A Few Words

A short essay I'm storing here instead of opening Word

I enjoy showing that almost everything under the sun (and under a night sky or in a dark room) are possible, even with an old camera like my Sony F717 circa 2002.
In digital camera terms, that's ancient and many would say obsolete.

I hate it when people are led to believe that a DSLR will improve their photos, only to spend a lot of money and see no improvement beyond some pixel-level stuff. Sure they can shoot faster, and have lots of control, and can shoot RAW, but are any of those things really necessary for most amateurs?
Oh, then they're told they need better lenses because the ones that come with DSLRs are crap. (Yes, they actually are crap unless it's a Sony or Olympus).
Then they need a wide angle, and a fisheye, and a longer zoom.
And studio lights and backdrops and the newest Photoshop CS3.
It never ends, and in most cases the photos still don't get any better.

I try to inspire people to learn everything about their own cameras, and why each feature is important and how it can be exploited.
To shoot in manual mode and at night, so they are forced to really understand exposure and metering.
To use a tripod even during the day when appropriate.
And to learn about how flash really works.
Lastly, to study composition since that's the main thing that separates the artist from the snapshooter. A few moments refining composition can make all the difference between people liking a photo and ignoring it.

Then to just come up with some ideas, from simple to wild, and try to make them reality. It helps to try again later if it didn't work the first time since every little thing we learn can affect everything we already know.

My camera plus $150 worth of flash gear and a tripod can do almost anything my mind can conjure up.
Anyone with a DSLR should be able to do as well or better if they just put in a little effort.

The Cube

I had this idea in my head all day yesterday and just knew I wouldn't be able to sleep until it was captured...

...but the picture wasn't complete in my head yet.
I had most of it, but the details were eluding me.
Then a look around Strobist and the Strobist Flickr Group brought it home--a hoodie!
All the cool guys are wearing hoodies in their shots these days, and adding the gloves put it over the top.

The Cube is a 5-sided white plastic box that in a former life held a Skagen® watch.
It's lit by my old battery-powered cheapo slave flash inside.
My new flash is gridded and lighting just my shoulder and hood from the side, while the cube is handling my face and everything else.
Balancing the two took a single test exposure--I think I shot a total of six.

Of course the main flash is triggered by my Cactus V2s and is in turn triggering the slave.
Now I have the fun task of reminding commenters on various sites that modern wizards don't wear cloaks; only posers do.

New Gear

Two weeks ago this new Sunpak 383 flash arrived from B&H PhotoVideo.
Full-manual operation is the way to go.

The next day I got the radio flash triggers from Gadget Infinity in Hong Kong.
Transmitter is on my camera's hotshoe, receiver's hotshoe is attached to the 383.
Now I can put my flash pretty much anywhere (within reason) and fire it remotely with no wires to carry and plug-in and trip over and repair. Shutter synch speed is 1/400 using the triggers and 1/1000 when connected directly to the camera.

Camera (+transmitter) clamped to my new (used) bike.
I can move fast and light but carry a lot of power and options now.

My new camera backpack and a lightweight spare POS tripod holding flash & receiver. Tripod bungees to the bike's frame.

An example of why getting the flash off of the camera is good.
Sunlight from the left/rear balanced with flash from the right/front.
Sure doesn't look like a typical snapshot.