting like that.

Over the next few years I shot with various film cameras until lo-and-behold the digital camera arrived! Actually it had been out for a few years but I'm always the last on the tech-y bandwagon and still wasn't too convinced about shooting digital. I didn't even have a computer at the time *GASP* but I did break down and purchase a little 1.0 MP Fuji point-n-shoot digital camera... and I LOVED it! That little camera even traveled with me to South Africa! I was totally impressed with the quality (it would produce awesome 8x10s) and once I got a computer and figured out how to use Photoshop (talking PS5 here, no CS back then) I was off and running with photography again.

It didn't take long though before the point-n-shoot just wasn't cutting it for me in terms of having a "real" camera, so after a little convincing by a friend, I purchased my first digital SLR, the Nikon D70. I finally felt like I had the best of both worlds, an SLR that produced digital files and my love for shooting was sparked yet again!

I took my time getting back in to the craft though, feeling like with digital I was starting all over again, even though in all reality the transition to digital was not as huge as I might have imagined. The cameras were essentially the same, but instead of film and 24 exposures, I now had a chip to contend with and around 300 digital files!!!! HOLY CRAP, now that was different. Digital has spoiled me but also gave me a new thirst for that perfect photograph. I still love photography now as much as did when I first got my hands on a film SLR.

So why photography? After thinking about it for some time I believe, for me anyways, the conclusion is the memories. I've often looked at various scenes with my pale blue steely eyes and thought, 'man that would make a great photograph, if I only I had my camera with me I could capture that scene forever'. Actually that still happens, almost daily in fact, and while a lot of my photography is not something I do for my own memories, it might be something I do for someone else's which is almost just as good in my book. Its also an artistic outlet for me and keeps those creative juices flowing, but if I had to contribute it just one thing, its definitely the memories. I've made a lot of images over the years that still mean a lot to me, and I continue to look for those that will move me in to the future.

On a very relevant note, today is the birthday of my most favorite model, pal, critic, assistant and general all around comforting companion, one who I hope I create many more wonderful memories with. Happy Birthday Jennifer, I love you and can't wait to make more memories with you!

Sorry to ramble on so long in what seems like a personal narrative of my life. If you've hung in this far, what's the answer to the question, 'why photography' for you? I think figuring that out for oneself can really drive you in the right direction and fulfill you with an eternity of inspiration and subject matter.

Here's to the memories.

[o]

Nikon Auto FP High Speed Sync!

2011-06-06T19:31:00.001-04:00

f/3.8 at 1/8000 sec at ISO 100, 4:40 PM EST, SB-800 camera left, hand held in a Lumiquest SBIII, triggered with the pop-up flash, via Nikon's CLS system

Sounds like a mouth-full doesn't it? Sound like a really technical term? Well don't let the terminology fool you because its really a simple function to utilize.

...btw, the FP stands for "Focal Plane"

Shooting above your camera's native sync speed with off camera flash can be a really useful technique. Mostly this technique becomes really valuable when shooting outdoors, on bright sunny days and when you want to use a shallow depth of field.

Normally, when shooting outdoors in very sunny conditions, your settings are going to be around 1/250 sec shutter speed, f/16 aperture at ISO 200 to get a "properly" exposed image - when using strobes. Why? Well, because when using strobes/flashes synced to your camera, your camera is controlled by its flash sync speed. That sync speed is the fastest your shutter curtains can travel across your sensor while still picking up the burst of light from your flash. If you go over your sync speed, the shutter curtains travel faster than the light hitting the sensor and you will see dark bands starting to appear on the photos. That's a really simple way of stating a more technical reason, but hopefully you get the idea.

There are many other ways to "cheat the sync speed" but since I shoot Nikon, I thought I would discuss briefly, Nikon's Auto FP High Speed Sync mode. This method is really easy to use, provided that you have two required items. The first is obvious, you will need a camera with this feature built in. The second thing you will need is a Nikon flash that supports this feature. Fortunately, all of Nikon's latest flashes (SB-600, SB-700, SB-800 and SB-900) will support this.

In camera, you simply go to your "Custom Setting Menu", then down to "e Bracketing/flash", then to "e1 Flash sync speed" and choose the fastest sync speed option you have available, which on my camera is 1/320 s (Auto FP). I use a D300 but the location and settings should be similar on most Nikon cameras that have this ability, but check your user manual if you're not certain.

Once you have this enabled in your camera, you can just leave it on all the time. It will not effect your camera in any adverse way by leaving it set there, and what's more important, you won't get frustrated when you think you have it turned on (and its actually not), but it doesn't seem to be working, so ...just tune it in and "rip the knob off".

If you're using your pop-up flash as the triggering method for your off camera flash, then its important to make sure that you have the pop-up flash's output mode set to "--" because the pop-up flash cannot contribute any more light than is necessary to trigger the off camera flash when acting as the "commander" in this sync mode. So if you're running in to problems with this method, that's always one of the first things to check.

Now the downside to this method is, loss of power. In order to get your flash to fire above your normal sync speed, the flash has to pulse shots of light as opposed to one burst. These pulses of light are more under powered than a comparative burst of power. Also, using the Nikon CLS system, you have to make sure that the eye on the flash can see the signal from your pop-up flash, or on camera flash. This can give you fits, but with a little planning and forethought, you can make this work.

Now back to why would you want to use Auto FP High Speed Sync. For one (and probably most important to me) it allows you to shoot with much larger apertures giving you a very shallow depth of field which gives you that ooey-gooey out of focus background that really makes your subjects stand out. The images of my kids show a good example of this. Both of these images were taken at roughly 3pm EST with an off camera SB-800 in a shoot thru umbrella, triggered with another on camera SB-800 acting as the master.

Another reason to use AFPHSS may be to freeze action. Granted that flashes and strobes can freeze some action, however its not perfect for really fast movements. You get that "ghosting" effect where the subject in motion seems to have a trail or blur around them. That's because the flash freezes the subject for only a very short duration, maybe around 1/10,000 of a second, so shooting at faster shutter speeds, helps to eliminate that "ghosting" effect by effectively capturing the image faster than the action is occurring.

The last reason (that I can think of) to use AFPHSS is to give the illusion that a scene is darker than it really is like in the portrait at the top of this post. Its entirely possible to make a shot taken at noon, look like it was taken at dusk. By stopping down your aperture to say f/11 or smaller and using a faster shutter speed, like 1/4000 sec, you can literally turn day to night, and by throwing a little flash in there, you can have a really cool, and dramatic image. Don't believe me? Go try it, but be warned, you WILL be addicted. :)

I've had a few folks recently ask me questions about Auto FP High Speed Sync so I thought I would do my best to sum it up in a blog post. If I left anything out, or if anyone has any questions, please sound off in the comments and I'll do my best to field them... but most likely after I get the yard mowed. ;)

Rogue Grid Review!

2011-05-28T15:11:00.003-04:00

ExpoImaging has come out with a cool new modifier for speedlights called the Rogue 3-in-1 Grid. These are the same guys that brought us the Rogue Flash Benders for speedlights which are essentially snoots, gobos, bounce cards and flags all rolled in to one customizable shaped modifier. For photographers who like to pack light, you can't beat the small size and portability of this latest series of flash modifiers.

The Rogue Grid is a really nice system because it has three different grid sizes in one small package. These grids come in 45 degrees, 25 degrees and 16 degrees spreads that have a somewhat soft-ish fall off to the edges, unlike using a snoot. This system comes with the two grids (stacking them makes the third grid), the grid holder and a cool little bag to carry the system in.

These guys are made of a very hard composite plastic that seem very durable and can probably take a good beating ...or at least a lot wear and tear. These grids are attached to speedlights with the included grid holder. You simply take the grid holder and strap it around the head of your speedlight. It has a pretty unique system in that it will stretch and can be velcroed in to place which makes a pretty secure connection. You don't need anything like a speed strap or extra velcro to attach these to your speed lights and by design, the grid holder can be adjusted for different size speedlights.

Once you have the grid holder fastened to the flash, simply choose which degree grid you want to use, and fit it into the end of the grid holder. This is the only part of this system that I'm not exactly wild about because the grid takes a little work to slip in to the holder and then its only held by the tension of the holder itself. So far I haven't had any problems with this, but I do use an extra speed strap wrapped around it to make sure it stays secure. This is really just more of an annoyance than an actual ding on the system.

The internal grid pattern is slightly hexagonal but you can see in the photo below that it produces a circular style spread of light. Another cool feature about these grids is the really tight 16 degrees pattern you get. As far as I know, this is the smallest light spread by a grid for speedlights that you can get. To get the 16 degrees grid, you simply stack the 45 degrees and 25 degrees on top of each other and place in the grid holder. These go together quite easily as well because each of the grids are notched so that there is only one way you can stack these together. The 16 degrees grid makes a really small spread of light, especially when used in close.

The photo below shows the various light size spreads of the three different grids. The flash head is approximately three feet away from the wall, and I have an X and Y axis graph diagram in inches taped to the wall so that you can see the approximate sizes. Keep in mind these sizes will vary based on your flash to subject distance.

I have enjoyed using the Rogue Grids thoroughly and can without a doubt recommend them to anyone who uses speedlights. They do the job nicely and are compact. These are definitely worth the money in my book! You can pick up the Rogue Grid at Outdoor Photo Gear along with all the other cool products by ExpoImaging.

A quick word to the wise... when you first buy these and take them out of the box, it would appear that there is only one grid in the box. That is because they come stacked together. :) I figured this out only a few minutes after a little frustration.

New Soft Boxes by Lastolite for Speedlights!

2011-05-17T20:20:00.001-04:00

Just wanted to take a quick second to let everyone know that Lastolite has come out with some new, very cool softboxes for speedlights!

If you're unfamiliar with Lastolite, they make awesome products for speedlights (and other photography related gear too) such as the Lastolite Ezybox Hotshoe and the very popular Tri-Grip Reflectors and Diffusers. I have the Lastolite Ezybox Hotshoe softbox and one of the Tri-Grips and can definitely say that they are top quality and get the job done excellently well.

Continuing on with their successful line of products for speedlight users, Lastolite has come out with two cool new products called the Hotrod Strip Softbox and the Hotrod Octa Softboxes. I've been waiting for a while for a manufacturer to come up with a good octabox and strip box for speedlights so I will definitely be planning on purchasing one or both of these some time in the near future.

I don't own either of these so I can't honestly attest to the quality and capability, but if they're anything like the Ezybox or their Tri-Grip reflectors, I'm sure they are top notch. I will seriously be looking forward to getting to try these out and wanted to share the info with everyone.

For a little more in depth info, check out this video on how to use and set up the Hotrod Strip Softbox.

If anybody has one, or picks up one, please leave a comment to let us know what you think!

Flash Bus Portrait

2011-05-10T18:54:00.001-04:00

One of the reasons I like using flash and/or strobe is because of the contrast and control it gives me. Sometimes I will shoot using ambient light only, but most of the time I find I can make the image much more interesting by adding light and balancing with the available ambient light.

A few friends and I attended the Flash Bus Tour in Nashville back in April and a couple of us wanted our portraits taken in front of the Flash Bus. So after we located it and tried to find the best angle to photograph from, I took a quick ambient light only shot first, thinking who knows, maybe it will turn out nice (I wasn't really thinking that). This is the shot below...

Pretty blah and boring huh? Well, except of course for my model with his extraordinarily good looks. However for the overall exposure, I thought we could do better.

So I dropped the ambient exposure by a stop or two, simply by speeding up my shutter speed. I kept the aperture and ISO the same as the previous image because I didn't want the depth of field to change or the overall quality of the image.

After dropping the ambient a stop or two, it was time to light my buddy. I took out a trusty Nikon SB-800 and put a Lumiquest SBIII on it so that it would be a little diffused and simply left it in TTL. I decided that since we were attending the Flash Bus Tour that I would have to use flash (actually I just didn't want McNally or Hobby jumping off the bus and attacking us) and that I would leave the flash power in TTL a-la-McNally just to see how it went. I was hand holding this light and directing it as best I could while I tried to keep the composition where I wanted it.

You can see in the photo below, that the sky looks much better and my buddy is lit sufficiently, but now the bus is dark and you can't really make out what it says.

No worries though, as I was packing not one, but two Nikon SB-800s! So I took the other one out of the bag, zoomed the head to around 50 mm and placed it on the ground behind my subject, pointing up at the center of the bus. I tried to be cautious in my placement of this light because I didn't want it to show in the photo and wanted to make sure that it lit the bus well enough to see the logo and design. I also left this flash's power in TTL but put it in a different group, just in case I needed a different power level than my key light. Both of these strobes were triggered with the pop-up flash on my D300 using Nikon's CLS system.

As luck would have it, my Nikon's built in metering/TTL system did a nice job determining flash output and no compensation was needed on either light. So this portrait was a straight TTL solution with my aperture, shutter speed and ISO dialed in manually...

I actually cropped in on this a little bit as I thought it made a better composition. This portrait is the same as the one at the top of the page, I placed it down here so you wouldn't have to scroll back up for reference.

I realize that this portrait is not Pulitzer material, but for a quick setup and shoot (took about 5-10 mins total) I feel this shot turned out much better than the ambient light only version, and its definitely better than an on camera flash snapshot imo ...of course I probably should've Photoshopped out the electrical tower and power lines, but it was just a quick portrait anyways. :)

Fulltone Foto

2011-04-23T13:20:00.001-04:00

I just wanted to take a quick minute to give a shout out to Fulltone Foto. They are a photography lab based here in Louisville, Kentucky that still does film developing ...in HOUSE! They also offer a wide selection of services from framing and mounting, to slide scanning, to canvas prints.

I was looking for a local provider to develop 120 film and a friend tipped me off to these guys. I dropped off 2 rolls of 120 film (one black & white) and a roll of 35mm on Monday and got them back on a Tuesday afternoon!! With anyone else I have used, it seems to ususally take a week, especially with black & white. The prints I received were top quality and they scanned them to disc for me as well at a very reasonable price.

So if you're in the Louisville, Kentucky area and are looking to get film developed, check out Fulltone Foto! They are located in Dorsey Plaza, right off of Shelbyville Road.

Available Light!

2011-04-20T20:23:00.001-04:00

As a photographer, I like to tell people that I photograph with available light, that is to say I will use any light that I have available to me. Which, in most cases, this consists of a bag full of speedlights and even a monobloc or two. I have to admit that I consider myself a lighting photographer, meaning that more times than not I am going to augment the ambient light in any given scene with artificial light. Personally, I like having the flexibility that artificial light brings to my photography being either work for clients or for personal projects. Sometimes, the ambient just isn't there and if you shoot enough, sooner or later you're going to run in to a situation that a little artificial light would just make the whole day easier.

That being said, I try not to limit myself to only using artificial light as light is light, regardless where it comes from. Sometimes, nice, overcast, soft, warm light is just hard to beat with artificial light so when I do get the opportunity, I like to try to make use of it.

Recently, I did a portrait session for a friend and beautiful young woman whom I've known for some time. I did her senior portraits years ago and she was wanting some new photos of herself to share with her friends and family. So we went through a variety of outfits and setups, mostly with strobes, but then we found ourselves in a park with some decent soft light and shade, so I thought I would step out of my comfort zone and try some natural light portraits. I don't normally do natural light portraiture that often, but I found this mini session to be pretty enjoyable, and much easier than my usual light-balancing, maniacal act of balancing photons and numbers.

For all of these portraits, I switched lenses from my trusty (and beloved) Nikon 18-200 VR lens, to my little, nifty 50mm 1.8 lens. These lenses are pretty much the only two I carry with me when doing portraits because they will cover everything I want to do, but for this natural light session, I wanted to shoot fairly wide open and let the background just go wherever it wanted, as opposed to trying to balance the exposure for my model and my background.

So I set my lens to around f/2.0-2.8 because I've found out that my 50mm is actually a little sharper when its not wide open and threw my camera in Aperture Priority mode then switched my metering mode to spot metering. This setup gave me a little more freedom in that I can just shoot without worrying about shutter speeds and I chose spot metering because I knew it would keep my subject exposed properly while letting the background blow out a little hot. I'm normally a little too anal to let my backgrounds blow out like this, but I thought I would just throw a little caution to the wind and see how it goes. To my surprise, I actually liked just about all of these shots, and so did my model. :)

Another setting I used was continuous shooting mode as opposed to single frame. I felt like this would give me a good opportunity to make sure that I catch several sharp images even with shooting at such a large aperture with a moving subject. The only drawback to this was the incredibly larger than normal number of files I ended up with on my card. However, since most of these all turned out nicely, I ain't gonna complain. :) I also shifted my white balance to Cloudy because I tend to prefer warm skin tones as opposed to cooler ones.

As far as editing goes with this session, I did very minimal post work except to add a little contrast here and there, rotate the images and re-size for the web. I also converted a few of these to black and white just for something different.

I don't think this 'style' of shooting is going to change how I normally work, but it was nice to try something different for a change and to work out of my comfort zone. It yielded some good results for me and for my friend, with much less effort than I usually go through and gave me the opportunity to try to think outside of my proverbial box.

So the next time you're out shooting with a friend and don't have to worry about editors, clients, dollars or minutes, be sure to try something different if you have the time. If you're a natural light shooter, then whip out a strobe or speedlight and try some artificial lighting. If you're a long lens shooter, then try going with a wide lens, or even a fisheye! You might find a new trick to stick in your back pocket for a later date, or even a new technique that you want to improve upon.

[o]

Joe McNally photographs Phil, the Flash Bus Driver

2011-04-06T21:38:00.000-04:00

Random shoot of the Bus Driver. Unplanned. from Jesse West on Vimeo.

Talented photographer and Flash Bus VAL Jesse West of JesseWestSpot.com shot this cool video of an impromptu portrait session of Joe McNally photographing the Flash Bus driver Phil.

I actually make my 'acting' debut in this video. I'd also like to note that David Hobby swiped my speedlight. ;)

Thanks Jesse for sharing this!!!

The Flash Bus Tour 2011 Review!

2011-04-05T21:44:00.001-04:00

Ok, first off I'd like to say this is going to be hard for me to be impartial since I pretty much idolize these guys, but I'm going to do my best. :)

...also a brief note, some of the photos in this post were taken with my iPhone so please excuse the poor quality, and as always, click on any image for a larger view.

Photographers Joe McNally and David Hobby (the Strobist) have been touring the U.S. in a high velocity, no-holds-barred tour called The Flash Bus, teaching amateur & professional photographers the intricacies of off camera flash photography. If you're not familiar with these guys, then do yourself a favor and check out both of them. They are pretty much masters in their fields, and they might quite possibly be the best instructors in off camera flash photography.

The tour is running from March 11th, to April the 18th, so if you want to check these guys out, you better get moving, these venues have been selling out fast! More after the jump...

On to the seminar... I had the opportunity to catch the Nashville stop of the tour with a few friends and also had the fantastic opportunity of being a VAL for these guys. Just getting to meet Joe and David was a huge thrill, and both of them were very down to Earth and openly friendly. They both made you feel as if you had been friends for a long time.

Being a VAL, I had to show up at the event at 6:30am to help the crew with whatever needed to be done prior to the actual seminar. Joe's assistant Drew Gurian was the first of the gang to show up. He introduced himself, was all smiles and laid out the plan for the morning. So myself and the other VALs headed out to the actual Flash Bus to unload the gear ...and man there was a ton of it!!! ...which I believe was all McNally's. :)

After getting the bus unloaded, the VALs had the duty of stuffing the Swag Bags ...300 of them! The swag bags were bags from Adorama that had all kinds of goodies in them for every single seminar participant. I'd tell you what was in them but I don't want to spoil it for any of you that are still planning on going, but it contains some cool stuff.

Us VALs did a pretty quick job of getting the swag bags filled so we had some time to chill out and ~~stalk~~ watch McNally and Hobby while they were getting ready for the seminar. Then McNally goes running out of the room with a camera in hand, so all of us took off behind him like lemmings jumping off a cliff. Apparently, the son of the bus driver, Phil, got to show up and Joe wanted to take a portrait of them in front of the Flash Bus.

Joe had almost all of us VALs holding either a reflector, a diffuser or a speedlight and was guiding us like a concert maestro. This was an awesome experience, getting to watch him work on the fly like this and David Hobby even swiped one of my speedlights to light the shot. This little event was very awakening for me, not only because I learned a new trick from Joe, but also because I realized how cool those external battery packs for speedlights really are. All of Joe's speedlights were recycling within a second or less but mine was taking up to 4-5 seconds at a time to recycle. Joe was shooting this portrait in direct sunlight so those little flashes were throwing out some serious amounts of photons, and those battery packs really made a huge difference. Going to get me one of those.

(Oh, another cool note about being a VAL, you get front row seats!)

After the mini-portrait session, it was time for the seminar to start. Jeff Snyder from Adorama opened the seminar (since Adorama was one of the reasons this tour was even possible) and introduced the first grand master of flash photography, David Hobby.

David ran the first part of the seminar covering about 2.5 hours before lunch. He started the seminar by introducing himself (like there are people who don't know who he is) and got right in to it. His approach was like a college professor. He started off explaining the key ingredients to a good, flash lit portrait, then provided examples via a projector. The examples he showed were highly valuable because he included shots that identified exactly how he builds each flash lit portrait from taking an available light only shot, to the finished portrait with multiple light sources. David presented several different examples from start to finish and also answered every question from the crowd, no matter how simple or difficult. If his new DVD's are like his seminar, then I can guarantee that they are most definitely worth the money! I will be ordering them soon.

Then another unexpected part of his presentation, was that he touched briefly on the business side of photography and the projects he's involved in and how you can relate them to your own photography business. This was very cool, and considering that he definitely seems to know how to market himself, this was a really valuable part of the seminar that everyone seemed to be very responsive to.

After a morning session of jam-packed information in what seemed like a short amount of time, everyone broke for about an hour lunch. Then it was McNally's turn at the wheel.

When Joe came out, and the roar of thunderous applause died down, he introduced himself (again, like anyone there would not know who this man was) and gave a brief, but detailed explanation of his theory on lighting in general and what it means to capture a moment drawn with light. Even though Joe comes off as a jokester sometimes, you can definitely tell that he has an unfathomable passion for photography and all of its mechanisms. Then he gave a brief dissertation on why he likes to use TTL and the advantages of using it to quickly capture images. After that, it was time to shoot!

Joe had one of his assistants come out to model for him, then went through a ton of different lighting techniques and methods in a short amount of time explaining the differences between each one and then answering questions about them from the crowd. Not only did he discuss exactly what he was doing as he did it, but he also discussed the problems and "accidents" you can experience along the way and how to solve them. This was a completely different approach than David used which really made this whole seminar worth while because you got to see exactly how two lighting masters approached similar scenarios with different methods. This really was a perfect example of the "best of both worlds".

Then Joe started pulling members from the audience out to model for him. In Joe's own words, he told one slightly reluctant fellow that this would be "the best Facebook portrait ever", and he was right I believe. He took several awesome portraits of people from the crowd and then explained why he chose to light each one the way he did. What was really cool about this part of the seminar was that every photo Joe took, was displayed on two large projector screens so everyone could see exactly what he was getting in his camera. This was a really useful learning tool that everyone seemed to enjoy and it was nice to see that even a pro such as Joe, every once in a while, gets a not-so-great image, but the end results were spectacular! ...no Photoshop involved!

At the end of Joe's part of the seminar, everyone took a quick break. The guys from Adorama were there and were taking orders for tons of cool lighting tools with a discounted price. If you're thinking about buying any new cool toys and are going to the Flash Bus tour, be sure to take your wallet because Adorama was offering some pretty awesome deals that are only available the day of the show.

For the end of the seminar, Joe and David came out together and leg wrestled over which was better, manual flash or TTL. No, I'm just kidding, but they did have quite a few pokes at each other which was pretty darned entertaining. These two guys were like a couple of kids up there and you could tell that they were having fun. They did a Q&A style session where they answered every single question the crowd could throw at them ...and did I mention that they gave a ton of cool stuff away throughout the ENTIRE seminar?? They passed out DVDs, Justin Clamps, Lastolite Tri-Grips and all kinds of cool stuff. However, you might have to answer a photography question or just have a really cool name to get some of the freebies. Just being in the crowd though really increases your odds. :)

So all in all, I have to honestly say, this was without a doubt the best photography seminar I have ever been to, and if you count the goodies they give away in the swag bags, the free stuff you might get just by being there and the amount of knowledge that was handed over during the seminar, this was definitely more than worth the price of the ticket. If you have the chance to go, then I definitely would, and if you happen to be one of the fortunate few who get to be a VAL, you are sooo going to have a good time.

My only regret about this whole seminar is that I can't go again.

Check it out: The Flash Bus Tour

If you'd like to see a few more of my photos from the tour, check out this gallery on Flickr.

Think Tank Photo, Retrospective 30 Camera Bag Review

2011-03-27T19:17:00.002-04:00

Every photographer needs a good camera bag (ideally a few). So when it came time to upgrade my trusty old LowePro shoulder bag, I decided to check out the latest bags by Think Tank Photo. Its not that I didn't like my old LowePro, but I was wanting a bag that was slightly bigger and one that doesn't look like a camera bag. This is where Think Tank Photo came in with their latest line of shoulder bags called Retrospective.

The Retrospective line are camera bags designed not to look like camera bags, which, if you're a photographer who has spent any time in crowds or in locations where its best to not look so conspicuous, then you can most definitely understand how valuable a bag like this can be. Think Tank has several sizes and color styles available, but I decided to go with the largest, the Retrospective 30. I also chose the Pinestone color as opposed to the black. I think I like this color primarily because it looks even less like a camera bag and also has a more 'rugged' look to it (which should go well with my rugged good looks, cough ;)

Not only does this bag look great, but it has a ton of room! This bag can easily hold 2 camera bodies, multiple lenses (even a 70-200) a flash or two and all the batteries, cables, gels and what not that you can stuff in it. The interior is easily customizable with removable, velcro dividers and can be configured to hold any camera body with just about any lens attached. I like the Retrospective 30 because its size allows you to place a camera with a lens attached in various positions, depending on the lens you use and still have room for various other necessities.

One of my concerns about this bag was whether or not it had enough pockets to store smaller items. After checking out this bag, I can tell you it has more than enough! There are neatly arranged pockets everywhere on this bag, inside and out. The arrangement is smart and designed to hold everything from batteries to memory cards to even note pads. There are 2 big flat pockets on the inside, front and back, a large flat pocket on the outside of the back, pockets on shorter sides, inside and out and even smaller pockets inside the larger ones.

Another awesome thing about this bag is that while it isn't water proof, it does come with an excellent rain cover that packs away neatly in one of the front pockets. This was another concern of mine since my old bag was waterproof. However, I've used other Think Tank products and their rain covers work perfectly.

Something else that is definitely worth mentioning, these bags are built like tanks! The stitching and hardware that Think Tank uses reminds me of military grade products. I think it would take years of wear and tear to damage this bag and considering Think Tank's customer support, I believe it would be no problem to get replacement parts or repairs done. However, I don't ever anticipate this being an issue.

The last thing I really like about the Retrospective 30 bag is how comfortable it is to wear. My old shoulder bag was a little more rigid and felt like wearing a small TV around my neck. Since the Retrospective 30 is soft sided, it almost molds to you as you have it around your neck or shoulder and this bag has a huge, no slip shoulder pad which makes it really nice if you prefer to just carry it on your shoulder. For a large shoulder bag, its definitely the most comfortable one I've owned. For those interested, this highly sought after camera bag model is available at VERY affordable rates. :)

If you're interested in a new shoulder bag, then I would definitely check this one out. I picked up my bag at Outdoor Photo Gear which carries every Think Tank product available and their customer service is second to none! If you're local and would like to check out any of these bags first hand, give the guys at Outdoor Photo Gear a call, or just stop in to check them out.

oh, and as always, click on any pic for a larger view!

iPhone and Android Photography Apps!

2011-03-22T21:21:00.001-04:00

Some time ago, I wrote a short piece on how much I love my iPhone and all the cool photography apps it has. Well I was just turned on to another cool post on the blog Photography Degrees, that contains many cool links to reviews of apps for the iPhone and the Droid too!

If you have either one of these phones, the blog post above is worth checking out as it contains a load of useful information for the phone-photographer connoisseur!

Also, take your time to view the blog Photography Degrees in its entirety, there seems to be lots of useful info and tools for the emerging and advanced photographer!

Flashing the Sun!

2011-03-20T11:34:00.001-04:00

First of all, let me say Happy-First-Day-of-Spring! I'm so glad to see things warming up around here, I've really missed the greenery!

The other day I did a really fun portrait session with a fantastic model, Irene Mukibi. Irene and I have worked together previously and were looking forward to doing our first session outside together. We were planning on shooting later in the day hoping for a nice sunset, but due to time constraints we had to pick an earlier time.

For a shoot at this time of day, I would have honestly preferred a more powerful monobloc to have a little more flexibility, but since all that I had with me was a pair of Nikon SB-800s I came up with a small flash solution. I've heard quite a few folks recently make the claim that speedlights aren't useful outside during the day, but respectfully I have to disagree - completely! I've used speedlights outside at 12 noon where the sun is quite an unbearable beast to light against with no problems. While I will admit that using speedlights for that situation isn't optimal, its entirely workable, if you don't believe me, check this out!

Having already picked out a few locations to shoot in, we hopped in the car and headed out. We were thinking wouldn't it be nice to be able to shoot on a beach, and since we are quite land locked and pretty darn far from the closest beach, we did the next best thing, we located a park that had a rather large, sandy area.

Then I took a few ambient only readings to get my background locked in where I wanted it, then I set up one of my trusty SB-800s on a light stand and positioned this light in relation to my subject (camera left and slightly above the model's head, pointing down). With the chosen aperture, shutter speed and ISO I dialed in, I first tried my speedlight at 1/2 power. While this may have been enough light for someone with pasty, white albino skin such as myself, this just wasn't quite enough light for Irene. So I bumped the power up to full power and tried another test shot. Hmmm... this still wasn't quite enough and the one bare speedlight was kicking in some pretty hard shadows, so what to do?

Since I shoot primarily with a Nikon D300, I just about always use my pop-up flash as the triggering method for my Nikon speedlights. This generally always works unless the pop-up flash can't see my off camera flash, or if the sun is at an angle that the little pop-up just can't generate enough juice to get a solid signal to my off camera flash. In this case, I was able to use my pop-up flash but I wanted a little more power than that guy had to offer, so I put my second SB-800 on camera to use as the master to trigger my off camera flash. This gave me several advantages. For one, it has a lot more power than the pop-up flash. Two, I can rotate the head of this flash to better see my off camera flash, but the most valuable option was that now, I have a very powerful, on camera axis, fill light. Since I knew I wanted to get a little more light on Irene, I dialed this flash in at 1/2 power and took a test shot. BOOM, this was exactly what I was looking for. So now I had plenty of light on my beautiful model and I had created a very cool, key light with fill combination that reduced those hard shadows on her. I also placed her where the sun was directly behind and above her which let the sun act as a nice rim light on her, giving me effectively, a three light source setup ...Bonus!

Something else I really liked about this setup is that to me, it kinda gave a beauty dish look using a much more powerful light source on my model. The only drawback to this situation was the recycle time with my lights. My key light was taking around 3-4 seconds to recycle at full power so my model would need to hold her poses for a tad longer than she would need to with a more powerful light setup. Honestly though, this really was no hindrance to either of us, and gave me a very portable lighting setup that yielded some very cool results imho.

Would a more powerful light have worked better? Well, its all relative really. To be sure, with a more powerful light I would have had much faster recycle times and would have had more options with modifiers. Since I needed as much power as my SB-800s could kick out, I couldn't use any modifiers because they would have nuked a few stops of light. However with this model, hard, bare light worked just fine and to be honest, I really liked the look (and so did the model). However, had I used more powerful lights, I would be hauling much more gear around, straining my poor old back and taking much more time to setup.

So in a nutshell, can speedlights be used outside during the day? You bet they can and with some really awesome results. You can also get in to high speed sync mode which would allow you to use larger apertures for a more shallow depth of field, but I'll save that technique for another post.

Hope you got something out of this and won't be afraid to try your speedlights outside at ANY time of day.

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SPRING!!! :)

V.A.L. Voice Activated Lightstand

2011-03-12T11:10:00.003-05:00

Over the years I have had an awful lot of folks holding lights and lightstands for me performing a duty affectionately referred to as the V.A.L. - or Voice Activated Lightstand. When using speedlights or small flashes for your source of light in photography, its easy to just have someone hold it for you, requiring no lightstand to do the job. This has several advantages for the photographer and the VAL.

First off, having someone hold your light for you, makes it easy for you as the photographer to get the light in the right place without having to go back to the light and adjust it yourself. Also, your VAL, if trained appropriately, can adjust power settings, feather the light, change modifiers and just about everything else. Another advantage to having a VAL is, since they are at the location of the light, sometimes they can see how that light effects the subject better than the photographer. For the VAL, its a good learning experience because being at the view point of the light can really show you how its going to respond on the subject and the VAL can also learn from the photographer. A good VAL is a blessing to photographers and fortunately I've had my share of good ones to help me, including my number one partner in crime.

I've done my share performing the task of VAL for quite a few other folks as well, which leads me to the real point of this post. Joe McNally and David Hobby (the Strobist) are currently touring the country in a mad escapade called the Flash Bus Tour. They will be teaching photographers all across the country how to use their speedlights for better flash lit photography. I can honestly think of no other photographers I would rather see in a seminar than these to amazing guys so when the opportunity presented itself to volunteer as a VAL for their tour, I jumped at the opportunity. Surprisingly, I just got notification a few days ago, that I was chosen to be a VAL for their Nashville stop!!!

I can't tell you how excited I am about this and the fact that I may get to meet two photographers who have pretty much shaped the way I do my own photography. Volunteering as a VAL for these guys has several advantages. One, you get to learn off camera lighting up close and personal, and two, you get to be working with (or for) two of the most amazing photographers in the business! Being a VAL (for anyone) can be a great learning experience and performing the job for these guys, I'm sure, will be no different.

I'm planning on updating another post after the seminar (around the first of April) to do my review of the Flash Bus Tour and to also share a little about being a VAL for two industry leaders. I haven't been this excited about something since I got my last Nikon. :)

Tools for the Job

2011-03-05T17:41:00.002-05:00

February was a lousy time for blogging, simply just had too much stuff going on. (that never happens to you does it?)

So I thought I would kick this month off with a brief post about tools for the job. Photography can be an amazing pursuit that can teach you about yourself as well as sharing something about yourself to others, but it is an expensive passion! Lenses, cameras, bags, lights, stands etc. can really take a chunk out of your pocketbook and the industry doesn't make it any easier on us poor photogs by constantly bombarding us with new gear and telling us we must have the latest and greatest to achieve our photographic goals, but when it comes down to it, what do you really need to do your job or follow your passion?

I'd like to think that I for one, am not a gear hound, but in relation to others, I'm sure I appear to be one. Sure I have a few cameras, a few lenses, a ton of lights and various other tools, but I feel like I have just enough to enable me to create the photography that I want to achieve be it personal work or job related. I've dropped some serious dollars over the years to fulfill my collection, but I still find things that I need ...or think I need.

For example, for the last few years I've been using the same computer and software to process my images. I'm not a Photoshop wizard by any means and merely use Photoshop when I feel like I need to. Personally though, I prefer to create images in the camera as much as possible without having to rely on editing to get the look I want. However there are those times when I shoot something knowing that I plan on rolling that image through some heavy editing to get the desired look.

Over the last year or so, I've been noticing some really cool features that Photoshop CS5 and Lightroom 3 can give so I thought, well maybe its time to upgrade my old system. Realizing that the latest version of Photoshop is such a resource hound, I figured its time I upgraded my old system. So I did some thorough research to see what both of those applications require from a hardware standpoint and then set about finding a new computer that would meet those requirements but still work within my budget, allowing me to get the latest Adobe products as well.

For the first time in many years, I found a good deal on a quad-core system that already came preassembled, in other words, it works straight out of the box. Every computer I've had up until now, I built myself (with a little help from time to time). So this was a good deal and now that I have it up and running, I've realized that my new system is a lot faster than my old one and multitasks quite easily with resource consuming programs. So now it was time to upgrade my version of Photoshop and to finally try out the new Lightroom ...I've never used this software so was looking forward to the learning curve.

So I got on Adobe's website, entered my current serial number and guess what I found out? That my serial number for my current version of Photoshop is actually an invalid number and can't be upgraded! Long story short, I called several reps at Adobe to try to make sure this was the issue, and it is indeed so. I purchased my current version of Photoshop years ago on EBay. The seller assured that it was a legitimate copy and that it would work perfectly. Well, the seller was half right. It came to me looking just like an unopened legitimate version of Photoshop with a key and still wrapped in cellophane so I thought at the time, great! I've used this version for years, and even updated it a few times. Now however, it looks like I'm stuck with this version until I can afford a full blown new version of Photoshop. I even thought about contacting the seller on EBay to complain to him or at the very least, to leave him a scathing, negative review, but after doing some research, I realized that I had a friend purchase this for me through his account and not on my own. After some deliberation, I finally decided that it really wouldn't do any good to try to find the seller anyways, seeing as how his product has served me well for many years without issue and I seriously doubt the seller is even on EBay anymore anyways.

So this development leads me back to what I was originally thinking when I started this post. Do I really need the latest version of Photoshop and the addition of Lightroom to do my work? Honestly, I don't think I do but I just really had my heart set on it. My old version of Photoshop (even though apparently illegitimate) still does all I need it to do and has been a valuable tool in following my work as a photographer. Does it have all the latest and greatest bells and whistles? Nope it sure don't, but it does what I need it to do. As far as Lightroom goes, I've never used it so I guess I won't know what I'm missing, but it certainly calls out to me in sleep and waking dreams. I guess I could get the latest version of Lightroom anyways, but I'm not sure if it would play nice with my older version of Photoshop or even if that matters.

So I guess what I'm getting at is, I REALLY REALLY would like to upgrade but I guess I don't really need it. Hopefully a few more jobs down the road will allow me to complete my upgrade but until then I'll just have to froth at the mouth.

This post was really just a pity party and I promise to come back with something more informative and useful in the next post!

If you've read this far, I'd be interested to know if any of you are in the same boat and what you're feelings are about it. Thanks for listening ...err reading!

And Now for Something Completely Different...

2011-02-07T18:54:00.001-05:00

Ok, well, maybe not completely different, but definitely out of the norm for me.

Anyone who knows me or follows my blog at all, probably knows that my passion is portrait photography in all its forms. I enjoy sharing time with my friends and family, and especially love to meet new people and to try to capture a memorable image of them. However, occasionally I get this urge to shoot something different, or that I haven't done before and that's precisely what the image above is all about.

All through my life I have been fascinated with art. Coming from a family of artists and having a fiance' who is an amazingly talented artist, I guess that's to be understood, but even beyond that, I have always had this fascination with what people can envision and then create in various mediums. I am particularly fond of the "Old Masters" and their acute ability to paint everything from people to ordinary objects in an incredibly realistic way. Some of their works are so realistic that they almost appear to be old photographs. So, I decided to try my hand at something that would appear to resemble one of these works.

The photo above took quite a bit more planning than I originally would have thought. Every time I got an item placed where I thought it would look the best, I would take a look through my viewfinder and then re-compose the setup again. It took several times before I got a composition I was happy with, and I knew I wanted to capture smoke from the candle to add a different element to a typical still-life composition. That took several tries at lighting the candle then blowing it out and waiving the smoke with my hand to get a direction that I liked. Once I got my composition where I wanted, then I set about lighting it.

Actually for me, the lighting was the easy part. I knew I wanted to make this appear to be window light, so I used a medium sized softbox camera left at about window height (pretty relative here) and took the photo. Something still didn't seem quite right so I took a few more shots and just looked at them (love my LCD). Then it hit me, there needs to be a little warm glint of light hitting the background to make it look more like sunlight coming through the window (and I'm just fond of warm toned images). So I took out a trusty speedlight, put a 1/2 CTO gel over it, placed a Honl grid on it, and dialed the power down fairly low (I think around 1/32 power). I then positioned this light right beside my softbox but closer to the background and angled down fairly sharply so it would rake the background. Then I took another shot. That was it!

Since I wanted this to look more like a painting than a photo, I did a little more post work than I would normally do which basically means I kept applying different layers of filter effects at different opacities until I found one I liked. I would go in to this more, but I don't remember exactly what I did, and I'm definitely not a Photoshop guru. :)

I shot this at f/16 to maintain detail, at ISO 200 around 1/250 of a second and on a tripod. This was a fun experiment for me, so much so that I plan on doing more of these somewhere down the road.

Oh, and there was a point to this blog post other than blathering on like an idiot and that is that sometimes its cool to shoot something out of the ordinary than what you're normally accustomed to. If you're a photographer than I'd be willing to bet that you will eventually find yourself shooting the same subject matter, or styles, or lenses, or or or ...you know, the same stuff over and over again. So if you feel like you're in a creative rut, or just want to explore different venues of photography, then step out of your comfort zone and try something different!

Lighting Seminar with David Hobby and Joe McNally!

2011-01-25T18:19:00.000-05:00

If you're in to lighting photography with off camera flash, or even lighting photography in general, then I can't think of a single better seminar to attend then the one being put on by David Hobby (the Strobist) and Joe McNally!

Just announced today on their respective blogs, David and Joe will be touring the entire country from March through April sharing their immense magnitude of lighting techniques with off camera flash. David's class will be focusing on doing things the "manual" way while Joe will be guiding you through the powers of TTL flash photography.

The name of their tour is Flash Bus Tour 2011 and you can find out more details by checking out the website, including more info about David and Joe, tour dates, prices and what will be covered.

While there aren't that many seminars I would care to attend, I will be first in line to see these guys. I am honestly excited and can't wait to attend one of these! Hope to see you there!

Lumiquest Softbox LTp Review

2011-01-23T15:42:00.002-05:00

There's a new softbox for speedlights on the market called the Lumiquest LTp! Lumiquest has long been making cool modifiers for speedlights, including my favorite, the Softbox III. Based on how popular the SBIII is, Lumiquest came out with another softbox for speedlights, but this time its bigger, and as we all know, bigger is better right?

Their new softbox is roughly twice the size of the SBIII at 10" x 14" which creates a nice, soft light source for hand held portraits. However, this softbox is just not limited to hand held portraits, it can be used for a myriad of lighting solutions including as a hair light, a kicker light, a fill light and it works excellently for product photography. It eats up about the same amount of light as the SBIII, which is a little more than one full stop of light.

In this first portrait, I used the LTp on a Nikon SB-800 hand held to camera left. Its straight out of camera with no editing except to crop and resize for the web. You can see that this softbox gives a nice, soft quality of light (click on it for a larger view). Its not quite as soft as a larger softbox or shoot thru umbrella, but for a compact softbox that can be hand held and packed away in almost any camera bag, its gives awesome results! The light from this softbox is kinda 'punchy' and soft at the same time, similar to that of a beauty dish.

Another thing that is really nice about the LTp is that since it has a rectangular shape (and has an edge), it can be feathered to focus the light more where you want it (or don't want it). Its quite easy, just by a slight adjustment to light a subject without creating much spill on your background as in this portrait. For this shot, I held the LTp almost directly above my model and tilted it slightly back towards the camera so that less light would fall on my background. You can see what a really soft light this makes when used in this close. This photo was edited in post to add a vignette and adjust the color tones.

In this last portrait, I'm using the LTp as a kicker light with a CTO gel to make a nice, warm accent in this portrait of my friend and fellow photographer J.J. Henderson. The LTp makes an awesome kicker or rim light because of its compact shape and edge. I simply turned this light more towards the camera which lit my subject with a smooth, silky warm light and added little to no light to my background.

In the video above, I discuss this a bit, but one of the advantages to the size of this softbox is that its roughly the exact same size as most laptops (thus the name LTp). So for all those photographers carrying backpack style bags and roller style bags, this handy modifier will slide right in there with your laptop taking up little to no space.

To find out more about the Lumiquest LTp, check out the Lumiquest LTp product page. You can now pick these up at your favorite photographic retailer.

Vivian Maier - Street Photographer

2011-01-13T19:47:00.001-05:00

Self Portrait

February 1, 1926 – April 21, 2009

Perhaps you've already heard about this fascinating woman who has stunned the photographic community with her very real and informal photographs of Chicago streets, its people and various other locations around the world, but in case you haven't, I thought I would share a bit about her.

Like many famous artists, Miss Maier was, unfortunately, unknown to the world until a few years after her passing, when her photography was discovered by a local historian at an auction. This gentleman stumbled across her work from the contents of an old storage locker that belonged to Miss Maier and was acquired by the auction house. Amazingly, her work consists of more than 100,000 negatives, some still in undeveloped rolls of film!

Apparently, Miss Maier was just content enough to enjoy photography as a personal hobby and never showed her work to a single person. When she passed, she was surviving off of a social security and living in an apartment that children which she had been a nanny for, were paying for.

Her work is absolutely wonderful and I urge you to research and see what she saw through her camera lens. She definitely had an artistic eye and was able to portray all of her subjects with careful thought and emotion.

I wanted to blog about her because my previous post dealt with Masters of Photography and after seeing her work, I definitely feel like she was a master at her craft as well. I can't help but feel sad, knowing that had her work been exposed during her lifetime, she may have had a richer, more comfortable life. However being that not much is known about her personal life, she may have been perfectly content, enjoying her hobby.

To find out more about Vivian Maier, check out the resources below:

Vivian Maier - Her Discovered Work - a blog by the curator of most of her works

Vivian Maier Photography - a website dedicated to the work and life of her

Vivian Maier on Wikipedia

Masters of Photography

2011-01-02T17:18:00.003-05:00

If you're a photographer, or even an art lover, chances are you've heard of the likes of Ansel Adams, Alfred Stieglitz, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Richard Avedon, Irving Penn and Edward Weston just to name a few. These folks are considered to be Masters of Photography and so many of us have studied these individuals, modeled our own works after them and have tried to duplicate their works for the sake of learning and a better understanding of our own craft. Not only have these people rose above the occasion as influences on millions of photographers, their works have entertained and regaled millions more.

To be considered a Master of anything in my mind, is to show years of dedication, perseverance, skill and an undaunting desire to excel at what you do. From a photography stand point, I find that these are people who have continuously produced works of art that do more than hang on a wall, they capture the viewer's soul and imagination. They produce works that make you stop and simply do more than just "look". They touch you in some way you weren't expecting and leave you with a yearning for more.

I seriously doubt that any of the aforementioned photographers would have considered themselves Masters of anything during their own lifetimes. So, to kick off the new year, I'd like to share who I think could equally be Masters of Photography during our own day and age. Click the Read more link to see what's cooking...

This list of current Masters of Photography is simply my opinion and by no means includes every photographer out there that could be considered a Master. This list is simply a summary of the folks I think that have rose above the masses and have stood out as leaders in their field.

In no particular order, here we go...

Dan Winters - Commercial, editorial and passionate shooter, Mr. Winters excels at interesting compositions through the use of skilled set building and the mastering of intricate lighting. Every one of his photographs seems to have this air of classicism and intrigue, being from either composition, lighting, the subject or all of the above. He is perhaps known best for his celebrity portraits but has done so much more in other fields as well. His portraits simply grip you with mystery and awe and he portrays his subjects in a light that seems to make them bigger than life. If you're a 'lighting photographer' then this man is definitely one to study.

Joe McNally - Joe is probably my favorite photographer (if I had to pick one) and not just because of his amazing body of work, but also because of his wit, humor and willingness to share his trials, experiences and failures of a lifetime of photographing every kind of assignment known to man. Joe has done assignments for all the major magazines of our time including National Geographic and LIFE. He is without a doubt, a master of light, color and composition. Every single one of his works tells a story and is rich with content and is a visual symphony. Also he is a prolific teacher, writer and has shared with thousands of photographers how to perfect their skills in a highly competitive market. He has also received numerous awards and recognitions and continues to strive for that perfect image.

In a blog post of his a while back, he made the coolest statement that sums up being a photographer in my mind, and I quote "...there is so much still to do, so much ground to cover, and my best work is still out there, somewhere. I am still on safari here, the great picture hunt, as someone once called it." This man is truly a Master of Photography.

Annie Leibovitz - From her modest beginnings of shooting with a small, San Francisco based periodical called Rolling Stone to her bigger than life compositions of today's most notable characters, Annie has left a stamp on the photographic industry with her vision and master skills behind the lens. Not only has she photographed some of the world's most popular icons, she also has made some of the most famous images in this century. From rock stars to heads of state, every portrait she seems to capture leaves an indelible mark on our society and continues to be in the fore front of masterful image making. Some photographers seek out the most elusive of subjects to portray, but not Annie, those subjects come to her! Her reputation and mastery of her craft simply make her one of the most sought after photographers working in the industry today. Pretty much any business that hires her for a job can bank on the fact that they will be more successful simply because of the images she creates for them. This in my mind definitely qualifies her as a Master of Photography.

Scott Kelby - I know what you're thinking, Scott is a Photoshop guru and a successful "techie" book writer. Well, I'd have to agree with you, but what I think makes Scott a Master of Photography is his undisputed skill as a photography teacher. Perhaps no other person in my time has done more to educated people in the art of photography. Scott has been teaching the world photography with his books, his blog, his online Kelby Training and his numerous seminars for many years now and has opened the world of photography to so many who might not have otherwise taken up this pursuit. His passion and love for photography is obviously apparent in his teaching and his photographic work. You might not see his works on the cover of National Geographic or Rolling Stone, but where you will see them is in the hearts and minds of so many dedicated followers. This is what I feel makes Scott a Master of Photography, and if you think his work doesn't stand out against the competition, then take a look at his portfolio!

Gregory Heisler - Another icon in the industry, Gregory Heisler has been creating jaw dropping images of some of the world's most notable subjects and has more covers on TIME magazine than any other single photographer. He is known for his lighting aesthetic and ability to portray every subject with grace and dignity. Some of the top industry leaders and brands have sought his ability to market their products, be it actors, performers, sports legends or politicians. He is also a renowned teacher, working for some of the most prestigious photographic institutes in the country and is the Artist-in-Residence at the Hallmark Institute of Photography. Gregory is a Master of Photography.

David Hobby - Also known as the Strobist, this man has single handedly instructed the world in the use of off camera flash and strobes. He may not have been the first to pioneer these techniques but he most certainly has been the one to popularize it the most in such an enthusiastic way. Once a staff photographer for the Baltimore Sun, David sensed that photo journalism for newspapers may be on the decline and left that paper on amicable terms to pursue his own self employment and started his blog instructing people on the use of off camera flash. His skill and creativity as a photographer is only surpassed by his personality and ability to reach people of all levels in learning how to use off camera lighting to augment their photography. I can't think of a single other photography related blog that has been as popular and instructive to so many people around the world as his. Photo District News listed him as one of "The Five Biggest Photographers on the Internet" and he has a Flickr group with over 85,000 members from all over the world wishing to discuss his lighting and photography techniques. His own photography is a cut above the rest with masterfully composed images using a mix of composition, color and lighting.

Dave Hill - Perhaps no other photographer in recent years has been so imitated, so much so that the moniker "the Dave Hill technique" is fairly common lingo with many photographers today. Why do so many want to emulate his work? I suppose its a matter of interest and popularity. His work definitely has its own look and has transcended modern photography. Just Google Dave Hill and see how many thousands of hits come up. Dave definitely is an accomplished photographer creating works that aren't only photographs, but entire story boards. His unusual stylized works are not only well conceived and technically executed, they are works of art and intrigue. Maybe not everyone is in to the "Dave Hill look" but I for one certainly recognize his skill as a photographer and a post processing artist as a mastery unto itself. Often imitated but never duplicated Dave Hill has carved a niche in to photographic society and I think this definitely classifies him as a Master of Photography.

Mark Seliger - Mark Seliger is an editorial photographer who's images have been gracing the pages of top notch magazines such as Rolling Stone (holds the record number of covers), Us, Vogue, Vanity Fair and Conde Nast. His work is easily identifiable in its quality, composition and execution. His skill, history and professionalism have been contributing to the successes of the fashion industry and he is one of the most requested photographers in that industry. His success as a photographer has not only propelled him through the photography industry but has also led to his directing of several short films and music videos. Recipient of numerous awards and dedications, Mark is definitely in the top end of his business and undoubtedly deserves the title of Master of Photography.

Chase Jarvis - Quite possibly, Chase is the "hippest dude" in photography today and always on the cutting edge of the latest, creative photographic technology. Creative types around the world have been snapping him up to represent their companies and products with the vigor and electricity he brings to all his projects. He has worked for Nike, Apple, Volvo, Jeep, Red Bull and many more. He may also be one of the only photographers in the world classified as a Nikon, Hasselblad and ASMP master of photography. Not only is he one of the top quality pros out there, but he also has an unbreakable desire to share his skills and energy with other photographers, especially those just starting out. Another great thing about this Master of Photography is his humble demeanor. I can't think of too many greatly successful people, in any industry, that seem so personal and willing to help others. He is always on the go and its hard to say where this guy is going to wind up next.

and last, but definitely not least is,

David duChemin - Not your average professional shooter out there, David's work is one of emotion and photographing human nature in all its trials and tribulations, successes and short-comings. David is an international assignment photographer documenting the world and its people to primarily bring attention to humanitarian needs. Every image he creates has a meaning and a story of someone's life, their environment and/or both. His work has spanned the globe countless times over and he's never in one place for long. I'm certain being a traveling, humanitarian photographer must be hard at times (both mentally and physically) but he carries that weight as if it was change in his pocket. All of his images are breathtakingly artistic in their color, composition and emotions they evoke. Some may be simply conceived or took months to plan. His images and visions come to life before you and make you feel as if you were there. David also is an author, a contributor to the Manfrotto School of Excellence and a frequent blogger. This man definitely rates up high in the annals of Masters of Photography.

So there you have it, my list of modern Masters of Photography! Again, this by no means is an all-inclusive list of photographers who I think should be considered masters of their craft, its only my opinion.

What I'd really like to know is, who do you think should be considered a modern master of photography and why?

Please list your suggestions in the comments below and a brief reason why. I think this would make a great source of information. Thanks and I hope you enjoyed this post! I hope you have all the best in 2011!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2010-12-24T09:51:00.001-05:00

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tinny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!

Clement Clarke Moore (1779 - 1863)

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in 2011!!

The Frio Coldshoe Adapter Review

2010-12-20T20:20:00.001-05:00

There's a new kid in town in the cold shoe department! From the same awesome guys that came up with the Orbis Ring Flash adapter, comes the all new Frio Universal adapter. This cool little guy will connect any hotshoe flash to any 1/4-20 threaded stud and it connects very securely.

Its made of a hard, durable plastic, is very light weight, and is smaller than the standard plastic shoe that comes with most flashes. This little guy is so small that you can literally pack 10 of these in any bag and take up little to no space.

But does it work, you say?

Let's check it out...

As stated above, the Frio simply screws on to any 1/4-20 threaded stud (which is pretty much standard on just about all light stands, tripods and just about anything else you can attach a flash to), and the flash hotshoe just slides right in.

The Frio has a "dual locking" mechanism in that there is a plastic tab that you have to push down to get the flash in the shoe, then it has a slot that picks up the locking pin mechanism on just about every hotshoe flash.

I used mine on an umbrella swivel adapter (as I do with all my shoe mounts). Because the Frio has a metal threaded insert and not a plastic one, you get a very secure fit to your stud mount. Also, you can wrench it down pretty well without fear of stripping the threads ...not so with plastic threading.

You can see in the photo below that the Frio is approximately half the size of the standard plastic cold shoe that comes with your flash.

Just to test the Frio's actual strength out, I turned my flash over to a 90 degree angle. Not only did it not even budge, I actually banged on the flash a little to see if I could jostle it out ...to no success. I also attached a beauty dish to my flash (not pictured) to see if it could withstand the extra weight, which it did with no issues.

I also tried the Frio with a few other quirky flashes I have and they all mounted right in with no issues. I can tell you this, I will be replacing all of my existing cold shoes with the new Frio.

You can read more about the Frio on the official website and you can pick them up at your favorite photography gear supply store.

Hope you check these because they really rock!

Christmas Party Portraits

2010-12-07T19:47:00.002-05:00

If you're a photographer, chances are, your friends and family have become very accustomed to seeing you with a camera. As a matter of fact, if you're like me, then they might even think there's something terribly wrong with you, or perhaps wonder if you're sick (mentally or otherwise) if you show up to any gathering and don't have a camera with you. I've been toting a camera around with me everywhere I go for so long now, that I've sorta become the de facto staff photographer for any social gathering.

This is actually a good thing though, because its a low pressure way to experiment with different techniques while not worrying about actually ~~pissing off~~ upsetting paying clients. Sometimes though, you might feel that slight pinch from your friends and family expecting top quality work (since you're a photographer) but really all you want to do is snap a few photos of the event and have a good time. Ever happen to you?

I digress.

Shooting social gatherings is actually quite similar to shooting wedding receptions (at least in my mind anyways). They are fast paced, there are a few folks around feeling better than you (cough, cough, bourbon and coke) and there are generally a lot of people moving about and having a good time. Now since you're a photographer and they expect you to get some really tasty shots of everyone in attendance, what do you do?

Since a lot of parties are usually indoors this time of year (at least in my neck of the woods ...its freezing out!) you're going to need some good light and its probably pretty clear to you that setting lights up on stands is not a good idea with this type of crew. If you have one of those new cameras with high ISO, then you might get away with shooting natural light, but you're still running a risk on some blurry images and not enough depth of field. You could always use direct, on camera flash ...but you're better than that!

Increasingly, my favorite technique for these kinds of scenarios is using the flash on camera, but bouncing the flash off nearby walls. If you aren't already doing this, you might be surprised at what a nice quality of light you can get, and you can just about always bet there's going to be a white wall or door in someone's house or in a worse case scenario, a white ceiling. Even beige or gray colors can work and it takes little to no effort to park someone close to a wall, point the flash away from them and towards that wall and voila, you get big, soft, directional light!

All of the photos in this post were shot with that exact method and you can tell by looking at the shadows on the subjects, that the light is quite soft, and doesn't draw attention to itself. Any wall when hit with flash will make a HUGE light source and if your subject is in close proximity, we know that the closer a light source is to its subject, the larger the apparent light size is in relation to it, and therefore softer.

With all of these images I shot in Aperture priority mode, with my aperture wide open as much as my 18-200mm zoom would give me and set my ISO to 800. I used these settings to ensure that my shutter speed wouldn't drop below 1/30 of a second (which I know I can hand hold comfortably when using flash) even though I knew that the flash would "freeze" my subjects. This setting also allowed me to pick up some ambient light in the room which balanced out the shots nicely. Since this room was lit with incandescent lights in a vaulted room with white ceilings, I didn't even bother adjusting my white balance (left it in Auto) because I knew the ambient and flash would balance moderately well. These images may appear a little warm, but honestly, I prefer this when shooting people.

While I will admit that I don't expect to win any awards for these photos, this is an incredibly easy way to get nice lit portraits indoors, and since it is Christmas time, I tried to park most of my subjects in front of or near the Christmas tree. This was quick and easy for me, plus it gave my friends a few nice portraits for the holiday season, win win!

I hope you try this out during the next holiday party you go to. You'll be surprised at how easy this is, and your friends will love the "professional" looking portraits you cranked out for them with little to no effort.

If anybody has any questions about these shots or how I took them, please feel free to ask. If I don't know the answer, I can always Google it! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T11:47:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to take a quick minute to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is a holiday in the U.S. (and I believe Canada) where we celebrate all of the wonderful things in our lives that we are thankful for.

Hope everyone has a happy, safe Thanksgiving!

My First Annual, Holiday Gift Guide 2010

2010-11-20T13:29:00.003-05:00

Have you been naughty or nice this year?

Its that time of year again! Time to break out the credit cards to do a little shopping for those you love (and for some, those that you can moderately tolerate) :)

There are several photographers' blogs I follow who do a gift guide for photographers every year but the one thing I've noticed is that, most of the gifts they suggest are often a little pricey. So, for those on a somewhat tighter budget, I thought it would be a neat idea to do a holiday gift guide for photographers with gift recommendations that are a little more inexpensive. Many of these I own and use, and some of these are items I'd like to have, hint hint.

Hopefully this list will give you some ideas on what to get your photographer loved ones for the holidays this year! In no particular order, here we go...

1. One of my most used items in my camera bag is the Lumiquest SBIII mini softbox. I absolutely love this small, collapsible soft box and it is always in my camera bag.

2. Another favorite, small softbox of mine is the Honl Traveller8. It folds up nicely in any camera bag, has an 8" diameter face, is easy to use and only uses about 1 stop of light. It makes a great key light when used in close or an awesome hairlight/kicker light!

3. All of the Honl products in my opinion totally rock. They are built rock solid, do exactly what you want, and considering the quality, are quite cost effective. So rather than single out each Honl product, I'm going to lump them all in one group. You can get any of these on the Honl website, or at any of your favorite photo gear supply stores!

4. If you're in to coloring your flashes with the use of gels, then there is no better gel kit than the Strobist Gel Collection. It has all the necessary gels for tungsten and flourescent light conversions plus, plenty of dramatic colors to creates cool highlights and backgrounds. This kit also comes with the Lumiquest gel holder!!

5. Sooner or later, every photographer starts to get aches and pains from carrying gear and having that heavy camera hang around your neck. That's why I switched my camera strap to the Black Rapid RS-7. This strap slings over your body instead of around your neck and gives you super, easy and quick access to your camera. Do your poor, aching body a favor and check one of these out!

6. Another favorite light modifier of mine is the Westcott Double-Fold 43" Shoot Thru Umbrella. It creates beautiful, soft light, folds down compactly to fit in any camera bag, and also comes with a black backing so it can be used as a bounce umbrella too.

7. Know how hard it is to see your LCD screen outside during sunny conditions? Well there's a great solution for that, the Hoodman Loupe! Just carry one of these around your neck and pop it over your LCD to see crisp, clear images. Anyone I know who has one of these absolutely loves them!

8. If you're in to using off camera flash, then a good, compact lightstand is indispensable! My favorite compact stand is the Manfrotto 5001b Nano Light Stand. It will easily hold your flash and any of your favorite modifiers, plus it folds down to a very portable size.

9. Another cool tool I have grown to love is gaffer's tape. You can literally do anything with this tape and its been a standard in the film industry for years. You can tape flashes to wall, tape down backgrounds, use it to tape modifiers to your lights and the greatest thing about it is, NO sticky residue left behind! I have a roll of this in every camera bag ...and they're cheap!

10. One of my favorite, cheap light modifiers for speedlights is the Stofen Omnibounce. They make these for just about every model flash. This little modifier is cool device for emulating "bare-bulb" type flash. There are much more expensive mods out there that are similar, but these do the same job, and are much cheaper.

11. How many times have you needed to put a speedlight somewhere but a lightstand wouldn't do the trick and you didn't have someone to hold it for you? Well, if that happens, you should check out the Manfrotto Justin Clamp. This is a spring clip with a mini ballhead attached that will allow you to stick your flash to any surface that can be clamped on. I'm hoping Santa Claus will bring me one or two of these! :)

12. If your photographer friend who you're buying a gift for has any kind of sense of humor whatsoever, then pick them up a What The Duck plush toy. Its guaranteed to put a smile on their face. You can get these on the What The Duck website, along with a chuckle or two.

13. Every photographer should have a good reflector. They have so many uses and fold down nice and compact to be carried anywhere. My personal favorite is the Westcott 5-in-1 Reflector. It has 5 different reflector colors to use and is top quality!

14. As many of you know, it seems coffee and photographers go hand in hand. I'm not sure why this is, but I suppose the long hours of work involved and the inability to afford better drugs (kidding) leads us to consuming mass amounts of caffeine. If this is your photographer friend, then they will love the new camera lens coffee mugs that are available. You can get the Nikon mugs HERE and the Canon mugs HERE. Your photographer friend or family member will love these

EDIT: You can now get both of these at Photojojo!

15. Photographers tend to use A LOT of batteries, so much so, that regular batteries just won't do the trick. So its important to get a good set of rechargeables that will last a long time. Probably the best on the market are the PowerEx 2700mAh NiMH batteries. These will last forever! Pick up a couple of packs because you can never have to many batteries!

16. If you're going to get the good batteries, then you should also pick up one of the best chargers on the market, the PowerEx 8-Cell Charger. Not only does it recharge your batteries, but it also reconditions them so they will last longer and you can use the 1-hour charge or longer charge for optimal battery life.

17. Some other great gift ideas for your photographers are books! If your photographer is the self-taught type or even just trying to learn (or a seasoned pro for that matter) then a new book might be a great idea for a holiday gift. The single best book on the market I can think of for photographers is "Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera". Even seasoned pros will pick up a few pointers in this updated classic!

18. If the photographer on your Christmas list is a lighting-type photographer, than there simply is no other book better than "Light, Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting". This book simply covers EVERYTHING about lighting and will help any photographer progress to the next stage in lighting.

So there you have it, my first annual holiday gift guide, and every single gift is under $100 U.S.!!! I hope you find this list useful for your holiday shopping needs and please take note to the items I specified that I wanted.

I've been very, very good this year! :)

Speedlight Modifiers 101

2010-11-16T17:51:00.001-05:00

Ever wondered how various light modifiers shape the light and how much light they use? Knowing the quality of light a modifier produces and how much light it consumes can be a huge help in figuring out how to light any given scene.

Hopefully this post will give you an illustrated version of what various speedlight modifiers do, MUCH more after the jump...

I've been meaning to do this post for a long time, in as much for myself as well as for others. I have to say this little test came in quite handy and I hope you will get something out of it too!

The first thing I did to get as accurate of a test is possible was to set a base, ambient exposure which rendered my scene completely black. In other words, the only light I wanted in the scene was what my flash was adding. This exposure was f/5.6 at 1/250 sec ISO 200. This is also the same exposure I used for every single photo in this post. The only adjustment made was the power setting on the flash itself.

In this first photo, you can see that f/5.6 at 1/250 sec ISO 200 renders a completely back scene with no ambient light contributing to the exposure. This particular photo is available as a fine art print for a very reasonable price ...and it makes a really nice gallery wrap! :)

It should also be noted that all of these photos are straight out of the camera. There was no post work done except to rotate, add the text and size for the web. All of the following photos could probably be improved by adjusting exposure around 1/3 of a stop or doing a little touching up in post but I wanted these to be as clean and accurate as possible.

In this photo (with flash added), my lovely model is being lit with a bare speedlight at 1/16 power. This is what to my eyes gave me the most accurate exposure using the settings mentioned above. Again, the only thing that was changed from this photo and the above fine art print is the flash was added and I dialed in the power to what I thought was a proper exposure.

Also for future reference, I made sure that the light modifier (or bare light as it were) was exactly 3 feet away from my subject in every shot. So for example, the bare face of my speedlight is 3 feet away from my subject's face. When I use a shoot thru umbrella in one of the shots below, the front of the umbrella is 3 feet away from my subject's face.

The reason I did this was so that distance doesn't play a contributing roll in how the light effects my subject.

In this next photo I again used a bare speedlight, but I zoomed the flash head from 24mm to 105mm. Note that I had to reduce power when zooming the flash head! Just by zooming, it gives you a more concentrated beam of light, so to get a "balanced" exposure, I had to dial the flash power down.

For this next image, I used a Stofen Omnibounce. This is basically a slip on diffuser that spreads the light wider than the flash's fresnel head is capable of. When I used the bare speedlight at regular zoom, I had to set the flash on 1/16 power, but when I used the Stofen, I had to set my flash power to 1/8 power. Why is this important to know? Because it tells me that the Stofen eats up about 1 stop of light. So now that I know this, the next time I decide to use it, I will be more familiar with this modifier and can get a well exposed image, quicker ...at least that is the theory anyways. ;)

In the portrait above, I used the new-ish Honl Traveler8 Softbox. This little softbox has an 8" round face and folds down nicely in any camera bag. Its a very handy modifier to have for portraits where you can get the light in close, or it works great as a hairlight! This modifier also seems to use about one stop of light.

This next modifier is one of my all-time favorites and is always in my camera bag! I used the Lumiquest SBIII for this portrait and at 1/10 power, it appears to use just a tad less than one stop of light. I honestly love this modifier and use it quite frequently.

Another one of my most used modifiers is the Westcott 43" Double Fold Shoot Thru Umbrella. It makes one of the best soft lights of any of my modifiers and this is another one I use a lot. I was surprised to see that it uses almost 2 full stops of light, but my flash was still only at 1/4 power, which means I can crank out shot after shot without worrying about recycle time. I absolutely love this modifier and actually own several of these.

For this next image, I used a Lastolite Ezybox Hotshoe. This is a really nice modifier and creates a soft light that is more directional than a shoot thru umbrella. Its perfect for headshots and 3/4 poses and folds down neatly. IMO its a little costly, but the quality is excellent and it does just what I need it to do. It uses a little less than 2 full stops of light, but produces such a nice quality of light, its well worth it.

This photo is quite a bit different than any of the others. So far, all of the modifiers mentioned/tested actually softened the light to some extent. This modifier, the Honl 1/8 Grid, actually restricts and shapes the light to a narrow beam. Its a hard light with defined edges. Grids work well at providing accent light, side light, background light or hair lights. It literally produces a small, circular spot of light as opposed to a larger "wash" of light. I love all of the Honl products, especially these grids, they are built rock solid!

This portrait is also lit with a Honl grid, but this time I used the 1/4 Honl Grid. It produces a slightly larger spot of light which should be evident by the fall off of light on the wall behind the model. Something else to note about these grids is that notice the power settings? They are no different than using a bare speedlight. These grids use almost no light which means they are much more efficient than the other modifiers tested so far. Also, grids can be used as key lights with the right subjects. My model has exceptionally smooth skin (being so youthful and all) so a hard light for her is no problem, but you probably wouldn't want to use this modifier when taking a portrait of ol' Aunt Betsie. :)

This portrait was really an eye opener for me. I used the Honl 8" Snoot for this shot and what surprised me was that it actually increased the power of the light a small bit. I was using a bare speedlight at 1/16 power to get a good exposure, but when I threw on the Honl snoot, I had to dial my power on my speedlight down to 1/20. The reason is, the inside of the Honl snoot is actually quite reflective, so when light shoots through it, it bounces around and intensifies when it exits. In a nutshell, this modifier is really, really efficient and gives a similar light pattern to the 1/8 Grid. I really like the snoots because they are soft material and can fold up to be stored in any light bag. I always have this one with me. Another cool bonus about this snoot, is that it can be used opened up (i.e. not closed all the way) which can then be used like a reflector or a flag/gobo.

For my last image, I used the Orbis Ring Flash adapter. I don't have as much experience with this modifier as a key light so I thought I would give it a whirl. It produces a really soft light but what surprise me was how much light it consumes. I had to have my flash at 1/2 power to light my subject appropriately which means its eating up about 3 stops of light! That may sound tragic, but honestly, it doesn't bother me in the least, because the quality of light it produces more than makes up for the lack of efficiency. Also, I rarely ever use this as a key light in this manner. More times than not, I use it as a fill light which it can handle more than adequately.

In summary, be sure to notice in each photograph the highlight area, the shadow area and just as importantly, the highlight-to-shadow transfer area. That last one really tips you off the quality of light (hard or soft) that a modifier can produce. Also take note to the power settings with each modifier. This may help you when you have to decide on power availability vs. quality of light required for a given subject.

I have a few more modifiers I wanted to test but they sorta got buried in the mess of stuff I had all over my living room doing these portraits. :) Hopefully I will get around to writing reviews about those coming up soon.

I'd also like to thank my very talented model for sitting patiently and squeaking out a little half-smile every so often while I fumbled around behind the camera like a bumbling clown. Now that I think of it, I think she was actually bribed with a honey bun or something.

Hope you found this helpful and if anyone has any questions, please don't hesitate to sound off in the comments! If I know the answer, I'll be more than glad to cough it up.

iPhone Apps for Photographers

2010-11-10T20:47:00.001-05:00

I know what you're thinking, 'omg another iphone app review!' *eyes rolling*

Well, I have to say, I was in the same boat not so long ago. I couldn't have cared less about all of the praises and blog posts about the amazing iPhone and all its wonderful apps... that is, until I got one!

For the record, I have never been a "phone" person. I don't like talking on phones, I have no interest in playing games on phones, don't listen to music on a phone and I certainly was not keen about text messaging. However I like to think that I'm not one of those dinosaurs that can't adapt to modern technology. Although I'm usually the last on the boat.

Well, thanks to a little persuasion by my fiance' and a few friends, I finally got to the point where I could text ...a little. It took a qwerty keyboard style phone though to get me to that point, but once I figured it out, it honestly wasn't so bad. In fact, I could even justify actually using texting as opposed to voice calls when in business type scenarios, i.e.... not wanting everyone in the room to know that you need to pick up a loaf of bread and some cokes on the way home from work. :)

So I got that far along and it was finally time for me to upgrade my phone (actually, waaaay past time). Since I'm not a phone person, I never could justify the expense of a $200+ phone to do what the computer at my desk at work and my computer on my desk at home would do. Then AT&T (or Apple-not sure which) dropped the prices on their iPhones to something that was much more reasonable so I bit the bullet and picked up an iPhone 3GS. I figured if I'm going to upgrade, I'm going to go ahead and do one that will last me for a while and the iPhone 3GS was at an amazingly low $99 U.S. which fit in to my budget.

Now guess what? I can honestly say, for the first time in my life, that I love my phone. It is way cooler than I could have ever imagined and I find myself using all those apps that I previously turned my nose up and thought "I'll never use that stuff".

Being a photographer, the iPhone offers a ton of really cool apps to play with to make your photographic experience with your phone, much more enjoyable. I'm not terribly familiar with other types of phones, but I can say that I can't imagine a better phone for photographers who want to actually take photos with their phones.

So, long story short, here is my list of favorite photography apps for the iPhone:

1. My first pick is Lo-Mob. This app gives your photos a retro look with several awesome film and border styles to imitate old school cameras. Very cool features and easy to use.

2. My second pick is Hipstamatic. This app gives your photos the look and feel of the plastic toy cameras of the 80's. If you like this look, there isn't a better app out there for this.

3. The Best Camera app is my next favorite. This app is the brainchild of awesome-cool photographer Chase Jarvis. It allows you apply several different features to your photos then allows you to share them with a myriad of online photo applications including one designed just for this app.

4. Now if you're a photographer, then you obviously have to have Photoshop. So, you might as well get the official Adobe Photoshop Express app. It allows all the essential editing techniques for your iPhone photography.

5. Another favorite of mine is Instagram. Its similar to the other apps above in that it allows you to add various filters and upload them to the internet. While its similar to those other apps, its cool enough in its own right to have as an additional app on your phone.

6. My last pick was as app I was turned on to by my fiance'. Mostly because she keeps taking these awesome photos with her iPhone and I keep asking her how she's doing it. She's using an app called Pro HDR for the iPhone and iPad. If you're in to HDR style photography, this is a cool app that does a pretty reasonable job at giving you that high dynamic range look. Although I would like to see an option in the future with it to be able to shoot more than two frames to create the final image.

So what are your favorite photography related iPhone apps?

Please sound off in the comments. I'm still rather new to all this and I know there are still more cool apps out there that I am yet to discover.

EDIT: oops, I forgot all about the Flickr app. If you use and like Flickr, this app is essential for your iPhone!

Thanks Christina for the reminder and tips!

On Camera Flash!

2010-11-03T19:47:00.001-04:00

Yep, occasionally I do use on camera flash, although mostly as a trigger for other lights. However the photo above (as well as quite a few others from this session) was lit entirely with on camera flash.

Long pause for those that know me have time to catch their breath...

Its what you do with that on camera flash that's important. Part of my work as a photographer consists of quite a few weddings each year. I've discovered through a LOT of trial-and-error that sometimes there just isn't enough time to take that flash off the camera, mount it on a lightstand, set up an umbrella and compose your shot (especially if working alone).

As a general rule, weddings go fast. It might seem that in 4-8 hours of shooting that there would be plenty of time to set up lights and what not, but because of the number of photos taken during weddings, that's not always the case. Every wedding photographer is different, but for the entire time I am at a wedding, my finger is on the shutter, regardless if its a few hours to a full 10 hour day. That's why its very useful to use some on camera flash techniques to save yourself a little time.

The portrait above was one of my favorites from the day. While I was busy shooting inside, my very talented assistant (and fiance') :) signaled me to let me know there was a really nice sunset outside and it could be easily reached from a very large outdoor balcony. I quickly grabbed the bride and groom (they were just getting ready to hit the buffet and weren't exactly thrilled) and guided them out to the balcony.

When we got out there, the sun had just set and was giving off a gorgeous blue tone with just a little red at the horizon line. So the first thing I did was to nail the ambient only exposure of the scene. It was pretty low light outside so I had to step my ISO up to 800 to give me f/4 at 1/10 of a second shutter speed. I normally would never shoot a portrait at such a slow shutter speed but I was banking on the fact that I could hold the camera just still enough, that the flash would be able to "freeze" my couple enough to keep a reasonably sharp image. The photo below is my ambient exposure only, straight out of the camera.

Now that I have my exposure locked in, I can bring in my couple quickly, and light them. When the sun is down like this, you don't have much time before you lose all of those beautiful colors, so rather than go try to find my light stand and shoot thru umbrella, I simply turned the head on my flash around 180 degrees pointing straight behind me and angled upward at around 45 degrees.

Fortunately, the wall behind me and the ceiling above on the balcony were flat white, so when I bounced my speedlight off of it, it created a huge wash of soft, white light to light my couple. I also have to admit that I "cheated" on this and had the flash set to TTL instead of manual. When working fast like this, I will often shoot with the flash in TTL and just adjust compensation to increase or decrease the flash's power.

A couple that was in the wedding was outside enjoying a little fresh air, and saw me shooting this. They liked it so well that they asked me to take a portrait of them the same way. This was a quick and easy shot, taken completely with on camera flash. I wasn't exactly thrilled about shooting with the really slow shutter speed, but the images turned out reasonably sharp and both couples seemed to really like the images (at least on the camera's LCD). :P

So on camera flash isn't always a bad thing if its just used in the right manner. Always keep an eye out for light colored walls where you can turn that flash head and bounce the light. Bouncing off of ceilings can also work, but is my last choice in bouncing flash because if you aren't careful, you can leave your subjects with "raccoon eyes" -deep shadows on the eye sockets, and the light from the ceiling isn't quite as directional. Another tip is to carry a large, white collapsible reflector with you, have someone hold it for you, and bounce the light off of it.

David Ziser of the blog Digital Pro Talk is a master at this technique! Check it out!

Also, don't get me wrong, if you enjoy using on camera flash straight at your subjects and are happy with the results, then don't let my babbling dissuade you. However if you want to take that on camera flash and create softer, directional light, just look for something to bounce that light off of.

Keep your eyes on the blog because very soon I will be posting an article that I think will be very helpful to a lot of speed-lighters. I did a review of every single speedlight modifier I own, including the quality of the modifier, how much light they use and more!

How to: Balancing Flash and Ambient Outdoors

2010-10-23T16:17:00.001-04:00

Hopefully this will be the first in a series of "How to's" on the blog. One of the things that I seem to hear the most from folks is how to properly balance flash and ambient light outdoors.

Well, I can tell you, its not as hard as you think! If you can take a properly exposed landscape in manual mode, then you can balance flash and ambient.

When balancing flash and ambient outdoors (or indoors for that matter), the first thing to remember is that you are essentially making two different exposures at once; one for the ambient portion and one for the flash lit portion. So the first thing you want to do is nail that ambient exposure where you want it. This is highly subjective and can range anywhere from blown out to pitch black, but for starters, lets say you want to balance the exposures as close as possible.

The first thing I do when balancing flash and ambient outdoors, in manual mode, is to set my camera's shutter speed to its fastest flash sync speed. This varies from model to model so you may want to check your camera's manual if you're not sure. The reason I go with my fastest flash sync speed is, its going to give me a broader aperture range to work with, and will allow me to shoot with the biggest aperture I can which in turn will stress the batteries in my flash less which equals more pops of light using less power. Then, I simply dial in my aperture until my background looks how I want.

Note: when shooting outside in sunny conditions, I will always start with my ISO at 200 or lower to get the best possible quality I can, but may adjust it as necessary based on the ambient exposure.

In the photo below, notice I didn't even bother worrying about whether my subject was in focus or even ready for the shot. This frame was simply to get my background (ambient portion) dialed in where I want it.

Sometimes, I may even purposely throw my subject way out of focus to give me a smoother looking ambient background shot which I can check on my histogram. (However, I rarely use my histogram except in tricky lighting situations ...that's what the LCD is for!) chimp, chimp

So in the photo above, my chosen shutter speed, aperture an ISO have my background where I want it and left my subject a little in shadow. Now if I didn't mind a brighter background, I probably could have gotten my subject properly exposed without flash, but the whole point of using flash is to make the subject stand out from the background.

The next step is to bring my flash in and dial the power up or down manually on the flash til I have the exposure I want for my subject without changing any of my exposure settings for my ambient portion of the photo. In this particular photo, I believe the flash power was around 1/16th and it was shot thru a white, translucent, 43" Westcott double fold umbrella (one of my favorite light modifiers).

Its important to note that the exact flash power used, isn't that important, that's why I'm not exactly sure about the power setting. What is important is getting that flash dialed in to where your subject looks the way you want it to.

If you wanted the subject a little darker, you simply dial the power down on your flash, if you want it brighter, just dial the power up ...and that's it!

To be sure, this is not the only way you could have made this photo exposure wise. However its a good starting point to learn how to balance the ambient and flash to get a properly exposed image ...properly being used loosely here.

Both of these photos were taken with the exact same aperture, shutter speed and ISO setting. The only difference is in the second one, flash was added to light my subject. Also, both of these photos are straight out of the camera with only a little cropping done in post.

Hopefully this will clear up some mystery in balancing flash and ambient outdoors, but if you have any questions, please don't hesitate at all to ask any questions in the comments.

For further reading on balancing flash and ambient outdoors, check out these awesome links on the Strobist blog...

Lighting 101:Balancing Flash with Ambient, Pt 2
Lighting 102 - 3.1 Balancing Light: Twilight
Lighting 102 - 3.2 Balance | Flash/Sun Crosslighting

More to come!

Nikon SB-700 Rant...

2010-09-18T14:46:00.002-04:00

Nikon just recently announced the release of a new "mid-range" speedlight, the SB-700. This new puppy is the replacement for the outgoing Nikon SB-600 and a step down from Nikon's flagship, the SB-900.
I have to say, the new SB-700 has some really cool features. The controls are more like its big brother with easy to access buttons for all the features you use the most. It also has "smart filters" like the ones the SB-900 utilizes and it has beam spread patterns to allow you to shape the light. Also a plus for this flash is the SU-4 type triggering method which is basically a highly receptive slave mode just like the ones in the best made flash of all time, the SB-800 and its newer replacement the SB-900.

However, with all the kudos being said, I do have some issues with this flash, and the SB-900. I can't do a review of the SB-700 since I don't have one (and probably won't be buying one) but I can definitely form an opinion based on available information ...and I hope Nikon is listening!

My two biggest gripes about this new light is: number one, it doesn't have a PC sync!!! That means, for all the radio control shooters out there, this is another flash that you're going to have to buy a PC to hotshoe adapter to use your Pocket Wizards, Cybersyncs and most other radio triggers. I've heard the argument that Nikon did this so that you will be forced in to using the proprietary CLS system (which isn't bad mind you), but as every photographer who's using off camera flash knows, being locked in to one system is a HUGE hindrance and I think by not adding this one, simple piece of technology is going to lose Nikon a lot of business.

One of the things I dearly love about my SB-800s is that I can use it with CLS or radio triggers without having to add another piece of hardware to it. The SB-800 in my mind is by far the best flash out there and I think its better than the SB-900. I don't own a SB-900 but the biggest gripe I hear is about thermal lockup. I have seen this happen and I have to say, it would annoy the crud out of me if I had to deal with that on a regular basis. I've shot hours on end with an SB-800 and have never had an issue with them.

Another rant I have about the new SB-700 is the power. I can't confirm this at this time, but it would appear that the guide numbers (power) is even less than that of the SB-600. If this is the case, then I am completely overwhelmed by Nikon. Hopefully this is just speculation on the net that I have read. Will need to do further research to clear this one up.

And one last thing, the PRICE! Holy smokes Nikon, c'mon and give us a break. You rob us of a PC sync or any type of jack for radio triggers and you jack the price up. I'm having a very hard time swallowing all of this, but I guess for my next flash, I'll be purchasing a LumoPro LP160. At least the folks at LumoPro pay attention to what photographers want.

One last plead, c'mon Nikon, bring back the SB-800 ...with better buttons, a hard sync jack, and a little more power if you please ...for less than the price of a new Porsche 911.

How does everyone else feel about this? Sound off in the comments, I'd be interested to hear what other shooters have to say.

Check out David Hobby's post on the Strobist blog for more input.

And just so we're clear here, I LOVE my Nikon cameras, lenses and SB-800s ...LOVE them! I just would like to see improvements in their flashes, not fall backs.

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

2010-09-04T10:22:00.001-04:00

Here in the U.S. its officially Labor Day weekend, and more locally, its the University of Kentucky vs. the University of Louisville college football game ...which is pretty much a small super bowl in this neck of the woods.

This weekend, most people are cooking out, camping and enjoying the weather for this is the last hoorah of the summer if you live North of the equator. A lot of people are off from work for an extended weekend so I thought this would be a good time to share some links for the downtime between the cooking, eating and watching college football.

First off is a blog called Guess the Lighting ran by photographer Ted Sabarese where he takes well known photographs and dissects them from a lighting stand point. Its a pretty interesting blog and may be helpful to a lot of lighting photographers out there. Plus, Ted is an awesome photographer with a great sense of humor. Be sure to check out his portfolio too.

Next up is photographer Eric Ogden. I just recently discovered his work and what I like most about his photography is his use of 'motivated lighting' and use of color. He lets his subjects drive what lighting techniques he will use which is a hard thing to wrap your head around for a lot of up-and-coming lighting photographers. His lighting doesn't draw attention to itself, and isn't over the top. Its just enough to convey the mood he's looking for, and to draw attention to the subject. Check out his work!

Another cool site I visit often for inspiration is Bruton Stroube. They may have the coolest set of commercial photography for the alcohol and food industry that I have seen. If you're in to this sort of photography, check them out for a mother lode of inspiration!

Ever seen those cool photos of colored smoke that folks are doing? If you want to learn how to do this, check out this awesome tutorial over at photo tuts.

Also this week, Photoshop World in Las Vegas has been going on and you can keep up with all the details from Scott Kelby's blog, the Photoshop Insider.

One last tidbit, check out this interview of one my favorite photographers, Platon.

Well, that's all I have for today. Hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend. I'm heading out to a party with my family and friends, and will be rooting for my team, the University of Kentucky Wildcats ...GO CATS!!!

Stirred, not Shaken

2010-08-16T19:04:00.001-04:00

I have to admit, as much as I love taking portraits, I also have a fascination for ~~alcohol~~ commercial photography. I'm constantly looking at product shots in magazines, in stores and even on television for ideas and inspiration. There are so many things you can photograph when you don't have models available and learning to photograph subjects other than what you're used to, can be an excellent learning experience as well.

The above photo was lit very simply with two speedlights and a few pieces of construction paper and cardboard. I placed a piece of white fabric on a small table, and then laid a piece of glass over it so I could pick up the reflections of the glass. My key light was an SB-800 underneath the table and pointed it at a piece of white cardboard (which was taped to the wall) for the background. So my key light isn't directly lighting my martini, its more indirectly lighting it. By lighting it from behind on a bounced surface, I was able to create much better definition of the glass itself. If I had lit the glass directly, then it would appear more transparent without as much detail. I then used pieces of black cardboard on both sides of the glass and a thinner piece just above the glass. This completed the edge definition.

This light worked great for the glass itself, but you can see in this photo that the olives were still underexposed. So, to bring up the exposure on the olives, I used another SB-800 up high and camera left with a snoot to just get light on the olives. The power setting on this light was very low, around 1/64 power, because I didn't want to add too much light to the scene, just enough to highlight the olives. The piece of black construction paper I was using on top of the glass was also used as a gobo to block that overhead light from lighting the rest of the glass.

With this technique, its also easy to change perspectives and to add a little color to the shot with minimal effort. In this next shot, I used a gray piece of cardboard for my background, added a blue gel to the key light, turned off the snooted light, and set the glass on a piece of polished back granite. Its a completely different look, but took minimal effort to create it.

Edit: (I also used a different martini glass for this shot)

This technique is really useful whenever you're lighting glass objects with or without liquids in them. You can read more about this technique called "bright field lighting" in the book Light, Science and Magic. This is not nearly as difficult as it may seem and you can have a lot of fun with it.

If anyone has any questions about this technique, just sound off in the comments!

-mtc

B&H Photo Blog!

2010-08-10T18:22:00.001-04:00

B&H Photo Blog!

Well, it was bound to happen! B&H Photo has their own blog now called BH Insights. They are covering everything photography related, including computer systems for photography, printing equipment, cameras, lenses and everything in between.

B&H has long been my online, go-to photography store and I think its really cool they are joining the blogging world. If you're a fan of B&H Photo, take the time to check out their blog!

Opulence, I Has It

2010-08-01T22:27:00.000-04:00

This pretty much has nothing to do with photography, other than some nice lighting and video editing skills. That being said, I get a good laugh every time I see this commercial. :)

Thanks Direct TV for making me laugh!

K.I.S.S.

2010-07-20T20:51:00.001-04:00

There's definitely been a lot on my plate lately which would explain my absence from the blog, but I'm doing my best to come up with some juicy posts in the near future.

In the meantime I'd like to talk about keeping it simple (thus the title = Keep It Simple Stupid). My girlfriend's daughter (which is pretty much my daughter now) is starting to experiment with makeup. I can't possibly tell you how mixed I am over this. On the one hand, I think she looks absolutely adorable, and on the other hand, I think she looks absolutely adorable, cough cough.

I know this child is going to cause me a lot of heart break and bring trouble my way as she matures, so I'm getting my knives and handgun out so that I can make sure any little boys with impure thoughts setting foot in my house will be able to see my proud arsenal and my obvious willingness to use it when tempted. I know this is still down the road a ways, but I like planning ahead.

In any case, since she was all dazzled up I thought this was a good opportunity to snap a few photos of her. Please understand that this is not a difficult task because Lexi is always ready to have her photo taken. She's actually quite the model imho.

So being the lighting guy that I am, I quickly tried to think of some nice light to throw on her when I just decided to keep it simple. In all of these shots (except the one with rainbow---which was a bonus) I used a single Nikon SB-800 in a 43" Westcott Double fold shoot thru umbrella to camera right. I had the power set to 1/8 on my flash and I set my shutter speed to my fastest, native flash sync speed to 1/250 sec to nuke the unwanted ambient light in the room. I picked an aperture of f/5.6 just because this seems to be my go-to aperture for portraits indoors. It gives me plenty of depth of field to hold focus through both eyes, and the larger aperture also allows my flash to work less hard. (I'm certain that's not good grammar, but I ain't no Engrish teacher). This enables me to shoot as fast as I want and the flash will keep up with me, recycling quickly.

I am constantly experimenting with different types of light and light modifiers but I almost always find myself going back to that shoot thru umbrella. It creates such a beautiful, soft, wrapping light and its so easy and quick to setup that I have one with me on every single shoot I do. As a matter of fact, I usually have several.

The shoot thru umbrella won't do everything I want my lights to do, but if I could have only one light modifier with me, that would be the one.

These portraits couldn't be any simpler and I absolutely love the soft light and the highlight-to-shadow transfer area as it falls gracefully across her face.

The last shot of the rainbow was an on-the-fly thing, so I had to use my on-camera flash to fill Lexi in after I balanced my exposure for the rainbow. There I said it, I actually used on camera flash, my pop-up flash to be precise, set to TTL.

David Hobby would faint. ;)

-mtc

Orbis Ring Flash

2010-07-02T19:01:00.003-04:00

Finally! After many, many months (possibly even a year or so) of research and investigating, I finally purchased myself a ring light, or rather a ring flash modifier that I can use with my existing speedlights.

There are several makes and models to choose from which made the process a little more difficult than I expected, but I made a decision based on my shooting style, what would work with what I already have, and what my pocket book could let go of.

I decided on the Orbis Ring Flash adapter for quite a few reasons. Number one, it will work with my speedlights ...all of them. There are a few other ring flash adapters made for speedlights but some of them will only fit specific models. The Orbis is designed to be a universal fit, and it does indeed fit both sizes of my speedlights.

The next reason I chose the Orbis over the other brands is that I like the quality of the light it puts out. It doesn't seem to be as hard of a light source as some of the others, and its soft enough that I can use it off axis as another type of light modifier.

Yet another reason I picked the Orbis is that its small and light weight. I was considering buying a self contained ring flash unit. However, I know me and if its too much trouble to haul around, I simply won't use it. Plus, with a self contained unit, you would need additional power such as A/C or a battery pack, which is pretty inconvenient in most cases.

The last reason I picked the Orbis is cost. Pure and simple it seemed to me, to be the best bang for the buck that I could afford. It cost me $200 which in my book, is more than fair enough, considering the quality of the product, and what it enables me to do. No other light source I have will give me the look the Orbis does.

Now, on to why I wanted a ring flash. I have to admit, I do love the simple portrait-against-the-wall-with-a-ring-flash look, but it seems way over done imho. That being said, I have shot a ton of shots like that just because I've never been able to get that "full-shadow halo" effect before as you can see in this pic. Its very big in certain circles but its not the only trick I want in my bag.

What I'm more interested in with the Orbis ring flash is the ability to create on axis, fill light. When working with off camera lighting, you can create some really dramatic shadows. However, sometimes you might want those shadows to be a little more "opened up" in the darker recesses of your shot. That's where the Orbis absolutely sings! You can light someone with a hard or soft light off camera at a sharp angle, and then where you get those deep dark shadows, like in this photo, you can fill it in with just a wink of light from the ring flash. Its pretty much an effect that can be tailored to your own tastes, but the point is, using an on axis fill allows you to control those shadows and details as much or as little as you want.

Why not just use and on camera flash or the pop-up flash on your camera for on axis fill you say? Because its just not the same quality of light, believe me I've tried it. A mounted, on camera flash will throw off a funny angle when shooting portraits and is also pretty harsh light. The pop-up flash will do the same somewhat and is not nearly as powerful as a separate flash unit. So the answer is definitely the Orbis!

Another neat thing about the Orbis is, due to the quality of the light it produces, it makes a really cool off axis light modifier. In this photo, I used my speedlight in the Orbis, dialed way down to just create a little fill light (camera left) to make more of an open, airy feeling shadow side. Its almost not even there but just enough to make it noticeable. Sometimes less is more. The main light for this shot was a speedlight in a 24" softbox camera right.

So in a nutshell, this is my overall impression and view of the Orbis Ring Flash adapter. I absolutely love using it and hope to experiment more with it soon. Hope this helps and if there are any questions about using the Orbis or on axis ring fill, sound off in the comments section and I'll try to answer them the best I can.

*******

The Orbis Ring Flash Adapter

I have to admit, mostly what helped me to make my decision about purchasing the Orbis were many different posts on the Strobist blog. Below are several posts that might help you in deciding for yourself.

Ray-Flash vs. Orbis vs. Alien Bees ABR800 Part 1

Ray-Flash vs. Orbis vs. Alien Bees ABR800 Part 2

Ring Flash Week Intro and Resources

-mtc

New Honl Softbox!

2010-06-26T16:30:00.006-04:00

David Honl from Honl Photo has released a new softbox for speedlights called the Traveller8! Its a small softbox with about an 8" diameter on the face, folds down very easily, and produces a pretty soft light when its used in close.

This softbox is similar to the Lumiquest SBIII except that its round, which will produce nice, round catchlights and doesn't have the extra diffusion in the face like the SBIII does. However, if you have a built in diffuser on your speedlight, you can simply flip that down to better diffuse the light in the Traveller8.

Below is a short video on how to set up the Traveller8. I haven't used this yet, but am planning on putting it through its paces soon. I love the fact that its small, has a nice diffusion face on it, and fits my speedlights.

Also, check out this awesome review using the Traveller8 by David Hobby of the Strobist blog.

-mtc

Outdoor Photo Gear

2010-06-08T21:04:00.001-04:00

You can never have too many resources ...never. Being a photographer in itself can be a challenge, but even more so, finding a good supplier of all the cool photographic related ~~toys~~ tools you need to pursue being a photographer can be even more of a challenge. That's why I was ecstatic to find the online store, Outdoor Photo Gear!

Currently they are a web-based store only (hopefully that will change soon--wink, wink, nudge, nudge) and have a HUGE selection of top quality gear at awesome prices, from bags, to tripods, to light modifiers, to clothes and everything in between. In addition, their customer service is top notch. I can't tell you how cool it is to call a supplier and talk to an actual person who speaks clear English and seems to actually care about you and your photographic needs.

Another very cool bit of info about these guys is that, they are located right here in Louisville, Kentucky! SCORE!!!! Seriously, this town needs someone like these guys so I hope you will do your best to support them. I for one hope they stick around for a looooong time.

Take the time to check out Outdoor Photo Gear!

Scott Kelby's Third Annual Worldwide Photo Walk and the New LumoPro LP160!

2010-06-01T19:11:00.003-04:00

Couple of really cool things happened today!

Scott Kelby announced his third annual Worldwide Photo Walk! This is a very cool event with thousands of participants around the world taking part. Basically, groups of photographers from all over get together, walk around and take photos of anything that interests them. Its a great chance to hang out with other photographers and you can even win prizes to boot!

You can find out more by checking out the Worldwide Photo Walk homepage and for you locals, check out the Louisville Worldwide Photo Walk homepage. If you think you might be interested in doing this, then sign up quickly as there are only 50 participants allowed for each walk.

Also, the new LumoPro LP160 was just released today! For those of you who don't know, the LumoPro LP160 is an awesome manual flash that has all kinds of cool features. It has quadruple syncing methods, a built in slave, a digital slave option (which will allow it to ignore TTL pre-flashes so it can be used with TTL flashes) and its as powerful as the Nikon SB-900 and Canon 580EXII but for a fraction of the price! I plan on picking myself up one of these (or two) as soon as I get the chance. I have a feeling though these will sell quickly so if you're interested, you better jump on them.

You can check out David Hobby's review of them here on the Strobist blog and also you can pick these up at Midwest Photo Exchange.

That's all for now, and towards the end of the week, I should have some exciting news about my Off Camera Flash Photography Workshop coming up very soon, so check back!

-mtc

The Modern Vernacular

2010-05-30T18:25:00.003-04:00

WARNING! ...this post has nothing to do with photography!

There, now that we have that cleared up...

At one point in my life I was able to speak and write proper English. I knew when to use a period, a semicolon, a colon, an apostrophe, quotation marks and even parentheses. However over time, it seems I have lost that ability; perhaps because other things (like lighting a 50 person group shot with a single speedlight) may have taken a precedence. In a world where textology is the modern vernacular there is still someone out there who prides themselves in proper English.

The Baltimore Sun's night time content production manager John McIntyre writes, almost daily, a blog entitled "You Don't Say". I really enjoy reading his posts, especially after receiving a text message from one of my girlfriend's kids or checking updates on Facebook.

If you have a penchant for eloquence in writing, diction and poignant humor, then hop over to his blog and check it out. Its some goodly grammar.

...oh, and another cool note, I believe he's originally from Kentucky :)

Off Camera Flash Photography Workshop!

2010-05-29T10:38:00.002-04:00

UPDATE: Very cool news! The guys at Outdoor Photo Gear will be sponsoring the workshop and providing door prizes! Don't miss out!

Do your eyes glaze over at the thought of using your flash on camera?

Do you want to learn how to create directional, beautiful light with your off camera flash?

Are you intimidated by using your flash off camera?

If so, you will definitely want to attend my first, Off Camera Flash Photography Workshop!

Many folks have been requesting for some time that I do a workshop covering off camera flash techniques and with the help of a few friends and some positive motivation, we are finally in the running.

In this workshop we will be covering all of the gear needed to use your flash off camera, how to balance ambient light with flash and how to modify those little flashes to look like the big boys. Mastering off camera flash is much easier than you think and will help you take your photography to the next level. Its so easy even I can do it!

If this sounds like something you would be interested in, then check out the details below and I look forward to seeing you there! If you have any questions about the Workshop, please sound off in the comments sections below or feel free to email me.

Be sure to bring your camera and gear! If you're new to the new off camera flash world and don't have all the goodies yet, don't be afraid to show up as we will have plenty of gear for you to check out and experiment with. Also, this is not a gear specific class, meaning that this can be done with Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax and even point and shoot cameras!!!

Details:

Off Camera Flash Photography Workshop

When: Thursday June 24th 2010
Where:
Republic Bank & Trust Co.
9600 Brownsboro Road
Louisville, KY. 40241-3901
(502) 339-2200
What time: 5:30pm to 9pm
Cost: $59 Cash at the Door

My Precious!

2010-04-25T17:08:00.002-04:00

The Nikon 18-200 VR (first edition) lens... I absolutely LOVE this lens and use it more than any other lens in my arsenal. A lot of people will argue that this lens is not sharp enough or fast enough for their work, but I beg to differ.

I've been using this lens now since it came out. I've shot everything from weddings, commercial stock photography, senior portraits to everything in between. Its plenty sharp and has such a broad focal distance range that you can shoot about everything with it. With an aperture range from f/3.5 to f/5.6 racked out, and the VR giving you about another stop, this lens will cover just about everything you will ever care to shoot.

This is a DX lens so it is geared for the smaller sensor Nikon cameras, but works great on my D300 and my D70. I have also calibrated this lens to my D300 to ensure maximum sharpness at all focal distances.

My only complaint with this lens is that it has a lens creep issue. Meaning that if you're pointing down at an object (and it has to be a pretty steep angle) the lens will actually zoom out a little. Fortunately for me though, I'm rarely shooting in this type of scenario and seldom have issues with that. However, if you pick up the VR II version of this lens which just came out a few months ago, they have put a retaining ring on there to lock the focal distance.

Will this lens cover everything you need to shoot? No it won't, but it does cover 90% of the stuff I shoot and is a highly versatile, reliable lens. I have also noticed a little lens vignetting at the 200 mm range but this is easily correctable in Photoshop. Some people actually like that vignette so there you go.

I would most definitely recommend this lens, or the newer version to any Nikon (DX) shooter who doesn't want to continuously swap lens out for the right focal distance. I love, love, love it, and when it dies or I kill it (heaven forbid) I will buy another one.

If you're doubting its sharpness or quality, then take a look at my portfolio. I'm fairly certain that 90% or better of those shots were taken with this lens. On a side note, I took the shot above with my nifty 50 mm 1.8 lens, another awesome lens in the Nikon arsenal ...and cheap too! ...but that's another post.

-mtc

Cool Nuggets of Info...

2010-03-31T21:08:00.002-04:00

Photographer Dan Winters, portrait taken by photographer Jay Janner

Its been pretty hectic around my household lately, what with buying the new home and nice weather finally rolling out. We've been doing a lot of remodeling, landscaping and general personalizing our new place, but I've still stumbled across a bunch of cool links lately and thought they were definitely interesting enough to share...

* First off, a really cool photographer who I have followed on Flickr for sometime, recently started his own website. If you're in to still life photography and the Dutch Golden Age of painting, then definitely check his work out!

* Next up, travel photographer extraordinaire, Bob Krist, posted a very cool article on having soft, portable lighting with you all the time, check it out!

* One of my new favorite photography blogs is The Still Image with Crash Taylor. In this blog, Crash has guest photographers post some of their favorite shots, then discuss how they took it This is so cool, I can't possibly put it in words!

* Why are we photographers? Well, I can't answer that for you, but Joe McNally sums it up pretty well in this post.

* Ever wanted to get that high key look with a blown, white background and your subject perfectly lit, but only have one light? Then check out this cool forum discussion over in the Strobist Flickr group. Pretty cool technique, but being that its originally from Dean Collins, that's no surprise.

* Photographing Dan Winters! Can you imagine, getting a call from your boss telling you that your assignment is to photograph the legendary portrait photographer Dan Winters!!! Well that's what happened to photographer Jay Janner. The Strobist sums it up best on his blog and I couldn't help but to re-post this. Check it out HERE.

Keep checking back on the blog, planning on doing a speedlight modifier review soon, including the Lastolite Ezybox and the Softlighter II.

-mtc