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Pan Intended – Matters Of Light & Depth – A Book Review

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I believe that the best way to understand lighting is to experiment with it. But understanding the basics of light and the general scheme of things can help you set foot in the right track. This is why I think reading lighting books is a great way to improve your photography.

Today I would like to review on of those books, Matters of Light & Depth by Ross Lowell.

Just before I dive into the content of this book, I’d like to say something about style – Ross has plenty of it. The book got a smile on my face more than once. With titles like Light of Passage, Light Philosophy, and Shedding Light, you take in valuable lessons while not feeling too serious.

Upload To Flickr – The Smart And Easy Way

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What do you get when a programming guru decides that enough is enough, Flickr Lightroom users should also enjoy direct uploading to Flickr just like Aperture users.

You get Jeffrey’s “Export to Flickr” Lightroom Plugin. This is great plug in which I heatedly recommend if you are a using Adobe Lightroom and have a Flickr account. Hey, I am not affiliated with Jeffery, but after using his plugin for soooooo long, that I just had to share my joy.

Holding a Nuclear Reactor – A Balloon Shot Anatomy

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One of the things I like best is High Speed Photography, it is an art that combines a hard technical challenge, along with an opportunity to have an artistic say. We’ve featured a few DIY articles about DIYing it, but nothing beats dedicated controllers.

This is why I was really happy to play a bit with the Universal Photo Timer – a heaven for High Speed Photographers. I’ll write a review about it soon. (I know – the name says timer, but it is actually way more then just a timer) Till then, I’d like to share a High Speed shot I did, and with it the process of polishing a picture (or some aspects of it) till it is good. I will also discuss about what’s missing from the final image.

My Favorite Lens – The Nikkor 85mm f/1.8 D

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A while back, I asked your advice. I was contemplating between two lenses and did not which one to choose. I was being torn between the Nikkor 60m/2.8 and the Nikkor 85mm f/1.8 D.

I was leaning towards the 1.8 (AKA sharpy) and your strong response helped me to make up my mind. So first of all – thank you all for some great advice.

After a few months with this lens, I would like to share my experience with the lens. Now, don’t expect a Ken Rockwell kinda review, Ken does this much, much better then I can. Instead, I’d like to talk a bit of the general experience that I had with the lens.

Gotta Love The Lomo

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I really like the Lomo Action Sampler. I shoot digital today, but there is a warm spot in my heart kept for the Action sampler. I’ve been wanting to write an Action Sampler post for a long time now, and the 50$ camera project initiated by Brian Auer from Epic Edits, just gave me enough of a kick to go and make this post. (Brian was also so kind and asked me to be one of the judges along with the excellent Jim Talkinton).

Portable Power – Explorer XT Product Review

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I try to do almost all my outdoor shooting with Nikon Speedlites. This should be quite obvious to anyone who reads this blog. However, strobes can not always provide all the light you need. (Unless you can stack a gazillion of them together). Some cases where a strobe will not cut it are shooting against a harsh sun, lighting huge deserted interiors, having to use large diffusers outdoors, and more.

Those are just the types of scenes where I use a studio flash… Hey there! waitaminute!! You said shooting outdoors. Are you pulling my leg with the studio flash thing?

Well no, this weekend I got to try Innovatronix’s Explorer XT – an External Battery pack for Studio Flashes. Ron Uriel and I tried to squeeze this baby out. Read on for the full review.

Japanese Fun Street Art (And A Peek Into My Living Room)

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A few weeks back, I did a post about lighting a portrait from different angles – the portrait cheat sheet card. As part of the project I also posted the setup shot for creating the card allowing DIYP readers into my leaving room.

If you went supersize into my studio my wife’s living room, you could see two pictures on the right corner. This, of course besides the usual mess and child goo left all over the floor.

Tuffer who is apparently moving to Brussels got intrigued by the mystery of my living room and asked what those pictures are. (Feel free to ask more questions about my living room. it is a wondrous place)

Those are pictures from a photography album called Fruits by Shoichi Aoki which deals with a Japanese fashion called (surprise, surprise) Fruits.

Best Book Ever – Light: Science and Magic – A Book Review

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I have just finished reading Light: Science & Magic (for the second time) and (again) I can not calm down. It took me a week and I spent every almost every waking hour reading it. Let me share the joy I had with you.

In general, Light: Science & Magic tells you everything you need to know about photography lighting. And the stuff it doesn’t tell you, it tells you how to figure out yourself.

Just before I go into an in-depth review of the book, I’ll say that reading this book in one week was both good and bad for me. Good, because I got an intense dose of photography lighting, obtaining critical mass of lighting know how. But, because reading so fast did not allow me to perform any of the exercises on the book, this is why I plan yet another slower reading of Light: Science & Magic where I will try out and test the techniques portrayed in the book.

Have you read this book? Let me know what you think in the comments. Now for the review:

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