Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
If you remember a while ago, I was full of pain about my crappy you-get-what-you-pay-for radio slaves. When they worked, it was a match made in heaven. Sadly, they did not always work.
Long story short. I made a change. In this two posts series, I will first detail how and why I came to select Pocketwizard as my radio system and then share my first impressions after using it for more than a month.[Read More…]
Have you ever wondered what happens to those little raw files in big shoots? I mean, big scale productions gotta worry more than simply unloading the card, importing to light room and get a good night sleep.
Firstly it is a lot of date, and then it has to travel, get stored, archived, backed up and processed.
Chase Jarvis has a great video where he share his Protect-The-Data-Kong-Fu
I think that the question is how do you scale down (or up, if you are that guy) to your working model.
watch the video, and read the entire post (+ some really good comments) in Chase’s blog post titled The Complete Workflow and Backup for Photo.[Read More…]
Some time ago, I was contacted by B&H to do a review on Impact’s Collapsible Background (Black and White 5′ X 7′).
I love using collapsible backdrops on location as they give me some freedom with regards to choosing a background. While I prefer working with existing walls / plants / fences to crate appealing backgrounds, this is not always possible. And this is where the collapsible comes in handy.[Read More…]
A few days ago I was shooting Brith Party. Actually, I was not shooting the Brith itself, but an after party taking part a few days later. (Heavens help me if I had to shoot the actual ceremony).
Since I get a lot of how/what-to-pack questions, I thought that my preparation process is worth sharing via a post. While this may be very trivial for some, it can be a life saver for others. And even if you are doing this for a long time, it is a still a great thinking experiment.
Well the uncomplicated truth is that I use Check Lists. Read on to hear how and why.[Read More…]
Every once in a while I like to have a look at the orders coming in via DIYP Amazon links.
Not only it make me proud that you help support the site by buying stuff via the DIYP Amazon link (it costs the same, but a small portion of the sale goes to support DIYP), but it help me see what are the trends in buying books accessories and cameras.
Here is the list of popular items as of today (May, 2009) with some commentary inline.
A few weeks back I was asked by my daughter’s kindergarten teacher to come and take everyone’s portraits of a kindergarten custom party.
Of course I said yes. Then I hit me. I am scared sick from staying home alone with my daughter and one of her friends, how the heck am I going to manage 35 kids running around?
OK, I’ll talk about kids a bit later. Before this let’s talk setup.
It has been quite a long time since the last speed links segment. I tried to have a bit of everything on this one. Ranging from keno-flo lights to the lighting "geeks" through some ode to film shops to Lighting and portrait techniques.
D3A – the contest we’re having for the 3rd DIYP Anniversary is still running till the end of this month.
When searching for a backup solution I was most fascinated with the option of online storage. My major concern was the huge catalog files that Lightroom creates. I even listed the huge catalog files a deadly sin :)
I got a great tip on the comments explaining how to use XMP files to override the huge files issue. Thanks Jigar. (Unfortunately, the comment got deleted as part of my fight with a spam attack. Please post the comment again so I can provide appropriate credit).
My Lightroom workflow is very similar to the workflow Kerry showed on his Lightroom workflow video. That mean my catalog is always changing/evolving/growing. It also means that my backup software will notice that the file has changed and try to back it up after every session. Kinda heavy with a 60 Megs file. This is where XMP comes in to play.
[Read More…]
There comes a time at any man’s life, where he enters their workroom oh-my-god-kids-what-is-going-on-room and something smelled funny.
Smells metallic. Burning. My socks on fire? No…. What is it? Smelling my way towards the source, I found it to be my computer. Or more precisely, my four years old power supply’s fan has decided to die on me. A dying fan means that the computer is heating up, which means that blue screens of death will pop in any second now.
I quickly went to the nearest computer store and bought myself a new unit with two fans. I figured if one will die the other one will still be there. Total cost – 65 Dollars. Definitely worth it.
Just before I throw the little guy to the little recycle bin in the sky, I wanted to say good buy in an appropriate, nice way. After all it did give me power for four years.
Loosing my power supply got me thinking that I need better backup to my pictures than the external hard drive I am currently using. After all my pictures are stored on my personal computer. If you have an idea, please post it in the comments section. I also went to reread some of the great stuff Brian has to say about backing pictures up.
So aside from the ode, there is also a setup shot and some explanations after the jump.
Isn’t it fun to take a pile of PVC pipes and turn it into a studio? Or to take an old sheet and make it a first class photography backdrop? Some of those trash reused highly complex – space age technologies require nothing but two good hands, showing that no studio equipment is out of reach for the poor enthusiastic photographer. This is especially true when it come to mono-e-mono Vs. them high end gear guys.
Collecting all those DIY stories over the last year and a half or so, helped me realize that random stuff you find around your house good equipment is only half the key to taking good pictures. The other half is having good understanding of photography. Yet the third half is creativity or the ability to get creative. (yea, yea, I know that 150% of being a good photographer. But hey! if you really know it all you can get to be a 150% photographer… )[Read More…]
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