A View of Raleigh

last photos from Raleigh

Mamiya C220
Mamiya-Sekor 80mm f/2.8 lens
Fujicolor NHG II 800 220 film

The Library of Congress has a Flickr account!

I was browsing through antique photos on Flickr and came across this.

This might be old news for some, but it's new to me. And blows me away a bit. I was pleasantly surprised to find this.

Any lover of historic or photojournalistic images should love this gallery / photostream. Right now, there are over 3,700 quality, high resolution scans from the original negatives, positives, plates, and prints in the gallery. More are consistently added about once a week.



www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress

A full explanation of why the Library of Congress is on Flickr can be found here.

The LOC's official website: www.loc.gov

Speedlite Heaven

A memorial weekend party turned into a impromptu camera toss.

I provided the camera, lens, 2 580EX Speedlites checked out from school, my 430EX speedlite, and my ST-E2 Speedlite Transmitter. Danial provided his 550EX Speedlite and Ryan his 430EX Speedlite.

I started it off then passed it along to Danial, then Ryan, then Griffin, then Ivan, and around, around.

I've lost track of who shot what.

It was a fun evening, and I'm glad everyone got a chance to play with some wireless off-camera flashes.

Shot by photokids:
-Me
-Danial
-Ryan
-Griffin
-Ivan

Lit by:
-Canon 580EX II Speedlite x 2
-Canon 550EX Speedlite x 1
-Canon 430EX Speedlite x 2
-Mecury-vamp street light

triggered by a Canon ST-E2 Speedlite Transmitter
mounted to a Canon 40D
with a Canon 17-40 f/4L lens

White Balance set to "Flash"
Picture Style set to "Netural"

processed through Adobe Lightroom by me
-exposure adjustment
-recovery adjustment
-fill light adjustment
-blacks adjustment

A guitar, long blond hair, and an impromptu dance party of two

Canon 40D
Canon 17-40mm f/4L lens
Canon 580EX II Speedlite flash
-bounced off ceiling

Concert @ The Warehouse

The Warehouse
(Krankies Coffee)
Winston-Salem, NC
Saturday, May 24th, 2008

Mansions
↓








Life Life This
↓


Yearling
↓







It's been awhile since I've done any serious concert shooting. And this was my first time attempting to use multiple IR/radio slaved flashes at a show, so everything was pretty-much touch-and-go. But I did have the benefit of being friends with members of the opening band, Mansions.

For Mansions and Life Like This I used two Canon 580EX II Speedlites and one Canon 430EX Speedlite slaved to a hot-shoe mounted Canon ST-E2 Speedlite Transmitter. Flashes and transmitter set to channel 3, one 580 set to (ratio) group A, one 580 set to (ratio) group B, and 430 also set to (ratio) group B. All were mounted to their included coldshoe mini-stand.

For Yearling I switched things around a bit and used Pocket Wizard radio-slaves. Having only a miniphone-to-PC cord and miniphone-to-Vivitar cord, I connected one to a 580 through its PC socket and one to my Vivitar 285HV. Both flashes were mounted to their included coldshoe mini-stand and gaffers taped to a Pocket Wizard receiver.

Canon Speedlites use an IR (infrared) signal to fire wirelessly. This allows for TTL information (and more) to be shared between camera and flash(es), making them smarter than other radioslaves. But the downside is that they require a line-of-sight between transmitter and receiver (same as a remote-control to a TV). Because of this, the 430EX I placed behind the Mansions' drummer, David, (to be used as a accent-light) never fired. It had no line-of-sight between itself and my ST-E2.

Pocket Wizards are radioslaves. My understanding is that they send a less complex signal that only sends a command to fire/trigger, but radio signals pass through/around obstacles and Pocket Wizards can transmit over longer distances.

And while understanding how your equipment works is important, knowing how to utilize it properly is more important. And the latter is where I am less confident.

I placed my flashes where I thought they would cover a broad area and light appropriately. I experimented with automatic (TTL) and manual settings and lighting rations, using Canons A:B group options (8:1 - 1:8). My exposures and ambient-to-flash light balance were all over the place, but I shot RAW, and was able to salvage several images through the Adobe Lightroom Develop Module adjusting exposure and white balance.

I'm glad a got a bit of experience out of this and was able to produces some good images. But I only deemed 40 images usable out of the 192 I shot. And I didn't develop a good reliable lighting system as I had hoped to.

Canon 40D
Canon 17-40 f/4L lens
Canon 70-200 f/2.8 lens

Canon 580EX II Speedlite flash (slaved)
Canon 580EX II Speedlite flash (slaved)
Canon 430EX Speedlite flash (slaved)
Canon ST-E2 Speedlite Transmitter (master)

Canon 580EX II + Pocket Wizard Plus II Transceiver (receiver)
Vivitar 285HV + Pocket Wizard Plus II Receiver
Pocket Wizard Plus Transmitter

Imported/processed through Adobe Lightroom

Push

Nikon F2
Nikon Nikkor Non-Ai 50mm f/1.4
Kodak TMX400 (1600-push)
D-76 (~20°C - ~10.5min)

Kodak Retina IIa

A new toy.











Canon Rebel XT
Canon 35-128mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens
ambiate lit
-overhead tungsten

My uncle made a decent Goodwill find of this antique rangefinder camera. He bought it, took it apart, cleaned it up, put it back together, and tried to sale it on ebay, but couldn't get the $50 he asked for. So, he gave it to me.

It's a German-built Kodak, a 35mm folding rangefinder camera with a Schneider Xenon 50mm f/2 lens and 1/500s-max leaf shutter.

It was produced between 1951 and 1954 and sold for about $170 (about $1100 today). It competed with other German and Japanese rangefinders as a simpler, more user friendly alternative.

At some point between ending up at Goodwill and being disassembled by my uncle, it lost its original cold-shoe (but still has a working X-sync socked), lost the original lens aperture lever (requiring a small tool/pointy object to change the f/stop), and when opened the lens sits less than parallel with the body (probably causing some scheimpflug-ish focusing issues).

But it still functions well (except for a little sticking in the 1s and 1/2s shutter speeds). It doesn't appear to have any light leaks or lens defects, and also came with its original Kodak FVII/32 UV filter (also made in Germany).

I ran a roll of Ilford Delta 3200 through it, but won't be able to process it for a week or two.

more info about the Retina IIa can be found here

Photography Blogs

Great blogs for photographers:

Strobist
One of the best and most well respected photography blogs on the internet. Strobist teaches amazing lighting techniques using minimal equipment with professional results.

Photo Attorney
A blog run by Carolyn E. Wright, an attorney whose practice concentrates on the law for photographers, and author of Photographer's Legal Guide.

Photopreneur
A blog for anyone hoping to or looking for new ways of making money from their photography.

DIY Photography
For anyone who's interested in alternatives to buying expensive photography and lighting equipment and prefer to "do it yourself."

Make: Photography
Another great source for photographers who enjoy building, tinkering, and making, from the well know Make: magazine.


I use Google: Reader to keep track of all the blogs I find interesting. It's a simple to use RSS reader (wiki) application that works with your Google/Gmail account, and goes well with Blogger and Firefox. Nothing to download and install, and you can access it from anywhere.

The last last photokids party

Canon 40D
Canon 17-40 f/4L lens
Canon 580EX II Speedlite flash (on-camera, master)
Canon 430EX Speedlite flash (off-camera, slave)
Iso: H (3200)
Picture Style: Neutral
White balance: Auto