Just Do It (Yourself)

I'm thinking of making myself a ringflash so I've been looking around on the net for a good plan. I ran across a great video for one this afternoon. It's in two parts and you can jump to the first part by by clicking on the title of this post.

'Tis A Thing Of Beauty

I might as well blog a little about my homemade beauty dish because it's pretty cool and good looking. I sometimes wish it were a tad bigger so I'll keep my eye out for another suitable bowl but I'm thinking about a ring flash at the moment.

I would also like to make a sock to put on the front of the BD for more diffusion when I'm taking photos of the ladies (hey it could happen). Another plus is that the beauty dish is a lot more compact than an umbrella so it works well in confined spaces (sort of). I guess the next project (or purchase) should be some sort of a boom so I don't have to shoot around the light stand all the time since this thing seems to work best when used on-axis or directly in front of the subject and that means the light stand is standing right in your way most of the time.

Lighting projects can be addictive and end up costing more in the long run if you get carried away. It's probably a good idea to sucker invite a friend to make things with you so you can shift split the cost of some supplies like spray paint and hardware.

Clicking on the image at the top of this post will take you to my flickr stream where you will find a parts list and notes on the photo.

Back To Basic (Training)

David Hobby is running Bootcamp II over at www.strobist.com right now so I've been trying my best to follow along and not make too big of an ass out of myself (hey I really am trying).

The idea is basically a simple cover shot using a couple of flashes. I already miss the nikon flash I borrowed from James but I hate borrowing things so I guess I will have to buy another flash as soon as I am able to afford it. The nikons can be turned way down to 1/64th power which makes working close (as in food shots) pretty nice. I picked up a little piece of plexiglass for this project. I wanted a bigger chunk to give me more working room but those were four times more than the price of the one I did get.

The girls made pesto last night and I was going to take photos of that too but I got started on another project instead. I did take a setup shot of this but it was so busy with junk as to be pretty useless. I'll work on that in the future (right). The background is made with a strobe firing through a diffusion panel I (we) made out of ripstop nylon. The super secret frame is made out of a garment hanging rack I bought at a large Texas based retail store. It works pretty well and even has wheels on it which often get in the way when you are trying to cram a lot of things into a small space like I was here. The front light is a snooted flash with a grid made out of plastic sign material.

The title "Salt & Pepper To Taste" sounds like something David Hobby might be fond of saying, though it did not occur to me at the time I posted this on flickr.

Independence Day

I was off of work today though I didn't do much except play on the computer and go down to the park to meet James so I could give him back his flash. He is going to the hospital to take baby photos for a friend.

I'm excited about the new park downtown. I've been there a couple of days in a row now. The weather was bad today but it gave me a chance just to look for different compositions to shoot later. I hate the fact that people climb all over the artwork like it was some sort of backyard play set. I feel like it is disrespectful to the artist but what do I know. Anyway I get to enjoy it until they make up all sorts of equally silly rules at some point after somebody's kid is seriously injured.

My personal favorite and apparently quite a few others is Eros Bendato (Eros Bound) by Igor Mitoraj. It's very cool.

I shot this with a green gel filter over my off camera flash. The lights that illuminate it were not turned on the first night I was there. They don't do much anyway so that was no loss. They were on for this shot but my flash is easily wiping them out. I'm not looking forward to next Winter (even though it's hot out) but I do want to get a photo of this the next time it snows here.

I want to buy another flash but that Nikon SB900 is ouch expensive. It looks like a pretty cool tool though. I may pick up a couple more Sunpak flashes which do the job in manual mode which is what I use most of the time now anyway (at least for tripod shots). I do have the built in flash on the D300 but it's not any good for portraits because of the shadow it casts. It doesn't work for the 12-24 either, making a big shadow because of the size of the lens. Bottom line is I still need some sort of Nikon flash if I plan on using the automated flash features (or bounce flash mounted on the camera. The Sunpak flashes don't talk to the new cameras at all, not even in manual. I can always stick a wireless trigger on those but automated flash is good when things are moving around quickly and you can't take a bunch of test shots. I never was in love with the SB800 but it is a tank. Trouble is they don't manufacture those anymore and people are probably charging an arm and a leg if you can even find one for sale. I should probably just get two SB600 flashes for the same price as the SB900. The only reason to debate all these choices is because I can't actually afford any of them. The one you should choose is invariably always the most expensive.