SG Strobist

Food Editorial Shoot

2010-12-18T13:09:00.001+08:00

Was doing a food editorial shoot for the Jan/Feb 2011 issue of Silver Lining magazine, and it took us to a corner of Rochester Park @ Cafe Onaka. These pics were taken using 2 speedlights with bounced white umbrellas. Here are some pictures of the shoot...

Finally! PW MiniTT1 + FlexTT5 for Nikon

2010-12-14T00:13:00.001+08:00

After and extremely long wait... the PocketWizard MiniTT1 and FlexTT5 for Nikon has arrived!

PocketWizard has officially announced the MiniTT1 and FlexTT5 for Nikon. Rob Galbriath has done a brief write up on them. Have a read here...

Ikebana Floral Shoot

2010-12-12T20:09:00.003+08:00

I did a photoshoot of some Ikebana floral arrangements for Silver Lining's Jan/Feb 2011 issue of their magazine. After reaching the florist in Katong (Violet's Florist), I realized how cramped and small the place was. The area that I was given to take the shots was a metal table not bigger than about half an office table or less.

The pictures were taken using a piece of white cloth as the backdrop and using 3 speedlights - one on the top (clamped to a shelf), one on the left, and one on the right. Here are some of the pictures...

School Photoshoot

2010-10-06T16:43:00.001+08:00

I was asked if I could do a last minute shoot in a school with the pictures for some collaterals to be printed, and I agreed, and here are some of the pictures which were shot over 3 days as they had to arrange for different groups of teachers and students for the shoot.

During the shoot, I got to know the art director, and when he asked if I brought my lights, and I told him I did. He looked a bit puzzled, and I told him that I am using speedlights... "Why carry huge lighting equipment when small speedlights would do the job?" I said.

When the art director saw the results of the shots, he was impressed with what small speedlights can do.

In most of the shots, I used 2 speedlights, one on the left, and one on the right, with reflective white umbrellas. The key is to expose for the background first before adjusting the lights to light the subjects.

For the student portraits (top 2 pictures), I used one speedlight to light the background, and one on the right of the subject (with white reflective umbrella) to light the subject.

Gwen's Portfolio

2010-05-03T12:22:00.002+08:00

No doubt that it is a very busy period in my life, and for the past 4 months, I've not done many things in terms of photography.

When Gwen (a design student) asked me if I could help her take photos of her work for a portfolio she is putting together, I agreed.

She did her research and wanted some of the shots to be taken top down... so I flipped my light tent around to have the opening from the top, placed 2 SB-80DX one on each side of the light tent... and wah lah! Done!

It did take about 7 hours setting up, shooting, and post processing the shots... a total of 98 pics... but it was fun doing something like this after not doing much shooting for so long.

What you can do with a LX3 + SB800

2010-04-03T11:36:00.005+08:00

I was at a birthday party, and I had my LX3 with me... and also my SB800. When it came to taking a group picture up a staircase, I turned on the LX3 flash, but it was not able to reach to the back of the staircase... so out came my SB800 to the rescue!

I turned on the SU-4 mode (optical slave) on the SB800, set the focal length to 105mm, turned the flash head 180 degress (to have the optical slave face the LX3 flash), and with the left hand holding the SB800 with the flash facing the back of the staircase, and the LX3 on the right hand to take the picture... *click* and here's the pic! The SB800 was on manual mode, and I tested the power of the flash till I got the exposure I wanted.

The picture was taken at night in a badly lit room, but with the simple use of an LX3 with an SB800 on optical slave, you can light up the picture like it was day. Quick and fast... done in a minute!

Phottix Atlas - PWII Lookalike

2010-03-21T12:34:00.001+08:00

Photox announced at the March 2010 PMA that they will be releasing a new wireless flash trigger... and it looks a lot like the PocketWizard II. You can read more about it here.

PocketWizard FlexTT5 for Nikon - 1st Prototype Test

2010-03-11T11:49:00.001+08:00

PocketWizard just announced the new FlexTT5 for Nikon in prototype testing. This is really long overdue, more than a year behind schedule... but hey... better late then never. I hope that when it get's released, it would be a solid product.

I have a friend who is a Canon user, and went to but them when it was first released, but he was hitting different problems along the way. PocketWizard has always been known to be reliable... so for the sake of their reputation, it would be best to put the Nikon ones on hold and iron out the kinks.

Here's a video of the prototype testing...

Photoshoot: A Dancer called Eunice

2010-01-12T20:39:00.002+08:00

My friend, Yap, and I did a photoshoot of a dancer recently. It was something that we had wanted to do for awhile now. Why a dancer? Well, it is the grace, elegance, and beauty of expression that a dancer gives. Here are some of the photos. Hope you like them.

You can check out the rest of the pictures here.

PT-04 Flash Triggers for Nikon

2010-01-10T11:46:00.005+08:00

I was in Hong Kong recently, and decided to get the PT-04 to try out. I used to own the PT-02s but found them not very reliable. So far, the PT-04s seem to be more reliable than the PT-02s.

Based on the specifications, the triggers operates on 433MHz radio frequency. There are 4 channels, and works for shutter speeds up to 1/250s. The transmitter uses the 23A 12V battery, and the receiver a pair of AAA batteries.

Apparently, there are different versions of the PT-04 in terms of outward design, and I chose this version for the following reasons:

1. It is small.
2. The receiver is thin and a flash can mount on it without it being too high.
3. There is a hotshoe mount at the base of the receiver.
4. There is an umbrella holder.

One thing I like about this trigger is that I can mount it with a flash stand and a flash on top of it and uses it easily on a table for product shoots. I can also replace the flash stand with a clamp and clamp it on a shelf or cupboard, etc.

With a built in umbrella holder, you have more options now.

All in all, I like these PT-04s, and they are also very inexpensive.

Joe McNally's Confessions with Father Krist

2010-01-09T02:06:00.006+08:00

This is funny... watch it!

You can also watch it on YouTube here.

Pixel TTL Flash Triggers for Nikon & Canon

2010-01-08T19:12:00.005+08:00

Before even PocketWizard could release their TTL version for Nikon, a new one has come out of China by Pixel Enterprise Limited.

They have them for Nikon and Canon systems, and you can check out the specifications here.

I was in Hong Kong recently and saw this on sale in the shops. It cost about HKD$1100, which is about SGD$200. I was toying with the idea of getting a pair to try out, but in the end, decided not to... so if there is anyone out there who has a set and as tested them and reviewed them... do let me know.

Photoshoot: J&C Pre-Wedding

2009-09-08T08:45:00.008+08:00

It has been such a hectic and busy time lately... but having a pre-wedding shoot was a nice change in a busy work schedule. My friend Yap asked if I could join him and another friend to do a pre-wedding shoot, and I gladly agreed... and we turned a small Nonya restaurant along East Coast Road into a tiny photo studio.

After arriving, we checked out the place, and the place was filled with tables and pretty cramped... so I decided to clear a section of their dining area at the 2nd floor. We shifted the tables and had a section nearest to the window. We set up the lights and were ready to go!

In the portrait orientation picture, I used two lights. Because the windows on the picture left provided a strong light from the outside (it was already about noon time), I had to balance that light with a light on the picture right with a bounced umbrella.

Before shooting, I noiced that the half-height wall below the windows on the left gave a shadow and the forground nearest to the window was pretty dark. A light was then placed on the ground near the window on the left and bounced off a silver reflector to open up the shadows... and the end result is the picture you see.

The landscape orientation picture was using only one light to light the bride. You can see the rest of the pre-wedding shoot pictures here.

Product shoot: Nikkor 10.5mm f/2.8G Fisheye Lens

2009-08-08T08:47:00.000+08:00

Just bought myself a 2nd hand Nikkor 10.5mm f/2.8G Fisheye lens... so, why not do a product shoot, right?

This time round, I wanted to go with 2 lights, one from above, and the other from the front. I used the Manfrotto 190XPROB to extend the arm horizontally and mounted a flash on it. I covered the top of my home made light tent with a white satin cloth bought at People's Park some time back. The other light was in front and I used a softbox to diffuse the light.

Now comes the hard decision, which camera should I use?

Hehe... I have a thing in me at this time to try and push the Panasonic LX3 as much as I can and try to produce pictures to something that one would expect would come from a DSLR... so the LX3 it is!

Needless to say, the lighting makes the pictures from the LX3 all the more stunning. I set the ISO to the minimum of 80, fixed the aperture at f/5.6 and shutter speed at 1/60 and off I went. The light above was at 1/16 power and the light infront at 1/32 power.

After using the LX3 more, I've discovered that their redition of yellow is a bit too orangy, and I needed to adjust the hue towards more of a yellow tone. The golden lettering on the lens was not so golden out of camera, but after shifting the hue, it looked much better.

PT04 version 3 Wireless Flash Trigger

2009-08-07T15:50:00.009+08:00

The PT04 is an OEM product from China and is marketed as various brands, but it is still the same thing.

Recently, I saw Artworkphoto selling a new version of the PT04, version 3, and it has a very good design to it, as you can see in the picture. By making the device flatter, the flash that sits on it would not be farther from the center of an umbrella. They have also placed a simple umbrella holder at the side, which now opens up new possibilities.

I personally like this design, but is still unsure of the reliability. I used to have a pair of them and they were not very reliable. I wonder if this new version would be improved.

Here is the link to Artworkphoto's page of the PT04 III.

Nissin Di866 Pro Flash

2009-08-07T14:49:00.007+08:00

Nissin has been quite aggressive with their flashes these days, and a new one just came on the market, the Di866 Pro. From the looks of it, it has all the makings of a flash that strobist would use.

This is a link to their Japanese website, and here is the Google translated version.

From what I can tell, it is a powerful flash. The guide number is 40 @ ISO100 and 35mm. This is more powerful than the Nikon SB800 or SB900. It has a PC sync port, manual power adjustments to 1/128, and even Nikon CLS. From the manual, it can be a CLS master. This is one flash that is trying to take the place of the SB900.

At the time of this writing, RedDotPhoto is selling it at $410, which is a really good price if it works as it should and if the flash output is consistent and reliable. Here is a link to the quick manual and here is a link to the full manual.

Strobist using Panasonic LX3

2009-07-29T12:39:00.008+08:00

My wife wanted me to take a picture of a wallet which she intends to sell. She had a friend buy it from the States, but was not the exact model she was looking for... it's a Coach wallet btw...

I thought to myself... why not try out the LX3 with PocketWizards and see how it performs... so I set up my gear and this is the first time I'm trying this out with the LX3. It turned out to be no problem at all!

This picture was taken with 2 flashes. (1) Flash outside a home-made light tent on the right placed behind the wallet. (2) Flash in a softbox on the front right of the wallet.

Photoshoot: Z2H6 Band 'Six Men Stand'

2009-07-20T10:31:00.005+08:00

Yesterday was the second photoshoot for the Z2H6 participants, and we had 3 groups to shoot. I was mainly focusing on doing the group shots, and here is a picture of the band 'Six Men Stand'... and they were indeed standing! :)

I was using 2 speedlights with 2 bounce umbrellas, one to my left and the other to my right. The one on the left was held higher up and angled downwards so as to be able to reach the person further back.

As all light stands and umbrellas, my fell while shooting the band 'Chasing Shadows' and the umbrella got "injured" in the process. Oh well... got to go buy some more umbrellas then...

Photoshoot: Z2H6 Band 'Beyond Saving'

2009-07-06T11:10:00.002+08:00

Went out yesterday to Punggol again... but this time to shoot the Z2H6 bands. It was raining much worse yesterday, and once again, we could not shoot at the water's edge... so, the wet weather contingency kicked in, and we went to shoot under an LRT (Light Rail Transit) track.

I decided to try something new, so I placed a full CTO gel on the flash, and placed it in a reflective umbrella... adjusted my white balance on the camera to about 3050K and took the shot. I wanted to create a background that is more blueish and kind of surreal.

Here is a picture of a shot I took of the drummer from the band 'Beyond Saving'. Kind of like the bluish tinge in the background while maintaining the proper skin tones.

Photoshoot: Z2H6 Instructors

2009-06-29T15:43:00.008+08:00

Went to shoot the Zero to Hero season 6 instructors yesterday, and once again, it was a learning experience. When we arrived at Punggol, it was raining. We thought we had to cancel the shoot, but looking at the sky, it did not look so threatening... so we waited. At 5pm, the rain stopped! Hallelujah!

The initial location we wanted to shoot was near the pier and waters edge, but my friend James found another location, so we all went there to shoot. I took the group shots first, thinking that I wanted to have the sun as part of my background... only to discover that my off-camera flashes were not exactly powerful enough to overpower the background sun... but as the sun began to set, it got better.

Hmmm... is it time to get the Alien Bees?

Product shoot: Panasonic Lumix LX3

2009-06-14T13:22:00.004+08:00

Decided to do a simple product shoot for my new toy... the Panasonic Lumix LX3. I've been reading great reviews of this compact camera, and up to now, it has not disappointed. It can go fully manual, with a 24-60mm f/2.0-2.8 lens (135mm equivalent), it is a great compact camera to use in low light. I've not used the LX3 to do any strobist stuff as yet, but will give it a go when I have time.

This shot was taken from a home made light tent. My home made light tent uses white cloth on each side to diffuse the light. There is a flash placed on each side of the light tent and one more in front with a softbox to diffuse the light.

Photoshoot: Z2H Alumni

2009-06-11T22:55:00.005+08:00

I did a simple shoot in May 09 for the Zero to Hero Alumni. They wanted to get some photos to use, so out came my equipment!

It was a very simple set up with 2 lights. The light on the right is using the Westcott Apollo 28" softbox, and the light on the left is with a home made snoot or a softbox umbrella (depending on how defined I want the light to be). One light is great, but having 2 lights give more separation between the person and the dark background.

The light with the Westcott was placed higher up and angled around 45 degrees downward, and this also acts like a hairlight, thus eliminating the need for a 3rd light. Simple set up with 2 lights.

New Pocket Wizards for Nikon by end-June 2009

2009-05-05T21:51:00.007+08:00

Pocket Wizard produced 2 new models, the MiniTT1 and FlexTT5. The Canon version is already in the market, and Nikon users are awaiting the Nikon compatible ones to be released by end-June 2009. One of the main features of these new PWs is the ability to use eTTL (for Canon) and iTTL (for Nikon). This would also mean that (Focal-Plane) FP Sync is possible, and speeds up to 1/8000s would be available to the photographer.

The new PWs are compatible with previous PWs, and adds a feature where the shutter speed can be increased up to 1/500s, called HyperSync. You can watch the following video on the new PWs below, or at YouTube here.

Comparing Guide Numbers for Strobes

2009-04-20T10:54:00.005+08:00

The guide number (GN) for a strobe light tells us the ability of the strobe to light the subject based on the ISO and angle of view. So, just by comparing GN from one flash to another is not enough. You would also need to compare the ISO and angle of view that they have measured from. Because of this, strobe manufacturers can publish that they have a high GN, but if you do not see the ISO and angle of view at which they measured it, you could be fooled by their marketing scheme.

Take for example...

Nikon SB-80DX - GN 38m (ISO 100, 35mm)
Nissin Di622 - GN 44m (ISO 100, 105mm)

At first look, you would think that the Nissin Di622 is more powerful than the Nikon SB-80DX. But at 105mm, the GN for the Nikon SB-80DX is 56m. Hence, the Nikon SB-80DX is actually a more powerful flash than the Nissin Di622.

The GN for the Nikon SB-80DX speedlight are as follows with reference to the angle of view...

14mm - 17m
17mm - 19m
24mm - 32m
28mm - 34m
35mm - 38m
50mm - 44m
70mm - 50m
85mm - 53m
105mm - 56m

To understand more about GN, you can refer to Wikipedia's Guide Number or Flash Guide Numbers by Dennis Curtin.

Shoot-Through Umbrella vs. Softbox

2009-04-16T22:23:00.004+08:00

What is the difference between a shoot-through umbrella and a softbox? Zack Arias explains it in his blog and the following 2 pictures were taken from it. Have a read at this great article here.

The Apollo has landed!

2009-04-10T10:19:00.009+08:00

The Apollo has landed!

After much deliberation, I decided to order a Westcott Apollo 28" Speedlight Set from B&H. James was ordering a number of stuff from there... so I tagged along on his order, and he also ordered one for himself.

At US$119.95 + shipping, this does not come cheap. The speedlight set comes with a hotshoe umbrella adaptor. It has the same internal concept as the umbrella softbox, but the advantage is not only the size, but it has a recessed front to control the spread of the light.

I shot a few shots at a low 1/128 power on the Nikon SB-80DX, and the light that came out was even throughout the white area. Comparing to the umbrella softbox, the Apollo gives a more even distribution of light. This is likely because of the larger volume interally where the speedlight can be placed further from the silver reflective area, and also a larger area for light to bounce internally.

I particularly like the design where there is a cross zipper area to accomodate for the lightstand to go through into the softbox. The volume inside the softbox is large enough to contain a monobloc light.

Here are 2 pictures of the Apollo Speedlight Set, the first showing the internal construction and how the speedlight is mounted, and the second is the external showing the recessed front.

Rocky & Juana's Pre-Wedding Photoshoot

2009-04-02T22:42:00.006+08:00

I have not been blogging here for awhile, and one of the reasons is that I've got a hold of a copy of The Hot Shoe Dairies and am reading it! The other reason is not that cheery... and it is that I've been sick for more than a week. Despite being sick, I wanted to go do some shooting, so I tagged along as my friend James did a photoshoot for Rocky & Juana.

It was certainly not a good day for me to shoot. I realized that because of my flu, my brain was half-dead and somehow did not shoot well nor liked what I shot. This really set me thinking... should a photographer shoot well only when he is inspired? I believe photographers have bad days, and sick days, but if they are contracted to do a shoot, should they not be able to produce even if they did not feel like 100%?

This made me realize that every photographer must get as much in his "bag of tricks" that whether it was a good day or not, he should be able to produce a minimum standard in his shots... and getting the "bag of tricks" is something I had to work at. I must say that this is the worst shooting day I've had so far... but it is spurring me on to get my "bag of tricks" for the future!

Oh... by the way... the above shot was done with 2 strobes... one at the far end with a Gary Fong Lightsphere to light that area, and the other is on the camera left with a softbox umbrella to light Rocky and Juana.

Digital Photography One on One by Mark Wallace

2009-03-23T18:31:00.004+08:00

Mark Wallace has a series of videos on YouTube on digital photography... more specifically... flash photography with digital cameras.

This is a good tutorial to learn more about flash photography. You can watch episode 1 below... or you can click here to view the series of videos on YouTube.

What can you do with ONE speedlight?

2009-03-20T11:26:00.005+08:00

I've come to see that you can do more and more with just one speedlight. I just watched the OneLight Workshop by Zack Arias, and it is wonderful what one light can do. I am still developing how to shoot with off-camera flashes, and am understanding that when shooting portraits, the one main light is key, and additional lights would add on to enhance the shot, e.g. kicker light, hair light, fill light, etc.

Well, here is another video with Joe McNally talking about some of the shots he made with only one speedlight, namely the Nikon SB-800.

Lighting techniques - Rembrandt, Paramount, Split, Loop

2009-03-18T15:50:00.008+08:00

After getting all the strobes, umbrellas, light stands, etc... one important question is, "Where do we place them?"

A lot of learning is by trial and error, but it sure helps if there are some diagrams to show us how to do it. In many photography books today, there are diagrams of where the lights are placed, where the camera is placed, and what kind of light modifiers are used.

Garage Glamor has a page on photographic tips, tricks & ideas... and in it are some basics on lighting techniques that can be learnt.

Rambrandt Lighting
Paramount Lighting
Split Lighting
Loop Lighting

Zero to Hero 5 Finals

2009-03-16T17:31:00.006+08:00

I was shooting the Zero to Hero 5 Finals (15 Mar 09) with a few other photographers, and again I realized how my attitude towards flash photography has changed. I know I mentioned this before about how I used to dislike using flash, but now, I realized how important lighting is, and using the flash was crucial.

Well, here's a shot from the event, and you can have a look at the rest of them in my Flickr album here.

Annie Leibovitz & Profoto Pro-8 Air: Behind the Scenes

2009-03-13T23:04:00.006+08:00

Annie Leibovitz did a shoot of Profoto's Chairman and founder, Conny Dufgran in commemoration of Profoto's 40th anniversary. You can watch here or watch it on YouTube here.

Softbox - 50cm by 50cm

2009-03-13T22:36:00.009+08:00

I bought a softbox from Alan Photo @ Funan a few days ago, and the person told me it was 50cm by 50cm. The white front area of the softbox measures 45cm by 45 cm (17 inches by 17 inches). It has a speedring with a shoe mount to fit a flash. Today, I went to TK Photo with Yapster, and I saw a Lastolite EzyBox Hotshoe that looked very much like the China made one I bought at Alan Photo. TK Photo was selling the Lastolite EzyBox Hotshoe for $300-$400 (they have 2 sizes), which includes a light stand... so the China made one was a real bargain!

Also, I just found out that TagoTech would be bringing the 60cm x 60cm one from April 2009. Here is a picture of their upcoming product...

LumoPro LP120 Flash by Midwest

2009-03-12T16:39:00.008+08:00

A new flash is on the way for the Strobist community, and it is the LumoPro LP120 shoe mount flash by Midwest Photo Exchange. There are stuff that you would need and not need in a off-camera strobist flash, and this one has what you need, e.g. sync terminal and optical slave, and does not have all the other features that you do not need, e.g. TTL.

Here are some links for more info on this flash:

Flickr: LumoPro LP120 Shoe mount flash built for Strobists

Midwest: LumoPro LP120 Manual Flash

Midwest: Strobist Kits

Expressions: Keith and Lydia

2009-03-11T22:38:00.012+08:00

I decided to so a simple series where by I get people to do different expressions with their faces, capturing them, and editing tem to become black and white photos, all in landscape orientation. It is just a fun thing to do. I asked Lydia if she would do it, and she agreed... and I asked Keith to help me during the shoot, and he agreed... and I ended up shooting both Lydia and Keith!

I was thinking of how to do this shoot, and I decided to use 3 strobes for it. I wanted to do a hair light, but I did not have any softbox for it, so during lunch time, I went down to Alan Photo at Funan to purchase a 50cm x 50cm softbox for $90. It comes with a speedring, and a speedlight mount. It is a made in China thing, but it did the job for hair lights.

I also used the umbrella softbox I bought recently to my left, and a bounce white umbrella with a silver inner lining to my right. Here are 2 shots from the shoot... and you can check out the rest of the shoot at the following links...

Expressions: Keith (11 Mar 09)
Expressions: Lydia (11 Mar 09)
Keith and Lydia (11 Mar 09)

ProPhotoLife by Jim Talkington

2009-03-10T12:37:00.002+08:00

ProPhotoLife by Jim Talkington is a great blog to visit. What I find is really great is the videos that teaches you from a DIY studio set up, to understanding different forms of lighting, and techniques in lighting. Nothing beats learning how to light than by seeing the positioning of the lighting equipment, and the results from the pictures taken.

To go to the ProPhotoLife video library, click here, or go to the YouTube one here. Below is Episode 12 on Quality of Light.

DIY Grid Snoot

2009-03-09T17:27:00.000+08:00

I DIYed a grid snoot, and here's what I bought at Popular bookstore...

1. Black cloth tape (36mm x 12Y) = $3.20

2. Black corrugated board (20x15) = $1.60

3. Black paper = $1.70

Here's the end result...

The grid snoot is done so that the internal grid section can be removed, and the grid snoot would then become a snoot.

Here's a picture of the grid snoot at work. The grid snoot was used to focus the light on the subject at the "heart" area.

DIY Beauty Dish by David Tejada

2009-03-07T01:27:00.001+08:00

I came across this site on a DIY project to make a beauty dish for an SB-800 speedlight. Maybe I'll try it out sometime when I have the time, and more importantly, when I can find the relevant materials to make it.

Anyway, the link to the website is here.

Online Photography Books on Lighting

2009-03-06T09:21:00.003+08:00

While I was surfing the internet for photography books, I realized that Google has an online books section. Even though some do not have the whole book, the preview pages are already really good! I'm so glad to have found this Google books site.

Doing a simple search, here are some links to photography books with limited previews...

Beginner's Guide to Photographic Lighting by Don Marr

Light: Science and Magic - An Introduction to Photographic Lighting by Fil Hunter, Steven Biver, and Paul Fuqua

Lighting for People Photography by Stephen Crain

Lighting for Portraits by Steve Bavister

Lighting Photo Workshop by Chris Bucher

Lighting Techniques for Fashion and Glamor Photography by Stephen A. Dantzig

Lighting Techniques for High Key Portrait Photography by Normal Phillips

Photographic Lighting by John Child and Mark Galer

Photographic Lighting: Essential Skills by John Child and Mark Galer

Photographic Lighting Simplified by Susan McCartney

Portrait Photography: The Art of Seeing Light by Don Blair and Peter Skinner

Portrait Photography: Secrets of Posing & Lighting by Mark Cleghorn

Posing and Lighting Techniques for Studio Portrait Photography by J. J. Allen

The Best of Photographic Lighting by Bill Hunter

Wedding Photography: Creative Techniques for Posing, Lighting, and Marketing by Rick Ferro

Umbrella Softbox

2009-03-05T14:16:00.011+08:00

I have been looking to get a softbox for my speedlight, but what is available in Singapore are "traditional" softboxes made for monolight strobes. After some searching, I found this umbrella softbox from TagoTech and bought it.

The built of this umbrella softbox is decent. The external of the softbox is black, and the internal is silver. The portion where I put the head of the speedlight into the softbox has a zipper and a pull-string to tighten the opening (I believe the large opening is to cater to mono strobes). The speedlight would fire into the silver part of the umbrella, and reflected back and through the translucent white part.

Will give this umbrella softbox a go the next opportunity I get to shoot portraits.

Portrait of Jayne

2009-03-04T16:47:00.014+08:00

Went shooting with Yapster and his friend Jayne last year at the Chinese Garden, and took some portraits of Jayne. This was the 1st time going shooting with Yapster, and he's a great guy! We brought our gears and lugged it around Chinese Garden... and at the end, we decided that the next time we go shoot, we'll share our equipment so individually, we don't have to bring so many things along.

In this shot of Jayne, the sun was shining from the picture left. A silver reflective umbrella flash was used on the picture right and a shoot through umbrella flash from the lower front of the subject. I was using my 85mm f/1.4 lens @ f/2.8 for this shot. I love that lens!

We realized that shooting alone is not easy with strobbing gear, and having an assistant was almost an essential thing to have. So, when Yap tooks the shots, I assisted him, and when I took the shots, he assisted me. I also realized that having someone who knows his stuff to assist really makes a difference as there is already a common understanding of lighting. I took a few steps back in one of our shots and captured this picture of our set up at that particular location.

Preview - The Hot Shoe Dairies: Big Light from Small Flashes

2009-03-02T22:57:00.012+08:00

Finally, Joe McNally has completed writing Hot Show Dairies and is due to hit stores in the States on 12 March 2009. Joe is one of the best at using multiple speedlights to enhance a picture that he is taking.

I can't wait to get my hands on this book... but alas... I have to wait... and hope that it would hit the shores of Singapore soon after the launch in the States. Amazon has them for pre-order now.

I found an excerpt of the book and based on the content page, it is gonna be a great book to learn from. You can check out the excerpt here.

Group Photo of 70 people

2009-03-01T00:28:00.007+08:00

How do you take a group photo of about 70 people in a night environment? How much lighting do you need to get it done?

I was thinking of how to shoot this group shot, and in the end, I used 4 strobes at 1/2 power each to achieve this shot. A wide angle lens was used (12mm @ ISO640 + f/8 + 1/125s), and I was in an elevated position shooting downwards. There was one strobe at each side of where I was standing, with a silver+white reflective umbrella. On the photo left, the white wall was used as a light bounce, so a flash was shot at the wall. On the photo right, another strobe with a reflective umbrella was used. The silver reflective umbrellas give a nice contrasty look to the photo.

The final result is what you see, and I was quite pleased with the results... but there are still some shadow areas cast on a few faces. I could have placed a 3rd strobe in the front, but aiming it further towards the back, or shifted the side strobes higher. Anyway... you can see the rest of the group photos here.

Annie Leibovitz at Work

2009-02-26T13:33:00.005+08:00

After watching a documentary on Annie Leibovitz (Life Through a Lens) on my flight from Singapore to New York some months back, I was not only inspired, but I think she is one of the best photographers today. When she released her book Annie Leibovitz at Work, I dropped by Riceball Photography Bookstore to grab it, and it was a good and easy read. It is like sitting with Annie hearing her recount the different phases of her life and the people she had met and take photographs of. It is totally non-technical, but it gets into the heart and mind of one of the greatest photographers, and how she views her role in capturing life. In fact, it goes beyond anything a technical book on photography can teach you about, and helps you see life in a new perspective, and how as a photographer, you can capture an image of that part of your life.

Right at the end of the book, there is a section where Annie talks about equipment, and it can be summed up in her words, "Digital gives a more honest view of how things actually look, and with the advent of all these possibilities, I still want the pictures to look like they're real. Whatever camera helps me do that is the camera I'm going to use. I'm not nostalgic about cameras. When I talk about how important the camera is to me, I mean the idea of the camera. What photography does. I'm not into it because of the equipment, and I'm not concerned with the things that concern more technically acute people. I want to use whatever helps me take a picture in all kinds of light with faster speed and fewer problems. I changed my 35mm digital camera four times in one year. As soon as I hear there's a better one out, I'll try it." (page 207) There is also a section entitled "Ten Most-Asked Questions" where she gives her views on them. The 10 questions are:

1. What advice do you have for a young photographer who is just starting out?
2. What is your favorite photograph?
3. Who's the most difficult person you've ever photographed?
4. How many pictures do you take?
5. Are you happy with the move from film to digital?
6. How is photographing a celebrity different from photographing a regular person?
7. Where do you get your ideas?
8. When do you know you have a good picture?
9. How much direction do you give?
10. How do you set people at ease and get them to do the things that they do in your pictures?

Softbox for Speedlights

2009-02-25T12:20:00.005+08:00

My friend Ian was using a Westcott Apollo softbox with his Alien Bees during a recent shoot, and I must say, I like the Westcott Softbox. It is different from other softboxes I've seen in Singapore, and for this one, you don't need a speedring and you can either do it shoot through or bounce off the reflective back of the softbox.

Sad to say, I can't find them in Singapore. Ian ordered his from B&H, and after doing some searching, I like what I see with the Westcott Apollo Speedlight Set.

Julia Greer also wrote a great article on How To Use Your Nikon SB-800 Flash With Softboxes, and in it, she also mentioned the Westcott Apollos.

Where can I buy my basic strobbing gear in Singapore?

2009-02-23T22:42:00.004+08:00

After using off-camera flash for awhile, it is sad to say that at this time, there aren't a lot of places to get the gear in Singapore, and even if there is, it is very limited in variety. For that reason, I have been looking at buying from places like B&H, Adorama or Amazon.

However, if you are just starting out, there are a few places to check out. I would strongly suggest that you do some homework and research because similar products can be sold at very different prices.

Here are some places to check out (in alphabetical order):

Cathay Photo @ Peninsular
Ruby Photo @ Peninsular
TagoTech (online orders)
The Studio Outfitters (online orders)

Nikon Creative Lighting System (CLS)

2009-02-23T00:24:00.015+08:00

Nikon Creative Lighting System (CLS) allows a photographer to control remote flashes wirelessly via infra-red signals. CLS also allows the photographer to centrally control the settings of each group of flashes from the commander.

The following are cameras that have the built-in commander - D70/s, D80, D90, D200, D300, D700. The D50, D40/x and D60 does not have the commander mode built into the camera. Nikon flashes SB-800 and SB-900 also have the commander built into the flash. Oh... the pro range of Nikons (e.g. D3, D3x) also do not have a built-in commander because it does not have a pop-up flash to send the pre-flash signals. In anycase, if you can afford the pro range of cameras, what's a SU-800 to you? The SU-800 is a device that is built specifically to be the commander.

For a camera with the built-in commander mode, it is via the pop-up flash that the infra-red signals are sent to the remote flashes. However, the pre-flash that sends out these signals are often captured as a light source, and Nikon made the SG-3IR to block the light but still allow the IR communication to happen.

There are some pros and cons to the CLS.

Pros:
- Once you have the commander (esp. for those in-built with the camera), you can control your CLS flashes remotely.
- You do not need to buy additional devices to remotely trigger your CLS flashes.
- You are able to use TTL with remote CLS flashes.

Cons:
- Line of sight between the commander and the remote CLS flashes is necessary.
- In outdoors environment, esp. under strong lighting, the communication between the commander and the remote flashes would be compromised.

The current line up of CLS enabled flashes are: SB-600, SB-800, SB900.

If you are able to get your hands on the DVD "Nikon School: A Hands-on Guide to Creative Lighting"... watch it! It features Joe McNally and Bob Krist teaching about lighting and also on how to use the Nikon CLS. The 2nd part of the DVD takes you to watch Joe McNally live in action on location shoots.

You can watch a trailer of this DVD here.

DIY Flash Diffuser - A Step-by-step Guide

2009-02-22T12:52:00.025+08:00

I like to DIY stuff, and in reality, there are many things we can DIY. I bought a Demb Flash Diffuser and looking at it, I believe it could be DIYed... so I went out in search of the stuff to do it... and here it is... a step-by-step guide...

Things to buy

1. Clips (Popular Bookstore - $2.15)

2. Velcro with adhesive side (Popular Bookstore - $2.70)

3. Card case B7 (Note: This is optional... You do not need to buy this and can just insert a card into the clip)

4. Elastic band

Putting it all together

A. Cut velcro to desired length and a short piece of elastic band.

B. Stick elastic band to the velcro

C. Completed velcro band with elastic (It is advisible if you can stitch it together with needle and thread so that it holds better and does not just rely on the sticky part of the velcro.)

D. Put white paper in the card case

E. Elastic band around the flash (I'm using a SB-600 here)

F. Place card case with paper into the clip (Note: You can place any bounce material that you desire into the clip)

G. SB600 with flash diffuser

H. Cut a piece of Ikea drawer lining and stick velcro on it.

I. Completed project

Here is a sample picture using the DIY flash diffuser...

Recently, a friend of mine bought a PRESSlite VerteX, and I was pretty impressed by it. This is one device that would be tough to DIY.

My flash does not have a sync terminal!

2009-02-21T11:07:00.010+08:00

Oh no! My flash does not have a sync terminal! What can I do?

Well, the simplest way is to get a hotshoe adaptor with a sync terminal. You would mount your flash on the hotshoe adaptor and connecting the cable to the sync terminal of the hotshoe adaptor.

In the above picture, this hotshoe adaptor not only has a sync terminal, it also has an optical slave. This device cost about $20. The optical slave is also useful, and it is the cheap alternative to the Nikon SU-4 device (which cost about $180). When the optical slave optically detects that a flash has been fired, it would then trigger the flash mounted on the adaptor. With this device, you can also trigger your flash wirelessly, but what you need is line of sight between the flash that is being fired and the optical slave. In bright outdoors environment, the optical slave may not work very well.

Flashes for strobbing

2009-02-21T09:12:00.010+08:00

Ever since David Hobby started the strobist, there has been a rise in the number of people who use off-camera flash strobes, and with that came the demand for old flashes to be used as strobes. You could, of course, spend 2 to 5 times more just to get the latest speedlight, but because a lot of strobbing depends on manual flash settings, an old flash would do just as well. With David Hobby telling the strobist world to "Steal This Flash - The Nikon SB-24", these older models of Nikon flashes have increased in their price on the 2nd hand market.

A brand Nikon SB-600 cost about $350 and a new SB-900 about $680. The SB-800s have been discontinued, but if you can find them at a good price, it is worth getting. Nikon flashes have been known for their consistent output, reliability and durability. Hence, many old Nikon flashes have come back to life as off-camera strobes. These old Nikon flashes go for around $150 each.

The one thing I look for in the flash for strobbing is that it should have a sync terminal. The reason being that the connection from the Pocket Wizard Plus II to the flash is through this sync terminal. Unfortunately, the SB-600 does not have a sync terminal, and a hotshoe adaptor with a sync terminal has to be used, and the SB-600 to be mounted on the hotshoe adaptor. Not all flashes have this sync terminal, but if you can find any of the following at a good price, it is worth grabbing them.

Nikon SB-24 (1988)
Nikon SB-25 (1992)
Nikon SB-26 (1994)
Nikon SB-28 (1997)
Nikon SB-28DX (1999)
Nikon SB-80DX (2002)
Nikon SB-800 (2003)
Nikon SB-900 (2008)

Street shooting and HDR

2009-02-20T19:32:00.007+08:00

Went and did some street shooting with Yapster today (no strobbing stuff in this post) after taking a trip to Nikon Service Center to clean Yapster's D700 sensor. It is interesting to see Yapster do street shooting, and he has an eye to look out for people and things around and capture that moment. A few times I missed a photo opportunity, but he got it!

We also took a trip to Funan and the Peninsular area City Hall MRT, where many camera shops are located. Went to John 3:16 Photo Supplies to inform Samuel that some of my friends would be coming later as Carissa would like to get a D300 for her birthday... Happy birthday Carissa!

Well, I'm new to HDR (High Dynamic Range imaging), and Yapster taught me how to do it. Taking 3 shots using handheld exposure bracketing of -1, 0 and +1, it forms the 3 files to go back and do some HDR editing... and this is one of the pictures of my first attempt at HDR.

I used to hate flash photography...

2009-02-19T15:33:00.007+08:00

When I started in photography, I used to hate the pictures that I took when I had to use the flash because of the lack of available light. I thought at that time that people used flash only to supplement light so that a picture could be taken (I now know that it is only one of the many reasons people use flash!). The reason I did not like to use the flash was that the pictures I took tend to have portions too bright while other portions too dark. Basically, I did not understand the ONE most important aspect of photography... LIGHT!

Because I didn't like to use the flash, I started to buy fast lenses... the faster the better! Fast lenses have their pros (if not why would anyone pay so much for one), but I also started to learn that using flash in photography also had advantages. The key about flash photography was to learn how to control the light that you have around you (ambient) and the light from the flash, and how you balance that out in your picture.

So... I began to read up about lighting, and flash photography. One technology that is in most camera systems today is the TTL (Through The Lens) technology, and if you are using TTL, it is also good to know how TTL works (I'm the sort of guy who needs to know from ground up how something works). Have a read at Moose Peterson's article on The TTL Flash System.

Zero to Hero 5 Photoshoot

2009-02-18T23:12:00.012+08:00

A few friends and I were recently down at Raffles Place on a Sunday to shoot the participants of Zero to Hero season 5. Zero to Hero is a programme run by Vertical Care Services where youths who have little or no knowledge of music form their own bands, and are trained to play and sing as a band... moving from zeroes to heroes!

For this shoot, I decided that I wanted to capture some jump shots, and also wide angle perspective shots. These 2 shots were taken using 3 flashes placed to my left, right, and one just next to me. I was also using a GND to take these pics.

If you want to see more of the shots, you can go to my flickr page. My friend Ian was also there... and you can check out some of his shots on his blog.

Welcome to SG Strobist!

2009-02-18T22:21:00.006+08:00

Welcome to SG Strobist! I decided to start this blog after sitting down at Jurong Point and reading the Feb 2009 issue of Practical Photography, and it features a section called "Flashgun Fanatics"! It is talking about a group of photographers who use their camera flashes as off-camera strobes to create great photos without the heavy studio equipment... and I am one of them!

I started in the world of digital photography with my first DSLR in June 2007 with a Nikon D40x. Around mid-2008, my friend Yapster (that's his nick) introduced me to the world of the strobist, and I've been sinking deeper into it.

Well, one of the things I like to do in life is to teach. Recently, my friend James and I did a pilot programme to teach hobbyist the basics of photography. I'll try to make this blog something where we can learn and will link to information that will help us all in photography.

So... have fun at this blog and feel free to put your comments :-)