Through The Lens

Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day!

2010-04-23T23:09:00.004-04:00

Just a quick reminder to everyone that April 25 (2010) is Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day so get out and shoot some pinhole images, pick your favorite, and upload it to the site. Don't know what a pinhole camera is, or how to make one? Keep reading!

A Pinhole camera, is quite simply a camera without a lens which has a very small aperture (hence the term pinhole) it's very much like a camera obscura, but instead of being project onto a wall, your image is projected onto a piece of film, or sensor device. That's a really basic definition and for some more depth, consult a site like wikipedia.

Now to make one you've got several options, the first is perhaps one of the most old school ways of doing it, albeit a great weekend project--an oatmeal container pinhole camera. This is going to require a bit of work, and will be totally new to many people as it requires developing your own paper in a dark room. The a fore linked to site is the same I used when I made my camera years ago. The gist of it, is you cut a hole in the container, take a piece of soda can and put a pinhole in it, tape that in, put some photographic paper in in the dark, expose it, and develop it, the site gets much more into it. It'll take about a day to make, and you're getting 1 shot at a time. It must be loaded and reloaded in the dark, with the image being processed between each stage, a fun time though.

The next option is a 21st century approach to a very old school photographic style. This is probably going to be a little cheaper, unless you have darkroom supplies lying around. All you need is a (d)SLR, a body cap, and a soda can. Assuming you already have the (d)SLR (digital is parenthetical because this could be done with a film SLR) and assuming you have the body cap, if not its about 4usd (and you're going to put a hole in it, so it's a good idea to order another one if you don't already have 2.) The soda can could cost you between $.05 and $.08. Quite simply, find the center of your body cap, and drill a hole in it, 3/16 in diameter or so. a wee smaller than a dime. Next cut a 1" square from the soda can using kitchen scissors or tin shears if you have them, sand the edges down. If you really want to do a good job with making the pinhole, I'd refer to the afore mentioned site page 4 on "drilling in the pinhole." Now simply tape this pinhole square inside your body cap, so that the pinhole is in the center of the previously drilled hole. Put the body cap on, and start shooting. You'll be looking at roughly 5second+ exposures depending on the light, shoot a bit, and chimp away!

No Matter what you do, I want to hear from you, so leave a comment, send me a message on flickr, shoot me an email, or tweet me! If you shoot some pinhole images Sunday, I want to see them!

Eventually, I'll write a nice formal post on making a digital pinhole body cap, (A really good one) and I might even do some more with the oatmeal containers!

One of my First Digital Pinhole images

Sun Printing, for when the sun Comes out (Cyanotype)

2010-03-30T21:38:00.003-04:00

A Brief History of Cyanotypes
Cyanotyping is a photographic printing process that gives a cyan(blue) print. It is one of the cheapest, simplest, and oldest photographic processes dating back to the 1840s. Cyanotypes are made by coating a piece of paper with a 1:1 mixture of Potassium Ferricyanide and Ammonium Iron(III) citrate (C.F.) Cyanotypes were later used by engineers because they were simple and cheap to produce, this is where we get the term "Blue Print" from.

Making the Mixture
The Mixture is a 1:1 ratio (10ml:10ml, 1oz:1oz, etc) of Potassium Ferricyanide and Ammonium Iron(III) citrate that applied to an absorbent surface and allowed to dry in the dark. The 2 mains ways to get your cyanotyping chemicals are to order them in liquid form. You get 2 bottles one is "Solution A" and the other, "Solution B" you can get around 1/2 liter of each and they're sold together for around $20.00 from B&H. (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/313645-REG/Photographers_Formulary_07_0091_Liquid_Cyanotype_Printing_Kit.html) That's how I get my chemicals. For those who want to be a bit cheaper, need more than the liter of solution that you get from Photographers' Formulary or are just a little more ambitious than most, you can order the chemicals in powder form, and put them in solution yourself etc, this will require a bit further reading and some experimentation, but it'll be cheaper and possibly more fun/versatile.

Once you have your chemicals in solution (whether you ordered them from photographers forumlary or you ordered in bulk) you now make a 1:1 mixture of the chemicals. Typically I do a 1/2 a cap of each. Stir this together (using the brush is fine) and now apply this to your medium. Typically I use watercolor paper, and apply it with a cheap foam brush, but you could use any number of surfaces/brushes (C.F.)After the mixture is painted on (and you want to do this away from UV light as we are dealing with a UV sensitive chemical) you want to store it in the dark until it dries.

Preparing the Print
This entire process will vary based on what you're printing, here's a basic guide, but be creative! Typically I try to print things I find outside, such as leaves and branches, but I've also tried other stuff--paper clips are an alternative. You're not limited to objects of course, you can make prints of (dense) negatives. Once you've chosen your object/negative/whatever, place it on the paper, put glass over it to keep it flat on the paper (the flatter the sharper) *Don't use glass with a UV coat! and clamp it together (between a board and glass or something of the such.)

Exposing the Print
This is the part where experimentation is really required. The amount of sunlight required to expose the print varies from region/time of day/time of year, etc. Most of my stuff I did in the winter in the north, not a lot of sun, I left prints out for a 1/2 hour or so. Its easy to tell when they're ready as they start to change colors a little bit and if you move what you were exposing there should be an outline.

Basically what happens is the UV light from the sun reacts with the mixture and causes it to become fixed and bond with the paper, where as what is hidden under the object/negative isn't exposed and when the print is rinsed this bit washes away!

Developing the Print
Once you've made the paper, let it dry, picked something to make a print of (the hardest part) and left it out in the sun for a suitable amount of time you now need to wash out the not exposed bits, and finish "fixing" the rest. This is accomplished by rinsing the print under some water! I usually do this with a big dish tub I got at the dollar store. Just put the print in, and you'll start to see the covered bits washed away and the greenish brown exposed parts turn blue. Agitate this solution for a few minutes/until it stops changing a lot. Now take it out of the water and let it drip off a bit, transfer into a tub with a bit of water (at least 4cm or so) and a cap or 2 of Hydrogen peroxide (h2o2) this acts as an oxidizer and gives the print its nice deep "Prussian Blue" color. Let it soak for a minute or two, agitate it around, take it out, shake it off and hang it up on your DIY/make-shift print drying line!

Sit back, and enjoy the time lapse of me making cyanotype paper, notice the proper lab technique of eye-balling my 1:1 ratio, and the fact that I'm wearing a lab coat.. I use any excuse to put it on. I apologize if you're in German, Apparently Sony doesn't want you to hear the song in the video. It's "Sunshine on my Shoulders" By John Denver--I saw the name as fitting the concept of sunprints here.

And Here's the video on how to expose/develop your cyanotypes! Thanks for reading, and stay tuned next week for some crazy cyanotype ideas!

Pimp your Monopod

2009-09-11T21:16:00.002-04:00

When I purchased my 40D back in June of 2008. Newegg was running some thing where it came free with a tripod and monopod. From some off-brand crap, called "Dolicia." The problem with this is that from day 1, the damn monopod (or the tripod really) wouldn't support the cameras weight.

This is supposed to be a big year for my Schools (American) Football team. I have been asked to cover some of the bigger games. The first one was Saturday, and Friday night I decided I would want to rig my monopod up, so it could help in some way. I've never shot sports before, and I was under the impression it was an absolutely essential skill. So my first step was to break off that little tab that keeps the ball head from getting unscrewed thinking that I would be able to tighten it more. Well over tightening didn't do it. So I unscrewed it and the ballhead came into 4 parts. There's a ball with the tripod screw; 2 halves of the container, and the screw. So the first thing that came to mind was increasing the friction and how tight the ball was. This was achieved by taking a roughly 2 inch strip of 1 inch wide gaffers tape, and wrapping it around the ball. Then I took little tiny squares and put one in each half of the ballhead. Re-assembled and voila problems solved! After I re-assembled I couldn't get the head to slip with a lot of force. Held the camera great too. The tiny problem is you really need to loosen it now for it to be loose and it's not as fluid as it was before.

5 hours of shooting the game (probably only use the monopod for 1/5 of that) and it worked well. The strap I Velcroed and clipped on was also a huge help. I'll say that the monopod is awesome for carrying the camera over the shoulder. It was very comfortable when just standing around. It got it from around the neck or in the hand to resting off the ground, very comfy.

Vivitar DF 383 Review

2009-08-27T18:45:00.006-04:00

The Old:
The Vivitar 285HV flash was (and is) truly the cockroach of flashes. It was pretty tough. So back when it was re-launched back in 2007 everyone was very excited. Sadly, the 285 eventually started suffering quality control issues. Most of them work fine, a few people have complaints. I've had mine for a year or so, and I love it. But there were a few issues (lack of 1/8th power, 70's appearance, lack of TTL.)

The New:
Enter the Vivitar DF 383. Released very recently by vivitar, it's like the younger, and better looking, but less healthy version of the 285. What makes this flash so great, is it features ETTL (which any die-hard strobist will say is ew but some people like having a flash on camera in a pinch)it's also got 1/1-1/16 (including 1/8th power.) The features don't end there though. Sadly, the got rid of a sync port, so if you were to want to use a cactus trigger you'd actually have to mount your flash on it. It's not quite compensation for this but the 383 does feature a slave sensor. For some one who's already got a flash or 2, and uses them off camera, this could be handy, no need to buy another receiver.
Zoom:
Also a nice feature is the automatic (power zoom.) Theres 2 zoom modes. A (auto for use in TTL if you want) and M. In A if you're using Ettl on camera, if you zoom in nothing happens until you half press/press the shutter button. In order to enter Manual zoom you press the zoom button once, it goes into M and zooms out to 24mm. Press it once more for 28mm (then again for 35, 50, 70, and 85mm) one more press and back to auto. The zoom is a bit noisy, and slow, but it's power zoom!

Exposure Calculator:
Anyone who's ever used a 285HV knows about that really neat calculator on the side. Put in your ISO, f-stop, and power and it gives you distance at which you can shoot. Well, the DF 383 offers this too! on the LCD on the back (you'll see it in the video.) The LCD is also lit up when you press the light button, Although as I mention in the video, it's not lit very well.

Build Quality:
The DF383 isn't quite a cockroach like it's older brother. It's built fairly well, and looks a bit more modern but vivitar is still roughly a decade behind on style(doesn't look like a 580exII or sb-900--but hey thats not important.) My biggest built issue is with the on/off and s(slave)/off switches on the back, they just feel a little cheap. The foot is made of plastic, so I'm curios as to how that'll hold up. (I'll tweet/post if&or when it fails.)

The Verdict:
The Vivitar DF 383 is a great flash for someone looking for a first time flash who wants Ettl and to try some off camera stuff. It could also be a good compliment to any one's flash set (especially if you're using say, 285HV's {which have gone up in price, so this is only $29.00 more at the moment.}) The color temp is right about where flash would be, in fact, in shooting with this and the 285 the 285 had a much warmer tone.

Build: 17/20
Handling: 18/20
Specifications: 18/20
Value: 20/20
Overall: 91% I highly recommend this product!
Pick it up@ B&H

Lightroom Galleries

2009-08-26T23:55:00.002-04:00

Lightroom is a photographers best friend. It's perfect for cataloging images, and your color/sharpness adjustments, and converting RAW images all without photoshop. Lightroom, also has the ability to create some awesome web galleries.

Now a lot of us have Flickr's so why do we need this? Well when I go on a trip, or do a shoot, or what ever I often have lots of keepers. Rather than flood my flickr with a bunch of mediocre photos (like I did with the Moose River Plains Trip) why not put them in a lightroom gallery? Galleries are also good, for presenting images that are similar.

I like to keep mine to a low(er) number of photos. No more than 50 for sure, that's way to many! I've made 2 so far that I've uploaded and they've been 20 and 10 images. They've all been related, and I hope they've sort of told mini-stories. (my "Gone Fishin' gallery didn't as much as the other)

Here are my 2 sample galleries:
20 Photographs from Washington, DC
and 10 Photographs from an early morning fishing trip

As you can see, I prefer the flash galleries, and I've been uploading them to my server, and giving them subdomains (e.g. galleryname.jacoboconnell.com.)

Induro ABO tripod Review

2009-08-05T23:15:00.004-04:00

Alright so a few days ago, I purchased the Indruo ABO Adventure Series tripod, and I guess looking back now I didn't put a video up (check back tomorrow.)But this is going to be my short little review of the tripod.

The first thing I'm going to say is if you're like 6ft+ tall, this might not be the tripod for you. It's got a maximum height of 56.9" (144.5cm) and I'm not that short, so it's a bit short for me, but with the battery grip, it's no biggie. It's got a load capacity of 10.3 lbs (4.7kg) now to put that in perspective: the 40D with 28-135mm weights in at 1.6lbs (740g) if I'm not mistaken, and the grip is just under a pound at 10.2 ounces(290g) so we're talking a mere 2.2lbs(1.03kg) with grip and lens so that leaves us with around 8lbs(3.67kg) to play with and to give more perspective the 70-200 f/2.8 IS weighs in at 3.5lbs, So you can do a bit.

Now that's a lot of quantitative stuff, but we can all look that up so I'll tell you about the qualities. Again it's short, folded and extended, folded it's great. It's so tiny you could (and I did for my 2 day trip in the wild) leave it under the seat in your car. As short as it is it's also super light weight, at just 2.7 lbs (1.2kg)you could carry it all day and not notice anything. Again just to prove it I did, up 2 mountains. The Case it comes with is quality, I haven't had any problems so far with the case it self, very comfy very padded. So basically, I'll say the tripod and case are great for someone who's a bit short on cash (Only $135--which sounds like a lot but keep reading) but wants a quality tripod (aren't you sick of that crappy 'Dynex' from best buy-yeah I figured) or for someone who already has a $400 Manfrotto but doesn't want to carry around that beast.

So there's gotta be a downside right?
Yeah, there is sorta. I'm not going to lie, I love it, but the levers aren't the strongest I've ever used. I think if you're not super super abusive it'll last a while, but it's been less than a month for me. Another problem lies with the ballhead. Now frankly, I'd been skeptical, been using 3-way pan heads since 2004, and until I got my DSLR they were fine, then they weren't strong enough. I was worried the ballhead would slip a lot--it didn't. I infact like it a lot. My problem lies with the lever to adjust tension. it's a little hard to tighten on the tight end, that's expected I guess. So to loosen it you have to yank kinda hard and in doing this I snapped off a little bit--the piece that stops you from going over loosening. At first I was very very upset, it'd been literally less than 12 hours. Then I realized it was sort of a pain anyway and that got it outta the way. Now the thing to be cautious of is completely unscrewing the ballhead, but that takes a lotta turns. Now I wouldn't recommend breaking it off if you buy one, but if it happens, you can live without that bit, you might like it better. If not--theres a 5 year warranty.

To sum it up:
It's very portable, it's very stable. The leg levers aren't, well lets just say, titanium but, they're not "dyenx" either. The head is strong and there isn't slipping at all (but see above) The quick release plate is a bit small, but at the same time it's kinda nice. it's a great tripod, probably more so for someone who's on the go, walking a lot, I wouldn't suggest it for like shooting 3/4 portraits in a studio.

Got Questions?

Leave'em in the comments! Or how about tweeting me on Twitter? I'll get back to 'ya.

Quick Video #4 - Simple Strobing

2009-07-28T22:22:00.003-04:00

Few months ago, there was a guy who made a lot of guest posts on the blog DIY Photography. Nick Wheeler is an amazing photographer with some amazing amazing stuff. And his creations with light were when I was just discovering lighting with clamp lights and CFL's. I tried to re-create one of his photos with my CFLs and at the time I was mildly happy with it.
So Recently, I had a friend ask about purchasing that picture, which I wasn't happy with. Fuji Finepix s6000FD's photos weren't great and lots of sharpening was evident. So today I re-shot it and took some I liked.

The one above is by far, my favorite. I've made a video with a tour of the set here, and a time lapse break down.

Want to see the rest of the photos? They're here: Jake's Flickr Tag: Homage to Nick Wheeler.
and want to see Nick's Flickr? Check'er out!.

Wanna know when something gets posted? Follow Jake on Twitter!

Scott Kelby's Second Annual Photowalk! Syracuse, NY USA

2009-07-20T13:26:00.004-04:00

On Saturday(July 18) I participated in The World Wide Photowalk! and it was a great time. We met up outside the Starbucks in Armory Square, and there was 18 of us. Some really nice people. It was a good time. We just sorta walked around downtown hit up the major squares. If you wanna see some of the awesome shots -- check out the Syracuse Photowalk Page. I was chillin' with @bk_math.

New Videos!

2009-07-20T13:13:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone! so anyone that follows me on twitter will have seen that lately I've uploaded several new videos to my Youtube. Over the next few months I'll be making a lot of "Quick photo Tips" videos. Go check it out so far I've released QPT#1 - Quick, Cheap, and Seamless photo backdrops and just today I released QPT#2 - Extreme Macro (CLOSE UP) photography without a macro lens. So go Check them out!

New Content Soon!

2009-07-14T21:00:00.003-04:00

I didn't think back in January when I said I wouldn't be posting as much, I wouldn't make a new post until July (not counting the AceCad Review)

I have some stuff lined up to edit video wise, and some ideas brewing, I PROMISE you, I will post a few times this month, I apologize greatly for my inactivity.

if there's anything you'd like to see comment, or better yet email me: jake ({at}) jacoboconnell ({dot}) com.

Review of the AceCad Flair II

2009-02-22T12:45:00.002-05:00

Two or so years ago I purchased a AceCad Flair II graphics tablet. By the looks of amazon.com, they don't sell it anymore, but here's my review anyway.

The tablet is very sturdy, and incredibly sensitive for what at the time was a $60 tablet. I do have a few minor complaints, for one, the cable is a little short. I have a USB-USB extension cable so that's not a big deal. Another downside is that the pen uses one quadruple-a (AAAA) battery. AAAA's are a bit expensive, this video by KipKay shows how you can extract 6 quadruple-a batteries from a Energizer 9volt.

The tablet had 1024 layers of sensitivy, which means in an editing program like photoshop the harder you press the thicker the line is. The Stylus features 3 buttons--the tip, and a 2 buttons on the shaft. I have the tip set as a single click, and double click when you tap twice. I've got 1 button set as 'CTRL' and one as right click. You can set it so that right click is also as simple as pressing and holding.

The tablet is fairly simple, and doesn't have many features so with most modern operating systems it's as simple as plug and play.

Final Verdict: It's small, light, cheap, and easy. The minor flaws can be overlooked by almost anyone. If you casualy use photoshop, and want a tablet that wont set you back a kidney or liver, try the Acecad Flair II (or another cheap one, don't spent a lot on a wacom--unless you want it.)

Quick update

2009-01-24T16:35:00.002-05:00

Sorry it wasn't a very active month. I had planned on doing a tutorial on Eos Utility remote shooting and auto-importing into lightroom, but unfortunately my EOS utility isn't working (sometimes you can't remote shoot, comment if you have a solution.) Once I get that working, I'll be sure to write that up.

I also plan to build a new Ringflash (similar to the one David Tejada, and Ron over at Motley Pixel made)

Recently over at DIYP guest poster Martin Kimeldorf posted about his new flash diffuser, which he called the Kimel Bouncer.(pictured left on the vivitar 285) I'll get to reviewing that soon. It's essentially a foamie with a few cuts and some velcro.

I also recently purchased a EOS 650 film camera. Bought it on ebay for $27.00 + S&H. I have yet to shoot a full 24-exposures, so I don't have any idea on image quality yet. It's pretty neat though, c. 1987. (camera is pictured to the right)

And Lastly, I have been working on a PVC Cali. Sunbounce Micro-Mini. Hasn't been going great, I need to sew up a reflector side, and a diffuser side. I am currently using Mylar and a white table cloth for those two respectively, and they're both fragile. Hopefully I can have a tutorial of that up soon. And Tuesday i've got a photoshoot at school, so they're be some good images coming out of that for sure.

~Jake

Be prepared for trips!

2008-12-30T19:13:00.002-05:00

I got in Vermont on Sunday, thinking I had everything I needed. I had Camera, flash, 2 sets of batteries for the flash. (I didn't bring the charger, because I figured a week and 2 sets of batteries. I'm fine.) I was wrong. I got here, and tried to trigger my flash using the V2s. That didn't work. My flash wouldn't even test fire. I tried my other set of batteries, and it wouldn't charge. Where I am in vermont, I am 15 minutes from cell service and about 45 from a store that would sell batteries cheap. Luckily we went to a store today. Bought some Kodak Extramax batteries, Cost a bit more than i'd normaly pay for alkaline batts, but I don't want them to die.

The lesson, always bring the charger.

The Moment it Clicks by Joe McNally

2008-12-28T19:31:00.002-05:00

Joe McNally is an amazing photographer that works at National Geographic. Recently he wrote a book called The Moment it Clicks. The book was the top thing on my Christmas list, and I got it. I'm currently on vacation in vermont. On the 5 hour ride today I read the whole book. It was awesome. Over the next week I gotta re-read it and 'Pimp my McNally'

When I get back to my real computer (on my moms laptop now) I'll do a good write up. If you're not sure about buying it, heres an intro video on it.. If you don't think you'll like it, its not a photography how-to, its not a biography, its not boring. McNally writes how he talks, with a Brooklyn accent. (kinda)

Jake

Backing up Your photos

2008-12-26T21:51:00.004-05:00

This is going be a quick guide on backing up those important photos. You invest a lot of money and time into your gear, and into your photos, why not invest a little money and a little time into keeping your photos safe? I don't really do as much as I should. I just have simple WD 250 USB external drive, and some DVD's.

The first thing I want to talk about is how often I back up. Every 3 months I do a quick copy to my External off all the new photos. (or if I shoot something important I'll back it up that day). Then every six months I'll copy all the new files onto my external., and burn everything to DVD's. After that I delete them off my computer, to free up space for the next six months. I am a bit of a worrier and I would hate to lose my photos, so it surprises me that that's all I do. I am in the process of helping my friend build a server (telling him how) and in exchange hes going to let me put a drive in it and use it. Offsite storage is very imporant. I am also planning on getting another external a much smaller one, one of the pocket hdds that I could keep in my bag. That wraps it up basically. Every six months I create a new light room catolog and delete the old one.

Day 12

2008-12-24T08:48:00.003-05:00

Enjoy You're self.

Everybody have a happy holiday season! (thats not really photo related but) Also take photos of people. remember the memories.

I don't think I'll be making posts as regularly until January. I am going to try to spend my holidays with my family, and working on new posts that you'll see in the coming month.

Here's what you can be expecting from me in the next few weeks:

on December 31st/January 1st i'll be writing a post about backing up you're photos. I do this about every 6 months, and then delete them all off my computer. So you'll see that soon.

Then during January I hope to do a four part series on using lightroom. (remote shooting into LR, Work flow management, Editing, Exporting)

Happy Holidays everyone!

Day 11

2008-12-23T20:34:00.002-05:00

Learn a new Post Processing Skill.

Since it's winter time and all, I decided to learn how to add falling snow. The tutorial I learned from was done by IceFlow Studios over on youtube. Here's a link to the video tutorial. So I am not going to go through it step by step here, although I will give kind of an outline/check list of what you need to do.

Open an image
Select the sky (using color range or your method)
adjustment layer (hue, saturation) lower sat and lightness
new>adjustment layer> photo filter> cooling
new layer fill black
filter>noise>add noise (Gaussian; monochromatic)
filter>blur>blur more
edit>adjustments>levels set the shadows, midtones and highlights all really close by the right side where the curve flattens out
Blend mode>screen
Filter>blur>motion blur (-60*; 10px)
duplicate snow layer
rotate top snow layer 180*
free transform>top layer new width and hieght 200%
filter>pixelate>crystallize (cell size~15)
filter>blur>motion blur
lower opacity of front snow layer then lower the back layer to alittle less
duplicate lower/back layer and duplicate

thats just the gist. Watch the video to see how well it really looks.

Day 10

2008-12-22T19:57:00.003-05:00

Today is going to be a short one, with just some xmas photos. Todays the last short one I hope, tomorrow is my last day of school!

First off, I photographed my Hard drive the other day. It's a WD 250GB usb external. Got it like last march, its been good to me. (mines a bit older than the one on newegg. This shot will tie along with a article you'll be able to read on January 1, 2009, About backing up your photos.

Let me explain the set up. (shot below) I first took one xmas striplight put it on a tripod handle so it was horizontal. above my subject. Also here I'll mention my backdrop, piece of $0.99 black poster board clamped to a light stand and curved onto a table. But back to the lights I took a second striplight and put it vertical cam left. Then to add a bit of right fill, I used a softbox.

Here are the results:

And here's another shot I took. This time I didn't use my xmas lights, went back to the vivitar. For this shot I have the vivitar cam left diffused through my circular diffuser at 1/4 power.

Day 9

2008-12-21T20:33:00.002-05:00

Learn a new technique. Its not just photography hear. I took today to learn about screen printing.

Rather than Create photographs I created serigraphs. That link back there <- will take you to a wikipedia article, neat read, informative. But to better see what screen printing is,check out Bre Pettis's Make video on Weekend Projects: screen printing.

So I made a few today, with no equipment, and no experience, just some silky fabric, some foam board, some acrylic paint and contact paper. This isn't about my screen printing how to, that'll be sometime in February. To see what I made today check out my 'Serigraph' set on flickr. The results, are rubbish, but its 100% proof of concept, and I didn't lose more than 1sq foot of foam board (Not gunna use my paints for anything else) and the fabric I took from my mom :).

Get out and learn something new!

Jake

one of my better results ( I did 4) They're all of a riendeer stencle.

Day 8

2008-12-19T21:58:00.003-05:00

Treepod!
Yesterday in my photos you saw a tripod with xmas lights on it. Thats my treepod.

I had a whole bunch of colored lights, and that extra ($5.00 garage sale lenmar tripod lying around) i figured, put the lights on it. Maybe you others will do the same?

Day 7

2008-12-19T21:25:00.002-05:00

Today is all about printing your photos (for use as gifts, or modify the stuff slightly, and make them to sell)

First thing, you need a frame. I have a box in my attic, so I got out four frames for 8x10's (which will have 5x7's) and 4 fraes for 5x7's (which will have 4x6's). I cleaned the glass. here where I get a bit ocd, and you don't need to do this.

First, I mixed a glass cleaner (its a LCD screen cleaner gel and 70% isopropyl{rubbing alcohol}) then I put a bit on each side, and wipe with tissue paper (not tissues!). And wear gloves while you do this!! ALso, have some tissue paper ready, and when you're done, wrap them up, put the aside for now.

Now figure out how big you mat needs to be, and cut a few (for all your frames). If you have a mat board cutter, and a mat, use that otherwise use like hard-stock paper. Now figure out the center, and cut a window for you photo (about 1cm smaller than the print size on all sides)

Now that you have mats, and glass and frames. Print your photos out, highest quality, make sure they're edited, etc. Once they're out, hang them up to dry for a bit. Handle the ink-jet paper, before and after with gloves or tissue paper. Always avoid setting it print side down on the table (put out wax paper first)

Now put your photo in the mat, center it, and using masking tape, attach the TOP of the photo. Don't tape all around, remember it will shrink/grow a bit with the weather.

heres a quick, nice touch: take some wax paper as big as the glass, and put it in first. So that you put wax, glass, photo, back. Then when the person recieves it, they can take the wax off, and you wont touch the glass. Just like a new frame!

So now, put in your glass, photo back etc. Don't forget before you do that, sign and date the photo!(on the back)

Wrap it up!

From framed, to fully wrapped. See the wax on the glass.

A hint at whats in store tomorrow!

~Jake

Day 6

2008-12-18T21:43:00.001-05:00

Go stock up on wrapping paper, flip it over, and you have like a 10yd by like 30 inch seamless white paper!

Sorry I didn't have time for more, busy today

Day 5 - 360* Photos

2008-12-16T20:36:00.004-05:00

Read about it a while back, on DIYP, you take a Silver round ornament, and mount it infront of your lens, so you can take 360ish panos. Check out the original article: here

Day 4 - Shoot you're Tree

2008-12-16T19:47:00.002-05:00

Or what ever holiday stuff you want. I just decided to use our new Xmas Light diy things to shoot mine.
I put my strip light vertically on my lightstand cam right aimed at the tree, and I also had the softbox in the back.

My X-mas Tree. Post processing: Adjusted curves, levels, and added a vignette.

Heres the set up for that shot:

I also just took a few photos of ornaments. For this shot I just had a softbox cam right (I just held it there)

Xmas tree ornament

Day 3

2008-12-14T20:08:00.002-05:00

Day 3! We have another Xmas Light idea. Saw it over on DIY photography a while back. It's a Xmas light Ringlight Made by Matt Monroe.
I'd say he did an awesome job. Over 300 lights on that.

I tried to make one a while back, wasn't quite bright enough. Hopefully, After xmas there'll be some Battery operated white lights at the dollar store, and I can buy enough to make a good one of these huh?

12 DIYP's day 2!

2008-12-14T19:47:00.002-05:00

its day 2 already! So today, I am doing more with xmas lights. today, we are making a small softbox.

You need a tissue box, some white xmas lights, tape, glue, foil, something flexible and translucent.

First, cut your box so it doesnt have a top (where the tissues come out) cut that all away. Now Line that with foil (tape it, glue it, how ever you want.) Cut a hole in the back or side, for your plug to go out. Now, toss the lights in, if you wanted to be more particular you could tape them down neatly, so they spread the light better. I didn't. Now tape that translucent plastic over the front, if its kinda a frostly clear, you can leave it or put diffusion over it (tissue paper) if its clear clear, put some tissue paper over it.

Now, for the shots here, I used the softbox camera left, and I used the striplight you hopefully made yesterday above the subjects in a horizontal position.

Milk and Ginger Bread Cookies!

Milk and Cookies, but for this photo I introduced a background light in the form of my 5500*K Daylight Desklamp.

The set up, with the softbox visible in the bottom left.

Thanks for reading!

12 DIYP's of Christmas Day1

2008-12-13T19:38:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone! it's been a while since I have made a post, and with it being the holidays, I figured I'd make 12 diy projects for christmas (all relating to, or using x-mas time stuff). I am of course, going to be writing a few in advance, and posting one each day. If Anyone has any ideas, please email me (jakeoc19 At Twcny dot rr dot com). I may run out, and that would stink.

Day 1:
A few of my projects are going to use X-mas lights, and today, I made a strip light kinda.

First, you need a wrapping paper tube. (just the cardboard) although you could use anything like it (ie: pvc) Next take your white xmas lights, and tape them on. Now you're done. I added 3 velcro straps to mine. So I could mount it on a lighstand.

mounted vertically on the lighstand.

Sample of vertical

mounted horizontal

mounted horizontal sample

Click through the 12 DIYP's of X-MAS for more shots. Check back each day for a new one

Winter (weather) proof your gear!

2008-11-23T13:36:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone! Been quite a while, and I still have yet to do a follow up on the 8 items for any DIYer. But I have designed some new gear, for winter (for those of us in the cold snowy areas and such. I got about 10 inches of snow in the past 2 days, and I've gone out a few times to shoot and I was worried I'd get my camera wet. (the tripod accessories I made a while ago).

First lets DIY up our tripod, get it ready for the weather (kinda)
What you'll need:
4x 9*12 Foamies (i chose black
9 Velcro Cable ties
Duct tape or any strong tape(possibly matching your foamies color
Masking tape, or gaffers, or duct, doesnt matter here.

So first you'll be making 3 tripod leg wraps. First take a foamie and roll up 2 pieces of tape stick one on each corner (of the 9inch side)
Next stick this to one of your tripod legs in the middle. (so the 9" part runs up the leg and the 12" is perpendicular)
Now take your strong tape (I used Duct) and put a little piece over each corner for reinforcement.
Now put a slice in each one so you can run a velcro strap through them.
Wrap the foamie around the leg tightly, and use your velcro straps to secure it on.

Repeat this for both or just one more leg.

Now, lets make the tripod feet.

Take one 9x12 sheet, and cut it into 3 lengths 9" long by 4" wide, fold them in half, tape at the seams, attach a foamie to the top, and now your tripod feet wont get covered in snow!

Now, the last thing I made was a bit of a cover, for when its snowing or raining, or any other kind of precipitation. Mine is made in 3 parts from about 3 large ziplock bags and 1 medium and 1 sandwhich.

Frist thing, take a foamie and a velcro strap to make a thin thing that will attach to the end of your lens (where the hood screws on, this will just be tightened on.) (see this photo: http://flickr.com/photos/jakeoconnell/3051450842/)
Now, zoom your lens all the way in, and cut a length of plastic (single layer of bag) so its about that one, and hangs over each side of the lens by about 2 inches.

Now cut a piece that's a little wider than your camera body and it should go from about the MF ring/focus window to 1 inch or so off the back of the camera.

The Lens piece needs to be taped to the top of the foamie attacher-thingy, then attach the body cover to the lens cover. Thats the body piece.

Now, we take the medium sized ziplock, and put out flash in it. We cut out a rectangle in the bottom of the bag, so the flash head barely pokes out. Now attach your favorite velcro to the bag, so the flash head secures in. If the bag is long enough to go down over the foot when the flash is bent, stop there. If not, then cut the bottom of a sandwich bag and tape it on so it makes it long enough.

Now, we need one last piece. It goes from the viewfinde to the front of the onboard flash, and hangs off the sides about 4 inches. this is to keep your hands dry. cut a hole in it for the shoe. Now put the lens/body cover on the lens (dont cover the body yet) and then put the top cover on. Cover your flash and attach to the shoe (this will keep the top cover in place) and wrap the body cover around the flash and your good.

Jake

8 craft store items every DIY photographer needs

2008-09-04T09:22:00.005-04:00

Back in November I started making DIY photography stuff. First I made a PVC backdrop stand and some muslin backdrops. Then I made my Magic Arm. Followed by a whole bunch of projects. In the last 10 months I've stumbled across awesome stuff that has a million and one practical uses in diy photography. Here's a list of some of my top picks, and practical uses for them.

1. Foamies - These flexible multi-sized and multi-colored foam sheets (I use the 2mm thick ones) have a lot of uses, and I have just started to discover them. I found out about Foamies from the "Nice LoupedeDoupe", which is the first thing you should make with your Foamies. Next there's a whole host of flash mod's you could use these for, I used a 9x12 sheet to make a snoot, I lined the whole 12" side so it would wrap around my flash and then added 2 strips of velcro to it, so it could then attach to itself and close. Then when I made my straw girdspot, i glued a foamies around it, and when I want to use it, I put it inside my snoot.

2. Adhesive Backed Velcro - You can use this for everything, hanging photos on walls or all your DIY photo projects. Remember that snoot I was just talking about, that uses velcro. use it to attach gels to your flash, or you're cactus trigger to your flash. I keep about 5 ft of velcro in my camera bag for on location shooting and everything. You never know when you will need it. get at least 15 feet of the black stuff.

3. Velcro Cable Ties - I recently used these for my speed strap, I also used them for the cables in my camera bag. When I was at office max yesterday I decided I would use them a lot more, because I saw 50 of them for S4.69. I have a few up and coming DIY projects these will be shown in.

4. Mylar - this stuff I've read is like 3x more reflective the foil, and its also cheap. $0.50 nets you 5084 sq inches. Why use this, its cheap, and its more reflective. Use it in you're softboxes or hang it up on a wall and bounce a flash into it, really good way to light a room.

5. Coroplast (Corrugated Plastic) - this is corrugate plastic, use it for gridspots or softbox sides. use it with some foamies and velcro to make some new divider inserts for your camera bag. Use it as a gobo, or make some barn doors out of it.

6. Foil - Use it for quick snoots on the go, as a reflective surface rather than buying mylar, because I'm sure you have it lying around. make a hemlet to shield yourself from radiation. make some props out of it if you're taking a futuristic style photo.

7. PVC Pipe - Make Backdrop Stands, or a reflector holder . Use the stuff to re-create the entire California Sunbounce line
. Or, as you'll see in an upcoming project, make a PVC rain machine, which I am making for video, but you could use the concept for photography.

8. Painters Tape - If you're like me $23.00 is way to much to spend on 60 yards of Gaffers Tape so why not buy painters tape, its not super sticky, and you can get cheap stuff about $1.00 a roll. Its not as versatile as gaffers tape, its a little weaker and less sticky. but also its blue, which could cast some odd color reflections if its in the wrong spot.

I'm gunna have that wrap up my post on 8 craft store items every DIY photographer needs. So now what I want you to do, is in the comments show some photos and a description of your use of one of those. Got another item we all need? post it to, and share the practical uses. In a few weeks I'll make a new post of user submitted needs. (not limited to craft store items.)

Hope you enjoyed it and learned something!

Daniel Devine's 16:9 Cinema Shot

2008-08-26T15:02:00.004-04:00

DD is a friend of mine from over at Camera Labs and he has recently started photographing weddings for a company called Devine images, in Scotland, This is a photo he took at his 3rd wedding, and I really like this shot, so I posted it here.

Under the tree in Monochrome
Originally uploaded by Daniel Devine

DIY 3 Dollar 10 Second Speed Strap

2008-08-20T17:01:00.005-04:00

Seen those SpeedStraps by Honl Photo and you really think they're cool, but you don't want to dish out upwards of $20 for a bit of velcro. Well if you have 3 Dollars and 10 seconds, you can have you're very own, no-sew speedstrap for all your accesories.

First you're going to need to make a trip to your local supermarket and buy some 'Velcro Brand Design Straps' (the small size 8inches by 1/2inch) these are like those little cable ties.

Next you're going to need is a fat rubber band, you know how theres wider ones, and then thin ones, get a wide one that will be big enough to wrap around your flash.

Now put your rubber band around your flash head align your two velcro straps and strap them together, so to tighten it you pull one end throu the loop of the other.

I hope the video can illustrate that more clearly for you.

The Vivitar 285HV

2008-08-18T23:04:00.002-04:00

I've been on vacation for the last week or so guys, and as promised my review, of the Vivitar 285HV flash unit.

First thing I would like to say a+ to B&H photo for super fast shipping, 2 days before expected. When I got my flash the first thing I noticed was the simplicity of the packing, which is awesome, just open the box, slide the flash out, and take out the book, the diffuser and sync cord which were in baggies. I think that its great packing, there's not a lot of plastic, and packaging and all that stuff that is really bad for the environment, plus the box looked cool--very retro. When I got the flash out the first thing I noticed, was how well built it was, it felt solid. I put in my batteries (which I am going to post about later on) I had a bit of trouble 'forming the capacitors' but from what I did, it seems you just put it on 1/1 power (the 'm' setting) and keep firing the flash a few times. Anyway, once I got it working it was AWESOME!
So, now I'm going to show you my little intro video, then continue going where I left off in the video.

So to go onto the exposure calculator dial, (which you can actually back light by pressing the white button next to the green indicator light) in the video I had no idea how to use it, really truely. I think after playing with it for a week I've deciphered the auto modes. What you need to do, is turn your ISO dial, to your selected ISO, and make sure that your other thing is at full power, (the bottom wheel) now, you look for the aperture you want to use, and set the dial on the front to the color the corresponds to the aperture. Then you set your shutter speed to 1/125th and aperture to the one you've used on your flash and voila. it may take a bit of fine tuning using the aperture to control the amount of light. Thats about it for the Vivitar, the manual features are great, but I'd really love to see a lot more, all you have is 1/1 1/2 1/4 and 1/16, i'd love to see 1/8 and lower than 1/16.

If you don't already have one, for $89.00 go buy one.

Holiday, and suggestions for new videos

2008-07-28T21:02:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone, probably wont be posting for a while, because I am in Vermont helping out some family, and I will return home around thursday at which point I will be packing and heading back to my vacation home in northern New York. On my current trip I plan on doing some archetural shooting, unfortunetally I didn't bring my Fuji (which I use to make videos). As for Camp I plan on shooting a lot of landscape shots. I will bring my fuji to camp, and make a video there I hope, if I can get my Vivitar 285HV's get some flash use shots. I will also make some videos about landscape shooting, and shooting in the woods, I hope.

I'd like some suggestions for videos to make while on holiday in the woods, so post them down in the comments, I'd appreciate it loads.

Post again thursday...

Jake

DIY: Water Resistant Hard Camera Case

2008-07-24T18:59:00.004-04:00

Hey everyone, Just to fill you in I've created a DIY hard case that is water resistant, so this will be a bit of a tutorial/guide on how to make your own. Unfortunately I didn't take any shots during the making, but it should be super simple to figure out.
First we have our the bag that my cooler lives in I've attached a shoulder strap, this is just because the cooler is ugly. and now we have the interior of the cooler, which is made of 3 layers of 2" foam one is completely solid and the other two are cut out to fit around the kit lens. Because the cooler isn't large enough to cut the foam the way I'd like i had to add a very thin piece to the back that just slides in to protect the LCD and viewfinder. I also took 4 layers of quilt stuffing stuff and made a top.

How to make you're own:
Take an old cooler fill it with one solid layer of foam, now cut 2 layers of two inch foam to fit your lens and then take a thinner layer to protect the back, easy as that, cover the foam with fabric if you want. Email me if you create one so I can see, and if I like them I'll add the photos on here! (Jakeoc19 (AT) twcny(dot)rr(dot)com)

I've created a bit of a video just demonstrating the case, I should add now, that the case isn't water tight, but it would keep out rain and such.

Additional, you could post you're images in the comments, can't wait to hear from you.

Jake

Video: Simple 1 Light set up

2008-07-21T12:12:00.004-04:00

The other day I saw some flowers in a salt shaker on my table and thought It would make a neat photo, so I made a video of the set up and break down of the set up. I used 1 75watt/hour Daylight Balanced CFL bulb cam left a gold reflector cam right, and a 5-1 reflector (white side) behind the subject acting as a background. I had to blur the background in Photoshop so that is a little evident around the edges. Way back when I first got my 40D I took a shot with the exact same set up I liked a little better, so check it out, here.

Sorry for the really bad audio quality!

Video: New Gear

2008-07-21T12:02:00.004-04:00

I recently ordered a new camera bag and a large rocket Blower from B&H, which I highly recommend for buying photo gear, very competitively priced, and super fast shipping.

I ordered the Canon Deluxe Backpack 200Eg and the Giottos Large Rocket Blower. So I have a video of the opening of my new gear, and also the packing of my new bag, which will truely hold my 40D and 28-135 (ƒ3.5-5.6) just fine, can't wait to need a new bag though, because it will mean I have a lot of gear.

Video: Macro Photography

2008-07-21T11:44:00.003-04:00

Hello again everyone, here's the second video in my series. I was out in my yard cutting the grass when I found a dead beetle, that was very large, so I decided to take a photo of it. In this video I will walk you through the set up I used to take it.

(Click on the Thumbnail for larger image)

Video: Canon 40D HighSpeed Shooting Demo

2008-07-20T22:36:00.003-04:00

Hey everyone, this is my first post since the 'Welcome' which I believe blogger creates for you. That's because I have been deciding what to post about and, I have decided I will interview photographers, and also make a lot of videos, demonstrating techniques and all. This is my first video, demonstrating the 6.5FPS of the 40d, but actually putting it to use, and not just holding the shutter down.

I set my camera up on a tripod, and took photos while I threw water balloons at the ground.

here is one of the shots: (for more see the Gallery)

Jake

Welcome Readers

2008-06-10T19:00:00.000-04:00

Readers, welcome to my blog. I really don't know what the point of this blog will be, maybe a little to show off work, but the title "exposure" would suggest I am exposing something and I hope to interview a lot of photographers, and aspiring photographers on the blog.

let me know any ideas you have and what you would like to see on this blog in the future.
Jake