CHEAP AND CHEERFUL COLOURED GELS FOR THE CAMERA-MOUNT FLASH

Occasionally, colouring the light from your camera-mount flash can add drama to a shot without having to lug around a powered strobe head. Some flashes come with plastic snap on filters, but if they don't, here's an inexpensive and simple solution.


Gel material is available from camera stores, but you could use any coloured acetate for this. Get adhesive-backed velcro strips from a fabric store. If you haven't already got velcro attached to your flash (for mounting commercially made foldable softboxes for instance), then make sure you buy both the 'male' and 'female' halves of the velcro system. One gender goes on top and bottom of the flash head, and the other in two strips on each gel square.


For my flash, I cut the gel into 3.5" squares. This size has the benefit of fitting into a mini calendar jewel case (two gels fit into each case). My cases came from Effectuality (their part # CCM0CT). If your flash head needs more coverage than this size provides, these may not be big enough.



Just attach a gel and fire away. I like using the flash off-camera in optical slave mode so that I can use it to highlight a small area in a particular colour for a bit of drama. In the twin-lens camera shot below, my main strobe was used with an orange gel, and the flash with a blue filter off to the right provided the blue highlight.

DANGEROUS OLD FILMS

The images in this gallery were taken by my great-great uncle, Heinrich Schildknecht, an Austrian "alpine" photographer.



The 4"x5.75" negatives were given to me by his grandson when I met him in Europe several years ago. It's difficult to date them because the date that the photographer wrote on the envelope looks like it could either be 1919 or 1929. Now that I have a flatbed scanner with a transparency unit, I thought it was time to preserve them.

I remember asking his grandson whether or not he had his grandfather's complete collection of negatives. He replied "No, my grandfather's studio burned down". I'm not surprised.

To the best of my knowledge, the items he gave me are made with a cellulose nitrate base. Most articles you read about this type of film give dire warnings that they are extremely flammable. The typical advice is to copy them, then dispose of them properly.

Two of the many signs that films are made of cellulose nitrate are the tendency to curl and turn amber as they age. Have a look at the picture of my negs. They definitely exhibit these characteristics. The ones that curl the most seem to have a thicker base, while the flat ones are almost as thin as paper.

In some cases, the experts warn, the emulsion becomes sticky and gives off a toxic gas. Luckily, mine do not have this problem, although the emulsion is flaking in places.

There are several ways to test these films to determine whether or not they are cellulose nitrate, as outlined in this excellent article: http://bit.ly/aAKaQi. I decided to try the burn test with a strip of each of the thin and thick bases.

With the fire department on speed dial, I headed outside in the snow, far from the house and lit 'em up. Yup -the thick base burned very quickly and crackled a bit like a sparkler. The thin base was a bit more sluggish, but also burned fairly quickly.

The safe assumption is that these are cellulose nitrate bases, so I'll be doing the right thing and disposing after copying. I may even wait for a fireworks celebration and have my own backyard spectacle. If a reader more knowledgeable than I has more insight into these negs, I would appreciate a comment.

Amazingly, from the timeline in this document (http://bit.ly/d4ysrt), Kodak introduced an acetate safety film in 1908, but continued to produce cellulose nitrates until 1951. I can't speak for other manufacturers, though, but this seems to defy common sense!


Historical Images - Images by Gordon Wood

THE NEW MOVIE TECHNOLOGIES

Three D (3D), with its funny glasses, is nothing new. Surround sound has been around for a long time, too. For those of you as old as me, remember the curved ‘cinemascope’ screens?

All of these advancements have been made to enhance our feeling of ‘being there’ when watching a movie in a theatre or cinema. But they were all missing something....something, I’m pleased to say, that has now come to a theatre near you.

Digital cinema, in my opinion, is the only important development in the industry in decades. The reasons are obvious.
· You can now watch the equivalent of high definition television images on a screen the size of a house.
· No longer do you have to watch a washed-out looking third generation film print that comes complete with scratches, burn holes and grain.
· The image is stable as a rock, since they’re not dragging film sprockets over registration pins as in a traditional projector.
· Because the movie originates on a hard drive rather than big reels of film stock, the presentation is not limited to the jittery 24 frames-per-second rate. Smoother pans are now possible since, in the digital domain, algorithms can be applied to correct such artifacts.
· No more pops and clicks. Again, sound originates from an entirely digital source.

What really motivated me to write this was my recent viewing of Avatar®. The story line didn’t get my bum into the seat at the theatre. It was interesting, but not the most compelling movie I’ve ever seen. As a contractor for one of the companies that makes digital cinema projectors here in Ontario (and that supplied my local theatre), I was keen to see what digital projection, coupled with 3D technology, could do.

It was immediately clear to me that the same effect could not have been produced with film-based 3D. The timing was definitely right for Mr. Cameron to release this epic. Technology made it work. Any artifacts I detected were minor, brief and probably undetectable by the general populace. This was a perfect experience, flawless from corner to corner. I even found myself twitching to dodge a projectile that seemed to fly off the screen and whiz right by my head!

So what’s next for the cinema experience? In my humble opinion, the quality and resolution of the visual presentation is now approaching the limits of what we humans can discern. So, maybe the wrap-around screen will make a comeback, or holograms. How about the stimulation of other senses, such as smell and touch?

And what about the home theatre? If the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is an accurate indicator, 3D HDTV will soon be coming to a living room near you. Think of it. Not only will you have to find the remote in the couch, but maybe your 3D glasses as well.

NEW TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY AGENCY

I have collaborated with a number of other photographers to form a web site called Circle Stock Images. "Circle" alludes to the fact that we're from all around the globe, and hence circle it. Here is our recent press release:

Stock Travel Photography Agency Launched by International Photographers

Circle Stock Images is proud to announce the launch of its stock photography web site, circlestockimages.com, featuring stunning travel-centric images from around the globe.

The site was created by a small team of photographers to provide photo buyers with better access to the photographers and their images. On large stock photography web sites, photo buyers are often overwhelmed by inappropriate results from online keyword searches when seeking a specific travel image. Circle Stock Images’ tightly-edited collection, however, means searches are quicker and more relevant.

The photographer-managed agency differs from traditional photo agencies by offering commission-free competitive pricing and the ability to contact and negotiate with member photographers individually. All the features found on other stock photography sites, including themed galleries, lightboxes and keyword searching are provided. Low resolution watermarked comps are also provided at no charge.

Through the site’s e-commerce facility, buyers can instantly download high resolution files and pay using PayPal™ or major credit card. Other payment methods and terms may be negotiated with individual member photographers as appropriate. This flexibility is one benefit of the photographer-managed agency versus more traditional ones.

Member photographers are located in Estonia, Germany, England, Thailand, Canada and the United States. Between them, they have captured over 45,000 beautiful images of the people, culture, scenery, food and environment of every continent.
The collection is constantly growing as members continue to travel to new locations. Upcoming destinations are China, South America, Australia, Hong Kong and Europe, as well as specific U.S. and Canadian regions. Contact Circle Stock Images to determine approximate dates and times.

About Circle Stock Images:
Circle Stock Images is a web-based collaboration between photographers from various countries, offering competitively-priced stock photography for travel and related markets. The web site, circlestockimages.com, features individual galleries submitted by member photographers. Keyword search capability is provided on the home page and accesses all galleries. Pricing is set by each photographer, but a common pricing model is used as a guideline. Contact information for members is also available on the site.

TABLET SAVES MAN'S WRIST (MAYBE)

For quite some time now, I've been trying different ways of relieving wrist pain from mousing all day long. Special "floating" wrist supports that move with the mouse as well as bandaging up my hand and wrist so they don't move relative to each other may be helping, but aren't totally relieving the situation.

As far as I know, I don't suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome. My doctor looked at it, said "ganglia", then quickly changed the subject. It's a small bump at the base of my thumb, where the wrist starts, that supposedly contains bundled nerves. Presumably, I pushed them all there by leaning on it continuously while mousing. Thanks,doc.

Most people would say "Change jobs", but as a technical writer and photographer, tearing me away from FrameMaker and Photoshop are not options. The pain from this condition is quite distracting. I feel like Hercules after a haircut; with grip comes pain, so I've effectively lost strength in my right hand.

I had a V8 moment recently. The bonk on the forehead came when I read a product announcement in a photography magazine about pen and touch tablets. Due to my finely-honed reasoning powers, I went "Hey - I'm left handed. If this tablet thingy replaces a mouse, I can give my right hand a rest".

They're not expensive, so this weekend, I trotted out and bought one. While every new device requires some adaptation time, I'm loving the concept. With the supplied pen (or stylus), I can navigate menus and precisely touch up photos. I don't use the touch feature (like the glide pad on laptops) as much, but do find it handier than the pen for scrolling through documents.

It's early days yet, but it certainly feels good not to be leaning continuously on my "bump". Will it allow my hand pain to cure on its own? Maybe not, but I'm willing to look into exercises that will.

I just wish I had thought of it sooner.

QUAINT INSTRUCTION SHEETS

It’s obvious that some overseas companies rely on (bad) software that literally translates every word from their language into the closest English word, but, of course, completely out of context. It’s a good thing that this particular product I purchased online was simple enough that I didn’t need instructions, because two years later I’m still trying to decrypt the piece of paper that came with it.
It’s actually quite amusing to read, and it amazes me that they wrote so much about how to use a simple, slave-only strobe that screws into a light bulb socket. Here are some snippets, and my interpretations:

“Thank you to choose the series electronics to dodge the lamp, it is that the ideal light source taken a photograph is dodged in the various rooms that this series electronics dodges the lamp.”
INTERPRETATION: Not sure why you’d want to dodge the lamp, but they’re deeply grateful that I purchased it.

“It still possesses advanced the gleaming remote sensing device, can receive the pulse and gleams at the distant range place, thus synchronously gleaming with the signal voluntarily, the lamp colour temperature ideal is dodged to this series, and it is big to shine the angle, and ability and various soft light umbrellas and reflection of light umbrella cooperate to use in the reality is applied, but effect is better.”
INTERPRETATION: OK, so apart from being a hellishly long sentence, I get the idea that it gleams (handy for a strobe light), remotely triggers without a struggle, has a dodged (aha – matched maybe?!!) colour temperature (to what, we’re not sure) and gleams nicely (in reality) with a bounce umbrella, or not.

“The item is paid attention to:
1. Long-term whens disuse, the dump, and at a distance from one period to the electronics dodges the lamp to be charged to try to dodge several times, and can lengthen the electronics dodging life span. Leave, and is not affected with damp to be heated.”
INTERPRETATION: Methinks it can hold its charge for a long time after it’s unplugged, and is ready to be fired (oh-oh, is that what dodged means?) when screwed back into the socket. And, whatever you do, remember never to heat the damp.

It continues:
“2. Not dismantling the electronics, if the sick requests (company name withheld) repair section or this company to be engaged by special arrangement the maintenance ministry and repairs at will.”
INTERPRETATION: They have a Maintenance Ministry in their country, so if you try to take apart your sick (strobe), a school bus will pull up to your door and several heavily armed Ministry auditors, accountants and actuarials will kick your door down and throw you to the floor.

If there are any overseas manufacturers reading this, I would like them to know that in addition to being a wonderful stock photographer, I’m also a technical writer and a very good proofreader. So, please get in touch at my other web site: www.taskpartner.ca

ARE POINT-AND-SHOOT CAMERAS REALLY THAT GOOD?

As someone who shoots stock images using SLRs, it may seem strange that I find it necessary to have a digital point-and-shoot in my possession.

Not so strange when you consider that the lenses, resolution and exposure modes are starting to catch up with their big, interchangeable lens cousins. Besides, sometimes a small no-fuss camera, due to its portability, is available to capture images we would otherwise miss because we left our clunkier gear at home.

But can they really compete on image quality? I decided to pit a Canon Rebel XTi SLR against a Panasonic Lumix FX500 point-and-shoot, each claiming 10.1 megapixel resolution. I shot the same image outdoors on each camera in rapid succession, so the light was consistent. The Rebel was set to record in JPEG only (instead of RAW) so that it matched the Lumix method of recording. Each was set to aperture priority and f/8. Shutter speed was 1/40th to 1/50th for each. Both were set for auto white balance.

The fundamental difference between the two cameras, of course, is the physical size of the sensor and the technologies used. The Rebel uses a CMOS sensor, while the Lumix uses a smaller CCD sensor. To be accurate, it should be noted that the Lumix creates a 10.1 megapixel image when in 4:3 mode, while in 3:2 mode (to match the Rebel's aspect ratio)the image size is actually 9 megapixels.

Examining the zoomed-in crop of each image, it's apparent that the little CCD can't compete with the larger CMOS, both in terms of sharpness in transitions from white to red, for example, and in colour saturation in general. Also, the CCD appears "grainier" amongst the blades of grass, and falls short in latitude (or dynamic range) when compared to the Rebel image.

The results may seem obvious, given the smaller size and lower cost of the p & s. So why bother?
Well, I wanted to gauge just how far apart the quality levels were. In my opinion, while the p & s is not up to pro standard, it's still amazingly good. I'm going to use it to take test shots of scenes that I might want to return to later and shoot with the SLR. Besides, how many times have we jumped in the car and wished later that we had grabbed a camera?