Friday, November 12, 2010

DIY-ish Speedlite Velcro Strap

Not quite DIY as you don't actually have to make anything. More like creatively use inexpensive products! I have make mention in previous posts to a speedlite velcro strap, to which I attach light modifiers. You could go the expensive route and buy a couple Honl "Speed Straps" for your flashguns at $10+ a piece. Or you can "make" one of these:




By "one of these" I don't mean the flash of course.

Extremely simple to do, yet so versatile.

Read more after the jump!

Monday, November 8, 2010

The Floot!

Not quite a flag, not quite a snoot... It's the floot! Okay, so I'm no "shamwow guy" when it comes to being a salesman but this is really cool.


Read more after the jump!

Sunday, November 7, 2010

DIY Beauty Dish

Here it is! I finally got around to making this post and getting the dish painted. Pretty snazzy, eh?


Read more after the jump!

Thursday, November 4, 2010

The Point of Post

Technology has come a long way to revolutionize the art of photography. I'm not just talking about the film to digital revolution, but also the dawn of computers. Not only does the computer completely change how you can share and get your photography out there but it also give the photography literally unlimited creativity when it comes to their art.

Post-production or post-processing is a powerful tool. With the use of Lightroom, Photoshop, Aperture or any of a host of different programs you can do almost anything from creating a completely false image to giving your image that little extra pop that it needs to go from good to great.

Click for Full Size
My Edit

Read more after the jump!

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

One Light Wonderland

Lately out of curiosity (or sheer laziness) I have been looking into portraiture in which only one lighting source (besides ambient) was used. Over and over again I see people getting great results from a single light source- a beauty dish. I have not used a beauty dish before. That is until today.

My girlfriend and I went out today for a shoot. Tip: If you are shooting with a model and need wardrobe ideas, pilfer a Halloween specialty store post Halloween. We picked up this and many other sets for 25-50% of their original price. Bonus: They double as Halloween costumes!

Click for Full Size
Canon T1i w/ Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6
1/100 sec, f/8, ISO100, 10mm
Yongnuo 460II- 1/16


Today I finished my DIY beauty dish. While there are many different DIY beauty dish tutorials online I decided to create my own. I will deconstruct my beauty dish and try to get a "how-to" post done up as soon as I can. However, the results were really great and got me really excited!

For those who are wondering, a beauty dish is a light modifier which gives off light which is somewhere between that of a bare flash (no modifier) and a softbox in softness. It is essentially a parabolic (or near parabolic) dish with a hole in the back for the flash to enter. A reflector in the middle that reflects the light from the flash outwards to the dish which illuminates the subject. In short: more harsh light than a softbox, softer than a bare flash which wraps the subject well and gives a nice contrasty, dramatic look.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Painless Panoramas with CS5

So- apparently real life gets in the way sometimes! Thanks to a midterm Monday (Physiology of Coronary Artery Disease... yay!) I was left studying and gorging on leftover Halloween candy! Oh... the irony.

Before I start I would like to thank everyone who has shown support for me in these early stages. You guys are what is keeping me from slacking and continuing to try to find new content to post about. In the first 3 days I have seen over 100 unique visitors! Glad to know people are actually reading!

Now, enough of me blabbing. Blog entry actually starts after the jump!