Basic home studio follow up

Hi - it's been a while since I posted, but I have some pictures I'd like to submit for critique. This is a follow up to my previous post regarding a small home studio set up for a beginner. After all of the recommendations, I purchased a boom stand, a rouge flash bender portrait kid, and a second rogue flash bender with diffusion panels. I chose this set up for portability and upon recommendations on the boom stand from privatebydesign - the boom stand was an awesome recommendation!

So, I started with a self portrait using a single flash and a flashbender soft box, and I have to admit that it was hideous. I definitely won't be posting that here. But, I later started using a two flash set up with flash bender soft boxes to take some product style photography, which I will post here :)

My daughter collected some wild flowers and I took the opportunity to work on my flash photography skills with the flowers in a shot glass. The back ground is a black towel and I have not edited the photographs. These are straight out of the camera. I had a flash on the right set to 1/8th power, and one on the left set to 1/16th power. Ambient light was provided by the light in my dining room.

For those interested - the flowers are called Indian Paintbrushes and are very common to central Texas.

So how did I do for a first try?

Thanks for your feedback,

wes

Attachments

  • DPP_0001.JPG
    DPP_0001.JPG
    1.1 MB · Views: 326
  • DPP_0002.JPG
    DPP_0002.JPG
    1.1 MB · Views: 348
  • DPP_0003.JPG
    DPP_0003.JPG
    1.4 MB · Views: 338
  • DPP_0004.JPG
    DPP_0004.JPG
    1.4 MB · Views: 321

Best Backup Strategy?

I've been feeling a need for another backup of my photos. Right now I keep them on my laptop, and I periodically back up to an external drive. But there's still some room for failure, if there's a crash during the backup process, or if my house is robbed and they take my laptop and the shiny hard drive next to it.

I thought about trying to put everything on Flickr since they offer 1TB free, but it's been a pain to get photos into it. The uploader in Lightroom times out all the time, and Juploadr has all sorts of errors, including crashing without notice and completely disappearing during an upload. And anything outside of lightroom means I have to export to JPG, which takes a long time on this 2008 computer and is an extra step and extra hassle. And I guess exporting from lightroom makes JPGs, so it takes just as long.

I tried online backup in the past, but I have 200+ GB of photos, and several hundred GB of other stuff that I don't feel like sorting through to figure out what's still important and what's not. I wasn't patient enough to get much progress last time I started an online backup, but maybe I could try it again? I would prefer not to pay the $5 a month, but it's not too bad for the convenience.

The option I'm leaning to right now is to designate a second backup drive just for photos and important stuff, and keep it at work when I'm not using it. I already have a pile of hard drives, I would just need to clear one out for this use. But what would be the best way to do an incremental backup of certain folders to a second hard drive? I already use time machine (mac) for my normal backups, but it doesn't work well with two drives, so I would need some other way. I don't want to copy things manually.

So I'm wondering what other people out there do, and what works best?

Small monolights vs speedlites

Hi everyone,

As I want to start and practice off camera flash for portraits and still life, I recently posted about modifiers for speedlites and the answers by Neuro and private really got me thinking. I realized that as I would mostly be working inside and probably firing a lot while learning the lightning basics, I would just be burning through batteries and AC monolights started making sense.

I ended up looking around and found some Godox 300Ws monolights that are quite inexpensive (100$) and that could probably provide a stop or two more light than a single hot-shoe flash (assuming 60-80Ws for those). Considering they are cheaper than a speedlite and could potentially provide as much light as 2 to 4 of the latter, they seem like a much better option. They also allow for adjusting the power on single light instead of on a multitude of speedlites, which seems convenient.

I'm going to start off with what I have but those seem tempting for the future. Am I missing something here? Would you stick to speedlites or try something like those? What alternatives would you suggest?

Here is a link to the product : http://www.godox.com/EN/Products_Studio_Flash_SMART_Series.html

Thanks.

P.S. I understand these are probably not suitable for a professional studio, but Profotos or Bowens are not in my price range...

Lens Parts for 50mm 1.8

Hello, I hopefully will be getting a free canon 50mm 1.8 mk2 tomorrow. Unfortunately it is snapped in two. I don't know what piece is broken at the moment, all I know is the auto focus still works and the glass is intact. Im not sure about aperture at the moment, ill report back when I get it.

The question is, are parts readily available. And if so where.
PS I have a highly skilled satellite/electronic/computer wizard available to do the fixing!!

Gareth

Card Failure: Lexar CF 32GB 1000x

About 2 weeks ago after a long shoot, my second shooter had a complete failure of a Lexar 32GB 1000x CF Card. The card had completely normal handling and had been used numerous times before without incident. For whatever reason, the controller chip on the card failed, which prevents all access to the card data. I found a company that specializes in "off-chip" data recovery where they pull the chips off and hook up to a NAND reader to pull the data. Unfortunately, this card is using a brand new chip for which no one seems to have the right socket to do this type of recovery. Has anyone else needed to do an off-chip recovery of this card? If so, I would REALLY appreciate knowing what company did it.

This isn't a request for recovery methods or software recommendations...it's a full hardware failure which requires specific equipment to read.

Thanks.

Canon CN-E50mm T1.3L F

I have been wondering how the Canon Cinema EOS primes compare to the EF equivalents, but other than a few videos (and blog/videos) comparing them, I haven't seen anything. I'm not sure why none of the review sites haven't reviewed them, but I'm guessing they work very well for still work.

A few days ago, Canon CPN posted an article, Philip Plisson: the master of maritime, in which the photographer discusses his selection of the Canon CN-E50mm T1.3L F and the article shows several beautiful shots taken with the lens. Given that the lens is close in price to the Zeiss Otus, and theoretically improves on the 50L in a number of areas, I wonder how it performs.

Has anyone used it (for stills) or seen a comparison?

Buy Canon 24-70 M.II and sell 24-105, 17-40 and possibly 50 1.4???

I have a 5D3 with the following line-up:
24-105
17-40
40/2.8
50/1.4
85/1.8
100L
135L
70-200/4.0/IS
TC 1.4x, MK.II

I am toying with the idea of selling the 24-105, 17-40 and possibly 50 1.4 and was wondering others thoughts on this and if you have gone that route and regretted it or not. I would likely use the 24-70 as a general walk-around, vacation lens along with environmental portraits. I tend not to shoot video.

Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated.

New Samyang Lenses Go On Sale Tomorrow

HTML:
<div name="googleone_share_1" style="position:relative;z-index:5;float: right; /*margin: 70px 0 0 0;*/ top:70px; right:120px; width:0;"><g:plusone size="tall" count="1" href="http://www.canonrumors.com/2014/04/new-samyang-lenses-go-on-sale-tomorrow/"></g:plusone></div><div style="float: right; margin:0 0 70px 70px;"><a href="https://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="vertical" data-url="http://www.canonrumors.com/2014/04/new-samyang-lenses-go-on-sale-tomorrow/">Tweet</a></div>
The new lenses from Samyang that go on sale tomorrow: Samyang 35mm f/1.4 Canon AE, 300mm f/6.3 Mirror DSLR photo lenses and a VDSLR/Cinema series is set to be released on April 29th 2014. Samyang 10mm T3.1, 12mm T2.2 and 7.5mm T3.8.</p>
<p>While all of these lenses are manual focus, the Canon AE 35mm f/1.4 does have auto exposure.</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.samyang-europe.com/index.php/new-products/93-samyang-new-lenses-coming-soon" target="_blank">Read more about the new lenses</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.canonrumors.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/10157258_674644589261420_6565789629845688940_n.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-16435" alt="samyanglenses" src="http://www.canonrumors.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/10157258_674644589261420_6565789629845688940_n-575x456.jpg" width="575" height="456" /></a></p>
<p>Source: [<a href="https://www.facebook.com/samyangeurope" target="_blank">Samyang Facebook</a>]</p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">c</span>r</strong></p>
<p> </p>

Backup for 6D for Wedding Photography

Hey everyone,

I am new to the forum and this is my first post here. Up until this year I have mainly shot family portrait sessions but this year I decided I wanted to start second shooting weddings. I shot one a week or so back and had a blast and I have quite a few more scheduled now for this year for that photographer. I want to purchase a backup body for my 6D but I am unsure of what to purchase. Any advice appreciated :

Video Review: Canon PowerShot G1 X II

HTML:
<div name="googleone_share_1" style="position:relative;z-index:5;float: right; /*margin: 70px 0 0 0;*/ top:70px; right:120px; width:0;"><g:plusone size="tall" count="1" href="http://www.canonrumors.com/2014/04/video-review-canon-powershot-g1-x-ii/"></g:plusone></div><div style="float: right; margin:0 0 70px 70px;"><a href="https://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="vertical" data-url="http://www.canonrumors.com/2014/04/video-review-canon-powershot-g1-x-ii/">Tweet</a></div>
<p><a href="http://www.digitalrev.com/" target="_blank">Kai from DigitalRev</a> has completed his review of the Canon PowerShot G1 X II. This is Canon’s top end compact camera for photo enthusiasts.</p>
<p>The review is fairly positive, although a few quirks are pointed out. Some of the button placements are odd and the camera isn’t all that “compact”. The video performance leaves a lot to be desired and it’s not the most attractive camera.</p>
<p>However, the image quality is very good, the autofocus performs very well and it has all the features you could ever want in a serious PowerShot camera.</p>
<p><iframe width="500" height="281" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/KG3NlqwKCFI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>Canon PowerShot G1 X II: <strong><a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1028804-REG/canon_9167b001_powershot_g1x_mark_ii.html/bi/2466/kbid/3296" target="_blank">B&H Photo</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I58M1VK/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00I58M1VK&linkCode=as2&tag=canorumo-20" target="_blank">Amazon</a></strong></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">c</span>r</strong></p>

Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 EX DC HSM

I bought this lens yesterday but didn't make it out today as planned due to a sick dog, I wanted to start this thread off as I've not noticed one already, and to get some pics, comments and opinions from other owners.
I tried the Canon 10-22, the Sigma 8-16 and the Tokina 11-16 in the shop and when I zoomed right in there was no tell tale IQ differences between this and the Canon, this was $320 cheaper so it is now part of my kit.

When do you know you have enough camera gear?

I thought I have enough cameras and lenses to shoot most situation. Last week, I even talked myself out of buying the Canon 600mm f4 IS II. It should be a happy moment for not spending $10K on a single lens that doesn't get use often right?

Well....it's not that easy. I saw this photo, posted by Neuro: http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=9791.120

I'm now heading to flash photography. I'm not sure what will come after flash?

Wish me luck guys ;)

Need your help again, Dear Sir/ Madam

Dear Sir/ Madam.
Yes the Most stupid question that I do not know and try to ask my friend( At my Home town Camera Clubs) for 2 years--- And No one know.
About time that I must ask my dear friends in CR, and all of m6y Teachers in CR.
Yes, My Hoya Cir. PL , which they have Mark/ White mark at the outer ring, And That indicated the Sun Location for the Darkest Sky for PL effect and I can turn the outer ring to match the location of the Sun.

___ Big BUT, My high cost Heliopan ES 72 POL. Cir. 2.5X have Number 1, 2, 3,----To Number 26 at the Outer Ring of Filter, and NO ONE ( All of my Club friends) know, Plus I ask the Camera shop that I buy from---No one know----Ha, Ha, Ha- if Number 1 thru Number 24 ---I can guess that the hour of the day---How about 25 and 26---Might be Beer Time ??

Yes, Sir, For Helliopan Cir. PL, I use my eyes to point out the darkest Sky with no problem, But WHAT ARE THE NUMBER 1 to 26 for ?
Thank you, Sir.
Surapon

PS, If you see the photos below, That Indicate that I love my Canon EOS-M----Ha, Ha, Ha.

Attachments

  • PL-1.jpg
    PL-1.jpg
    121.3 KB · Views: 311
  • PL-2.jpg
    PL-2.jpg
    140.2 KB · Views: 307
  • PL-3.jpg
    PL-3.jpg
    95.9 KB · Views: 295
  • PL-4.jpg
    PL-4.jpg
    65.5 KB · Views: 286
  • PL-5.jpg
    PL-5.jpg
    91.9 KB · Views: 302

$ 100,000+ US Dollars

Dear Friends.
After our friend Mr. Terry Rogers set up the post $ 10,000 at Gear talk/ Canon, and so many of our friends answer the great questions. and we learn/ get the ideas of each our unique friends.
Now, Is my turn------If we have Unlimited budget/ Well, $ 100,000 + US Dollars, and want to get the Photographic equipment , and The Support Equipment which will increase/ Improve( Hopefully---Ha, Ha, Ha ) our Love Hobby= Photography---What will you want to get/ Buy ?.
One thing/ the first ting in my mind= Canon EF 1200 MM F/ 5.6 L = 36 Pounds ( $ 100,000 to 120,000 US Dollars) and special build Range rover / or Land Rover SUV. ( Open Back ) and special Permanent MONOPOD mounted , With security cage, for my Safari trip'
Have FUN, and tell us your ultimate dream.
Your friend, Surapon

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/find/newsLetter/Mother-of-All-L-Lenses.jsp

Attachments

  • ef 1600mm..jpg
    ef 1600mm..jpg
    20.8 KB · Views: 770
  • ef 1600mm-2.jpg
    ef 1600mm-2.jpg
    56.2 KB · Views: 790
  • Ex-Australian_Army_Land_Rover.JPG
    Ex-Australian_Army_Land_Rover.JPG
    2.4 MB · Views: 798

Filter

Forum statistics

Threads
37,439
Messages
973,561
Members
24,804
Latest member
zukibird

Gallery statistics

Categories
1
Albums
29
Uploaded media
372
Embedded media
1
Comments
25
Disk usage
1 GB