Photography Gear News

In this tutorial Andrea Cosentino shares his technique for getting a very distinct soft light look using a wall and one strobe.

"A while back I was too cheap (lazy?) to get around to purchasing some speedlights and in typical DIY fashion for me, I figured I could replicate most results using nothing more than a flashlight. So one evening with my friend Sean and his wife, we decided to try out some long exposure light painting ideas.

To be clear, the term "light painting" is often used to describe painting light onto an image where the bulb is visible, and used to create something visual in the final result. This is NOT what I am referring to here. I've seen plenty that are nice, but I don't personally have much interest in doing this..."

This is a review of the Impact Digital Light Shed, used for small and medium product photography. Whether you are photographing jewelry, toys, shoes or even lenses, a good light box is essential for creating beautiful photographs of the product.

"Canon has announced the Speedlite 600EX-RT flash, its first to include wireless radio control, alongside a selection of EOS accessories. A radio frequency transmitter, the Speedlite ST-E3-RT, has also been released and can trigger up to 15 Speedlites at up to 30 meters. Meanwhile, the GP-E2 GPS unit allows for automatic geotagging of images from the latest Canon DSLRs and the WFT-E7 wireless file transmitter can use either a Wi-Fi or Gigabit Ethernet connection to move files from camera to computer or to control the camera. There's also the BG-E11 dual-slot battery grip for the EOS 5D Mark III.

The radio connectivity is a first for Canon and comes in addition to the infrared triggering found in previous models. Major drawbacks to infrared remote flash control are that it requires a direct line of sight and has a relatively limited transmission range, particularly outdoors. By including built-in radio control, Canon now offers a system that gives its users an alternative to the popular PocketWizard radio transmitters and receivers. The Speedlite ST-E3-RT can trigger up to 15 Speedlites over distances as far as 30m.

The GP-E2 GPS receiver weighs in at under 3oz and offers automatic geo-tagging (via EXIF metadata) of images shot with the EOS-1Dx, 7D (with a firmware update) and the co-announced 5D Mark III. With older EOS cameras the GPS receiver can generate tracklog files at specified time intervals - even with the unit detached from the camera - which users can then manually import into compatible mapping software.

Continuing with the theme of wireless communication, Canon has announced the WFT-E7 wireless file transmitter which can transfer files from the EOS 5D Mark III over a Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n) or Gigabit Ethernet connection. For remote camera setups, the transmitter has a server function that allows for camera control via a web-enabled mobile device. Rounding out support for the EOS 5D Mark III is the BG-E11 battery grip which adds dual battery slots and additional external controls for shooting in portrait orientation."

If I recall correctly, it was Archimedes who said "Give me enough gaff tape and I will move the world".
So we are not going to move the world today, but we are going to control light with nothing more than gaffer's tape.

"I've seen some crazy setups for high speed photography utilizing all sorts of weird parts. There is even a system that will turn the lights off for you, if you so please. But, this is the first time I am seeing such a huge overkill in term of components used to gain some control over the circuit."

"Next guest post by Otto Peter is on how to modify the Yongnuo RF603N wireless remote flash trigger (available on eBay) to fit non-Nikon flash trigger sources, like light meters, or any camera with a PC socket..."

"A little while back we shared a video about creating CFL light fixures for video lights. It involved driling and sawing. Flaviu Leordeanu sent me this cool oncept that uses almost zero toolsd to get a similar effect.

The following tutorial shows how to build a powerful “LightStrip” using CFLs. As seen in the picture below, the strip has 10 outlets in which I plugged 10 CFL bulbs.

This project started out a bit differntly. I initially thought of using 8 lights, on two 4-socketa power strips. I was going to affix the two power strips onto a wooden bar, painting it all black to make it look more “solid” and less obtrusive, and to use it as a "light-bar", just like that.

So I bought eight 2700K-1640Lumen CFLs from Wal-Mart."

"I love using continuous light sources. At first it was all about the fact that unlike strobes, I could see the light at all time and not only on shutter press. As the time went by, this became even more relevant as continuous lights can be used for video as well."

"One of the ways to understand how light works in photographs is to do basic exercises. We did one way by creating the portrait lighting cheat sheet that shows how positioning a single light effect a portrait, others have done similar stuff with an egg.

Photographer Pat David had another idea. Using a CC-BY 3D scan by Infinite Realities and an open source 3D modeling software called Blender 3D (Blender is darn near real rendering engine, it can even mimic shaped bokeh), he started to play with positioning various light sourced around the scanned head."

"PocketWizard has launched its latest camera/flash radio trigger: the PocketWizard Plus III transceiver. The Plus III is a big step forward from the Plus II, offering the ability to trigger four groups of cameras and flashes over 32 radio channels. It also offers faster continuous shooting, triggering at up to 14.5 fps and offers the ability to communicate via a repeater radio transmitter, to extend the system's range. It also gains the ability to half-press, rather than just firing the shutter on remote cameras. The biggest change, though, is the Plus III's back-lit LCD panel, making it easier to use than its predecessor.

The PocketWizard Plus III will be available towards the end of March at a minimum advertised price of $139."

"One of the downsides of using a small strobe is that you don't get the nice modeling light like the big studio guns.

That means that you have to pre-visualize your light. If you are new to strobes this may not be trivial even on a bare strobe, but throw some modifiers in (e.g. a softbox or an umbrella) and it get even harder. This is why a modeling light is can be your best friend as you make your first steps into the modifiers world. In this tutorial I will explain how you can add a modeling light to a strobe using a DIY Double Flash Bracket, but any double flash bracket will do."