Worldwide Photowalk 2

The Corner

Scott Kelby's Second Annual Worldwide Photowalk is being held July 18, 2009. For more details go over to the Worldwide Photowalk website. There doesn't appear to be one near me yet, but that doesn't really matter this year. We have plans for that weekend and I won't be able to participate. I did go to it last year in Greenville and had a lot of fun. My shots from then are over in my gallery site here. The photograph above is one from last year's photowalk.

It looks like there are a lot more cities this year. While there is the chance to win some prizes, the best part is meeting other people with the same interest in photography. Check it out and attend one near you if you can. It is a great way to meet people, explore your hometown, and learn a bit more about photography.

If you enjoy the experience then start up a photowalk group of your own. Jeff Revell's PhotoWalkPro Blog can give you some tip and pointers on how to do just that.

That's it for today.

Keep shooting.

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DIY Studio: The $20 Softbox Part 1

I've been trying to get a better set-up for lighting studio style photographs at home. The biggest problem was getting diffused light. I had tried some DIY lightboxes, but wasn't really happy with them. Plus, they wouldn't have worked for portraits anyway ... can't stuff a person in a small lightbox ... well, you can't legally anyway.

I've been mulling over this for awhile now. I do plan on eventually getting a lightstand or two and a couple of umbrellas, and maybe a studio light setup someday. However, funds are tight right now and I can't really justify those expenses. Most DIY projects that I've seen would have ended up costing me as much, if not more, than a lightstand/bracket/umbrella set would have since I would need to get the tools as well. I'm not a very handy person anyway, so I have been looking around for something that I could adapt easily and cheaply. Today I found it at Target. I call it the $20 Softbox. More after the jump.



So what is this miracle of inexpensive light diffusion? You are probably going to laugh at this, but it is a 36 inch, self assembled Clothes Closet with fabric enclosure. Follow the link to see it on Target's website. It is constructed of tubes and some plastic connectors. I am not sure that I would hang a lot of clothes in it because it isn't particular strong, but that isn't what I bought it for. The beauty in this is the fabric enclosure. It is seamless on the back while the front has a nice, large zippered door. The frame measures 18 inches x 75 inches x 36 inches. So, for $20 you get a 75" x 36", floor sitting softbox. You just have to supply the light.

What light did I use? I used my Nikon SB600 Speedlight. I put it on my Gorillapod SLR Zoom which has a Manfrotto ballhead attached to it. I then sat the Gorillapod/flash on a stool. This puts the flash at about the middle of the fabric enclosure ... er, the softbox. I have the flash set to 24mm zoom with a Sto-fen Omnibounce diffuser on it. The Sto-fen provides some initial diffusion to fill up the softbox. The flash is set to wireless mode and is fired by the remote commander function of my D80.

Here are some shots of it.

Setup Shot #1
What you see here is:
1 - Center: A folding table with a background sweep, gnome supermodel, and a fill card.
2 - Right: Tripod, kinda dark I know. Squint and you'll see it.
3 - Front camera left: Photographer Cooling Unit, i.e. the big, black, round pedestal fan. The room isn't air conditioned.
4 - Rear camera left: The $20 Softbox and flash behind it.

Notice how the entire fabric enclosure is filled with light.

Setup Shot #2
This shot was taken looking toward the front of the softbox while lit with the flash.

Front of the Softbox
Notice that there are no seams on the front of the softbox / rear of the closet.

Rear of the Softbox
Here is a shot of the rear of the softbox with the flash firing into it. The door is opened to allow the light to hit the front of the softbox. I think the zipper would leave a shadow if you left the door closed.

One thing that you can also do is to mount the flash inside by hanging if off of the "closet rack bar". I wrapped my Gorillapod's legs around the top bar for the next couple of shots.

Flash Mounted inside; normal orientation

Flash mounted inside; alternate orientation via ballhead

Light Pattern with flash inside in alternate orientation
The really nifty thing about this last shot is that it was taken with the wireless flash. The camera's signal was able to trigger it through the diffusion material. Pretty cool for us wireless TTL flash users.

So, how does it work? Here are a couple of shots taken of a gnome supermodel that agreed to pose.

Gnome lit with wireless TTL flash camera left, no fill

Gnome lit with wireless TTL flash camera left, fill card camera right

They certainly are not the greatest pieces of art ever photographed, but I like how the softbox is diffusing the light. I will be experimenting with this more in the days to come. I plan on drafting my son for some test portraits as well.

I think this will be a fairly flexible light modifier. The flash can be placed at any particular level relative to the softbox. It is very light and can be moved around very easily. If you want to restrict the zone of light coming out of it, all you would need to do is to flag off the area that you don't want light to come through.

Anyway, it looks like a good deal for $20 from Target and 15-30 minutes of assembly time.

Edit: After sleeping on the idea, I will be playing around with some easy modifications. I plan on lining it with aluminium foil to direct the light escaping from the sides and back. Plus, I plan on rigging up some flags or gobos with some Velcro to control the light spill and pattern. Read more!

Favorite Links

I realized that I needed a centralized place to list my favorite and recommended links. I didn't want to use a link sidebar as those tend to get really long and distracting. So, here is a running compilation of my favorite photography related links. I will link to in at the top of the sidebar and will be adding to it as I find sites to recommend.


Photon Links

1001 Noisy Cameras is a blog that tracks the happenings among the camera manufacturers on the web. It is an excellent place to go to find the latest rumors as well as links to leaks and compilations of sales statistics.
bythom is Thom Hogan's blog and website. He is a professional landscape photographer. His site also is packed full of information about Nikon photography products. If you are a Nikon shooter, checkout his site.
David Tejada: A commerical photographer's blog with stunning photographs and excellent behind the scenes videos.
digial Photography School blog: A great resource for people learning photography or brushing up on their skills. Check out the forums while you are there.
Digital Photography Review is one of the quintessential websites for camera reviews. They have recently started reviewing lens as well. Their forums are very active and a good source of information and at times amusement.
Digital ProTalk: A reknowned wedding photographer with lots of photography, business and Photoshop tips.
FlashFlavor: Another wedding photographer that uses small flashes extensively in his work. Trash the dress!
Joe McNally: Lighting Guru, National Geographic/Life/Time/Sports Illustrated photographer, writer. One of the good guys.
Lighting Essentials: A lighting resource for both studio and location portraiture. He works mainly with models ... lots of pretty models at that.
Moose Peterson : A wildlife and research photographer. Great landscapes and wildlife shots here.
Pro Photo Life: Jim Talkington's excellent blog that discusses the business of photography as well as the technical side of it.
Photozone is a one stop place for lens reviews. If you are looking for a new lens, they have probably tested and reviewed it.
Rob Galbraith: Digital Photography Insights is a professional's observations on the industry and trends.
The Strobist: The quitessential site for learning how to use small strobes quickly and effectively.

Pixel Links

Dave Cross: One of the Photoshop Guys.
Epic Edits Weblog: Brian Auer's photography and Photoshop blog.
Photoshop User TV: The link to see the Photoshop Guys' shows. Great tips on using Photoshop and some of the other Adobe products.
Scott Kelby's Photoshop Insider: One of the Photoshop guys and author of Photoshop and photography books.

Project Links

DIYPhotography.net: A good resource for do-it-yourself projects to try and save some cash on photographic equipment.
Lighting Mods: Another good place to search for DIY ideas.

Presentation Links

Flickr: The most popular photography sharing and social site.
Mpix.com: An excellent print lab. I love the Kodak metalic paper.
Pbase: A photograph hosting service which is a bit more upscale than Flickr.
SmugMug: A photograph hosting service which is a bit more upscale than Flickr.
Zenfolio: Another upscale photograph hosting service and the one that I use.








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