Light Meters

I’m thinking of things I can write as I lay on the couch , hoping for this fever to subside. I am on day 3 and it’s not possible for a person to ingest this much soup and orange juice. So while I lay here being dramatic and wondering when I’m going to die, I find things to write about and keep my mind off intermittent coughs that follow each other 10 seconds apart and feel like barbed wire in my throat. Today’s topic is the light meter and why I don’t use it.

Sometimes people ask if I do a reading before I shoot. To some degree that’s a yes, but not the way we’ve been trained. I do not believe in the light meter much, and the reasons are simple. I work as a photographer because my eye/mind see something that no one else can. Every photographer and artist has that trait. Paint is available to everyone, yet each sketch is different. Everyone has the same cameras, microphones, and computers but our work come worlds apart because it’s not the tool. It is how we interpret life through our eye and give it back to the world.

So for every shoot that I do, I eye-ball it. I look at my lens, I see it on the computer, I look at the back screen and make a judgement. You look for the amount of light YOU WANT and the amount of shadows that make the picture perfect. Had I used a light meter in some of my shots, I’d never get some of the moody images in my portfolio or even some of the “angelic” types you can see on my website. So instead I rely on my eye. I rely on my instincts and at that moment, what I feel will best represent the product or person.

I think leaving that to a little device takes the fun of photography away. I feel that I am letting go of the controls and letting an automatic system dictate how I should photograph. Perhaps for the same reason, I do not drive automatic cars. What is the fun in that? You just sit and press the peddle, that’s it. That’s not the way to live. I want to have control over every part of my art and make it the best that it can be. That’s why they hire me over the next guy. They don’t want a machine’s opinion, they want me to make their subject the best it can be.

So have some faith in your eye and your mind. Have some trust in your instincts. If it’s too dark and your meter is going crazy, turn it off and shoot anyways. If you want everything blown out, then shoot it that way. It’s one of the best ways to develop your own style, by just doing it and trusting your gut.

Ok enough of my soapbox. I am going back for another nap to bring this fever down.

Pantone S5 Pro Monitor Calibration

I bought this little gem from Woot.com and it works quite well. Have you ever been to Woot? You should!  I log on each night because I am a gadget fanatic and saw a monitor calibration that I had planned on purchasing for a while. It wasn’t that I intended on purchasing THIS exact one but one in general very soon. Anyhow I hooked it up to the ViewSonic monitors that I regret purchasing. It works great. it’s EASY TO USE! It works great on a MAC. I wish there was more to say, but saying it’s good, easy to use, and cheap should be enough.

Bottom Line: Good buy, maybe not the BEST in the market but a great one with great reviews.

ViewSonic Widescreen LCD Monitor

ViewSonic Monitor

I will keep this short and to the point. Thank you ViewSonic for the craptastic monitor that I purchased. You did me really good when you sold me 2 of them at the end of last year. They were HD, 22″, and came with decent remarks. My gut feeling was to go with the Samsung (who apparently make the same monitors for APPLE but sell them way cheaper), but the extra $50 per monitor made me choose the cheap route.

I took my friend Maya with me. She’s a finicky shopper, an Apple Computer addict, and I needed her advice in picking the best monitor. From the store, we thought ViewSonic was the best. It was the cheapest with the best color quality. The Fry’s electronics sales guy swore ViewSonic was a great brand. I take full responsibility because I cannot recall the last time a Fry’s Electronics sales person was honest about their products.

Anyhow, I used one monitor for a couple of months and it was hooked up to my Macbook Pro. It worked great, but I did notice a bit of flickering after the first couple of weeks. Then I bought my new Mac Pro Tower. And I hooked up monitor #2, the exact same model as monitor #1. Then I saw the true quality of the ViewSonic. One is far brighter than the other. I resorted to putting one monitor at 80% and one monitor at 100% to get them to match. I calibrated both monitors over and over and over….and over until exhaustion. One still flickers, the other does not. One is bright, the other is not. One shows snow if it’s tapped, one does not.

Bottom Line: ViewSonic made a terrible product, and I made a terrible choice by purchasing 2 of them. Next time, I will do Samsung.

UPDATE: Dear ViewSonic, I know that I wrote a terrible review on the monitors you made. Today I feel bad about this. I feel that I should have taken harder swings at you, as I am about to just throw away my useless brand new monitors and just buy the Samsung or overpriced Apple ones. Thanks for wasting my money and time. I understand this might come across as dramatic but your monitors that you sold truly, and in every single way possible suck. I feel that letting my readers know about your products is a civil duty that I am happy to perform.

UPDATE 2.0: The monitors are getting worse.  Now one shows snow and one shows the desktop, unless you turn it on and off. Once you turn it on and off a few times, it will come back to normal (and by NORMAL I mean its half-way satisfactory image). Sigh…

UPDATE 3.0: I need to just buy another monitor instead of complaining about these monitors that I have. The sick part of me wants to see how bad they can get before they launch into my dumpster. I even thought about donating them to a school, but that would mean that I hate children because they are THAT bad! Anyways, I am hoping to get something next month but from the looks of it I am having fun seeing how bad of a product ViewSonic can make. So far, they are exceeding my expectations! Now one of them is considerably lower in brightness. See I had to put the brighter of the 2 monitors at 80%, so that it would be the same levels as the lesser capable of the set. So one was at 100% brightness and one was at 80% brightness. Now the brighter monitor, looks like a candle lit dinner. I hold my friend Maya partially responsible for this debacle.

Review: Vagabond II from Alien Bees

 

Everyday Minerals Cosmetics, Spring Campaign

For those that read the previous posts, I just shot the Spring 2009 campaign for Everyday Minerals cosmetics. We filmed in beautiful Laguna Beach, almost entirely with natural lighting and reflectors. I know many photographers shiver at the thought of telling people how a photograph was done, but really…. who cares, right? This blog is about helping and sharing, which is really the foundation of any good art.

Anyhow, I wanted to bring portable power with me. We filmed inside a cave, about 30 feet deep and the sun could not reach the inside of the cave, even with our reflectors. Instead I had my assistant hold out my B800 overhead (hand-held) and we powered it up with the new Vagabond II from Alien Bees. 

Because of our extreme limited time to fit the many looks in the schedule, I had only a couple moments to try the flash route. I was convinced we could use the lights and still create a natural light look. I think we did a good job by placing a honeycomb (also from Alien Bees) over the light. It lit the model’s face, only like a nice cloudy day cover. But the star of the shoot was not the model or the photographer, it was the light and easy-t0-carry Vagabond II unit. It comes in an attractive nylon carrying bag, it’s designed beautifully, and really is how they describe it…. portable! 

It was a last minute decision, but my little Vagabond II gave me hope for future shoots. The pack is actually light enough to have it around my assistant’s shoulder, like a woman carries her handbag. He was very mobile by carrying the Vagabond and the B800 at the same time. Once again, Alien Bees scores with a great product and a great price at it. 

I would also like to note that the honeycomb I used from Alien Bees was the 20 degree model. I have to say that most of Alien Bees products are greatly priced, but I found this honeycomb to be over priced for what it really is. They should consider lowering the prices for this, considering that if we buy the honeycomb from them then chances are we’ve already spent a lot of money on their products. Give us a break Alien Bees! But don’t let the overpriced Honeycombs change your mind on the Alien Bees. Their amazing customer service department alone makes up for any short comings, but they don’t have to. Alien Bees makes a great product at a great price (minus a few accessories that are WAY overpriced).

Here is the picture of the model from the Everyday Minerals Cosmetics shoot. The color is part of their new Spring line, the image can be seen here first and later this week on their website. Again, it is a pleasure working for a company that actually has a product that I believe in. Natural, organic, vegan, mineral make-up sounds amazing doesn’t it? Ladies give them a shot.

Do it yourself Reflector

Seriously, for a big job we rent photography equipment out. It’s easier that way. For smaller shoots, personal projects I use my own equipment and rarely rent out. The other day I needed to get a larger reflector, maybe something the size of a beach towel or even bigger. I went to a few stores, checked some online stores and found what I needed around $150 on the cheap end to the mid $300 range. OK not so bad compared to some camera equipment but terrible for those of you starting out in photography and personal projects.

Here is what I did instead. I went to Wal-Mart (Get off my back about this. I would go to Target but they have this ridiculous return policy that allows you 2 exchanges under $35 a year with no receipt). At Wal-Mart they have emergency blankets for those on the verge of dying on a mountain top. They look like thin aluminum foil. The one I purchased was $1.96 and was about 7×4 feet.

That’s not bad! I then walked over to Home Depot and bought a thin board. That came out to $3.88, and I bought two cans of paint. One was a primer that came in white and then I bought a high gloss white spray. Now my board has two sides. One side is a large silver reflector. I glued the emergency blanket to the board and the other side is a nice shiny white. It works well!

The total project cost me about $12.00. That’s not bad. The only down side is that it’s not as portable as the $350 model. But it fits in the back seat of my car.

UPDATE:
Just buy a tri-fold foam display board at your favorite office supply store. It’s less than $10, you don’t have to spray paint anything and no splinters… I used it. Works pretty damn amazing.

Support your local mom & pop photography store

Everyone should have theirs, I have mine. It’s Fullerton used cameras and I go there for most of my gear, rentals, etc… I cannot stress enough the importance of supporting your local small guys vs. the giant stores that can squash competition and drive prices higher. 

If you live in OC, I highly recommend Fullerton Used Cameras on Harbor Blvd. for buying your new camera, your used camera, rentals, prints, etc… I’ve supported them for a while now and the perks are many. Sure my camera cost about $50 more instead of buying at Best Buy, but you get personalized service. I stopped in one time and in a bind had to rent a lens. They know my face, I was out of there in 3 minutes. I’ve stopped in before to get my flash checked and they throw in a free pack of batteries for checking my flash for free. I’ve stopped in and asked question after question and not purchased anything, they still welcome me each time because down the line I will be a loyal customer. You cannot get that service from the big guys.

If you have a local store in your hood, stop by and introduce yourself. Tell them what you want to do and see how they could help you. Stop by before a project and ask them for advice on the best rentals. The more you visit, the better the relationship. Everything is about good relationships. Believe me, once they trust you … the benefits are worth it. You get favors and favoritism. Now who dislikes a little favoritism?!

Went shopping for a reflector today…

…and felt ripped off at every angle because at the end of the day, it was just a retractable reflector I was buying. Minimum price was $100 and it went up to several hundred there after.  Much like the beauty dish that amazed me, I did an internet search for probably the easiest photography prop to make. I ran across a few different ones, but this in particular works the best. I think I will make it with my dad next week (a great way to spend quality time with the pops). Check it out and see if your version comes the same. By the way, a reflector is your best friend on most shoots. At the very least it blocks the wind and the sun if you do not need the reflector part.

I will always support creative photography. After all it is about creativity and not so much about how much money you have. Happy holidays everyone.

Thanks to Jag’s photo blog for this one.

 

 

I have long liked the idea of the California Sunbounce, but it’s very expensive, so I decided to have a go at making my own. the frame was to be constructed from PVC tube, and fitted with a two-sided cloth cover, black on one side, and silver on the other.
Here is a brief description of the project:    

First, as I wasn’t too concerned with the overall dimensions of the finished product, the lengths to which I cut my tubes were purely arbitrary. The only measurement that mattered at this stage is the length of the handle piece, as it had to fit the frame. The lengths I cut were:

(A) 4 side pieces @ 19 3/4″
(B) 2 end pieces @ 24 3/4″
(C) 2 handle standoffs @ 3″
(D) 1 handle @ 19 1/4″

The fittings required are:
4 90 degree elbows
2 45 degree elbows
2 tees
(All the tubes and fittings are 3/4″ Schedule 40)

The only tools needed for the job are a hacksaw, a measuring tape, and a marker or a pencil.

The completed frame.

I wanted to be able either to put the reflector on a lightstand, or to be able to attach an arm with a strobe on it. To do this I got a 1/4″ x 20 coupling nut. Used for joining lengths of threaded rod, this is just like an ordinary nut but much longer. The one I got is two inches long.

I then drilled a hole on one of the tees, at a 45 degree angle to the plane of the tee, and bonded the coupling nut in place with epoxy resin adhesive. The portion of the nut sticking out from the joint will allow me to hold it with a wrench or adjustable spanner to avoid strain when affixing fittings.

Lightstand/tripod fitting with 5/8″ stud attached.

The next thing to do it make the fabric covering. I used a remnant piece of black cotton. This was cut to size, hemmed and fitted with Velcro tabs. 

Then we* stitched a piece of silver lame to one side, giving a reversible reflector/flag. (*”We” being Maggie. Thank you for your patience and help with the sewing)

Et voila! The finished reflector! And the cost? A bit under $25 – not too bad, eh?

Do it Yourself (DIY) Beauty Dish

Thanks to Lightandpixels.com for this . I saw it, loved it, will probably never try it but thought the idea was great! 

The beauty dish is a light modifier that provides sort of an intermediate result between a soft box and a bare bulb.  The beauty dish has been said to provide a light for beautiful people because it can show all of the imperfections in skin – especially if used wrong.  This is true when used too far away from the person being photographed.  The light is best used close up and just above to the subject.    The beauty dish allows for a bit of a dead spot in the middle helping to avoid hot spots on the face, The last statement has been proven to be a bunch of crap… please see this postto get that whole “dead spot good” thing cleared up… arghhhh – now back got to rest of the story… creates a neat light and soft fall off shadows. Some pretty cool portraits use this light modifier thought most of the “Pro” (read expensive) beauty dishes are at least 22” and many are larger.

Like I said, beauty dishes can be expensive…I’m cheap.  So I went the Do It Yourself (DIY) route.  I actually build one before but it was flimsy and I was always afraid my speed light would fall out and it was only about 12 inches across so that made the light even more harsh.

I stumbled on an 18” wooden bowl, actually I think its bamboo compressed in the shape of a bowl and that got the whole thing started.   This is sort of an Open Source beauty dish because it’s the result of combining several different DIY beauty dish projects that I’ve seen on the web and Flickr.  To make my version you need the following stuff…

Supplies

1.    A Big bowl – mine came from a pottery store of all places. (Potters world)
2.    A CD holder with a smooth rimless outer shell mine is the medium size 25 CDs I believe. In the final version I nixed the CD holder.  I used the base but the clear part just wasn’t adjustable and my light wasn’t smooth.  I continued to use the base though. (my office)
3.    A convex  3.75” wide angle round mirror (Wal-Mart)
4.    A 5” paintable wall guard (Wal-Mart)
5.    A plastic gutter downspout connector (Lowes)
6.    A silver CD (coaster from my office)
7.    A “L” bracket (Wal-Mart)
8.    4 – ½ long inch bolts and nuts size #20 (Wal-Mart)
9.    2 – ¾ inch bolts ¼ inch size (Wal-Mart)
10.    8 matching pan washers and 2 rubber washers. (Wal-Mart)
11.    Primer spray paint  – white primer is probably best (Wal-Mart)
12.    High gloss Flat white spray paint. (Wal-Mart)
13.    Matte black spray paint – I used Krylon (Wal-Mart)

Tools

1.    Drill and several bit sizes
2.    Dremel tool with saw attachment
3.    Fine grain (220) sand paper
4.    Thread cutter (optional)

How to

First thing is to get that bowl ready.  The one I used was covered in a lacquer that I was worried wouldn’t hold paint.  So I sanded it with the 220 sandpaper on both the front and the back.  Next, I sprayed the entire thing with primer.  Actually I did two coats of primer.  Once I had the entire thing covered with primer I sprayed the inside of the bowl with high gloss flat white paint and then the outside with the matte black.  I did the back last to try and reduce over spray and make a nice cut from black to white.  I didn’t want it to look too DIY.  

Next is working on the reflector base.  This required that I cut a hole in the bottom of the CD holder to match the gutter downspout.  I used a utility knife (the Dremel may have been a better choice) and went slow.  Once it was cut and trimmed I used the silicon to adhere the gutter and base of the CD case together.

 

UPDATE: Okay this is the part that really didn’t happen the way that I thought it would when I started this project. in the end, the CD hold just didn’t cut it because the reflector needed to be adjustable so I could get good smooth light.  To see that modification you need to go here and then you can come back and see the rest of the mounting bracket.

Now it’s time to build the reflector itself.  This was pretty easy.  My convex mirror had sticky tape on it so I stuck it to the center of the CD with the shiny side of the CD showing along side the mirror. Then siliconed the CD and mirror to the inside of the CD holder plastic.  The last step is to attach the door guard to the back of the CD case.  This is not really functional but it sure makes it look nicer.  Now you’re ready to join the base and the reflector for the first time. Of course you might want to stick your flash in there and see how it works – I did!

   

this picture really isn’t correct anymore since I ditched the use of the CD case. See the link above to see how the adjustable reflector is created.

UPDATE: Okay, we’re back!  The rest of the mounting bracket info is still good.

Once you have let everything dry you cut the hole for the CD base in the bowl.  I used the Dremel for this.  I then drilled holes in the CD base through the bowl and bolted them together.  I threaded the “L” bracket to hold a 5/8” spigot for mounting flash shoe to hold the flash solidly.  Remember I was worried with my old beauty dish that the flash would fall.  Then it’s time to attach the mounting “L” bracket to the bowl.  I did this somewhat by feel.  I set the bracket on the bowl with the flash attached in place in the downspout.  Then I marked through hole in the bracket onto the bowl with a sharpie.  I drilled this hole and loosely bolted the bracket in place.  Because the bowl is not flat I found I had to remove and bend the bracket.  This took a couple tries because I didn’t want to go to fast or far and have to bend it back.   One done I drilled the second hole and bolted it all in place with the large flat pan and rubber washers.  Tightened everything up and it was time to attach it to a light stand.   Here’s the final result.

I may still add some reflective aluminum tape to the CD base because it’s likely some light is being lost or at least not reflected back off of the black base.  Since I’m using speed lights I need all the light coming back out I can get.   The only other thing is I might paint the washer you can see in the front of the bowl so it matches but that’s just about aesthetics.

I’ll try and get a volunteer to do some headshots and post them soon.  In a previous post I used the dish to light some small objects on a white background it worked well for that.  I added a “white shirt” diffuser too and it make softer yet.   At 18” that’s a pretty big light source for a small object so it’s really very soft light.

Alien Bees (update)

I am in Atlanta right now, had a full day of shooting for Ciara. As a side note, she’s very cool and very talented and very very very easy to work with. That’s all I can say, I signed a contract! But we decided to take pictures for Ciara and a few minutes before the shoot the Alien Bees ring flash I bragged about a couple weeks back was no longer the hero of my collection. The ring, the silver 1 oz. cheap plastic ring fell out. When that falls out, the round filter falls out too. I put them back in, but they would not fit in snug and again after a few shots the ring flash popped out the 2 parts. Now if this happened in front of Ciara, it’s embarrassing. 

Luckily my amazing assistant, Tia suggested scotch tape (it’s the answer to so much) and that’s what we did. We held the ring light together with scotch tape!!! Ghetto? Yes. Tacky? Yes. Necessary? Yes, and that’s the part which bothers me. 

Monday I will call Alien Bees, and their amazing customer service department (not sarcasm). I wonder what they will say. Lets hope something positive comes out of this. If you still wonder if it’s a good buy…I have to say…if you are OK with scotch tape, then yes or crazy glue then yes. Otherwise wait and save more for a prophoto.

UPDATE from this post:

Ok it’s Monday. I am back from Atlanta, and just got off the phone with Alien Bees. I spoke to someone in customer service and before I could finish my sentence, he said “Just send it back for a full refund”. DAMN IT! I wanted to hate them and now I can’t!!! You gotta respect a company with that policy. Thanks Alien Bees. So again…do I suggest buying Alien Bees? Sure, why not. I say that because the next ring flash up is nearly $700 more and it this is a great way to learn, get test shoots, etc… even if you need to bring scotch tape with you. When you get to the BIG TIME shoots, rent a different brand if you feel better.

Alien Bee’s Ring Flash Review

Ok this is for those that love photography, and even at that, love it enough to purchase a ring flash…which in most cases mean you must love photo so much that you already bought a standard light kid. Ring flashes are a luxury item and most photographers buy the kit first. Ok enough of my run-on sentence and on to the Alien Bee’s Ring Flash.

I love it! I love that it’s light-weight, I love that it is affordable, and I love that it’s quite powerful for what most photographers will need. I just used it for a photo shoot and got my 2 looks that I needed … something soft and shadowless, and something harsh and hot! The flash gave me both! 

If you’ve purchased from Alien Bee’s, you will remember ONE big plus for that team. The customer service! How often do we find a company that has its customers bragging about how good they are. When I purchased my set, I called customer service and spoke with a lady. I gave her my ideas of my custom set and she listened. She also offered her advice and backed it up with valid information. I listened and changed my final order. I switched a couple items on my purchase and love the selections we made.

Price: It’s excellent. They give you bright colored lights, you order like you would at from a restaurant menu, and the options are easy. They have many useful resources on their website, which will help with your purchase decision. 

Now I know many photographers might wonder why I picked Alien Bee’s instead of pro photo, but I like them. The quality is high, it’s no pro photo but for day to day shooting and for smaller jobs they are perfect. When I do a magazine cover, I’ll make sure I get pro photo but until then…this is one of the best options in the market. 

So what’s wrong with the Alien Bee’s? Something, right? Yes there is one major flaw: They use cheap parts. Sure you need to use cheap parts to keep the cost low, but THAT cheap? There is an adjustment lever on the ring flash that will break if you put the slightest amount of pressure on it. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE YOU OPERATE IT. ONE WRONG MOVE AND THE LEVER WILL BREAK.