Recently I started adding monitor calibration to my workflow and I am grateful that I did. I am using the Spyder4 Elite to do my calibration and I am going explain what it is and how it can help save your butt.
I know Corrie White for about 2 years, and during that time she continues to be an authority and an inspiration on everything related to water drop photography. She has written numerous guides for DIYP (including one of our most viewed posts ever: The Comprehensive Water Drop Photography Guide) and has a thriving Flickr stream of drops of all kinds. This is why I was excited when she put a book together - The Ultimate Guide to Water Drop Photography.
A few weeks back Corrie asked me to read a book she was putting together about water drop photography, and I thought that it was a great opportunity for anyone who likes this kind of imagery to learn a bit more about it.
Before I go into an in depth review, here are my two big takeaways from the book:
Full review after the jump. Click to continue ›
In the following page I will outline the gear that I use or otherwise recommend from research and from what I've heard from fellow photographers.
Is this a full list? Probably not. Does it represent anything but my personal opinion? Definitely not!
Enjoy the list, I hope you'll get some ideas for your next gear purchase. Click to continue ›
A few weeks ago we got a pre-availability unit of the Lensbaby Spark. Guy Prives took it for a ride and came back with fantastic images and a detailed report. Final verdict: for the price, it rocks! While Guy is a Canon guy, the Spark is available both with Nikon or Canon mounts. Read the full post for the first online review of the lens. Click to continue ›
I got the Think Tank Airport International V 2.0 a few months back when I had a shoot planned that required me to hop on a plane. If you want the long story, you can find it in the review and video below. The short story is that it replaced my old Lowepro CompuTrekker Plus AW as my small-shoot go to bag even if there are no airplanes involved. (And I think I may have accidentally slept with it once or twice).
We are also giving one away as part of our How I Took It contest, so go and check it out. Click to continue ›
B&H put the “sent” in century a couple months ago when they mailed me the Impact Master Century C Stand Kit to review.
I’ve been making films in Hollywood for nearly twenty years so I’ve not only used more than my fair share of C (C is for Century) stands, but I’ve also (imagine a hilarious cinematic montage of C stand related violence) tripped over them, received monster finger pinches, and worst of all dropped them more than once on various extremities. Yet despite the abusive relationship I LOVE a well made C stand.
Why? C stands are not exactly portable. Yes, you can move them from one place to another, but they are huge and weigh a ton. But their weakness is also their strength. A well made C stand stays where you put it and can reach for the stars. If you’ve got a huge soft box, movie light, monoblock, etc. that you don’t want taking a dive, C stands are the way to go. Just make sure you sand bag them for safety. Click to continue ›
The good guys over at ioSafe sent us an ioSafe SoloPro 2T hard drive to play with. We took it out for a picnic where we set it on fire. Read the full review after the jump.
We don't usually feature camera tech reviews here on DIYP, but Kevin Good took an in depth look at both the new D800 and the 5D mk3 cameras and made a really comprehensive comparison. (Also comparing various ways to spend $20 on Craigslist).
Among the test: Still resolution, Video performance and rigidness.
Hey guys!
Benjamin Von Wong - Montreal Based photographer here! I recently reviewed for you a set of teleconverters, and this time wanted to follow up with a set of Graduated ND filters from Cokin supplied to me during my trip to Africa by the nice fellows over at B&H!
As you may probably know, a graduated ND filter is essentially a square plate of glass that darkens the image gradually from top to bottom. What's fun about the filter set from Cokin is that it comes with various "densities" of darkness that are stackable. What this means is that you have a pretty good control over how big of a change in dark-light transitions that you can do. Additionally, since the filter rests on a ring, you can rotate the filters to manually control the angle of the gradient! Click to continue ›
Hey guys!
Benjamin Von Wong - Montreal Based photographer here to talk about a couple neat devices I borrowed from the nice fellows over at B&H for my trip to Africa. I figured that a nice little trip around Namibia would be the perfect opportunity to try out some gear that I had never previously had the use for - Teleconverters! (The Sigma 1.4x DG EX APO and 2x EX DG APO spesifically)
Teleconverters are these great nifty little devices that actually add range to your lenses at the expense of losing some light. Depending on how big of a zoom factor you go for, you losie more light as well as focus speed and overall sharpness - a little more on that later. What does that mean in terms of actual numbers? Click to continue ›
