Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips
The new Flashpoint RoveLight is a 600w/s monolight with onboard power. It features a 22-step range adjustment from full power down to 1/128th power. It can be controlled on the rear panel of the light or via an included wireless controller. [Read more…]
PocketWizard has announced an update to its ControlTL firmware for the Canon and Nikon versions of its MiniTT1 and FlexTT5 radios.
Firmware version 3.700 for Nikon includes compatibility with the recently released D810, D610, D4S and other Nikon cameras. Additionally, firmware version 6.700 for Canon now provides TTL compatibility with the Canon 1D X, 6D and T4i as well as other recently released Canon cameras.
More details and download instructions are available here on PocketWizard’s website.
In the above video, photographer Mark Cleghorn walks us through several of the uses of Lastolite’s 8-in-1 Umbrella.
Mark uses a pair of speedlights with the umbrella, as well as an Elinchrom Ranger Quadra kit for background lighting on location.
Here’s a list of the eight configurations possible with the Lastolite 8-in-1:
The Lastolite 8-in-1 Umbrella runs $129.99. You can find it here at B&H Photo.
Elinchrom has announced two new ELC PRO HD compact flash heads available as 500Ws or 1000Ws models.
They feature three new shooting modes: [Read more…]
There are times when you have to use a flash when shooting a wedding or portrait session. For example, if you are shooting outside and the sun has gone down completely, or if you are shooting inside with dim overhead lighting, a flash is a necessity. But whenever I can avoid it, I prefer taking advantage of natural light, even if it is waning in the half hour after sunset.
To get the most out of your camera, follow these guidelines: [Read more…]
A couple weeks back we saw a video from Karl Taylor where he gave a very straightforward and understandable explanation for the inverse square law of light. The above video is the second and final part of the discussion from Karl.
To reinforce Karl’s video again, the inverse square law in photographic lighting says: the intensity of light radiating from a source is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the source.
As a result, an object 2 meters away from a light source, receives only one-quarter the light as an object that is 1 meter away from the source.
Check out this video from Karl Taylor as he shoots photos of a model with window light, studio lighting, then adds makeup and then adds post-production in Photoshop. It provides a pretty powerful demonstration of what not only Photoshop can do, but also what quality studio lighting can do for portraits.
Karl Taylor is back with another solid video. This time he’s breaking down the sometimes difficult-to-comprehend concept of the inverse square law into more understandable terms.
The inverse square law in photographic lighting says, the intensity of light radiating from a source is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the source. As a result, an object 2 meters away from a light source, receives only one-quarter the light as an object that is 1 meter away from the source.
Check out Karl’s video embedded above for a practical demonstration of this principle. And notice how Karl demonstrates it by shortening the ratio of distance between the two subjects and the light source.
Check out this video from Karl Taylor that covers flash sync speeds and why you can’t synchronize your flash on a higher shutter speed. He breaks down details of how focal plane and leaf shutters operate, as well as understanding how high speed sync works at the much higher shutter speeds (up to 1/8000s on some cameras).
Lighting companies are really starting to do some cool things with LED lights. Several companies are starting to offer LED fresnel lights that run cool and deliver high outputs of light on a minimal power draw. Lumos’ Hawk line was on display at NAB 2014, where it was showing off a 150w and a 50w version of the LED fresnel lights. [Read more…]