Getting Lit…

Learn To Light At Strobist!I’ve been getting interested in a new aspect of photography lately. As a student of the subject of photography for many years now, I’ve finally graduated to the point of being interested in controlling light beyond just a simple on-camera flash. When you file it right down, photography is about light and I’ve found that when there is more interesting light…well…it makes more interesting photos. The generally preferred way (debatably the best, arguably not the simplest, nor least expensive) to do this artificially is with lighting designed for photography, such as flashes and continuous lighting.

I was mostly concerned about the cost of getting into off-camera lighting. From cursory research, it was quite apparent it was going to be expensive. (Like the kind of expensive where I’m glad I don’t have a wife, expensive.) I also wanted it to be portable…the way I saw it, if it’s too unwieldy to carry, chances are it’ll get little use. Again from cursory research, portable was pretty much out of my financial reach. I mean $3000+ for battery powered lighting?? Ouch. A little too much for a hobby photographer. I was nearly doomed to never realize my interest.

So, not quite feeling defeated, I started looking into regular hot-shoe camera flashes (such as a Canon 580EX) to see what could be done. I wasn’t really happy with what I read about optical transmitters that the camera manufacturers offer as their in-house solution. The line of sight limitation crippled what I wanted to experiment with in off-camera lighting – light wherever I want it, even if it’s around a corner, in another area or somewhere an infrared signal couldn’t travel.

Well, I discovered a relatively new field of study pioneered by a photographer named David Hobby, more popularly known as “Strobist.” He’s put together extensive information (almost encyclopedic, actually) on using regular camera flashes to get well lit exposures, both cheaply and with minimal, portable gear. I began to get excited – he was all about DIY (do it yourself) stuff and keeping it on the cheap. (I’m all about cheap, a little bit of labor and big-time learning) Whether it’s using kitchen garbage bags and tupperware for studio gear or building a product-photo box out of an everyday cardboard box and tracing paper, the less it costs, the better it is. His results (and those of his students) are quite amazing, to say the least.

This whole concept really appealed to me as it met nearly all my criteria – it’s portable, small, flexible, relatively inexpensive and best of all, thoroughly pioneered. (The free part was a killer perk.) The only area that it didn’t compete in was if I wanted to light up a canyon…but I figured it might just be easier to wait for daytime. I still wasn’t sold, but it was quite apparent I needed to research it thoroughly.

Honestly, flash is a little intimidating for a starting point as a lighting newbie – it’s hard to learn something that’s only around for a brief second. I studied David’s website for several weeks until I felt comfortable with product decisions and core flash lighting concepts. David’s excellent ability to communicate, teach and assess his readers (as well as entertain…OMG, I’ve cracked up dozens of times reading his stuff) makes these difficult concepts much easier to reach by someone that doesn’t do photography day-in, day-out.

So, I’ve started the journey and ordered equipment from one of David’s sponsors and made the appropriate trips to Home Depot and the craft store…I’m anxiously awaiting the gear to arrive by big brown. For just under $1500 (that’s like pocket change in photography gear…I don’t actually believe this, but apparently photographers are very wealthy), I purchased enough gear to run three flashes simultaneously with a full accompaniment of studio gear…all wireless, with a range of up to 1600 feet from the camera. On top of that, I will have full color correction capability and countless DIY projects & light modifiers to work with. Here’s the rundown on what nearly a grand and a half can get ya’:

(2) Vivitar 285HV Flashes
(2) Bogen 3373 6′ Compact Light Stands (Portable stands)
(2) Interfit 8′ Air Cushioned Light Stands (Home stands)
(4) Pocket Wizard Plus II Transceivers (Wireless transmitters/receivers)
(2) Pocket Wizard to Vivitar Sync Cords
(1) Hot-shoe to Pocket Wizard Sync Cord (For my Canon 420EX)
(2) Westcott 43″ Compact Umbrella, White w/ Removable Black Cover
(2) Westcott 43″ Compact Umbrella, Soft Silver
(2) Rosco Pro Color Correction Gel Packs (Flash Color Correction)
(2) 4-Pack Rechargable Batteries and Recharger
(2) Packs of Bongo Ties / Ball Bungies
(3) Umbrella Swivels
(2) Bogen AW3279 Compact Light Kit Bags
(2) RoadWired RAPS Advanced Protection System
(1) Super Clamp
(1) Justin Clamp
(1) Stofen Omni Bounce Diffuser
(1) DIY Macro Studio Box w/ accessories
(2) DIY Softboxes (Will probably replace these with a commercial product)
(12) DIY Snoots (6 regular, 6 grid, 3 sizes each style)
(4) DIY Barndoors
(3) DIY Gel Holders
(2) Foam-core reflectors
…and a few other super-cheap DIY things…

(All ready owned my 3rd light…Canon 420EX & several modifiers including A Better Bounce Card, Gary Fong Lightsphere, and an Omni Bounce. )

Talk about a diving right in with almost limitless possibilities at your fingertips! A similar setup with “normal” commercial gear would’ve likely approached ten grand, just to put it into perspective. Provided it can be justified, the kit may see an upgrade of two Canon 580EXII’s, a Canon optical transmitter, and two more Pocket Wizards. That’s a five light wireless (optical eTTL & radio non-TTL) set up for under $3000…sweet.

I could’ve saved $600 by not going with the Pocket Wizards (at ~$180/each) and instead gone with cheap-o Gadget Infinity wireless triggers. After reading enough poor reviews of the off-brands that made it clear they would likely not meet my needs and OMG, people’s overwhelming lust for the PW’s, I decided this would be the “investment” part of the investment. Heck,I saved so much money anyhow…and David’s advice is to save money elsewhere so you can spend it on what really matters. I mostly agree with that advice.

What’s next for me? Going through David’s tutorials to understand how to use off-camera flash lighting. He’s put forth an excellent series of hands-on exercises that are designed to exploit the capabilities of minimal gear. He’s just entered Lighting 102…I think I’ll be able to catch up. Then again, maybe not…running Strobist.com is the guy’s day job.

Anyway…so here I dive into lighting for photography. Should be a fun journey! If you’re interested, there’s a great group of people over on the Strobist website. All it takes to get started is a camera with a hot-shoe or a sync port, something which many cameras these days have. It’s also MUCH cheaper to get into if you don’t go wireless…you can spend $200 a get a decent kit. Also, for some great DIY projects, you can check out LightingMods and DIYPhotography.

Hope you enjoy!

0 comments

My Computer Gear

Linux & WindowsI see that a lot of bloggers put up a post about their computer gear. I gotta admit, I’ll check the specs of those bloggers…just to see what they’ve got under the hood. If you could care less about my uber-geekdom…well, there’s plenty else to see that’s far more interesting to read & you can just move right along.

When I was younger, one of my first jobs was building computers. Ever since then, I’ve been building my own computers by hand selecting each component and getting it all to work. Anymore, this is not the cheaper way to go if you just want a computer – in fact, it often costs more than a pre-built Dell or the like, even with the labor & profits involved. I just like knowing what I’ve got and the freedom of making hardware decisions.

I run three computers with two being “on” full-time…I’ve junked my older gear as it really was a waste of space. The first is my primary machine that sees the day-to-day. The second is my Linux-based Asterisk PBX that runs my telephone communications. Third, I run a file server (read: expensive network storage device) that is used to backup critical files as well as a secure backup of my extensive digital photography collection.

I’ve been resisting the urge to go quad core. I think I’m going to wait for octo-core (or whatever they come up with when they can put 8 cores on a CPU) as that’s gonna be one bad-a$$ CPU. Screw the gigahertz, I want multi-threaded, simultaneous, precision calculation. That’s gonna be like having your own freakin’ super-computer at your finger tips.

On with the specs…

Primary Computer:

This is my primary machine where I spend most of my computer time. It runs Windows XP Professional and has turned out to be a solid machine. It runs sweet & with the way I use computers (extreme multitasking), the dual monitors & dual core CPU have been an amazing plus for me. The hard drive space is seemingly infinite as well…clocking in at a massive 2.2 terabytes, storage is not a problem for me. It’s also a decent DVD duplicator with three DVD writers, which it can barely squeak by running all at once. This machine will likely be retired in a year or two and will become a dedicated Linux-based VMWare machine, thus the need for beefing up the RAM to 4GB and a configuration primed for hardware or software RAID.

(1) AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ 2.3GHz Dual Core CPU
(1) ABIT AN8 32X Socket 939 nForce4 SLI Motherboard
(4) OCZ 1GB DDR400 (PC3200) RAM (Total 4GB)
(1) XFX GeForce 256MB 7300GT Video Card
(1) Western Digital 250GB SATA2 Hard Drive (OS & Programs)
(2) Seagate 500GB SATA2 Hard Drives
(1) Seagate 120GB USB Hard Drive
(1) Iomega 320GB USB Hard Drive
(1) Iomega 500GB USB Hard Drive
(1) Lite-On 16X IDE DVD Burner
(2) Lite-On 20X SATA2 DVD Burners
(1) Mitsumi 1.44MB Internal Floppy Drive
(1) Thermaltake Tsunami ATX Mid Tower Case
(1) Windows XP Professional
(2) Viewsonic 19″ Widescreen LCD Flatscreen Monitors (VA1912wb)

Future: Pretty much content with it now that all my upgrades are complete. Likely in it’s final configuration, minus an OS changeout for Linux when it’s repurposed as a VMWare server upon retirement.

Asterisk PBX Server:

This machine, retired from primary rather early due to a motherboard issue with running more than one stick of RAM, quietly runs full-time and provides me with mind-boggling communication capabilities. It’s seen several upgrades & changes to what is now it’s final configuration. It runs the open-source Asterisk “Voice Over IP” PBX software on top of CentOS Linux. Seeing as how I work with PBX’s (phone systems) for a living, it’s suitable that I would run one in my home & subject my friends to an auto attendant (IVR) with multiple options when they call me. It’s also paid for itself – for about $12 a month, I have four telephone numbers in three states, an 800 number, unlimited telephone lines, multiple telephone carriers for redundancy and the ability to control some ultra-cool phones. It’s been a sweet journey & Asterisk is just freakin’ kewl.

(1) AMD Athlon XP 2200+ 1.2Ghz Single Core CPU
(1) MSI K7T266 Pro2 Socket A Motherboard
(1) 1GB DDR266 (PC2100) RAM
(1) EVGA NVidia TNT2 32MB AGP Video Card
(1) Linksys 10/100 Network Card
(2) Seagate 80GB ATA133 IDE Hard Drives (Software RAID1)
(2) Lite-On 52X IDE CD-ROM Writers
(1) Mitsumi 1.44MB Internal Floppy Drive
(1) Beige ATX Mid-Tower Case w/ extra 80mm fans
(1) CentOS Linux 4.5 (Server style, no GUI)
(1) ProView 19″ Widescreen LCD Flatscreen Monitor (KVM switched w/ Backup Box)

Future: It’ll probably be replaced with an ultra cheap build using newer hardware when the motherboard or CPU dies. It suits it’s purpose just fine for now with the recent RAM upgrade to 1GB from 256MB and the configuration of software RAID with high-quality Seagate drives.

Backup Computer:

This machine, my “old” primary and original Asterisk server, is running Ubuntu Linux and acts as secure network storage for my sensitive, unreproducable files as well as the secure backup of my growing digital photography collection. After reading “The Dam Book” by Peter Krough (BTW, DAM is Digital Asset Management or, in layman’s terms, understanding a massive digital photography collection), I was fully sold on protecting my collection of photos that I’ve accumulated (over 16,000 images at last count) since entering digital photography several years ago. The 250GB RAID configuration is enough to securely store my entire collection of photos as well as providing peace of mind protection for any other files I couldn’t bear losing in the event of a hard drive crash. With the operating system & critical files on seperate hard drives for ease of OS changes, this machine has seen several flavors of Linux over it’s life span, including Ubuntu, CentOS, Mandrake, SuSe and FedoraCore.

(1) AMD Athlon XP 2200+ 1.2Ghz Single Core CPU
(1) MSI KT3 Ultra Socket A Motherboard
(2) 1GB DDR333 (PC2700) RAM (Total 2GB)
(1) MSI NVidia GeForce FX 5600XT 128MB Video Card
(1) Seagate 80GB Hard Drive
(2) Seagate 250GB Hard Drives (Software RAID1)
(1) NEC 12X IDE DVD Burner
(1) Mitsumi 1.44MB Internal Floppy Drive
(1) ProView 19″ Widescreen LCD Flatscreen Monitor (KVM switched w/ Asterisk Box)
(1) Antec Black ATX Mid-Tower Case w/ extra 80mm fans
(1) Ubuntu Linux running Gnome GUI

Future: I’m going to do something far more sensible & purchase a multi-drive eSATA tower with RAID capabilities. They’re spendy now ($300-$500 without any drives) and I’d prefer a unit that’ll take 8 drives, providing four separate RAID1 configurations. We’ll see if the price of those puppies come down at all…then I’ll think about it.

0 comments

From The Camera To The PC (The Right Way)

So, I made a slight modification to my photography workflow…nothing major, just found the right tool for the job. The new process only affects how I get my images from my flash cards to my PC. Sure, you could just copy them over…but then I have to manually:

  • Rename files to my preffered naming scheme
  • Apply copyright metadata
  • Create a backup copy to another location
  • Create a DNG copy to future-proof my RAW files
  • Verify all images are not corrupt
  • Sort the images by subject matter

Image Ingestion Process

It’s the perfect job for automation as the above can take hours.

I used to use an Adobe Photoshop action that I learned about from reading Peter Krough’s Digital Asset Management book. It was all right…a little tweaky to set up, but it just worked thereafter. It did the job…but I am always looking for something better.

In that light, I was crusing the DAM forums and learned of a new tool that Peter recommends – Image Ingester Pro. I downloaded the demo & paid for it in the same day, it was that good. Sure, it’s 3rd party and doesn’t integrate directly into Photoshop – but after thinking about it, I didn’t see why it needed to. There’s a free version too…but I wanted the pro version because it had enhanced metadata capability, image filtering and ingestion tracking built in. It’s also able to handle multi-camera shoots…something that I may need at some point in the future. The free version would certainly work for most newbies and amateurs…and likely most professional photographers.

After having run a couple thousand images through it, I can highly recommend Image Ingester Pro. I like how it breaks the backups into date based folders – this makes it a cakewalk to sort images into their context for my final image structure. I also like being confident that the images have been verified and the conversion to DNG being automated. Sure, it can take a litle while to tear through a large flash card when doing all the above…but the way I see it, I’ve tasked my CPU & ImageIngester with the labor while I can kick back and do other things. I like it.

So, check it out…play around with the free version. I can almost guarantee you’ll like it!

0 comments

Why I Don’t MySpace…

I found out about MySpace around a year ago…it’s kinda neat…makes a “blog” accessible to just about anybody and has tons and tons of readers. I know at least a handful of people that spend most of their net surfing hours there. I’ve toyed with the idea of starting a MySpace that links back to this blog, but I think I’ve decided against it. Permanently. Oh, and you won’t find any hyperlinks from my site to MySpace either.

For context, I run an open-source web-based blog application, called WordPress, that is installed on web server space that I rent from a company in Canada. (Yep, you’re connected to Canada, folks.) I’ve also purchased several domain names that all point to this web server, providing me the ability to simultaneously run multiple websites from the same server. I used to run a web server from my home (for free) but ultimately wanted to start working with online video…thus, to save my cable modem’s bandwidth, renting server space seemed the better way to go.

Anyway…back to the point. If I wanted mass traffic, MySpace might be the way to go. It certainly doesn’t lack readership and popularity…who doesn’t know about MySpace? (And if you found my website before you heard about MySpace, there’s also some other neat-o sites you need to know about called YouTube, Google and Wikipedia)

Of more concern, I’ve learned of disreputable MySpace censoring tactics. I don’t like the idea that I don’t own my blog and can’t post whatever it is that I see fit. Even if it is about the most important presidential candidate to run for Presidency. If you don’t believe me, just watch this video:

[flv]https://old.jeffwhiteside.com/video/ronpaulmyspacecensorship.flv[/flv]

That, and I’m typically not one to do something the easy way. Heck, even my mom has a MySpace, who (certainly no offense intended…just in case you’re reading…Hi Mom!) is not a technical wizard. I guess it’s pretty easy to do. Easy enough that nearly everyone I know has a MySpace. Geez…and here I am debating whether I will or I won’t have a MySpace. I could’ve had a MySpace set up in the time it’s taken me to write this post.

Last, but not least…the layout of MySpace, frankly, sucks. It’s just ugly, poorly laid out and what…just..what…is up with all the silly/ugly comments that people leave on people’s pages? Who has the patience to read through the heaps and heaps of pointless garbage that people “tag” onto your website? Who even wants those readers anyway? (If you’ve been there, you know what I’m talking about…) I haven’t found a MySpace page that I like yet…it’s almost offensive to my eyes.

So, that’s why I don’t MySpace and why, for the foreseeable future, will not be found on MySpace. Just Google me, it’s kewler that way.

1 comment

Keith Olbermann Video Commentary…

I found these videos the other day…for those that watch television, Keith Olbermann might be familiar to you…but for me, a guy that hasn’t really watched TV much in the last decade, he was a new find. Say what you will, but he seems to be relatively informed (for a sports caster) and has a much appreciated command of the vernacular. Rest assured, just ’cause I like this guy all right, doesn’t mean I’ll rush right out and get me a TV antenna…no, online video works just fine for me.

In the first, titled “The Beginning of the End of America,” Keith addresses the Military Commissions Act rather eloquently…his scathing rant is well researched, filled with historical information and accurately portrays what this law actually represents. For people that disagree or think the “anti-terrorism” laws don’t apply to actual Americans, you need to go check out the laws yourself. It’s actually rather frightening to read the words on paper.

[flv]https://old.jeffwhiteside.com/video/KeithOlbermann_Militarytribunals.flv[/flv]

In the second, he puts Bill O’Reilly in his place…it’s probably one of the best commentaries I’ve ever seen done on him…I just absolutely love it. In this video, we are clearly shown O’Reilly’s blatant disregard for factual information and accurate reporting…he’s literally willing to misrepresent history in a very shameful manner. Keith also exposes the fact the Fox News has manipulated history by “rewriting” transcripts of O’Reilly’s show after the fact. Though this doesn’t come as any surprise to me, for anyone that might still have the slightest bit of faith in Fox news, it’s your wakeup call.

[flv]https://old.jeffwhiteside.com/video/KeithOlbermann_BillOReilly.flv[/flv]

.

0 comments