Diy Photography Stuff | Diy Lighting | Diy Photography Tips

How to use an old light meter

Lately I find it very fun to shoot some films with old and not automatic film cameras. I find it a joy to use those metallic old age cameras, and the look of the developed photographs is something different from the digital cameras too. There is something about the film you use instead of the digital sensor, and I think much of the difference in the outcome is about the optics. They definitely used different glass back then, no L DG or any other marks on the lens, but simple 50mm f/1.4 manual and thats all!!!.

Some of the cameras that I own has built in light meters, in my Russian Zenith ET the light meter doesn’t work any more and in my Pentax the light meter works, but only with a battery the is very hard to find in Israel.

So I got my self the light meter my father used some 20 years ago, when there where no alternatives or built in light meters. The only thing was that he didn’t really remember how to operate it. After some research here is my “crash manual” on how to use your old light meter. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: light meter, manual light meter, old light meter

Comic Photoshop CS5 movie

Hey

After youtube got filled with the “promotional” movies about the upcoming Photoshop CS5, Its my time to make a funny movie about it.

As you already know there are some new brilliant features to the CS5, not kidding, some of the stuff is stunning and might look some of science fiction, if I had not seen it with my own eyes I wouldn’t believe it:

Content aware fill-brilliant!
Better edge detection-amazing!
Path match-great.
Puppet wrap- animation magic!

But here is diyphotographystuff.info contribution to the CS5 madness : Adobes photoshop’s CS5 Prediction tool.

Just open a picture or print screen a web page, fill in the time you want to predict click Enter and Adobe will predict the future for you!!!

See it:

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Indoor architecture photography tips

My wife’s sister is an architect and as one she starts to work on an online internet portfolio. Many times before she goes out for a location, she asks me for some tips about how to shoot better photographs than using the automatic (P,Av,Tv) modes. So I have to be the one that instructs, tip and help. I must admit that I had no experience shooting indoor architecture photographs automatically the first step will be to find pictures of such work and try to figure out what the photographer did there.

If you’ll get some architectural or lifestyle magazine you see that most of the pictures have the same “look” and many things in common:

Almost all of the indoor architectural photographs look as shot with available light.
Images are sharp with good depth .
Some parts look a bit over exposed.

So if you ask yourself how to get those results, here are my tips for better Indoor architectural photography:

Read the rest of this entry »

New amazing features with photoshop CS5

I must say that some of the promotional video published on YouTube regarding the soon new arrival of the Photoshop CS5 , looks to me as if its science fiction! As if those movies are some video effects and not real image retouching capabilities!

You must see this one (or any other movie just search YouTube for photoshop CS5), its really amazing work, done in a couple of seconds. Yes probably with a super duper,state of the art computer, but yet its amazing technology that I’m eager to test!!!

You are going to enjoy this one, that I promise!

Tags: cs5, Photoshop

DIY grid for small flashes with diy grid materials

As I mentioned a couple of posts before, one of the most common ways to build a DIY grid for small flashes is to use the “glue it straws” way. “The glue it straws” way was cover in this post DIY grid , basically you cut some straws into small tubes and arrange them in a box and glue them together into a box shape, about the size of your flash head, very simple .

There are a couple of advantages to that method –

It is very cheap to make this diy grid, it will cost you less than a dollar to make one.
The materials are very handy, a piece of carton and some straws from the local store and you are of to go.

There are some disadvantages too –

Its a hard task to get those straws pieces the same length and to glue them all in a fixed and aligned together in the same position/direction.
You are very much fixed to narrow angle grids and if you want a wide one (40 degrees and more), you’ll find it extremely difficult to do, as you’ll need to cut the straws very short.

As I was looking through Ebay for some gel filter holder solution, I entered this store called the strobist corner (visit link at the bottom), among some good value gel filter kits, there was this diy grid material! simple and good stuff. I got the basic kit , it includes 3 different grid material pieces for different effects 15,25 and 45 degrees, it all costs about 10$ (Honl will cost about 30$ for just one piece…). Thats all, you don’t have to cut straws any more. The basic kit comes without grid flash holders, so in the video below you’ll the most easy way to “connect” it to your flash head using handy sticky Velcro .

I’ll also post about my first impressions and photography examples using this kit, as I have an impression its a great way to use grids!!!

diy grid flash holder (youtube video)

strobist corner

Tags: DIY Grid, small flash grid

Photoshop CS5 new Content-Aware Fill

Take a look into the new content aware fill option with the new photoshop cs5.Things that took me lots of time to do with older versions of photoshop, are now built-in with the CS5 soon to come .

See that youtube movie to bealive it!

How to use a small flash with an umbrela box (Brolly)

If you are into home studio photography,a good start be getting an umbrella softbox also known as brolly.

Here are the basics steps to connect your umbrella softbox to a small camera flash.

DIY grid material on Ebay!!!

Hey!

After doing a couple of DIY grid projects in here, its time to show something very nice I found on Ebay a couple of weeks ago, after searching for some gel filters I accidentally visited a store called “The strobist corner”. Well he sells some gel filters and very nice looking snoots, but what caught my attention was this grid materials! No more cutting and gluing straws, you can get the real stuff there and for a reasonable price too!

You get for about 10$ three honeycombs pieces sized for the hot shoe flashes, each one in different size for different effect. The general idea about that honeycombs is that you’ll get a smaller circle of light depending on the size and length of the “straws”.

If you want a narrow/small circle of light you’ll have to choose a small straw diameter .

If you want to get a wide/big circle of light you’ll have to choose a big straw diameter.

I just wanted to share those “news” with my readers first. I promise to write more about it later as I’m a little tight on time (our little dog got run by a car and needs a lot of attention…)

So that’s a link for the strobist corner at ebay

Canon 5DMKI Vs. Canon 40D

Hey

I use for most of my photographs one of my two Canon 40D. When the Canon 5DMkII got out to the market, there where plenty of the 5DMkI available for sale as second hand cameras. I had a big strugle what to do whether to get a copy of the 5DMkI to couple with my 40D or to keep the 40D instead.

The 5D advantages are clear:

Full Frame camera.
12MP.
Very nice depth of field.
100% View finder.

The 40D advantages are clear too

Better focus speed.
More up to date DIGIC processor.
Bigger and much better LCD screen.

So recently someone popped that question in one of the forums that I visit in. My reply was: I rather keep the 40D and if there will be an upgrade it will be to the 5DMkII or the Canon 7D. But a very good photographer made a test between those cameras, see it yourself, it will help you decide if you are in the same problem (APS-C Vs. FF).

The test run by Allon Kira on of the best Macro and nature photographers that I know!!!

Allon Kira