Spring has almost sprung...

so why am I trying to kill the sun when I have been missing it all winter? Long cold, snowy winter which = mostly shooting indoors, yuck! But the birds are chirping and the mercury is a rising so tried out a new technique with hotshoe flashes and trying to deal with the horrendous 1/180 sync speed of my Pentax K-7.

So for the first trial I knew I'd need to close up the aperture since I'm limited to 1/180 shutter speed. As I didn't want to try the "sledgehammer of light" or Joe McNally's Desert Shoot with 7 hotshoe flashes just yet. I thought I'd try 2 flashes first and maybe move up in the summer but it's not even spring yet :P

The setup:



I don't like the idea of my flashes, especially 2 of them, being supported by a $10 piece of flimsy plastic, that easily breaks as I have found out last summer, so I have made different rigs to have the weight of the unit more supported, in this case at least one, for this trial. This bracket also helps to align the flash head more toward the center of an umbrella when I opt to use one. So you can see I use Cybersync wireless system which here I just have attached by velcro but am making a caddy for when I shoot in the water again. Based on the iShoot dual flash hotshoe adapter there are only 2 ways to attach the flash bodies and multiple ways to adjust swivel heads.

My logic for this trial was to use the bottom flash for the body so it's aligned vertically and for this shoot, zoomed wide. The top unit I zoomed in tight for the hair/head/shoulder area. At least in thought that was my idea for this test. I shot hard light knowing I'd need every bit of light as it was just a trial. Shot at x 1/180 sec sync speed, f/16 ISO 100. When I have a full undiffused sun I will shoot at f/22-32 and try to get a starburst effect with the sun.

I needed an area with plenty of sky toward the west so I went to the top floor of a parking garage and in this case the one right next to Camp Randall Stadium home of the Wisconsin Badgers :)

oh and for legal reasons I guess I should point out to not stare at the sun lol

Ghetto repeater: Using my Cybersync trigger to fire poverty wizards... two separate brand radio receivers fired from one trigger all in sync

I started off using "poverty wizards" when I followed Strobist.com and played with off-camera flash as cables got in the way. I had problems like everyone else and started doing the mods ie. adding an antenna to get more distance and adapting a AA battery pack to the receiver. Then I found myself with 4 flash units and dying radio/trigger units. I knew I'd eventually have to step up to something more reliable but Pocket Wizards with 4 receivers, ouch! Then the dreaded day came when doing a fashion shoot for a magazine and my poverty wizards failed and I was running three lights. With two MUAs, two models, two stylist, the magazine editor all on-site I started to sweat. I had to think quick and used a pc cable to fire my main speedlight and put the other on slave and add a optical eye on the last light as it didn't have built in slave function. We were indoors so it worked out. But the next day I ordered what my limited funds allowed as I just bought a 35mm 1.8 for my Nikon and upgraded my Pentax body to a K-7 so I did some research and got a Cybersync trigger and 2 receivers.
Now back to the story... so I am shooting tomorrow and have one of my lights getting a firmware update. I would like 3 lights but will be shooting into the sun and optical slaves won't work in bright light. So how can I make this work? I have several poverty wizards sitting around so I thought how can I use my reliable Cybersyncs and maybe use a poverty wizard as a psuedo-repeater and make it more reliable ie two lights closer to each other away from the main/key and camera trigger.


Here is my Seagull adapter, MOD, and in this case using a PC connection to the 1/8 into the Cybersync receiver as I will need the 1/8 on the Seagull for the other half of this mod.
You could use the cable that came with the poverty wizard "micro to PC" but I had cut one already and spliced in a 1/8 for another project. Yes, I do tons of projects :)
The final mod: the Cybersync trigger on the camera hot shoe will trigger the same brand receiver, Cybersync, which is connected via PC cord to the flash (via Seagull adapter) which will be light #2 for the upcoming shoot. The PC and 1/8 share an electrical connection inside the adapter so it causes the 1/8 cord to micro, connected to the poverty wizard, to fire. The poverty wizard receiver will fire light #3 which ie acting like a pseudo repeater as it will prolly be out of range if just used on camera or from the main/key light.

AC/DC: powering my hotshoe from the wall

Okay, so now that I am switching gears and shooting more indoors and don't have monolights yet I wanted to devise a way to power my hotshoe flashes via AC (the wall outlet). With no adapter plug on any of my units my first thought was to add a plug. But I don't want to drill into my 2 new flashes that are still under warranty. So how do I hook up AC power to this DC powered unit?
Note: I am not responsible for any damage that may occur to your equipment. This is a demonstration of my hack/mod of how I did this using my equipment. Do not perform this on your own unless you are trained in electricity and electronics and willing to take a chance of ruining your equipment. I AM NOT HELD LIABLE.

STEP 1: POWER. In my trial, I am using a generic "battery eliminator" power adapter that you can pretty much pick up anywhere. It has adjustable voltage and in this case milliampere. Some also have a polarity switch.

Completed unit

STEP 2: How to connect it and basic electrical design.

So this is the inside of the battery compartment. Basically there are four AA batteries lined up giving us power. They can be in a straight line but it wouldn't work for the design of the unit so they are arranged in such a way to fit into the container and connected via little metal tabs pos to neg, pos to neg, etc, etc.


So our first job is to find out where the positive and negative terminals are inside the flash and viola, they are the ones that are the beginning and the end of the trail ie not connecting to anything else. See second photo


And by looking at the sticker for battery orientation, we can deduce the positive and the negative terminals.
So now that we know where we need to connect the (+) positive side of our power supply and (-) negative.. how do we hook this up?

STEP 3: DUMMIES As I said as I am not drilling any holes (yet) I opted to make dummy batteries to make an electrical connection. Since we only need to apply power to 2 terminals (tabs) (all the other stuff is just used to connect the batteries together) I just need to make something that will connect our two wires from the PS and fills the space like batteries would and still be removable so I can still use batteries when on-location. So I took a AA battery to the good ole hardware store and found that a 1/2" dowel is pretty darn close.

I cut up four pieces the same length as a AA battery and grouped them together to fit into the battery compartment and since wood does not conduct electricity well I took the wire from the power supply, trimmed back the insulation and wrapped it around these screws that will function like the "nipple" on the battery for the electrical connection...


and yes I know the negative post does not have a nipple but I need to make the connection so am using it in my case. Now to make sure that the orientation of the wires and screws will connect to the proper place in the battery compartment as seen in the second photo.
Now I have a way to connect my DC powered hotshoe flash to an AC wall outlet and shoot as much as I want without worrying about batteries :)

My First Cover

So the nice people over at the Isthmus chose my pic over gazillions to be on the cover of the 2010-2011 Annual Manual of Madison, WI.

Photoadventure 1 and 2

So much to shoot in summer and haven't been updating my post. Larry Chua (iloominimages.com) and I have teamed up to go on "photoadventures" outside of Madison. The first trip was to Parfrey's Glen. It started off just being a landscape shooting trip but decided it might be fun to get some models involved. We have so much fun we decided to continue the series.

Our second trip was to Devil's Lake to shoot at the unique geological features (Devil's Doorway) and incorporate the unique vistas from atop the 500 foot bluff.

The dress... and trashing it!

Just about every photog's dream. Beautiful special dress... let's do some crazy stuff with it! I met Amy at a promotional event for the spring edition of Fashion Fridays - Madison's biggest fashion event, which I have shot for 3 shows now. Anyways, we were talking and she mentioned she had done a trash the dress shoot and my eyes got big. She said the dress was still fine so we could use it to shoot another. Yay! But she lives 2 or so hours away. We'll have to plan for the next time she's in town after the fashion show. Our first attempt ended quickly as a massive storm was moving in. Just fired a couple and then watched the city start to flood. We debated but with her long car ride home didn't feel it was worth it as she said she'd be coming back down soon. The idea bombs started exploding but what would I actually be able to pull off without ruining the dress and not being able to shoot anymore knowing we'd end up at my favorite spot in the lake. Since it's such a special event, I decided to use the video function on my K-7 and whip up this little BTS video for ya. Enjoy!

The eye mind of a photographer

I was asked to make a piece or two for the Olbrich Gardens Art Invitational for early 2011. Quite an honor as it seems they don't ask many photogs. I was excited then it hit me. My work will be next to some of best artists in the area. Then the next blow. This place is one of the most photographed places in the city if not county (not talking about dad's point and shoot pics at graduation on campus). So I have to create, or "capture" since photographer's aren't "artists," something unique that people haven't seen before that will still represent the essence of being there. I have the rest of the year to figure it out so let's start shooting. First choice, this unique Thai Sala and garden. Boasted as the only one of its kind in N. America. Well, that's unique! There is another in Hawaii, which I have seen, and one in Germany which I have not. People come from all over the world to see it... and photograph it.
Step one: Perspective. There are reflecting ponds on both sides. So those kind of shots have been done. Nothing too original but they have been done with standard lenses and you really can't beat that aesthetic. So I slap my fisheye and bam, something new. The perspective is interesting and especially in vertical mode as the pool's corner is 90 degrees. The fisheye gives it a weird acute angle and some nice framing to lead the eye which you won't get with a standard lens.
Step two: Details. The Sala has a gorgeous ornate ceiling but is lost in shadow. Photographers need to be ready to add light since their job is to "capture light." When you can make, add, subtract, modify and shape your own light, you are really onto something. Otherwise, you have what everybody else has. So I decide to pop a light from the bottom of the center of the Sala up toward the ceiling. Of course I have to do this wirelessly because of the distance and it being out of site/line. I run back and forth a few times to get the right setting on my flash and kablam, I drop it. Don't know how many more tumbles this thing is going to take. Widest setting @ 28mm and full power will do. Now to get this shot before my batteries drain. Look at that gorgeous red and gold contrast. Oh, the Sala is gold plated so now it's glowing from inside and out making it even more magical.
Step three: No blown out skies. First shot exposed for bright spots in clouds fails. No reflection in the water, foreground goes dark. Now what? Could use a graduated ND filter but not on my fisheye. Would have to put it on my 18-55 losing the unique effect from my fisheye. I put a light on a stand and pop the front. I get the pool edges back but still not a good enough reflection but I like the detail I am getting in the cement so I leave it. OK, so I'm going to have to shoot multiple exposures and do an HDR or blending.. which is a slight problem as there is a slight breeze with moving clouds as a storm is coming in and some rippling in the water which may cause problems for my main attraction - the reflection. Luckily my Pentax K-7 has a burst rate of 5.2 FPS which is way better than what I am used to on my K200D which has 3 FPS. I begin to spot meter the bright spots in the clouds and the dark spots. Whoa! A typical 3 exposure deal won't cut it. I meter around and make sure I get one for the reflection as well as darks and brights. 20 minutes or so later since I got there, I push the camera and blast the 6 shots. Phew! That was a lot of work and the mosquitos are fat and happy. I'm just fat and sweaty :) and it's starting to rain so I'll also be wet in a few
Step 4: post/editing: I do my HDR merge and adjust for my liking. Not happy with the sky so I bring up blue saturation in Photoshop. And there you have it. Not sure if it'll make the final cut but it's a contender.