Archive for April, 2009
April 29th, 2009 by Calvin Jung
I’ve decided that I’d like to purchase a second body. I could go with a 50D, but go big or go home – right? I’ve already got a 40D, though. And to be honest, if I really wanted another crop body, then I’d just get another 40D. The extra few bucks for the features on the 50D isn’t worth it, IMO.
So with that said, I’ve got my eyes set on the 5D MKII that was just released a few months ago.
Although it’s going to take quite some time to save up for the sucker. At $2699, it’s not going to be easy on the wallet. And since I will be picking up other various lighting equipment along the way, it will definitely be a while before I can afford this.
I plan to keep the 40D for a variety of reasons. Despite what some may argue, crop bodies do have their advantages. I’m not here to talk to you about crop versus full framed bodies, so you can Google that. It’d be nice to have a second body with a second lens attached. Switching lenses is a real pain. Plus, the 5D MKII isn’t a particularly fast camera at 3.9 FPS (the 40D is 6.5 FPS).
April 27th, 2009 by Calvin Jung
A bunch of friends, including Grant Plummer, and I went out to a high school football field and track to shoot just for fun.
A couple disclaimers:
- I’m not sure about the legal terms of using their logo, but just so there is no confusion…these are not official New Balance ads
- None of us ran track, so the form is not perfect in any of the pics. This was a pretty last minute shoot, so we didn’t really research any of this to make it look super realistic
Lighting gear used:
- (1) VivitarH 285HV
- (1) reflective umbrella
- CyberSync Radio Transmitters
In all three shots a single strobe was reflected from camera right.
And here is a pullback shot.
Very simple setup.
April 19th, 2009 by Calvin Jung
Yesterday I began Chapter 2 of my strobist journey – People. I had a lot of help from Peter Li. I couldn’t have done this shoot without him, and this shoot made me realize how important it is to have an assistant on location with you. It makes life much easier. So thanks, Peter!
Also, big thanks to Evelyn Wilroy, the model, for letting me experiment with my new gear on her!
For lighting we used:
- Natural Light
- (2) Vivitar 285HV
- (2) 32″ reflective umbrellas
- (1) 580EX II
- CyberSync Radio Transmitters
Not much to comment about the following picture. We “borrowed” this idea from an ad out of a magazine. We really liked the harsh shadows that the sun gave us.
For the next picture we used the sun and two 285HV’s reflected, one camera left and one camera right. We purposely overpowered the left strobe to overexpose her right side. Not everyone will agree with this, but for me it just “works.”
We had tons of fun shooting the next shot. Evelyn threw on a long “flowy” dress and I thought it would be a great idea for her to twirl around so the dress would flow. Not much to be said about the setup for this shot as I actually remembered to take a pullback shot for you guys.
The rim light in the back really helped to separate her from the background. I really love the way this shot turned out.
It was starting to get pretty late, but I wanted to squeeze in one more shot. We had a strobe reflected high camera left and another at eye level camera right. A strobe was placed on the table behind her for rim light.
And a couple of the photogs with the model, hehe.
Last two…
April 18th, 2009 by Calvin Jung
Took the CyberSyncs out to shoot Nam’s car, again, last night. See his album in the gallery for more pictures.
April 14th, 2009 by Calvin Jung
Before anyone says anything, I know my car is dirty. I have only washed it once since the new calendar year and only six times in the last. But I digress.
Yesterday I received a generous delivery from the UPS man (see previous post for details). I couldn’t just let it all sit around the apartment, so I called up a buddy of mine, Brandon from Air-2-Flat Photos, to head out and see what these suckers can do.
Shot at 1/250 @ f/2.8
Unfortunately, I don’t recall the strengths of each strobe used for these shots. Oops.
We didn’t seem to have much problem setting up this shot, but in hindsight I would have moved the 285HV camera left a little more to the right. The lighting on the bumper appears uneven.
Shot at 1/250 @ f/2.8
Two 285HV’s camera left – 1/2; 1/4
One 580EX II camera right – 1/2
We had some difficulties with these shots for some reason. We were getting severe hot spots on almost every panel of the car, on there still are some. In retrospect, I’d have moved the strobe camera right a little further right. The driver side tail appears a little washed out and the passenger side rear isn’t very well lit.
Hopefully the next time I get a chance to take the gear out my car will be clean!
April 13th, 2009 by Calvin Jung
After waiting around all day (well, it certainly felt like all day), the UPS man finally decided to deliver my new toys!
My strobist setup includes:
(1) 580EX II Speedlite
(2) Vivitar 285HV
CyberSync Radio Trigger/Receivers
(3) Impact 8′ light stands
(2) Impact 32″ Umbrellas
Stay tuned to follow my journey as I dive into the world of off-camera lighting! I should have some shots up by the weekend!