[caradoc]

Update for you, Monkeybort… and anyone else who’s interested in lighting.

The Strobist Blog has craploads of information on how to use little hotshoe flashes to get studio-quality lighting. I know a couple of guys who’re doing amazing things with $80 Sunpak and Vivitar manual flashes, optical slaves, et cetera.

Being more interested in getting the quality of my photographs up without having to MacGyver things more than I have to, I’ve picked up a few (well, three so far) Nikon SB-800s. The wireless (infrared) signaling system works surprisingly well, even in outdoor Arizona sun. It’s farking hot and bright, and the flashes work anyway:

Aside from a minor crop, that image is exactly what came out of the camera. I didn’t do any Photoshopping or even adjust any levels.

Now that I’m done attention whoring on my favorite shot in the past month, check out The Strobist Blog. Really cool stuff there.

[caradoc]

Every last employee of the TSA with whom I’ve had the misfortune to interact in the last two years has aspired to learn how to say, “Would you like fries with that?”

I made it through airport security with a Lowepro CompuDayPack. They had me take the laptop out, but the camera body, lenses, flashes, 100Base-T hub, network cables, Inova X0 flashlight, power adapters, plastic four-pack boxes of AA batteries, and everything else didn’t even raise an eyebrow.

I thought for certain the monopod (Velbon RUP-40) was going to be a problem – I’d forgotten and left it in the bag instead of putting it in checked baggage.

Nope. The TSA monkeys passed it right on through.

But a bottle of water is strictly verboten. Kip Hawley is truly an idiot (www.kiphawleyisanidiot.com).

[caradoc]

I shoot Nikon. I’ve shot Nikon for about five years, now.

I tried a few of the Canon bodies, and I wasn’t prepared to spend $2K to get a body that fit my hands when a D80 works just fine for me.

The Rebels are just too fricking small for me to get a good grip on them.

[caradoc]

Geez, that’s slow.

[caradoc]

I bet you drive the freeway with your high beams on, too. On the other hand, I’m betting your fog lights aren’t right at my roof line, either.

Too many jackasses around here with jacked-up trucks.

[caradoc]

When my lights are on, the fogs are always on. I always say there’s no such thing as too much light when I’m driving.

I hate to say it, but you’re in the target class for my rant.

If there’s no weather problems, and you’re driving on surface streets in town, there’s absolutely no reason to have the fog lights on.

Turn them off. Please.

[caradoc]

I am incredibly happy with the state of my vision two years after LASIK.

I’m still 20/15 in the right eye, 20/20 in the left. Not enough difference to cause me any problems.

I’m also very happy that I’m unlikely to require bifocals within the next ten years.

[caradoc]

I’m aware of DRLs. My own car has them. I’m not talking about DRLs.

I’m talking about the fog lights, being the extra headlights that are usually placed very low to the ground and aimed slightly up of straight ahead so as to avoid the direct backscatter typically associated with light dispersion through fog. Sometimes they have yellow filters over them.

There’s no good reason to turn those on unless there’s fog.

[caradoc]

After tonight, I really have to add to the rant…

What the fark is it with these asshats who drive everywhere in all weather with their farking fog lights on? There’s no fog. There isn’t even any rain. Not a farking cloud in the sky. And yet they all drive around with their farking fog lights on, blinding other drivers who then turn on their own fog lights.

I want an auto-targeting BB gun. Shoot out those farking fog lights.

And people who drive with their HID headlights on should be shot, too.

Oh, and anyone who wraps their headlights in farking blue Saran wrap to simulate HID headlights should be shot.

(sigh)

[caradoc]

I don’t want to know how you know that. I really don’t.

[caradoc]

Tips for making my black cat look more like a cat and less like a furry blob with eyes?

Off-camera flash. I’ve yet to find any way to better bring up fur sheen than by moving the flash off the camera.

It’s not the best shot for composition, but this is the result of one flash about two feet from my left shoulder, and one flash above and behind the blonde dog. You should be able to tell from the shadows where it is.

[caradoc]

I, too, keep the kid pictures locked to friends/family.

Ultimately, if you’d be upset if someone else got their hands on it, it doesn’t belong *anywhere* on the internet. Ever. Sooner or later, everything leaks.

[caradoc]

Never have I experienced such a wealth of poorly supervised children hopped up on caffeine, chocolate, and boredom.

I feel your pain. I really do.

It seems that any time I’m booked to travel for work, I end up with a four-year-old sitting behind me with a spastic leg muscle. The kicking never stops.

And it seems that some large percentage of “parents” immediately go deaf after spawning. Some don’t. Many do.

My wife and I have actually made an effort to patronize local establishments that are *not* “family-friendly.”

I once saw a sign I found amusing, though…

“Unattended children will be given two cups of caramel espresso and a free puppy.”

I just hope they wait until about 90 seconds before returning the child to the parents to do that.

[caradoc]

Improvements. I played with them until they were a little more tired, and here we go…

The images are linked to the Flickr pages on which they’re hosted, including the lighting info.

I’m having too much fun with that little Smith-Victor 45i. If anyone’s looking for a *cheap* way into semi-studio lighting check out the Smith-Victor “Thrifty” kits. For about $150ish, you can get into a pair of strobes, light stands, and umbrellas. They’ve got built-in optical slaves, or you can string ’em off of a PC sync cord.

I’m going to pick up a set of the Gadget Infinity 16-channel RF remotes to play with to get loose from the cords.

[caradoc]

Well, I feel like a complete n00b. Forgot the little “voting” thing.

(sigh)

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