Podcast #88 – Talking with Jason Anderson about building your lighting kit

Kerry and Jason talk about building your first lighting kit on a budget. Everyone needs a lighting kit but many people are intimidated by the upfront costs. In this show, Kerry and Jason walk through …

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Article Archive for May 2007

Father’s Day Gift Guide Father’s Day Gift Guide

Father’s Day is coming up, and what Dad wouldn’t like some really nice gifts for his special day? Our staff has put together a list of products and accessories that would put a smile on any man. How do we know your “Best Dad in the World” would like these?… because they came right off our own wish lists.

White Balancing Lens Cap Review White Balancing Lens Cap Review

White balance is an age old problem that is becoming all too modern with so many people moving to digital SLRs. Today’s cameras all have a pretty decent auto white balance settings, from the basic point/shot cameras to the pro SLRs. There are also several “fixed” settings on many of the simple cameras and most of the SLRs like Sunlight, Shade, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Incandescent, etc. But as many of you may know, these settings are not always perfect, and sometimes far from it.

Introduction to White Balance Introduction to White Balance

White balance is one of the more confusing aspects of digital photography and is one of the things that really baffles people when they go from simpler point and shoots to more advanced DSLR cameras and can’t figure out why the color of their images is so bad. Today we take a look at white balance and how it affects the color of your photos.

Anatomy of a product shoot Anatomy of a product shoot

We always take our own product shots, while manufacturer shots are usually very nice, they often can be retouched to make products look better than they really are. With the product shots for our articles, the only retouching may be to remove some stray dust.

The Digital Photography Book – Scott Kelby The Digital Photography Book – Scott Kelby

Learning all of the technical aspects of digital photography can be quite mind numbing for newcomers. Trying to learn about aperture, f-stops, shutter speed, depth of field, and other technical terms can be a bit overwhelming. So what do you do when you know what you want to accomplish but you just don’t know how to go about it?

Gadget Infinity V2 Wireless Flash Trigger Gadget Infinity V2 Wireless Flash Trigger

For the casual user, the ability to get your flash on-camera in a very inexpensive way can make a dramatic difference in your photographs and for this price, how can you afford not to pick up a set?

Lighting setups by David Berman

David Berman is a British news photographer and has posted a narrated slideshow showing some recent assignments with the final photos and then diagrams detailed the lighting setups he used. This is great information to learn how really dramatic photos can be taken. What is nice is that he doesn’t rely on a truckload of equipment, often its just one or two lights with umbrellas (brollys), reflectors, or gells.

Photographer’s checklists

Photographers are human and are therefor prone to making mistakes, however, some mistakes as a photographer can cost you dearly. Fortunately for me, my mistakes have never happened on a paid gig. I have however gone out to shoot nature and landscape shots and realized I didn’t have any compact flash cards once, and didn’t have my tripod another time.

Taking outdoor portraits Taking outdoor portraits

Natural light can be your friend or your enemy depending on how you approach it. The biggest mistake people make is thinking that the sun is a giant soft light in the sky. While the Sun is over 92 million miles away, if you hold your thumb up to the sun at high noon, it appears to only be the size of your thumbnail making it a VERY small spotlight which causes very harsh shadows.

Amvona Muslins Review Amvona Muslins Review

Muslin is an excellent background material because it can be stored easily, hung on almost anything, and takes light well. However, muslins are quite expensive, often heading into the $250+ range. As always, we try to save money where we can and finding muslins on eBay from Amvona for under $30 was just too good to pass up.