Lets repair my "brand new" chinese flash receiver!

One month ago i got my third flash triger / receiver. Unfortunally it was dead on arrival and the ebay seller promise to send me another one, something that i was stopped thinking about after three weeks.

This little gadget can trigger remotely a flash using RF technology. It has a built in hot-shoe to connect your flash and a channel selector by dip switches. It is OK for about 12 bucks but bear in mind that it can't transmit TTL information like expensive pocket wizards do. 

Note the circle silver sticker at the plastic body of the receiver. QC PASS ?

The repairing process kept 5-15 minutes. What i done was to re-heat the connections of the electronic components (=joints) with my soldering iron. 

Remember this basic tip, as a cold joint is usually on the first five reasons when a modern electronic device not working. 

 

Gel filters

They have the power to change the atmosphere of the entire photo scene: Gel filters! And yes, i had the patience today to photograph all of what i own:

The images above created using LEE gel filters and my DIY grid, made by plastic straws and cardboard. As you can see i owned only the basic gel filters from the LEE collection. But for the present, thats ok for me.


Generaly we are using gel filters for  (a) color balancing, or for  (b) fx, accent, enhancers

For example the blue filter #201 convert tungsten lighting (3200K) to daylight light (5700K). That it means, if i had an indoor photoshooting and wanted to use all of the available lighting from tungsten lamps, i could attach this filter to my flash and change the white ballance setting on my camera from flash to tungsten. In different case i would lead with a yellowish photograph, specialy where my flash could not reach eg. at the background.

Another great filter, this time as an enhancer, is the Cosmetic Highlight  #188. If you use it as your front light in portraits, it will produce a warm light that warms nicely skin tones.

As for the Durham Daylight Frost #720 you can use it outside in a sunny day with your flash setting on "fill light" to give you a "natural indoor light" look.

Some popular gel filters used for lighting backgrounds are the Congo Blue #181, Mauve #126, Primary Red #106 (strong effect!) and JAS Green #738.


A common question comming from strobo users like me is "how could i attach it on my small flash?". The answer is using velcros and in these days many sellers from ebay will send you all what you need if you buy a whole new set of gel filters. Another solution may be using rubbers but i dont recomment it as it creases the gel that you may want to keep it for a long time.

Examples of using gel filters on a black background

Lighting setup for glass

Many people believe that lighting a glass object is not much different from lighting other objects. But the truth soon ground them in the reality and then they start looking for more information to achievement this. 

Lighting glass is not as easy as it may sound and in most cases requires unique lighting setups for each glass object separately. 

Achieving lighting glass, depends on the level you control both lights and environment. 

Let's see some real examples: 

  

When i first post these photos there were many who asked me about my lighting setup. Also there were few who believed that i used specialized equipment.  

The truth comes through the following photos:

As shown above, my lighting setup to shoot glass, use three flashes. 

One for the background, one for glass and finally one for the fill. The last could be replaced by a reflector but bear in mind that this will dramatically affect your black / dark background, which in my case i did not  want to and maybe you also think to avoid.

The background flash has a DIY grid made by straws, and a LEE colored gel filter. In the future i'll write more about shooting with colored gels and grids.

What is not shown in these photographs is a plain white A4 paper i used some photos later to give an extra white glow on the left side of the glass. You will also notice that i placed a cardboard underneath the fill light flash. This is because as I wrote above i wanted to  highlighted only the object and not the background. 

The above lighting technique for glass is personal and has developed after experimentation.

Once uppon a blog...

Every beginning is difficult, says an old greek proverb. And although two months have passed  from my application in most stock agencies, i feel that I am even to the first day. 

And the enthusiasm for daily photos that will judge and choose them, people from around the world has not changed. It is something that evolves over time, and then transformed through the experimentation for new types of photos. Because above all, it reflect my inner thoughts for  the world. What if the pictures are produced for commercial use as a tomato or a dozen eggs, the technique and the thoughts behind the picture, remains unique for everyone. 

This will be the topic of my blog. The trip of my photos to the commercial world, before and after their birth. 

Stay tuned…