I was at Robert's the other day and picked up a few new things - notably a Canon 430EXII speedlight and an Interfit Strobies 15"x15" Foldable Softbox.
A few pros, A few cons.
Pros:
The Canon 430EXII, despite what Andy says, is a pretty easy flash to work with and I think is even easier to use than my Nikon SB600 was.
The Interfit Strobie softbox was about 1/3 the cost of a Lastolite kit of the same size/features
Cons:
The Canon 430EXII doesn't have a PC sync option - but I've already figured out a workaround for that
The Interfit Strobie softbox doesn't have an internal baffle, but there are small loops for one, so that should be easy to add if I want
So here are some comparison shots between a few different light modifiers. The light used was the Canon 430EXII set at 1/4 power with the 14mm wide angle diffuser in place. The light source (flash) was kept at the same distance from the objects and roughly the same height. The camera was set at ISO 100, f/8, 1/125 for each shot.
Bare (with wide angle diffuser)
Shoot-Through Umbrella (32")
Lumiquest ProMax Mini Softbox (5x7")
Interfit Strobie 15x15" softbox
Outcome? The Interfit Strobie Softbox did quite well - least amount of light loss and nice soft, yet directional shadows. I think I'll keep it, even if it is a bit difficult to fold back up.
This time around, I was all set to take a photograph when I got an email from the Vimeo Weekend Project group. As if a sign from above, it was a project based around creating a cooking show.
I put away my strobes and fished out my video lights (a-lá Home Depot) and my tripod to record the magic. With a little help from Abby, we made dinner and the video in a reasonable amount of time.
Chicken Bruschetta Pasta | Masterpiece Kitchen from Michael Carney Media on Vimeo.
Welcome to Masterpiece Kitchen, the most dramatic cooking show known to man. In this episode we examine how to create the classic entreé Chicken Bruschetta with Farfalle, or the more colloquial "Bowtie," Pasta.
Sit back, relax and enjoy your meal with Masterpiece Kitchen.
Photo/Video Info: Photo: Canon 60D w/ 50mm f/1.4 @ f/3.5 1/125 ISO 1000 Video: Canon 60D w/ 24mm f/2.8, 50mm f/1.4, 135mm f/2 all @ f/4 1/50 ISO 1000 Lighting: 23w CFL in "HD" reflectors (Home Depot) x2 - one high left over cutting board/counter, one high right over stove acting as key and fill each for the different shots. Intro sequence 1x23w CFL in "HD" reflector high left, practical lighting
Now that she is closer to 14 months, I finally got around to putting in the several (read: 4) hours necessary to fix all of my in-camera mistakes on one of Evelyn's 9 month pictures.
Mossy is a regular Irish folk singer at O'Bryan's Nine Irish Brothers Pub in West Lafayette. Last time he was in town, I was able to shoot some photos during his performance. His website is mossymoran.com.
I had one speedlight (SB26) on a magic arm super-clamped to a wooden divider (about 9 feet up, 12 feet away). Triggered with Pocket Wizards (Thanks Kevin!). The more I shoot with telephoto lenses, the more I dislike the "normal" focal lengths...
I was, like, 9000% more productive today than any other Saturday in recent history. Winter self portrait with Abby, building a Snowoman with Abby, Cooking a nice dinner and photographing it with Abby. Maybe there's a pattern here ;)
[Mmmmm... Carbonara tortellini with Italian seasoned chicken
A few nights ago I decided to make Peppered Beef with Béarnaise sauce. Long story short, it got made.
[Béarnaise = butter and egg = delicious]
Now for the long story...
I got home around 9pm from work and still wanted to make this dish. According to the recipe book, it should have taken about 35 minutes to make. Well I learned a few things that night.
1) Different cuts of meat take different amounts of time to cook. A fillet will cook faster than say the chuck roast I bought (cause I went el-cheap-0).
2) When using new appliances, always ask to make sure they work properly. Apparently the oven I was using is about 100°F colder than what it is set at.
Because of these two mistakes, the meat took about 45 minutes to cook and when I finally pulled it out, it had been over cooked. Still tasted good flavor wise, but definitely dry and chewy.
I also finally broke down and bought a food processor. At least I'll have it next time.
Picture Info: Nikon D300s with Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 @ f/10 ISO 200, SB600 @1/4 power in 8" cardboard snoot triggered with CLS
Photo info: Nikon D300s with nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ f/8 ISO 200; Sb26 in Shoot Thru Umbrella 1/2 power optical slave front left; Sb600 1/8 power triggered with CLS back right;
So I've decided to blog all of my new creations. My goal is 2-3 new (healthy) recipes per week and each time I make one, I photograph it using different lighting, lenses, etc.
Last night's recipe: Baked Eggplant
Photo info: Nikon D300s with Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ f/6.3 Sb26 ISO 200 optical slaved on 1/4 power high left with softbox, Sb600 triggered with CLS 1/8 power high right, on camera flash 1/32 power.
Before the Red Ranger, I was on Wes's film (Abe Lincoln: Paranormal Detective) set doing some production stills for his credits. I haven't done much in the way of Photoshopping effects, so any feedback would be great.
I met with the Purdue Red Ranger this evening to shoot a short movie. Originally it was supposed to be a western-style stand off between the Red Ranger and Purdue Space Ghost. Space Ghost never showed (and now his facebook account is deactivated).
so we just did some stills instead. I went for an edgier look with some grungy processing a bit Dave Hill-ish, but not as desaturated.
Strobist: Three lights. SB80dx and SB26 as 45degree kickers (1/2 power ea) and on SB600 into a reflective umbrella camera right (1/1 power). I triggered the SB600 with CLS (manual and FVlocked) and the other two with their optical slaves.
I hate mondays. I hate weekdays. I think everyone would be better off if we had a 1 day week and a 6 day weekend.
I've been fairly busy the last few weeks. I'm now the Multimedia Editor at the Exponent. This basically means that I produce videos all week. The good thing is, its not as many hours as the photo editor job which means I have more time to shoot pictures and do homework.
Here are a few of the things I've been working on recently.
Patrick Jones - a former criminologist for the Chicago PD - is the Forensics Lab director here at Purdue.
Patrick invented a compressed air powered device used to dust for finger prints. Using air to apply the powder instead of a brush reduces smudging and makes it possible to recover prints from extremely delicate objects.
Here Jones is using side-by-side microscope comparison to match bullets fired from the same gun. Unlike TV, the match isn't made from striations from the gun barrel, but from the impression the hammer leaves when it strikes the primer.
On the first day of Jones's criminology class, he is carried into the room in a body bag and remains there motionless before popping out to the surprise of his students.
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Alex Camarota is a TA and graduate student in the department of creative writing here at Purdue. Alex is also almost completely deaf. While he can still here sounds such as stomping and enjoys listening to reggae music, Alex can't hear you if he can't see your lips move. Alex and his twin brother (a graphic designer in California) were both born with their mostly hearing intact, however it has degenerated ever since. Alex is putting on a free writing workshop that aims to help people understand how to write about disabilities.
----------- Lastly, I've been producing videos like mad. I've come to understand how to use my D300s in this capacity quite a bit better. I'd still like to see a firmware update allowing manual video control, however I think I've got the work-arounds pretty much down.
Click the links to watch in 720p HD
Starting with the Most recent:
Water Break live. A weekly piece written by the sports desk. This is my first attempt with a green screen - I've got some bugs to work out. Water Break Live
Rube Goldberg. The Purdue Society of Professional Engineers' Rube Goldberg device was definitely a crowd pleaser at the regional competition Saturday with cannons, Tesla coils, and (in theory) the Purdue fight song. Rube Goldberg
Big Man on Campus. This greek philanthropy event raises money for breast cancer research each year. This year's contribution: over $127,000. BMOC
Patrick Jones: Purdue Forensics Lab director teaches us how to recover a fingerprint. Patrick Jones
Cupid's Arrows: Members of the Purdue Music Organization deliver singing Valentines on Feb 12th. Valentines
Well that's it for now. I'll have another update in a week or so (hopefully!)
Well not too much has happened this month I bought a new camera (D300s) I bought a new lens (17-55 f/2.8) I bought a car (Oldsmobile Intrigue) I need a job :/
Okay, so I guess I have done some stuff this month. I started 2010 off well with a portrait session with Courtney and some save the date photos with Jimmy and Thea.
I made a quick multi-media segment with the D300s during the Purdue Outing Club Adventure Race. (Click the link to watch it in 720p HD!)
And this last Saturday participated in a Strobist meet-up in Indianapolis (again with Courtney). Yeah, that's a P-51 Mustang ;D
And this evening I'm off to a Women's Basketball game.
Man, I wish I could get paid for this stuff!!!
First Impressions: D300s, 17-55, MKE400
D300s - coming from a D300 there isn't much of a change. Bonuses: center selector button and dedicated Live View make things a bit quicker. Quiet shutter mode - definitely works, but makes 3 clicks per shot instead of the standard 2. Video quality is amazing! rolling shutter is not as big of a problem as I expected and it handles the audio quite well.
MKE400 - Much smaller than I imagined, fits in my palm with no problems. I like that I can choose between super-cardioid and lobar pick-up patterns (lobar works great for sit-down interviews) and the cord is just long enough to reach the D300s input jack without too many problems.
17-55mm f/2.8 - I'm so glad I chose to go with this instead of a third party lens. Everything about it from build quality to IQ is amazing. Thanks Laurie for working with me on the sale and thanks Joe McNally for selling it (yeah, I've got Joe McNally's lens - gaff tape and all!).
