Zoom Lock

I posted earlier about the uberness that is the AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 GII ED.  I've used it a number of times over the past couple of months.  I also mentioned it has a zoom lock, but didn't think I would bother.  Well, let me tell you after using this lens for several casual photoshoots, the zoom lock is a nice feature. 

I normally use a BlackRapid camera strap and today while I was doing some street photography I had my 18-200 mounted.  When the lens was zoomed around 35mm and hanging on my hip it constantly extended out to the 200mm all on it's lonely.  It was weird.  And then I remembered, "Oh yes, there is a zoom lock".  I used it and problem solved.

The only problem is you have to remember to switch it off unless you want to shoot only in 18mm.  However after a few minutes I naturally switched it off while I was bringing the camera up.

Bottomline, a nice feature on an already amazing street photography lens.

A Strobist's Night Out

photo credit to Ashley Adcox

In an earlier post I detailed the photoshoot a group of Indianapolis photographers and models did at the Stutz Building. I organized the shoot through the Flickr Indianapolis Strobist group. A great time. Thought I would post the team picture. From left to right are: Faith Blackwell (her studio was our base of operation), Amanda Jo Welch (model), Olivia Ogden (model), Ashley Adcox, Bovary (model), Diablo (model), Steve Griffey, yours truly (in the RAW t-shirt) and Paul D'Andrea.  Photographers Lora and Dave Olive not present for the photo.

I can't wait until we do this again. It's a strobist's dream date.

Stutz Model Session

One of the areas I’m spending time is model photography.  I’ve combined this with my increasing interest in flash / strobe lighting.  One place to give this interest a workout is through a local Flickr meet-up group, Indianapolis Strobist.  A group of 7 local photographers, including myself, got together yesterday evening for a model shoot I arranged.

The photographers that showed up were: Lora Olive at www.livepixlive.com, Ashley Adcox at www.koruimage.com, Steve Griffey, Dave Olive, Faith Blackwell at www.faithblackwellphotography.com , and Paul D’Andrea at www.pdaphotography.com

 The meet-up took place at the Stutz Building in Indianapolis.  I’d been to the Stutz a few times in the past as it houses many local artist studios, and they have an annual Stutz Artist Association Open House.  I thought this would be a perfect location because the building has old-style industrial windows, lots of dark halls, industrial fixtures, etc.  On top of this one of the photographers in the group, Faith Blackwell, has a studio in the Stutz.  This was perfect as it allowed us to have a base of operation for our equipment.

I wanted to keep the effort organizing this shoot simple as I have a day job that makes WAY more money than my photo gig. With the help of uber portrait & event photographer, Paul D’Andrea we put a call out for local models.  Good thing Paul has good contacts because I came up blank.  I pinged several models I’ve worked with previously, and reached out to several models through ModelMayhem but came up dry.  Either the models were booked / busy or I received no feedback from anyone on ModelMayhem.  Oh well, since I don’t have a reputation as a model photographer I’m not surprised at my results.  However, with Paul’s help we lined up 2 models we’ve worked with before, and 2 models new to many of us.

Models Bovary & Diablo (MM # 720400) are dynamite together.  They know several of the photographers in the shoot so the chemistry was there. Amanda Jo Welch (MM # 18955491 & 1069732) joined us and had major skills, and Olivia Ogden (MM # 365545) was amazing.

As we’ve done before we broke off into groups and photographed in groups of 2-3.  Since I had an extra Elinchrom Skyport trigger it was easy for me to have a couple of photographers join me.  We took turns with a series of shots and then traded off the triggers.  I started off with Ashley & Steve along with model Amanda.  Later Ashley moved to another group and Faith joined the Steve’s.  We worked Amanda in about 5 locations.  One on a bench, against a set of industrial windows with the sun to her back, another location with the sun to her face and natural lighting to her back, one series in a dark hall, and finally a set with a speedlight directly behind her hair.  We shot for about 2 hours.

In almost all shots I used my standard 2 speedlight setups that I’ve discussed in a previous post.  This time however, I switched out one of my LumiQuest Softbox III with an RPS Studio Softbox RS-4030 set up for a speedlight.  This setup as previously blogged makes for a speedy setup and easy to move around.  We also mixed in a red gel on one of the speedlights which created interesting effects. 

Finally, we headed back to Faith’s studio to cool off (it was uber hot in most of the Stutz) and to try our hand with the other models.  I shot about 15 minutes with Bo and Diablo with the amazing lighting setup that Paul had arranged. 

Finally, Lora and Dave joined me and model Olivia to work some of the hallways.  This time I replaced the RPS Studio Softbox with a standard umbrella (I know, old school).  However, it was so hot in the Stutz the adhesive backed velcro on the Softbox delaminated and the softbox kept falling off the holder…no kidding.  I could have used my LumiQuest Softbox III, but I wanted to try for more diffused light.  In one series the hall was so tight that I could only fit one umbrella in.  I simply set it high and shot below it.  Worked great to add diffused light.

Finally, Steve joined me and we moved Olivia in-front of an old freight elevator.  After a number of normal shots using the umbrella setup, I put a second speedlight behind Olivia and aimed it at the elevator.  This gave some really interesting backlighting effect.  Also we then turned it forward and did a number of shots with the flash firing forward.  Overall, some interesting effects.

In all of my shots tonight I was shooting with a Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8 lens and set my camera to manual.  Manual settings were 500 ISO, exposure at 1/100 to 1/160 of a second and f/stop at 6.3.  The speedlights mentioned are my Nikon SB-600's.

Bottomline, we had a great time doing our strobist thing.  As always, can’t leave a post without a few tips: 

·         If you are going to shoot in a group with paid models and plan to split the cost, make sure you get the number of shooters tied down ASAP.  Without it you can’t determine the number of models to hire and $$$ each photographer has to pay without knowing the numbers.

·         Make sure everyone knows the location, route and timing to meet.  We spent about 30 minutes of our 3 hour shoot getting people together and organized.  Remember the meter is running on the models

·         Bring nametags – this may sound really silly but for meetups like this not everyone knows each other

·         Make sure everything, triggers, camera & rechargeable batteries on your speedlights are charged.  If not bring extra batteries.  I did this and was happy I did.  I went through all my batteries.

·         Experiment with lighting and model poses.  Some of our setups worked and some didn’t.  But you know what?  The shots that I didn’t think would work actually came out really well.

·         On hot days like yesterday make sure everyone has water and gets a chance to take lots of breaks.  This includes the models as well.

There Be Clowns Everywhere!

I’m a member of the Indianapolis based camera club, the Photo Venture Camera Club.  One thing I like about the club is the monthly photo field trip.  This month we did the Peru Amateur Circus during family night.  The organizers gave us free rein of the place, as long as we stayed out of the way of the performers and off the performance area.

I had visited the event a couple of years ago, so I knew in advance the photo conditions were definitely a challenge.  The performers were bathed in spot lights, but everything else was pitch black.  It made for situations where images were either blown out, or way too dark.  This was a venue where fast glass and manual settings were the way to go.

I took a Nikkor AF-S 35mm f/1.8G prime, Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.4G prime, Nikkor AF 24-70mm f/2.6, and finally a Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 Di LD (IF) Macro AF.  In order to avoid a heavy backpack I used my thinkTANK Pro Speed Belt V2.0 with 2 Skin 50 pockets and a Lens Changer 35.  This setup easily handled my lens along with backup cards and a small flashlight.  I also took a monopod just in case.

As is the norm with most of my photoshoots I took too much kit.  I primarily used my Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 uber lens, and my Nikkor 50mm f/1.4.  I used my Tamron a few time, but have become convinced that in all but well lighted scenes this lens is worthless.  It really doesn’t focus well, it’s slow and there is no VR.  I bought it a few years ago because I didn’t want to shell out for a Nikkor equivalent, and I’ve been kicking myself since.  I suspect most people say it’s a great lens, but for my typical shooting I don’t bother with it.  I didn’t use the monopod for more than 15-20 shots, so that was wasted space.

Anyway, all of my shots were in manual with only a few in aperture priority.  Typically 1/50^th of a second shutter speed and aperture set at f/2.8.  On occasions I stopped down the aperture but then I had to slow down the shutter to 1/30^th of a second.  In post processing I found anything slower than 1/50^th was not sharp enough.  Almost all photos had the ISO set at 1000 to 1600.  I could have gone higher with my Nikon D300s, but I wanted to minimize the potential for noise.  Even for a DX sensor noise really isn’t a problem with the D300s.  I’d love to have a D3s or D3x, but I won’t go there!

With my camera set, I spent about 3 hours wandering the circus and shooting away.

Post processing was straight forward.  I increased exposure in most pictures and added a bit of fill light using Adobe Lightroom 3.  In some cases I had to change the color temperature, but that really wasn’t a problem because the spot lights appeared to be pure white.  Very little problems with color caste.  I did heavily use the noise reduction slider which is amazing.  Several images were also processed in Adobe Photoshop CS5 mainly to selectively goose the exposure or contrast.

Overall, it was a fun night shooting lights, people and action with the photo club.  A really enjoyable time.

Standard Strobist Lighting Setup

I’ve written about using a strobist speedlight setup for several of my casual location shoots. Thought I would share my setup so you can see how fundamentally simple it is. The key for me is solid lighting that is portable and cost effective. This kit is quick & easy and takes only minutes to set up.

I currently use 2 setups like this for most of my casual portrait shoots. I want to stress this is a basic setup. You won’t get the same quality as you would with monolights, studio lighting, reflectors, etc. However, this is intended for a different purpose.

I use Nikon SB-600 speedlights. These are a bit dated, but still work great. I almost always use them in manual mode as I like to control the amount of light manually. I’ve been tempted to upgrade to SB-900’s, but honestly for what I do the SB-600’s are fine. Also, the SB-600’s are inexpensive. Easily under $175 used.

I trigger my flashes with a set of Elinchrom EL-Skyport universal receivers. These are low profile and are perfect for the setup. I can’t plug the Skyports directly into the SB-600’s so I have a simple Impact male synch cord mated to a hotshoe. I’ve put some Velcro on the side of the speedlights and on the bottom of the receivers so I can stick them together. Or you can simply let them hang which is how most photographers seem to do it. The Skyports are triggered with an Elinchrom universal transmitter.

If you have Nikon speedlights you really don’t need electronic triggers. You can fire them using Nikon’s Commander Mode, where the camera’s pop-up flash triggers the speedlights. I don’t bother since I like the Elinchroms.

I use Manfrotto 5001B lightstands which are extremely portable. Very light and can easily handle the weight of my setup. On top of the lightstands are mounted Manfrotto swivel umbrella adapter tilt heads. These are great with or without umbrellas. Finally, I mount a Frio coldshoe on top of the adapter tilt head. I snap my flash unit onto the Frio and I’m good to go.

For portability I am using a LumiQuest Softbox III most of the time. I will use umbrellas occasionally, but for most of my setups the Softbox III’s work great. I attach them to my SB-600’s with a LumiQuest Ultrastrap (although any velcro strap will work).

So there you go. Not fancy by any means, but efficient and effective. Two of these setups go with me anytime I need portable lighting. I have a simple Manfrotto lightstand bag that I keep the stands and umbrellas, and the rest goes in my camera bag.