Photocite

Rick Smolan tells the story of a girl

2008-07-09T13:06:00.001-07:00

Rick Smolan tells the story of a girl is a fascinating video of a true tale of how a documentary photographer saved the life of an Amerasian girl, based on his photography.

The Big Picture - Boston.com

2008-06-21T03:01:00.001-07:00

The Big Picture is a new news venture by the Boston Globe. Basically they show large (for the web) photos of current events. I have to say that viewing the images this size is nothing short of stunning. Current images show wispy clouds over Mars, California fires and an Iowa tornado touching down.

SWPP Lightroom Article

2008-06-18T10:37:00.001-07:00

All of you SWPP members should check out the new issue of Professional Imagemaker magazine. It just came in the door and I notice they printed my Lightroom Develop article! It covers the beta and includes sections on skin retouching, negative clarity and and spot removal, as well as fixing underexposure etc. It begins on page 78.

I wrote this not long after the beta came out, but I wasn't sure when it would be published. Again if you do read it, feel free to leave comments here! You can see a web version here:
http://swpp.co.uk/pi-june-2008/index.htm, but it's quite small.

SWPP: Ryan Schembri Seminar

2008-06-16T19:38:00.001-07:00

Despite only an hour and a half of sleep I was still up at 5:50am to catch my 6:15am lift to the Ryan Schembri seminar at the Red Cow Hotel. My traveling companion Mike Patterson, was willing to do the driving and that was the real reason I could go.

The seminar was fast paced with lots of great images and advice from Ryan. Despite being only 25, he's been shooting for over half his life. With Martin Schembri as a father, that's not surprising really. Ryan, does however, stand on his own two feet when it comes to shooting weddings. His passion for photography is evident in his personality, as well as in his images.
The content of the seminar was all encompassing for one day. He covered everything from style to lighting, and photoshop to marketing. All in all a great day with lots of little nuggets, not to mention the audience humor all day. Special pity to Keith and Jenny, who got to play the loving couple..

2 quick Photoshop tips

2008-06-16T19:20:00.001-07:00

It's been a bit since I've posted, so here's 2 quick Photoshop tips:
The first shows how to make a non destructive B&W layer and the second shows how to create a non destructive vignette (ala Ryan Schembri),Click the image to see this Quicktime Movie. You can also right click and download linked file.

The Times - Photographer killed in Kenya

2008-05-28T13:20:00.001-07:00

The Times - Photographer killed in Kenya: ""

NAIROBI - A New Zealand-born photographer was found dead with head injuries today in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, police said.
"Initial observations showed that the body had visible injuries on the head. An inquest file has so far been opened," police spokesman Eric Kiraithe told AFP.
A police statement said the body was found "in a drainage trench" near the main highway that runs through the capital but did not elaborate.
The statement said a document found on his body indicates the deceased was a photographer by the name of Trent Keegan and added he was believed to be an Irish national, although his identity could be ascertained.
However, a picture of the photographer featured on his personal website was positively identified by a police official. The website describes Keegan as originally from New Zealand.
The website features several photo projects from Kenya and the victim’s biography says he had recently been working for several Irish newspapers and magazines.

Yeah! What the duck titles!

2008-05-27T08:01:00.001-07:00

I put in for the witty titles on What the Duck from time to time.. And it paid off.
My title was used for yesterdays strip!

(Via What the Duck.)

Eric Chan and the Epson Pro 3800

2008-05-24T20:35:00.001-07:00

Eric Chan is a brand new hire for Adobe and working hard with colour and Camera RAW. From promises on the Lightroom Forums, he's working on something hot. I know his workd from before this, and it due to his excellent Epson Pro3800 website: Epson Stylus Pro 3800 Printer Notes and Resources. Enjoy!

Cross Process and EOS 5 Command Dial repair

2008-05-23T06:39:00.001-07:00

I've not shot a lot of film recently and a recent post over at Epic Edits has me hankering for a little cross processing. My local lab used to do it, so hopefully they still are willing to do some.
The main obstacle was that my EOS 5 had a broken Command Dial. It's a rather common fault and stems from a serious design flaw that Canon never acknowledged. Fortunately a little searching found some instructions on how to get it going again. As it turned out my issue is a broken spring. I removed it. Now the command dial moves freely, but pushing down on the centre button still lets me twist and set the camera to manual. Yeah!
It's obviously not 100%, but it is usable, which is more than it was.

Jeffrey Friedl: Panning a Timelapse with Lightroom and Perl

2008-05-20T08:32:00.001-07:00

Jeffrey Friedl

has posted a blog about the script I discussed in my last post. Along with the script, he includes all instructions and warnings. I'll be doing a video about this shortly, showing the making of a time lapse on a day when I don't have a little boy under my feet ;)

Innovatronix upcoming products

2008-05-18T09:08:00.001-07:00

I'm a Tronix Explorer user. For those not familiar with the product, it's a battery pack that allows me to bring my studio strobes outdoors.
Well I got a newsletter from them today with hints about some new products.

Tech info: Canon EOS300D, 17-40mm F4L, 1/10 sec at F4, ISO100, Tronix Explorer 1200ws, prototype Tronix Radio Slave

Order now and get your strobes' and powerpack's portable power supply.
http://www.innovatronix.com/explorerxt.asp

Upcoming product: Portable smoke machine, prototype unit was used in this photo shoot.

To know more about the product and independent product reviews or the company (Innovatronix) please do a Google, Yahoo or MSN search.

I've used a portable smoke machine before and it was simply a disaster. The brand is well respected, with great reviews, but I had no joy with it (no names as it's not the general experience). If the reliability of the Innovatronix one is like the Explorer, I'd be a very happy user. As to a prototype Radio Trigger? I'm already a very happy Skyport users.

New stuff at Blurb

2008-05-06T17:14:00.001-07:00

The Blurberati Blog over at Blurb has details of forthcoming cool product, and a change of pricing. Some prices are up, some are down, some the same.
The new product is ImageWrap, a hardcover photo book with an image on the cover, rather than on a dust Jacket. It looks great.

Mark Cleghorn videos for Lastolite

2008-05-05T14:20:00.001-07:00

Mark Cleghorn has done a series of Video Demos for Lastolite. Now I use OEM versions of their Ezybox hotshoe, but I do also use their triflectors and trigrips. As well as getting to set the product in action, you also get to see Mark in action, which makes these useful. Along with the instruction in product use, there are also videos on setup and takedown of relflectors and backgrounds. The videos are also downloadable in mp4 format, so you can use them with MP3 players and compatible phones.

Capa: The Mexican Suitcase

2008-03-31T18:35:00.001-07:00

Ellis Vener emailed a whole bunch of people during with week with a fanstastic link:
A very cool Flash based website telling the tale of the Mexican Suitcase. Covering the modern era of the negatives, this goes from the public announcement of the find to the current day, though the eyes of Trisha Ziff. It's really well presented and absolutely fascinating.

Foundations of Lighting Placement

2008-03-29T21:00:00.001-07:00

Foundations of Lighting Placement is a great link posted on the Strobist Group on Flickr..

There are 3 sections to the tutorial showing Key Light position, Fill Light vs Key Light position and Key height. The first 2 give 12 positions around a model showing how the light works. It's well worth looking at.

Your Camera Does Matter

2008-03-15T21:26:00.001-07:00

Luminous Landscape has a great rebuttal article on whether equipment matters... Of course it does, but horses for courses as they say. Well worth a read, especially for the very relevant What the Duck? cartoon in the opener.

Photo of the Week

2008-02-09T22:00:00.001-08:00

One of the local Irish forums has awarded me Pic of the Week. You can see a large version on my photoblog, or view the post on The Photorooms.

Beware the Drobo Storage System

2008-02-09T20:52:00.001-08:00

Beware the Drobo Storage System:

John Harrington gives ample warning about the new and very hyped Drobo Storage system. His main stumbling block are lack of speed and a proprietary file system.
The speed issue seems to be in write times: between 11 and 16 Mb/Sec. That's horrendously slow. As for the file system? Well it's only readable by a Drobo, so you'll need access to a second one if yours go down. After seeing a number of articles hyping the device, it's good to see real world opinion.

Move over Bigma, there's a Monster coming.

2008-02-02T00:12:00.001-08:00

While the Sigma 50-500 is a handy lens to have, it struggles a bit at f6.3 @500mm. Not so this newly announced green monster from Sigma. It's a 200-500mm f2.8. And it's like that throughout the range.
And it comes with a 2X adaptor bringing it to 400-1000mm @f5.6.

APO 200-500mm F2.8/400-1000mm F5.6 EX DG - SIGMA CORPORATION: "

An ultra telephoto zoom lens offering a fast aperture of
F2.8 at the 500mm focal length and F5.6 at the 1000mm.
APO 200-500mm F2.8/400-1000mm F5.6 EX DG
2008.2.1
The Sigma Corporation is please to announce the new APO 200-500mm F2.8/400-1000mm F5.6 EX DG Lens.

This ultra telephoto zoom lens offers a fast aperture of F2.8 at the 500mm focal length and F5.6 at the 1000mm. It covers widely used focal lengths from 200mm to 500mm and has a large aperture of F2.8 throughout the entire zoom range. This lens can be used to create amazing image expression with various types of photography such as astrophotography, portraits, wildlife, sports. SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass and three ELD (Extraordinary Low Dispersion) glass elements provide excellent correction for all type of aberrations. The super multi-layer coating reduces flare and ghosting and provides high image quality from the extremely large aperture. The lens hood, designed exclusively for this lens, blocks out extraneous light. A 72mm filter can be inserted at the rear of the lens, and a circular polarizing filter can be used in situ thanks to the ingenious internal rotation mechanism. The dedicated Li-ion battery BP-21 is used to power the zooming and AF operation. This battery is built in the lens barrel. For the convenience of the photographer, focusing distances and focal lengths can be viewed on the lens` built-in LCD panel.

APO 200-500mm F2.8/400-1000mm F5.6 EX DG
Supplied accessories; dedicated hard case, strap, 400-1000mm F5.6 Attachment, battery charger BC-21, battery pack BP-21"

Confessing the Fifth

2008-01-07T18:33:00.000-08:00

Strobist extraordinaire, Bert Stephani has posted a new video detailing a recent shoot with Dirk and Sylvianne.
It's well worth a look for the detailed lighting setups, along with a little visual model directing from Bert.
So Bert, 2 assistants?

Black Snoot

2008-01-03T22:33:00.000-08:00

I got a Wacom Bamboo Fun tablet and pen for Christmas. The first thing that struck me about the packaging was the black cardboard. Perfect for a pro looking snoot, I figured!

First off I made the decision to hide logos by putting the outside on the inside. Next I placed the flash on the card to create the folds at the right places.

Using a fold that was already in the cardboard, I added small flap that would be perfect for velcro. This meantt I can store it flat and put it together quickly.

Each fold is along the line of a corregated section. Once I've got the correct dimension from the flash I use a battery to get the fold right along the line. This battery just happened to by lying around where I was working, but any straight object will do, eg a ruler.

Once the fold was made, I bent it further to make it take properly. Running a ruler along the edge once folded, also helps.

When all the folds were made, I use a paper guillotine to tidy all the edges.

Next up I put the velcro tabs on.

Here's the completed snoot:

Here's the snoot aimed at a black background:

Another tool in the Strobist arsenal.

Softbox for off camera Flash

2007-11-15T04:55:00.000-08:00

I've been made to feel a bit guilty by Nerf over at Flickr.com. He posted a link to this relatively abandoned blog and reminded me I should start posting again!

Something that comes up regularly in the Strobist flickr forums is soft boxes for battery strobes. The main branded one out there is the Lastolite Ezybox. This is a great little box with beautiful light. Strobist and EOS Magazine writer Gerard Maas does a bit of writing about it. It's expensive enough, but there are alternatives.
In the US market Alzo have an identical one to the Ezybox for half the price. Photomart in the UK also do an unbranded version of this box.

Alzo: alzodigital.com/online_store/alzo_porta_flash_soft_box.htm

Photomart: photomart.co.uk/ProductDetail.asp?ProductCatalogue=04375C...
Click on the image to view more shots of the box

Personally I have 2 of the Photomart versions and really like them. I do like the look of shoot thru umbrellas, but using a softbox gives a very different quality of light. Here's a sample image with the softboxes:

External Power for a 550ex

2007-06-15T21:06:00.000-07:00

Following on a thread I posted in the Strobist group on Flickr, here's my quick look at making external power for my 550ex.
Recharge times for the battery are: Full power 6 seconds, 1/2 power is 2 seconds. 1/4 power and below charge instantly.

Okay folks.. I know this post is moot for a lot of you and I'm dragging it up. I did pull out the foamcore and get my ass in gear for a whole bunch of images to show what I did and it in action.
Parts list: 6v 4.2Ah SLA battery, SLA charger, 2 14mm dowels, 2 female, 1 male power connector. Soldering iron, tape, screws, dremel/drill.

1.) Here's the charger: Fortunately it came with a very long cable with spade connectors. I immediately decide that it would be best to cut near the charger and add a set of male female connecters there:

2) Here's the charger with the connectors added. These had wire on them already so I stripped them back and the solder the wires. To seal I used insulating tape. I would've preferred crimp connectors, but this was what they had.

3) Here's the cable connected to the battery: You can see the pins on the male connector. I had to choose where the male went. I choose this end because I thought it was better this end than on the charger. You may prefer it the other way.

4) To get power into the flash, I created some wooden batteries using 14mm dowel, courtesy of my instrument making friend. He also cut a V along the edge to allow the cable to sit mostly flush.

5) Here's the completed fake batteries that get power into the flash. You can see the solder on the + battery which allows it to make proper contact internally. I actually made the + one shorter because both cables pass over it on the way out, requiring more room than over by the - battery.

6) The batteries correctly placed inside the battery compartment of my 550ex.

7) Here's the lead coming out, showing where I dremeled a cutout on the battery compartment door, to allow the lead to sit along the flash.

8) The battery powering the flash.

9) Firing using my DIY sync socket.

10) Just showing the sync socket.

11) The setup. Loads of foamcore and a Sigma 500 into a white brolly at 1/8. Triggered with the GI trigger.

12) The whole shebang. Triggered the 550ex with the GI trigger. The Sigma triggered optically.

A quick note on the Sigma. It will only trigger with the wireless triggers in ETTL or Slave mode. In C0 Slave mode, it will trigger either via the wireless or optically.

Canon 50MP sensor

2007-06-05T18:43:00.000-07:00

Canon have a new 50MP prototype sensor that's said to be twice as sensitive as nearest competitors. At 19mmX28mm, it's almost the same size as the 1D MkIII sensor, giving it a 1.3 crop compared to full frame. With the image size set to be 8000X6000 pixels (although this figure looks odd with a 3X2 crop camera), it certainly makes for an interesting look at the future of high end cameras.
Via Wired

Modifiers for Off Camera Flash

2007-05-24T19:57:00.000-07:00

I found my old Lastolite Micro Apollo 45 softbox buried under a stack of competition prints today. I bought it for on camera flash use intially, but started using the Stofen Omnibounce instead for size (not that I can find it anymore!). It got me to thinking about modifiers other than the humble umbrella. So I popped along to the Strobist Flickr Group and popped the question.
Almost immediately Kev Yong pointed me at to a site talking about Nikon SB800 modifiers. Although I shoot Canon, the modifiers still apply to Canon flashes also. My intention is, of course, for Off Camera flash now, so softbox sizes well in excess of the 8X5.5" Micro Apollo are now longer an issue.