Tag Archives: how to

09/01/2013
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Articles, How To's, Image Sets

Snoot’s away – Joe

Since my last post about ants I decided to build myself a new snoot/diffuser. I had trialed a few different things to try and soften the flash on the old one, but wasn’t too happy with the results. After a bit of thinking I decided that a whole new design was in order. Once again I used cardboard, tin foil and my trusty white t-shirt. The cardboard was measured and cut to correct shape and size. Each piece was then lined with the tin foil before being stuck together with sticky tape. The t-shirt was then cut to size and attached to the front. I used 3 layers this time around for greater diffusion. The whole thing was then covered with black electrical tape (looks better on the camera). My main aim was to enlarge the front of the diffuser for a larger spread of light in the hope that the larger area would also soften the flash some more. It ended up being twice as large as my old one. I have tried it out over the last couple of days and I am very happy with the results so far.

I focused on ants again so that I could compare the shots with my older ones. I found that the flash was not as harsh and the reflection was kept to a minimum. I’m now looking forward to getting out and taking some more shots.

Hope you enjoy

(AiM – Joe’s lens is the Canon 100mm Macro seen here and his old setup can be viewed here)

Photo (1)

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09/12/2012
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Articles, How To's, Image Sets, Reviews

Pet Portraits – Joe

Having heard that Macro Lenses make good portrait lenses I decided to try it out and see how I go. One thing you need for portraits are, of course, the subjects. Not having any I decided to take photos of our lovely pets. Taking photos of animals can be quite difficult at times as they can be quite excitable and constantly move around.

I found this part quite challenging as there was a lot of waiting involved and also lots of discarded photos. The other thing I found difficult was getting the lighting right. Lighting is very critical to getting that good shot and it is definitely something that I still need to work on. I don’t have an off camera flash system so was stuck using the on board flash. I tried to utilise as much natural lighting as possible where I could but in some cases that wasn’t possible. I did find the lens (Canon F2.8 100mm IS USM Macro) to be quite sharp though and, with the right lighting, I think it would make a great portrait lens.

Thanks for looking

Portrait

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14/09/2012
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Articles, How To's

Colour Coming Through, My Way

Reblogged from Leanne Cole PHOTOGRAPHY:

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Playing with images and changing some parts into black and white and leaving other parts in colour is something a lot of us do when we first start doing photography, or rather when we start editing our images.  I am not going to talk about when it is appropriate and when it isn't, I just thought I would show you a couple of ways of doing it.

Read more… 913 more words

Selective Colour, a sometimes over done style, can produce brilliant results when done right. Leanne Cole covers this style in this great CS6 tutorial. AiM
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25/08/2012
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Articles, Reviews

Black Rapid Strap RS Sport Review – Part One

After using the ‘stock’ Canon strap for nearly a year, I’ve begun to loath it. A photo heavy holiday, a few hiking trips and enough hours wandering with the camera has cemented my need for a more friendly strap. As per any purchase I make, I hopped straight onto the web and scouted around for options. Quite a few popped up, all with the usual fan boy followings and inter-brand rivalry. Carry Speed Pro, Sun Sniper and Black Rapid seemed to top the list quickly. Both the Sun Sniper and BR were at a higher price point, and the Carry Speed had some good design innovations but some worrying user feedback about its build quality (albeit aggressive pricing). The curved padding, underarm strap of the BR and it’s good industry standing  (unfortunately resulting in its inflated pricing) then began to look more favorable.

So I pulled the trigger on one of these bad boys last weekend. I was over near my ‘local’ photography supplies store and thought I would pop in and have a feel/play with one of these straps. I discussed at length with the salesman about his experiences with the strap, then tried it out for myself. I’ll split this brief review into two parts; one, my first opinions and expected results, secondly actual results (after a wedding on this weekend).

I went to a store to buy this, unlike most of the stuff I get online, as I really wanted to have a feel and play… That said, my local is very aggressive with their pricing and were only $10 above the online price. I suggest you all do this for this kind of purchase as we’ve all got different body types (I’ll cover this later).

Unboxing:” Comes in a nice box for those of you who care about that kind of thing. You get a basic ”user guide”, a sticker and the strap nicely bundled with a elastic strap (that could be used for storage).

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21/08/2012
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Articles, Image Sets

Nerd Inside

Absence Explained

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been in the uncomfortable period between computers. I’ve decided to retire my laptop (with extra screen) and return to a desktop. Running a simple, three image composition would make steam come out of the USB slots! I put all blog posting on hold until I could get onto the new machine as the laptop was becoming harder and harder to use for image processing and the like.

Although the new machine is up and running, I’m yet to make the final decision on what software to install for image work. I was previously using CS5.5 and Bridge for batch processing and although this combination was working OK, it was far from perfect as my file management is disgraceful and bulk processing of photos was tedious to say the least. I’ve installed the demo of Lightroom 4 and I’ll be giving this a go for the next 30 days to see if it better fits my needs. I also watched an interesting video by Chase Jarvis (link) on the lengths they go to for file management and workflow. Extensive is an understatement!

Before shot of the steam engine and messy desk.

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21/07/2012
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How To's, Image Sets, Reviews

DIY light box test shots

Have you ever tried to sell something online and uploaded some so-so photos to use in the advertisement? I purchased a Speedlite 430EX II to add to my Macro setup, and discovered that it was great to use with a light box.  Light boxes are a great tool to help you make a good impression online with your advertisement.

I went through a few DIY sites on making a light box but found this one here on the Strobist. I had a box lying around, some cheap baking paper and tape. I used a sheet of A3 paper for the backdrop.

Using just the one Speedlite, and the 600D’s inbuilt wireless trigger, I tried out my new light box on some old models from when I was young.

Everything set up and ready to go.

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14/06/2012
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Articles, How To's, Image Sets

Ghosts, flames and things that go pop in the night…

The most tangible of all visible mysteries – fire.  ~Leigh Hunt

I think at one stage or another we’ve all been transfixed and drawn towards the magic of flames. Greek Mythology reads that Prometheus stole fire from Zeus and gave it to man to allow us to advance ourselves. We’ve done much with it, however we’ve lost a great deal as well. Like most, I’ve had a fascination with fire for as long as I can remember, and for the last eight years I’ve been able to work/play/experiment with a substance called  methylacetylene-propadiene propane (MAPP gas). Late last Sunday night, after a busy day working around the house, I’d set up a space in one of our spare rooms as a studio/study and decided to try a little experiment that had been playing on my mind for a while. The results made me very excited to say the least and I worked on it until nearly midnight.

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16/03/2012
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Articles, How To's, Reviews

Beginners Guide To Macro Equipment

Starting off shooting macro can be quite daunting when deciding on what equipment to use. I’ve done a fair bit of reading and researching different people’s ‘rigs’ and what results they get. Since we are slap bang in the middle of Macro Month here at Unstable Image, I thought I would do a small guide on the equipment I’ve seen being used. This is not a definitive guide, or a detailed description on how each individual item works, but a general overview to help people start their research. To have a look at my current setup click here.

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20/02/2012
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How To's

Vehicular Photography – Brent

VROOM VROOM!

What can taking pictures of your car teach you? This is no pro shoot and she’s not even a top model! Still a poser though… I would like to share things I’ve learnt and hopefully you can apply them and get some great results for yourself.

Positioning was challenging, with little or no experience I took around 90 photos at various random locations and only 5–10 were what I felt good. When you look at your car, ask yourself some quick questions like “What are the features of my car?” Example: body kits, badges, logos, spoiler, or anything that stands out when you look at your car.

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12/02/2012
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How To's

Challenge One – How to photograph your art work.

The first challenge for the blog was given to me by my artist friend Kylie (Kylie’s wonderful work can be found in the ‘Links’ section), she expressed that she was having difficulty taking photos of her artwork and wondered if I could give any advice. I accepted and went about trying to find the best way for her to do this. The guidelines of the challenge were I would only use my Panasonic DMC ‘point and shoot’ and no other photographic equipment. Kylie is using a Canon IXUS so using my 600D would be pointless. I only broke away from these guidelines in the use of a tripod due to the fact they are available so cheaply.

So after a few hours trying different things out, I came up with three basic setups.

Setup One: Indoor, light assisted.

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