Auto vs Manual

Cameras and lenses these days come with all kinds of advantages for the average photographer. I can set up my camera to all auto, put on a flash and give it to my wife and she could get some good pictures where the subjects are properly exposed and for snapshots they would be great... But as professional photographers we need to get the most out of our cameras and one way to do this is to shoot manually. Now I'm not saying that I don't use auto sometimes, but I shoot in manual mode more often than not. I learned how to shoot manually when I shot film and have carried it over to digital. 

It's not that hard it just takes practice, but once you get into the habit you'll be amazed at how fast you can be shooting manually. For one thing you'll be able to focus on what you want instead of the camera choosing. An example of this would be if your shooting a sporting event and your trying to get one player, but another player is in between you and your target player, the camera likes to focus on the closest thing. Well guess what, it's going to focus on the other player and your subject is out of focus. Another reason would be if you have a scene where the exposure is all over the place and you have several dark places and light places of different values. The camera is going to try to set that at an exposure that will average the whole thing but you only want a very bright portion exposed properly and you don't care about the rest. Setting the exposure manually can help you get that one part exposed properly.

Shooting manually gives you a level of control that auto won't. I'm not saying you won't get great pictures on auto, but if you want to really step up your photography shoot in manual modes and really control your camera, instead of letting your camera control you.

Depth of Field

I've finished the depth of field article complete with images and before anyone complains about the color and focus, this was done very quickly to show the concepts of depth of field. I wanted to get this up quickly and I will be changing the photos as soon as I get some time to create better examples. I hope you find the article helpful.

Here's the link:

http://robertgainor.blogspot.com/p/depth-of-field.html

Depth of Field Article

I have the depth of field article written, I'm just waiting for the weather to cooperate so I can get some good example images. It's supposed to be clear tomorrow so I plan on going out and getting the shots I need. Sorry it's taking so long.

Lighting Workshop Aftermath

We survived!!!

It was a great workshop and everyone learned something. I think one unfortunate thing was the weather didn't cooperate with us to well but we persevered in spite of it.

I know we covered a whole range of topics and hopefully we answered everyone's questions but there were some questions on depth of field that I'll be covering here in a future post. I'll be shooting some examples over the next couple of days to help with the explanation. Hopefully this will clear up some of the confusion that I saw at the workshop.

I will also be getting a list of my equipment to everyone and where I bought it and how much I paid for it. Just remember that some of the speedlights that I use are very old and SHOULD NOT BE PUT DIRECTLY ON YOUR CAMERA. I use them mainly with radio triggers and off camera.

I'd really like to thank Melissa and Tyler for helping out. They were really helpful during the breaks discussing some of the information and answering questions for people. I'd also like to thank my wife Louise for putting up with me while we put this workshop together. I hope everyone had a great time and I hope you plan on attending our next workshop which we will be covering creative lighting. Look here and on Facebook for times and place.

Lighting Workshop

The day has finally arrived. We've got everything together and will be setting up soon. The apartment smells great with pumpkin spice muffins and chocolate cupcakes that Louise, my wife, made. I'm looking forward to meeting everyone and having a great time. We'll be posting photos tomorrow when it's all done. I'd like to thank everyone who helped put this together it was a lot of hard work.

Just to let everyone know we've started planning our next workshop already, which we're looking to put on in a few weeks.

Lighting Workshop

Wow! I never thought that it would take as long as it did but we finally have the lighting workshop lesson plan done. The Power Point is also finished. One last thing to get finished is setting up the layout for the class. 

We have a bunch of equipment that we want to show everyone and we also have a few techniques to demonstrate. I think this is going to be a fun class and I'm sure everyone will learn something. So those of you that are coming this Saturday be sure to bring your cameras. If you have a flash or light meter bring that as well.

Looking forward to seeing everyone there on Saturday.

www.robertgainorphotography.com/lighting-workshop

Lighting Workshop

One more week to go! Can't wait. We've got two models lined up, one girl I've worked with before and another that I've been wanting to photograph for a while. We have all of our goodie packages together and are getting the equipment ready. We still have quite a few openings so if you want to come you can register at www.robertgainorphotography.com/lighting-workshop. We'd love to have you.

Ebay Purchases

Well I purchased some equipment on ebay and am waiting for all of it to get here.

One Item already arrived: Professional 80cm Octagon Umbrella Speedlite Softbox Reflector (80cm is a little over 30 inches). It cost me $25 with free shipping and I was pleasantly surprised at the quality. It took less than 5 minutes to set up and it put out some pretty decent light. Now it's no Westcott Apollo with the rip-stop nylon and it only has one zipper opening unlike the four zipper opening of the Apollo but it's fairly deep, and you can use it with the diffusion panel taken completely off to give it some virsatility.

Another thing I purchased and I can't wait to get it is the Opteka OSC18 1/8" Universal Honeycomb Speed Grid for External Flash. They also have a 1/4 inch grid as well. This one cost me $8.95 and is an "Open Box" but Opteka stated in the description that "All open box items carry a standard return policy and will include a full manufacturer's warranty". From the reviews that I've read there are some minor issues with mounting the product, most of them state that adding another velcro strap or rubber band fixes the problem. Not so bad considering that the Honl Grids cost anywhere from $25.00 to $30.00 plus shipping. I'm really looking forward to getting this item. I love honeycomb spot grids. I have a full set for my Alien Bees and have been wanting one to put on my speedlites for a while. If this thing works out I'm probably going to purchase another one. I like to use them on my background lights with different color gels to get some really nice effects. I'll write up a full review of this after I test it out.

The third thing I purchased was a Ravelli ABS Background Stand, Again another open box item from Assiamounts out of Phoenix, AZ. My winning bid was $62.00 and at that price  it also comes with two Prism backdrops, one white, one black. I admit I was really looking for extra light stands but at that price I just couldn't pass this up especially when Amazon has this kit for $152.00. It also comes with a guarantee against defects. I should be able to use the supports as light stands if I want as well. Again I'll review this once I get it and check it out.
 

Here are the links the manufacture's or seller's web sites so you can check this stuff out.  As with all things you purchase on ebay, make sure you can return it for defects, check on customer reviews (I found most of this stuff reviewed on Youtube), and try to get it for the lowest price you can.

http://www.cowboystudio.com/product_p/8080%20octagon%20umbrella%20softbox.htm

http://opteka.com/osc18.aspx

http://ravelliphoto.com/ravelli-abs.html 

4th of July

Well I was going to go out tonight and shoot pics of fireworks but as luck would have it, it's pouring out, So no firework photos this year but if you want to know the best way to take firework shots read on.

First thing you need is a tripod. Next get yourself a cable release or remote. As for the type of lens I've used various lenses but find that a wide angle lens works well if your close to where they're firing them off and a longer lens if you're further away. I set the shutter speed to bulb and the aperture I set it to the widest opening to start with and gradually close it down depending on my exposure. You then need to figure out where the fireworks are going to be going off and point your camera in that general direction. When you see them fire one off before it explodes open the shutter. Keep it open as long as you want to get the colors, for multiple fireworks keep it open longer and for single fireworks keep it open shorter times. Don't be afraid to experiment with it.

Thrift Store Find (Olympus FL-40)

Went to a thrift store yesterday here in the area that offers a 25% discount on Mondays. They always have a few camera bags behind the counter and I went up and had them pull them down so I could see what was in them. One bag had an off brand 35mm film camera with two lenses and a small flash with no bounce. Tried to open the battery compartment and it was full of leaky batteries. That one was a definite no. The next one had an old Canon AE1 with two third party lenses and a small Sears flash. They wanted $40.00, with the 25% discount that would have put it at $30.00. Still too high so no. Last bag was $12.99, so it came in at $9.75. It had an old Olympus 2.5 megapixel digital camera with an Olympus FL-40 flash. I took a chance and bought it without testing it out. and $9.75 no great loss if it didn't work. Fortunately when I got it home and tested out the flash it worked fine. Score!

I went online and did some research and found that it's a pretty decent flash, It has a Guide Number of 40 and it's adjustable in 1/4 power steps. The head rotates 360 degrees and bounce of 90 degrees. It has a tele and wide setting. The GN of 40 is at the tele setting. The only thing I don't like about it is it doesn't hold the last settings when it's turned off, so I'll have to keep an eye on that when I'm using it. There is one on ebay for over $40.00 right now with 2 bids on it. Amazon has them for over $110. You can check it out here: 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004Z97S/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=. 

I know this flash isn't that powerful but it will come in handy for all sorts of things.  Oh and I gave the camera to my 7 year old who loves it. Two Velcro strips later and this thing's in the bag ready for use. As always with used older flashes this thing will never see the hotshoe on any of my cameras but with remotes it'll work just fine.

You never know what you're going to find at the thrift stores. Just make sure that you don't overpay and check everything for battery leaks. If you're unsure and you have a smart phone you can always look something up online before you buy. You can even take in your own batteries to check stuff out. I try to carry 4 AA batteries just for that purpose, I just forgot to put them in my pocket yesterday. I have several flashes that I bought from thrift stores for very little money, some of them I use quite a bit for product type shots, Others work great for on location portrait shoots. Never underestimate those older flashes. Even the ones that can't be adjusted. You can do a lot with them using gels and gobos.

July Quick Tip: Super Clamps

My quick tip for July is really not a tip but some equipment advice. I've been playing around with some different lighting setups and found one piece of equipment invaluable, the Super Clamp. They're manufactured by several different companies but all of them operate about the same. Here's a link to Manfotto's version at Adorama: http://www.adorama.com/BG2900.html. The price for one of these is anywhere from $17 up to $50. I was lucky and found mine at a surplus store for $5 a piece (I bought three of them and would have bought more if I had more money) but mine are white instead of black but, mine also came with spring clamps that attach to the stud.

These things are so versatile it's unbelievable. I took one and turned two light stands into a boom stand. Now I wouldn't attach a heavy mono light to it but a small speed light did just fine. I also use them with my 6ft diffusion panel. I put two of them on a light stand and attach two speed lights to it then clamp the diffusion panel to another light stand and I have a nice diffused strip light. Need to hold a bounce card in a difficult spot? With a spring clamp on one of these super clamps your good to go.

There is an unlimited amount of accessories that you can purchase to use with these things as well but you can do so much with just a clamp and a stud.

Next to gaffer tape these things are a must in your bag.