The “A.I.R” = Affordable Inflatable Reflector
There are already a lot of DIY reflector designs out there, which are built of PVC tubes and are definitely great: cheap, easy to build, effective and often collapsible. But there is a drawback: the length of the tubes limits the minimal size of the disassembled reflector.
Tobi Troendle created the A.I.R reflector. Aside from having a cool name it also folds to nothing.
There are times when setting up for a shot is not an option. Take the annual family gathering picnic for example. 8 adults, 6 kids and a dog. Everyone is food-focused and no one is photo-op oriented. Also (as you can see on the left) no one is willing to stand still, even for a second.
This is why setting up for a shot is nearly impossible. Well, not impossible - strobes can be tied up (or gaffertaped, or spiderred) to trees. However this solution will provide harsh light. I was looking for something softer.
The obvious option is to shoot with no - trust good old available light. This is a good option and many great moments can be captured using available light. Yet, there is another option, such that will allow you to use off camera flash even in the toughest situations.
Well, actually, the right title for this one should be "Endeavors Of A New Home", since I am building a whole home and not just a studio, but hey! This is a photography blog, so focus is on lighting and studio. Of course the new place will be packed with tricks, but now, it is in the building process. Click to continue ›
I used to love a good what do you get when you cross jokes. I still do. What do you get when you cross a battery with a pure sine inverter? Read on to find out.
As you probably know, I am a big fan of small flashes. (*cough* Strobist *cough), but sometimes small flashes just don't have the juice to light up a scene. It may be a big place that needs tons of power or a huge light sucking modifier that eats up all the light from your strobe. (Try using the SB 900 on the westcott 2.15 meters octabank, that would be an interesting strobe challenge). So I do have one big 400WS flash. (Ok, just before you hit me with the "you call 400WS big?? ppffffhhh!", I'd say that it was big enough for me when I bought it, and it was I could afford.
So anyway, if you are in a studio this is no biggy. Plug the flash to the wall socket, dial up the power and you are good to go. But what if you are outside the studio. On the beach, park, moon? [Image by andyarmstrong]
Kindergarten teachers are gods. No really. Gods, I tell you.
I just had a really wacky weekend, where I volunteered to shoot thirty something little hurricanes kids at my daughter's Kindergarten.
They had a huge custom party and wanted some portraits to remember. As the teacher knows I carry a camera on occasion, she asked. How did I byte into this one could I say no? I'll post a complete on assignment on this soon. In the meantime, here is a little tip: How to Child Proof A Lightstand.
Not long ago I posted an article about extending a TTL cord. This hack is kinda nice, especially since concatenating a few SC 28s can get you bankrupted.
Soon after I got a mail from reader Benedikt Seidl saying even buying the original SC 28 is a waste of good money. Actually all the material you'll need to create a TTL cord is a stone. OK, a stone and a wiper. Oh you have some guitar string, great. Now usually this will do, but if you have just one little copper board...
So Benedikt's site is in German, but he was kind enough to translate the article into English for DIYP readers. Benedikt's site has lots of cool projects. The bad news is that it's all German. The good news - the images are usually enough to follow. Click to continue ›
When I first got this hack in the mail I immediately thought, hey this looks like something Strobist would do. After all he did it with a PC-Sync cord. This great mod from Mario Giambanco takes it one step further. Instead of using a PC-Sync and a home power cable, Mario used a TTL cable with a network cable. Simple? Kinda. Genius? Surly.
One of the things I really like about it is the extended rage you get, up to 50 feet. Maybe more. Radio Poppers, right behind you :)
What do you get by provoking a guerrilla party? Apparently, if you provoke the right guerrilla party and do it just the right way you can try out one of it's nifty lighting devices.
Bert Stephani had an insightful comment about the "Guerrilla"ness of the Florida based California Sunbounce Guerilla video by Michael Grecco. In short he said that going out to shoot with a bunch of stylists, assistance, hair dressers and models is not really Guerrilla. Bert also suggested showing the Sunbounce guys what's real Guerrilla.
Whadayaknow? They picked the glove and sent Bert their Micro-Mini to try out. Here is the funny yet informative video Bert took:
Hey, this is also a great chance to browse around Bert's site - Confessions of a Photographer. The Great insights and videos will easily chew your evening away.
Grab the full Bert Stephani Video and post here.
If you’ve been shooting with a flash for a while, I’m sure you had some battery problem or another at least once. Like when one of four batteries goes bad and quickly discharges the other three. Or when it’s cold and the batteries don’t hold their charge so well anymore. Wouldn't it be nice if you could have a more reliable source of power? One that virtually lasts for ever (well, not forever, but for a darn long time). This is probably on the wish list of anyone who is shooting off shoe and don't care much about weight, but do care about recycling time and number of pops that can be squeezed in a session.
Konstantin Sirotkin describes how to make a Flash mod that will allow you to connect your flash to an external power source.
Yes this is an external power source, no mater how bomb-like it looks.
My son, Ori turned one today. Man, time flies. Just yesterday he was kicking back in his crib. Meditating on how the color in his room slowly fades.
Two and a half days later. BOOM, He is one. Walking (as in from three days ago), dadaing, and has a strong opinion and stand towards anything in this world - starting from the location of the kitchen chairs (always on the move) through the best place for a ball of cereal (the floor), ending with his own spot in the world (in my hands).
So yesterday we had a small family gathering to celebrate. Of course daddy was on the camera to document the event. Click to continue ›
