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If you ever bought a second hand lens you probably know that one of the first things to do is to look through the lens and check for fungi.
See that image above, it’s a fungi infested lens! It is there to serve the same purpose as the picture of the decaying tooth lady in the dentist’s office – Don’t let this happen to you.[Read More…]
I know the title says something about lighting modifiers, but after seeing the last installment of the slanted lens I figured I’d mess around with their timing and start the show where they make camera cookies. (did someone say mother’s day?)
Of course, they also pixel peep the heck out of photoflex Octadomes, and showing how to build several simple lighting setups using them. I guess you are here for the lighting, right? so go the beginning of the vid for the octa lessons.
The awesome Benjamin Von Wong is here on a visit and we gave my new video setup a quick run.
Since Ben comes from Canada all his devices has weird Canadian no good plugs. The solution, use one all-in-one pongs adapter and a “bought at home country” power bar. This configuration has a small foot print and can be reused around the world.
(Side note: expect more videos here, one of the first ones will be on how to create that “white” look on a budget).[Read More…]
There is an ongoing debate in the photography community, if one should use UV filters (or similar “zero effect” filters). I was never a big advocate for any of the camps, but slid a UV filter on all my lenses just in case.
As of this now, I am a firm member of the first camp.
Earlier this month I shot an event and had my D300 + 24-70/2.8 heavily shoved slightly brush against a poll. Luckily I had a B+W haze filter on.
The filter broke completely. I removed it and using a blower made sure that all the small and sharp glass was removed.
While I hate losing an ~$80 filter, I love not losing a ~$1600 lens. And think it is worth paying that little performance degradation.
What do you think? Are you Using protection filters?[Read More…]
Following yesterday’s post about using prime lenses as a compositional tool, we had an interesting discussion in the comments, about Primes Vs. Zooms.
I thought it would be interesting to ask DIYP readers about their favorite lens. Please also let us know why what you’re using it for. Please leave your answers as comments.
I’ll go first:
My dearest is the Nifty Fifty (50mm 1.8), which is one of the first lenses I bought waaaaay back. I still think it is the best value-for-money lens out there, and I find it perfect for portraiture.
[image by Dr. RawheaD][Read More…]
On our last poll, we asked a general (yet hard) question – what would you need to do in order to improve your photography.
There are some great responses there and thanks for everyone who opened up and answered this not-so-easy-to-expose question.
Our of that question a few main groups were identified
1. I need more time
2. I need better skills
3. I need better equipment
I have and will tackle all those issues on the blog, however this time I would like to focus on the third item – Gear.
This poll has a simple question – What is the next piece of gear on your shopping list, and I am not talking fantasy list here, I am talking about items that you can actually afford to buy and plan on using in the short term period.
It may be an item at the core of photography – a camera or a lens; A lighting aid like a strobe, flash or modifier, or something completely peripheral like a new computer or a new piece of software. Props, Straps, place, really anything that you feel will give you that push.
While you can form the answers in any way you’d like see if you can answer those two questions: what is the exact item (bad: a new lens / good: a Nikkor 85mm 1.8 lens) and how it will help your photography. Please be as specific as you can.
I’ll go first: I am planning on getting a set of pocket wizards. I have had enough of misfires from my cheapo RF slaves and I feel that the price is worth removing the hustle annoyance and embarrassment of having the flash not pop when I need it too.
(If you are reading this via RSS, you may want to click through to read/share your thoughts) [(cc) Image credit fensterbme][Read More…]
Many of us are carrying gear bags (Or gear trucks). It would be interesting to find our what are we using those bags for.
So This poll is about understanding what is in your photo bag. To exclude the obvious answer, cameras and lenses are a given. And to make it a bit more interesting, please choose only a single item you consider to be most important.
I did not include pre-loaded options on this one, so you can get as creative as you want.
All the polls I ran gave really interesting results in the open text box, and I expect this one to be no different. Especially that “Other” is only option now.[Read More…]
It is time ofr another poll here at DIYP. Since we discuss gear alot ont he blog, I thought it will be interesting to see what is the relations between DIYP readers and their gear.
Personally I am a little GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) affected, however, with all the small tricks on the site that enable you to hack and mod even if you have little gear, I am sure we will see interesting results.
I am using twpoll for this for the first time, feel free to answer via twitter, facebook or right here on the blog. Would be grateful for retweeting this poll.
(RSS readers, click through to cast your vote)[Read More…]
About a week ago, I asked DIYP readers where do they take most of their studio pictures. The matter of setting up a home studio is strongly related to having a place to set the studio at.
We’ve all seen how a studio can be set up in under three minutes (ok, timelapse cheating, but still), so it was interesting to learn how DIYP readers coped with this issue. Full results and some thoughts after the jump.
Have you ever noticed the weird connection between photography and hunting? You go out to “shoot”; You are “taking shots”; And best of all when a bunch of us photographers get together we call it a “big shootout”.
It turns out that there is yet another connection, the gear connection. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not pro weapons of any kind (other then shooting this person that keeps clinging to me on the bus…), but some of this gear used for guns and rifles can be really useful when dealing with photography equipment.[Read More…]
Udi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.
Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe
Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.
John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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