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This week I’ve got 2 additions to my studio gear I was waiting for a long time: heavy, solid and huge Fatif studio stand and amazingly fast workstation laptop, Lenovo W700ds. Both of them are really monstrous creatures:
Fatif studio stand: I rarely shoot on locations, always feel more comfortable working in the studio. In most cases there is a power outlets on location, I had only a few where it was too far from the lights (warehouse freezer, for example). With no external power I’ve used 4 Canon speedlites, but they too weak to be used with serious light modifiers or on a large objects. So, I was looking at Vagabond II or similar portable power solutions, but did not find the one I like: it should be powerful enough to run 3-5 strobes equal to X1600 (1600 effective/ 660 true WS) for at least 300 pops and to be not expensive, as I won’t be using the system often, therefore do not want to invest lot of money in it.  DIY portable power battery pack for Paul C. Buff monolights I continue to use my tilt-shift adapter for DSLR, and now I explore the limits of the system. Below is the watch, at a very narrow angle, shoot by using Rodenstock Rodagon APO 80mm F4 lens at aperture set to F16.  Watch photography using tilt-shift DSLR
The lighting schema is simple: two narrow soft boxes on top, each highlighted top and the bottom part of the watch. There should not be direct reflection form a watch’s glass, as it immediately become dull and low contrast. Well, I did not have flash meter back 10 years ago, while was shooting on film. But I was not a professional photographer that time, and camera exposure meter plus my prediction along with experience was working well for me. When I start asking money for my photography, I start feeling that I really need to have a flash meter! Every pro has it, so how could I be a pro without it? I am not an event photographer, but like any of you I enjoy shooting events I participate in. Let me show what I use to get studio-like lighting in any regular size room (for a bigger ceilings, 30 and more feet it won’t work that good). The main idea is to have more than one light sources: one for a model and the second one is for reflection and the rest of the room. With only one flash attached, even if used with light diffuser, you can’t have good light spread. The best you will get in a relatively large room is a flat looking model and some shadow behind.  dual dedicated flash setup for canon Much better results will be by using 2 light sources: This Sunday we were lucky with nice and warm weather, so I’ve took some photos outside a studio, picturing our twin toddlers playing on a backyard. I was playing with my newly built tilt-shift adapter for Canon EOS to tilt Rodenstock enlarging lens (80 f4). The photos were taken with wide open (f4) aperture, no photoshop post production to alter focusing were made.
Few weeks ago I was working on a tilt-shift adapter for Canon EOS cameras, (see my previous post). Now I have first in studio test – review of this system. Lens: Rodenstock APO Rodagon N 80 F4. The main idea is to see what quality I can achieve on this system and what benefits would give me the ability to tilt the lens. So, What I did it this: Took a first photo with a non tilted lens, focusing on a closest part of watch’s dial. Second shoot with exactly the same lightning, exposure (F stop was not changed), but I tilted lens both horizontally and vertically. The result is below: 1. This shot was made without any tilt, you can clearly see a where the focus plane is. I’ve used a relatively shallow DOF to show what you can do with such great lens attached to such a nice system:-)  close up image of product photography Inspired by a tilt-shift adapters like Cambo X2 -PRO and Cambo Ultima 35 Kit with desire to have ability to use virtually any medium/large format lens but not willing to spend almost $2000 for a ready to use system, I decided to build my own version of such device. At the end I was hoping to have much heavier (:-( but more adjustable camera system (:-) for much less money (:-). Keeping cost low helps me to be more competitive on the market. So, I start looking for a non-expensive used large format 4×5 view camera with full geared movements ( Sinar went off from my list at this point, as it is usually too old or too expensive I’ve got Cambo Master PC 4×5 view camera in a great shape ($260 from eBay), few lens boards (including one recessed) , found an old tripod head and about 3-4 hours total to build this:  Tilt Shift system for 35mm digital camera for medum format lens mout |
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August 17th, 2010 | 
). Eventually I ended up by choosing between Horseman and Cambo , and Cambo won. I am not saying that a Horseman is not as good (it might be better, I never had one), but there was a good deal on a Cambo that time.