Water Heater Rocket

Happy Friday Everyone!
Living in the Bay Area, its kind of a treat knowing that the Mythbusters are right here in my backyard. This clip is definitely one of my favorites. Thank God for safety valves!

Denied

Last night I tried my hand again at being accepted to iStock Photo. This morning I got the sad news:

"At this time we regret to inform you that we did not feel the overall composition of your photography or subject matter is at the minimum level of standard for iStockphoto. Please take some time to review training materials, resources and articles provided through iStockphoto. The photographs provided in your application should be your best work. Try and impress us, we want to see how you stand out from the crowd."

I guess I shouldn't be discouraged. I'll try again in a week with a new set of images. In the meantime, I'll keep looking up!

Kids say the darndest things....

Yesterday, I received the cutest story from my brother-in-law. His daughter Caitlin is a 9-year-old. Her mom had just finished making one of her favorite soups: split-pea with ham. After tasting the first spoon, Caitlin said, "Wow, this soup is good! What is it, mom?". Her mother responded: "It's pea soup". Caitlin paused for a moment and the replied with a little smirk on her face, "Mmmm, this is number one soup, mom!"

I'm International?

I want to say a big "Thank You" to my international visitors. According to the site statistics, I've had some page views from Indonesia, Peru, Cyprus, Spain, Brazil, Italy, Russia, Philippines, Greece, and Canada. I'm surprised at the great diversity. I'll try to keep the interesting photographs coming, because imagery crosses the language barriers.

Thanks Again!

Cold Shoes?

Setting up a One Light Studio

A while ago, I set up a studio in my garage. Part of the fun of it was figuring out what to buy and how it would fit together. I knew that I needed to mount a flash onto a light stand, but how does that work? The light stand has a stud or a post, and the flash is meant to be mounted onto the camera's hot shoe?

Luckily, Adorama has pretty good pictures of what the items look like. I ended up buying a "Universal Swivel Holder" which attaches to the stud at the top of the light stand and allows you to mount a flash onto its "cold shoe".

Oops!
There was one small problem though. The cold shoe is made of aluminum and would likely short out my flash. See all those little pins on the bottom of the SB600? I'm sure that mounting the shoe onto a metal surface would fry my $300.00 flash. No Thanks!



Necessity is a mother...
I had to come up with a solution. Here's what I did: I have some plastic (PET) packaging material from one of the recent gadgets I've acquired. I cut it into an "H" shape and slipped it into the cold shoe. I cut it so that it would be nice and snug and wouldn't fall out when I loaded the equipment into my bag for on-location shoots.

Onward!
Now it was just a matter of attaching the flash to the swivel, then attaching the swivel to the light stand, then adding the shoot through umbrella, and a white bounce card, I was all set for a One Light Portrait.

Available Light

Summer is travel season, and, if you travel, you most certainly will see a photo like this in one of those brochures in your hotel.

Have you ever wondered how something like this was done? Here's a few pointers on getting this type of shot.

Use a Tripod
Traveling with a tripod is getting more difficult. With weight restrictions and the large size of a tripod you may be dissuaded. Have a look at the Gorillapod by Joby or other light weight tripods. They are really worth the effort for getting in the group shot as well.

Shoot at a Low Angle
For this type of shot, set your tripod down low to add a bit of interest. Most of the time we see things at eye level, so photographs from this height won't really be all *that* special. Lowering the tripod can add a surreal effect, as if the viewer were a small child looking up.

Use the Self Timer
Pressing the shutter button can start the camera vibrating and make the shot look blurry even though its focused. If you're using a full size tripod and a heavier DSLR, this isn't so much of a concern. With smaller "Point and Shoot" cameras on a light-weight tripod, you should definitely use the self timer to trigger the shutter.

Check the White Balance
Your photos may have a yellow or blue cast if the white balance is set wrong. Most outdoor lighting is either tungsten, mercury vapor or sodium vapor. Your camera has a setting for tungsten, but not the other two. Experiment a bit to get the color cast you like.

Play with the exposure
Use the +/- function to over/under expose the shot for different effects. Often times, the default metering won't produce the desired effect. Try over exposing by one stop (+1) to see what happens.

Now that you have the basic tools. Go out and give it a try. Practice makes perfect. Don't wait for the vacation to experiment with your camera settings. Now is as good a time as any. Try these in your own backyard and see what you come up with. Enjoy!

Have a good weekend!

What happens when you play soccer wearing binoculars? Take a look and see for yourself