my blog has been moved to www.alvinrenz.com

my blog has been moved to www.alvinrenz.com

High Tech Flash, the power of light

Nissin is back on the market again with some cool idea, or not? the launch a couple of new stuff that they said it's high tech.. let see what imean.

Color and Auto Rotate Display bears simple and user friendly features of our design concept

The Color Display will automatically follow camera angle in different position and six icons interface gives user friendly operation and representing different menus – Auto, TTL, Manual/Av, Multi, Wireless TTL (Master/Remote) and Customer Setting.

Light it digital strobist magazine

Light It: The How-To Magazine for Studio Lighting and Off-Camera Flash is the first digital photography lighting magazine from Scott Kelby and KelbyTraining.com made exclusively for the Apple iPad. It features the industry’s top experts on photography lighting, studio lighting, small camera flash, portrait lighting, location lighting and more. Readers will also find plenty of lighting tips and tricks, a section just for beginners, interviews with the pros, and news about the latest gear. Light it is for photographers of all skill-levels who use lighting or want to explore lighting concepts.

Greenpeace: Voices of change. Shot on Canon 5dmkII

The Sandpit

The Sandpit

by Sam O'Hare

More of Sam’s work can be found at the Aero Film website as well as his own personalphotography blog and his Twitter page.

©Christoph Martin Schmid

By Sara Lando -- There is something about Berlin photographer Christoph Martin Schmid's work that makes the viewer uneasy. His images are suspended, eerie and polished to the point they seem to transcend reality. His ability to compress a whole story into one single frame has allowed him to land international advertising campaigns and become widely recognized.

Today we go behind the scenes with this image from his Scream!!series.
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For technical and practical reasons, the image was shot in two parts.

It finally happened!

Metrophoto Hothouse New York finally happened.. thank's to Sachie and specially Oly Ruiz for making this happen..

It was almost a whole day of shooting and it's pretty cool when we started shooting in middle of the Highline park, we were about 13 shooters and 2 models (the asian couple). just imagine how cool is that. all the people who about to pass us stop and look at the models and start asking "who is that celebrity''? they all thought that the two are celebrity. but anyway in the end we stop by the nearest park and sachie start giving certificate.

Westcott Apollo rivals come in all shapes and sizes

The Apollo from Westcott is a square softbox known for its quick assembly. The distinctive light modifier opens, closes and mounts like an umbrella, making it ideal for location photography. It comes in 28″ and 50″ square models. At a recommended retail price of $166.45 for the small one, however, the Apollo isn’t cheap, and some photographers have been on the lookout for a lower-cost equivalent.

Phottix have announced a new product called the Easy-Up Umbrella Softbox, designed to be “ready to use in seconds – no fighting with rods and speed rings”. It comes in square (70*70cm) and rectangular (60*90cm) and is on sale at a cracking US$57 – a fraction of the price of the Apollo.

Photoloving have also released some of these softboxes in an even wider range of shapes and sizes under their iShoot brand. They offer 60*90cm and 70*70cm models as Phottix, plus a 50*70cm version and an 80cm octagonal one! ThePortable Reflective Umbrella Softboxes are sold in US$100 kits including light stands and adapters. The softboxes are also available separately for around $50 (you have to ask directly).

As well as the new releases from Phottix and iShoot, we also spotted similar softboxes from Nice at Interphoto Shanghai, suggesting there may be even more brands and sellers on the horizon.

So are these cheap Apollo-esque softboxes going to give Westcott a run for their money? The company don’t seem to think so. In a statement, the Westcott team said,

I am rubber you are glue! The first official "Bounce" meetup. Reflectors only!

yesterday we had a meet up from tampa bay strobist,

the main concept is to shoot without any strobe's, just reflector.

im not really on to ambient light and because of that

i ended up holding the reflector so my groupmate's can shoot.

They provide 5 or 6 models in the shoot. and all the members are

split in numbers of group. each group will have a turn on each model.

and the picture above was one of the few shot that i took while holding the reflector.

light it, shoot it, re-touch it

me and my friend's from our photography group joined the seminar of Scott Kelby training on orlando this morning.

it was great, there is a lot of people who joined and as well as the sponsor booth outside the seminar room, they got B&h Photo and bunch of DVD tutorial's and book's that will put your photoshop skill's to the limit.

this photo on the left was taken during out photoshoot the other day in a lake just beside downtown Lakeland.

For me i learned stuff like how to light your subject, coposition, and the most thing i probably like is on how Scott Kelby teach one by one on how to propper re-touch your photo's and postprocess it.

enough with the strobe and....

enough with the strobist, and step aside your pocket wizard.

David Hill layers. Mind blowing skills

Adventure Series - Exposed from Dave Hill

the behind the scene 3d from his 2d images

it was created for the launch of his redesign website.

finally, the moment i've been waiting for!

Hothouse New York:

August 13, 2011

Meat Packing District, New York City

$250 per slot

Please e-mail workshop organizer Sachi Villareal at sachiweddings@gmail.com to book a slot.

mymetrophoto

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Hothouse is the workshop series of Metrophoto on wedding photography. It is especially crafted to bring interested photographers all the learning, techniques, and knowledge that have made the Metrophoto brand succeed in the short time since its inception.

Hothouse, as the dictionary defines it, is an environment that encourages rapid growth or development of someone in a stifling or intense way. That is exactly what aim for but in a sure fun and inspiring way. It is a comprehensive download of everything that we know to help your photography and business get to the next level.

Part of the workshop activities and discussions are shooting concepts, equipment line-up and set-up, actual shoot, post production, up to branding and marketing and dealing with clients. We’ll simulate how to extract unique and stylish images out of a location that seemed to have nothing, we’ll share and show all the gears we use and WHEN and WHERE we use them and what could be your cheaper alternative, we’ll explain how to get that Metrophoto look right from the shooting up to final processing, and most importantly, how to create your own brand and business.

vivitar 85mm f/1.4 aspherical lens

it's about week now since i got my vivitar 85mm f/1.4, and im starting to like this lens. not only its 1.4 but it is also aspherical.. since this lens is manual focus, it's kinda tricky to focus,but i manage to use the live view for accurate focusing.

but for the rest, quality and build its amazing how this 329$ perform..

the metal and plastic built was beter than other third party lens.

the hood is plastic but it doesn't matter as long as it work..

katzeye offer focusing screen for diffrent camera models. but this is not only simple focusing screen, it has a split prism circle and microprism colar. it's like the focusing screen on those old camera's were autofocus are not inveted yet. and it really work's

here is a review of katzeye for 50D

Reverse Engineer This Light :by DIYP

original post from: DIYP

I did mention that all the lighting on the set was DIY and made by yours truly.

Before I go ahead and do the lighting breakdown (I don't actually have to reverse engineer it, I was there and took pictures :)), I am placing the portrait on the big again below. Look at it (or super size it) and then skip to the actual break down (which is also a sneak peek into my living room)

The key (1), as many of you guessed was a snooted strobe on camera right, high above the model at f/10. This can be deducted from the hard nose shadow and the higher catch light on the eyes. The actual snoot is a beer cozy with the bottom cut. There were some guesses about a beauty dish, I think a BD would give a softer falloff on the nose.

The fill (2), as again many of you indicated, is a 40cm DIY softbox camera left about 2 stops down from main. You can see the square on the second catch light on the left. Actually, If you went super close on the portrait you could see the hotspot in the middle of the square which is common to DIY softboxes which don't have an internal diffusion screen. The tutorial for building this softbox will go up tomorrow.

The third (3) light which provided separation is a flash with 1/2 CTO gel and a coroplast gridspot positioned a bit lower than the model's head and pointing upwards. it is very close to the backdrop and creates a small circle. Many guessed that one as well, but for some reason the gel was hard to pick up.

A little bit more fill (5) coming from below is a foamboard reflector covered with aluminum foil. It was placed a little higher on the tripod which is not in the picture.

The backdrop (4) is a stretch of black fabric. It is held with a hangman stick-in-a-can and a few A clamps.

Lastly, the chair (6) is an $8 stool from IKEA.

It is great to see how well a DIY studio can light a portrait, and if you find this to be as much fun as I do, you'd be happy to hear that this image is going to feature is a DIYP studio book coming soon. The book features many lighting and studio projects that you can build at home.

rim light diy by: Kevin Thai

See the full tutorial and motivation over at Kevin's blog (which is also a great learning resource and a burl of clever pictures).

Reverse Engineering Other Shooters' Light

a helpfull Q,A by david hobby

Q: Where did the light come from?
A: The shadows will tell you.

Q: Were there multiple sources?
A: If the light appears to be coming from multiple directions (assuming no mirrors) probably. Also check for inconsistent shadows.

Q: Was the strobe light balanced?
A: Well, do the florescents look, say, white? There you go. Ditto tungsten, etc.

Q: Is the light falling over a small, restricted area?
A: Snoot or grid.

Q: What is the easiest way to check the style of the front light in a portrait?
A: Eyes make good mirrors to see the light sources. If they are wearing sunglasses, you are golden. Unless they Photoshopped it. And no, you cannot do that if you are a journalist. And if you are a Strobist, you shouldn't have to.

Q: Was the light nearby?
A: Check how fast it falls off as it travels across the subject. Fast? Yes. Slow or none? No.

Q: Was the light source large?
A: Depends on how close it is. A small, shoe-mount flash head looks like a softbox from 2" away on a macro shot. The sun, which is the largest light source you'll likely be using, is pretty hard because of the 93,000,000 mile thing. It is all about how big the light appears to the subject.

Q: Is that light strobe or continuous?
A: That can be a toughie. You can use available light effectively enough to fool people.

Q: How did they get that overcast sky so neon blue?
A: Set the camera balance to tungsten, which renders the formerly neutral clouds blue. Underexpose the sky (to, say, a stop below medium grey) for more of an effect. Then, CTO-gel the flash lighting your subject to render the light hitting it as white and you have the effect.

Q: This is starting to sound random and incoherent. Are you OK?
A: Yes, it is. And no, I am not. I am home sick from work today, feeling like I got runover by a train. I will add more to it later when I am more lucid.

But I hope you are starting to get the idea that there are no secrets when it comes to light.

Only physics.

you can see the full post here

strobist set up

dustin diaz is one of my favorite flickr user, not because of his style by matching strobe and bokeh on most of his shot, he is also uploading his lighting set-up for most of his shot's.

you can find his flickr acount in here

you can find his lighting setup link at the bottom of each photos he uploaded.

the peeping tom project

The making of Peeping Tom from Sinclair & Hill on Vimeo.

another set up for my next photoshoot.. anyway.. medyo mkang mahihirapan ako dito sa set up na to, dahi sa style ng bathroom namin, i hope gumana at mag karoon din ng magandang results sa mga strobes.

for the final project of this video its here james hill's flickr

highspeed strobing

kung nabasa mo ung previous na post medyo maiintindihan mo na to kung papaano..

highspeed photography.. ang kailangan mo dito timing at bilis

so anu nga ba yang nasa picture????

lighter yan na may powder..anung klaseng powder?bahala kna don. basta powder..

anywai... simple lang

din ang concept nito..

unahin ko munang ipakita yung set up ng ilaw

dito ang set up ng ilaw ay snooted.. nakita mo ung nasa dulo nang flash? parang cup na mahaba pero isalang ang ginagawa ng snoot, para ma i focus mo ung flash mo kung san mo lang gustong pabagsakin ung ilaw.. more control sa ilaw

sa speed photography kailangan ng speed kya dapat ang shutterspeed mo mabilis.. pero diba nga ang sabi ko dun sa unang post hangang 1/250 sec. lang ang maximum sync nang strobe mo pag wireless... maliban nalang kung naka ettl cord ka or pocketwizard na trigger,, anywai. so ibig sabihin hangang 1/250 sec. lang ang kaya mong i push sa shutterspeed mo, so go i push mo lang hehe...

bakit ba kailangang 1/250 sec. kung pepede naman sa mas mababa...??? pde kaso... kya ko ina-advice na itaas mo, let say nasa lugar ka na masyadong maliwanag ang ilaw or (ambient light) pwedeng maapektuhan ung shots mo at mahaluan ng ambient light..mag kakaroon ng blurr or trail sa subject mo.. or tulad nung shot ko nayan black ang background once na nahaluan ng ambient light yan di na magiging pure black yan...

marami kang makikitang diy tungkol sa highspeed photography na ginagamitan ng ibat ibang klaseng trigger...

mayrong sound activated trigger na kpag nakarinig ng sound ay mag ttriger ung flash

mayron din na motion sensor trigger na once na hit ung particular na object mag ttriger ung flash..

pero hindi iyong ang ginamit ko sa shot na ito. lahat nayan manual..lol..

isipin mo kung pano?

simple lang. naka tripod ung camera ko,

naka set sa manual focus at naka focus na din kung san babagsak ung lighter,

ung flash naka set narin sa tamang exposure.

bilang ka ng 1.. 2.. .....3.. drop.. sakto mo lang na pag bagsak nung lighter na click mo nadin ung shutter, then pag hindi mo nakuha ulitin mo lang ulit, hangang sa maka kuha ka na nang gusto mong kuha...

so pano naman ung mga sound trigger at motion??

ang ginagawa lang nung mga sensor nayan ay nagagawa nilang i-trigger ung flash sa tamang oras.. like pag binagsak ko ung lighter nayon at narinig nya mag ttriger ung flash..

so pano naman ung shutter ng camera, pano mo pipindutin qng dimo alam kung kelan mag ttriger ung flash?

ganito ang ginagawa nila.. unang una dapat nasa madilim na lugar mo ito gagawin, ok lang kahit sa kwarto na may ilaw basta napaptay..haha

so inaayos muna nila lahat ng setting sa camera, focus, flash etc. na kailangan.

tapos ilalagay nila sa "bulb" ung shutterspeed nila..

akala ko ba dapat highspeed mabilis ang shutter? edi pag bulb mabagal..

yes, pero isipin once ok na ang lahat at pinatay mo ang ilaw, wala nang ambient light.!

wala na ding mag bblur sa subject mo kase ang tanging ilaw lang na papasok sa camera mo ay yung nang gagaling sa flash..kuha mo?

so ganun lang kasiple ung concept nito..

i ayos lahat.. bulb mode, flash power, focus at subject mo.. once na ok na ang lahat. patayin ung ilaw.. hold mo ung shutter at wag mong bbitawan hangat hindi nag fflash. ibagsak mo ung subject mo sa powder pag nag flash na bitawan mo na shutter mo.. ayon pasok na yon:)

*take note sa may mga sound trigger at motion trigger lang to..

one light set-up

bago mo bilin lahat ng mga kung anu anu pang light modifier dian minsan mas magandang mag stick ka lang muna sa umbrella pag aralan mo muna kung pano ang bagsak ng ilaw sa subject mo, anung bang pinag kaiba pag malayo o malapit sa subject ang ilaw o mas mataas ba o mas mababa...?

this picture was taken during 4th of july, sa isang lake kami nag sama sama at nanuod ng fireworks at sakto may break water sa tapat ng bahay at naka pag shoot kahit sandali..

so lets talk about this set up. ang unang unang gwin mo muna is i proper expose mo muna yung sunset mo kung maari wag mong gwing long exposure or lalagpas sa 1sec ang exposure mo. timplahin mo lang gamit ang iso at ilagay mo sa wideopen yung f/stop mo.kase baket? pag lumagpas ka sa 1sec mag bblurr na ung subject mo. kahit na sabihin mong naka tripod ka kung gumagalaw sya....

so oks na ang exposure mo..

let say ang settings mo is

1/50 sec.

f4.5

iso 400

proper exposed nang sunset

dito na papasok ang strobist.....

ang gamit ko dito ay canon 430exII na may cooling gel or blue gel bakit? kasi naka set up ung white balance ko sa manual at siguro nasa mga 900K ang color temp ng white balance ko, so pag kinuhanan ko to ng walang blue gel mag mumukang hellboy itong model ko.magiging pula.lol.. so ayon comonsense lang .. kase pag hindi ko ginawang warm ung white balance ko or nilagay ko sa auto... ang gagawin ng auto white balance mo is ggwing cool, which is mawawala ung effect ng sunset..

para naman sa flash naka shoot thru ako kase medyo malayo yung ilaw sa model kya kailangan ko ng pakalat na bagsak nang ilaw para buong katawan nya ang mailawan....

pano naman ang settings ng flash?

nasasayo yan ibat ibang subject kanya kanyang settings ng ilaw.. so hangat maari wag mong galawin ung setting ng camera kasi ok na sya.. pag under exposed ung subject mo lakasan mo lang ung flash mo.. or pag over hinaan mo lang.. simple..

*update... at sa strobist wag kang lalagpas ng 1/250 sec. dahil masyado nang mabilis ung shutterspeed nayon para mag sync sa flash mo.. ang kakalabasan pag sobra sa 1/250 sec. either kalahati lang makukuhanan mo or full black:P

self portrait

in my right: reflected umbrella with cto in 430ex @1/8 power

in my left: yongnuo bare @1/64 power

strobist project

the set-up:

1 430ex @ 1/16 power with cto gel in umbrella

1 yongnuo 460 @ 1/32 power with blue gel.

50mm 1.8

camera settings:

1/180 sec.

f/5.6

Lighting in Layers by david hobby

samyang 85mm/1.4 ASPHERICAL IF

samyang 85mm/1.4 ASPHERICAL IF

i just ordered this big chunk of glass and it's still on its way..

i hope sana sa monday dumating na.. ang dami kong nababasa sa ibat ibang blog tungko dito sa portrait lens na to..

full manual lens ito at mayron din mount sa mga nikon, sony, olympus,etc. kilala din ito sa madaming brand names na samyang, rokinon, vivitar at bower. originated at made in korea.

hindi lang 85mm ang na produce nilang lens na maganda.. andyan din ung 8mm, 14mm para sa mga lanscape at fishey lover...isa din sa gawa nila ay ang 500mm na reflective lens.. napansin ko lang sa mga lens nila ay puro prime.

martin prihoda Cosmo India Dec 2010 Cover shoot

strobist

nung una palang akong pumasok sa mundo ng photography portrait agad ang naging kahiligan ko, naalala ko pa non na wala pa akong alam tungkol sa mga flash photography.. pero nung biglang lumaki ang taong nahihilig sa flash photography, naging kasabay nadin ako nito sa pag lawak at ang una kong na kita dito ay si david hobby na sakanya nag mula ang salitang "strobist"

ang strobist ay isang concepto na kung saan di mo kailangan gumastos nang malaki para ma gaya ang mga shots na kuha gawa sa studio..

equipment:

1.Speedlight/

ito na siguro ang pinaka importante na parte sa strobist.

kung wala ka nito wag mo nalang isipin pa..

pero kung meron kanaman na canon 430EX o nikon SB800 pdeng pde ..

para naman sa ibang wala pa at nag sasabing mahal ang presyo? maraming mga generic na flash na pde mong gamitin

as long na na aadjust mo ang power output nito, all goo

d ka.

yongnuo: isa to sa mga brand ng generic na subok na.

tatlo ang pinaka basic na flash na dapat meron ka.. pero di ko naman sinasabi na bumili ka ng tatlo, para sakin lang pag may tatlong flash kana all good kna ulet..

2. radio trigger/flash trigger

ito naman ang nag sisilbing taga trigger nang flash wirelessly once na nag take ka ng picture, nabubuo to nang dalawang parts.

*recieve

r kung saan mo dapat ilalagay ang flash mo

*sender kung saan mo dapat ilagay sa hotshoe nang camera mo.

simple lang naman.. parang ios.5 ng apple wireless sync na:)

maari kang bumili nang kahit ilang reciever ang gusto mo hangat may flash kang pag lalagyan..

suggested ko na bilin nyo ay ito: yongnuo

RF-603

maraming mga flash trigger na branded at hindi generic.. para sa mga di nag titipid itong para sainyo Pocket wizard..

3. umbrella bracket.

ito naman ang nag bubuo sa tatlong gagamitin mo..

*flash

*umbrella

*light stand

simple lang din.. kung wala ka nito hindi mo malalagyan ng umbrella ang flash mo, at kung wala

ka din nito mahihirapan kang ilagay ang flash mo sa light stand...kya importan
te din to..umbrella swivel holder

4. umbrella

madaming klase ng umbrella ang mabibili mo ngayon.."hindi ung pang ulan" ang pinaka basic sakanila ay ang shoot thru at bounce umbrella,

ang shoot thru ay yung parang nasa image sa kaliwa.. na dapat ang umbrella mo facing sa subject mo..

ang bounce naman ay kabaliktaran na which is naka talikod ang payong sa subject mo.. ang pinag kaiba? mas focus ang ilaw kapang bounce kung san lang naka focus ung umbrella dun lang ang bagsak ng ilaw.. sa shoot thru naman ay kalat kya mas maganda itong gamitin pag group shots

5.Light Stand

light stand.. nabibili sa mag kakaibang sukat, haba,bigat at laki

wala namang typical na kailangan bilin dito, basta make sure na matibay ang bibilin mo.. at di babagsak ang mga speedlights mo..

so pag pinag sama sama mo lahat yan at kahit isang set lang ang mabuo mong ilaw ayos lang.. madami namang pedeng gamitin tulad ng mga reflector para i bounce ang ilaw mo.

diy beauty dish

sa dami dami ng diy light modifiers ito lang ang nagustohan ko..

di ko naman talaga sinunod kung anu man ung mga nakita kong diy sa google

dahil hindi rin ako maka kita nang tamang sukat para sa dish.. kya naisipan

ko nalang gumawa nang sarili ko..