This idea of how to modify that black foam half-snoot that I use to flag my speedlight with, was sent to me by Randall Todd. It allows the flag to be attached to the speedlight much easier than my less sophisticated method of using hair-bands. "I have made and used Peter Gregg's ABBC and found it to be very useful. Instead of using his big rubber bands I went with a Velcro design. The attached photos should show if fairly well. It's simply 10-1/4" of the fuzzy side of sticky hook & loop material on the outside and about 9" of "3M" rubbery shelf liner on the inside. I used a Read more inside...
traveling light in Vegas
Even though most of the tutorial pages here deal with on-camera flash, I don't limit myself to just using on-camera flash. When I need off-camera lighting or when I need more juice from my flashguns than a speedlight can deliver, I use the Q-flashes made by Quantum. For this wedding in Las Vegas, I decided to travel light and as an additional flashgun, bring along a single Quantum Q-flash in addition to the two speedlights I normally take along with me when I photograph a destination wedding. I also wanted the flexibility of wireless TTL control over the flash, and therefore I chose a Read more inside...
gear for destination wedding photography (Canon)
gear for destination wedding photography (Canon)
I enjoy photographing destination weddings- and I've been fortunate to photograph weddings in Aruba, Bahamas, Miami and Las Vegas. These are weddings are often in exotic locales. (Well, nearly everything will seem exotic outside of New Jersey, but I digress.) Even even though it sounds exciting to photograph in faraway places, there is a challenge that comes along with that - packing enough of my gear and getting it safely to my destination. It is even more of a challenge with restrictions placed on air travel. Since I Read more inside...burning out / melting your speedlights & flashes
burning out / melting your speedlights & flashes
The obvious question that comes up with bouncing flash behind you, is that they do tend to fire at full power or close to full power. If you shoot events, where you need to take repeated shots with your on-camera flash, they do take a beating and even risk even burning out. I do hammer my speedlights, especially when I use the Quantum 2x2 battery packs. This doesn't bother me greatly, since I regard my speedlights in a way, as consumable items. They will become unrepairable at some point. Cost of doing business as an event Read more inside...my choice of on-camera flash modifiers
my choice of on-camera flash modifiers
There is a fundamental principle in lighting : the larger your light source, the softer your light. Using any of the myriad of flash modifiers that are on offer, helps in achieving that - spreading the light from the on-camera Speedlight much wider, thereby creating softer light that direct flash would've given. However, (and this is a big however), these flash modifiers also throw light forward. Ultimately all flash modifiers do the same thing - they disperse a lot of light around the room, while throwing some measure of light directly Read more inside...Developing your photographic style – the necessary photo gear
Developing your photographic style - the necessary photo gear
A constant debate that I see online is whether a specific piece of equipment is justifiable. And whether it is justifiable in terms of a business decision. The discussion typically centers around something like the eternal, "What will the 85mm f1.2 give me that the 85mm f1.8 won't? And is it worth $1000 more?" But I feel that in phrasing the question like that, the real effects that equipment choice have on our style are disregarded. I firmly believe that: Style should always be evolving, borne from our choices and Read more inside...Tightening the hotshoe on the Canon 1D series camera
Tightening the hotshoe on the Canon 1D series camera
If your hotshoe on your Canon 1D series camera has become loose, it is an easy fix! Somehow the 4 little screws that hold the hot shoe to the camera body can wriggle loose over time, causing the flashgun to wobble. This can even lead to poor contact between the flashgun and the camera. Fortunately, to fix this, all you need is a set of jeweler's screwdrivers. Read more inside...Repairing the Canon 580EX hotshoe foot
Repairing the Canon 580EX hotshoe foot
Since the 580EX has a plastic foot, it is very easy to snap it off in the camera's hotshoe. The photo above shows the typical damage sustained. The repair is simple, and the cost of the part from Canon's Service Center. The part nr is: CY2-1227-000 Replacing the broken foot is relatively easy: Read more inside...Using filters to protect your lenses
Using filters to protect your lenses
This, ladies and gentlemen, is why using a UV filter on your lens is a good idea. Usually. Some times. The strange thing is, I have NO idea when this happened during a shoot at a reception venue where I was doing room shots and detail shots. Most of the times I was using two cameras, with the other one slung over my shoulder. At some point I lifted the camera to my eye and noticed rainbow colored diffraction patterns across the image. My immediate reaction was .. huh? My lens is THAT dirty? And then I checked and saw the actual Read more inside...- « Previous Page
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