The KSPD WebLog

Just thought I’d share this.  My girlfriend and I were out doing a quick shoot for our Christmas cards and I thought I’d try out some of the lighting that is frequently featured on the popular Strobist website.   Please disregard the less than engaging pose, we were just playing around and I didn’t expect to actually post this.

The setup was like this:

Equipment:

Nikon D3
Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 AF VR
SB-800  CLS Master and Fill
3x SB-600 with cheap DIY cardboard snoots set on TTL

This really isn’t a very complicated shot so I won’t bore you with the details, but I’ll throw out some super preschool-ish diagrams for you.

As you can see, speedlight A is lighting Michelle’s face and torso, light B is lighting the ground, and light C is providing a rim light for some separation from the background.  Man I am a terrible artist!

The exposure was pretty straight forward.  I metered in M (manual) and got the standard exposure that I probably would have gotten in P or A, and then i stopped the aperture down about 1 stop to underexpose the ambient light.  Then I jacked up the TTL on the SB-600s (each one was a little different) until I got a look that I liked and voila!

Happy shooting!

Up for sale:

Nikkor 18-200 f3.5-NIKON NIKKOR 18-200 F3.5-5.6 ED DX  -  $500

SOLD

Mint Condition.  Rarely used before I upgraded to FX sensor.

ALSO

Sigma 15mm f2.8 Fish-Eye Lens (Nikon AF-D Mount)  – $400

If you are seeing this, it means they are still for sale!

Free Desktop Wallpaper (1680x1050 px)

Free desktop wallpaper today!

I havn’t been able to post much lately.   I’ve been really busy with proposals and other tasks.  One notable project has been for my former college professor and friend Nigel Poor.  She has been working on an audio diary for a long time and decided that she wanted to put it in a form that was accessible on the internet.  It’s been a lot of fun, and I am really facinated by the whole “Podcast” process and culture.

I encourage you to check it out!   You can find the audio experiment, and other interesting things at her website.

http://www.nigelpoor.com

OR

If you have or use iTunes, you can find the project here:

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=294316731

Nigel Poor’s audio experiment is a collection of unedited, short clips and sounds that consider everyday experience. It is an archive of the seemingly unimportant that uses direct observation, uncensored reaction and random conversation to eavesdrop on the world around us and the smaller moments in life.

Halloween has always been a big deal for as long as I can remember.  I have lots of fond memories of decorating the front yard with silly ghosts and other “spooky” stuff.  I am glad to be living in an actual house and not an apartment this year, because that means I can actually relive some old childhood memories by decorating my own yard.  This year I really wanted to cater to the darker side of Halloween rather than the fun loving and humorous Halloween.  This has really always been my taste and I’m glad I finally get to make a real attempt at having an exciting holiday.  I decided on scarecrows.  For some reason, I’ve always been fascinated by scarecrows.  I suppose it could have something to do with growing up in rural Northern California.  I grew up with corn fields almost literally in my back yard and I have fond memories of climbing haystacks and other farm paraphernalia.  Now that I think about it,  we really didn’t have a lot of scarecrows (in fact, I’ve never actually seen one in real life existing for the purpose of scaring off birds) but the imagery of these beings is just intriguing and inspiring.  They remind me of the changing seasons, fall colors, and cooler weather (all things that I really like).  I really find such things quite comforting.

Well enough about me, so I was finishing up working on this guy for the night and I realized that the moon was insanely bright and completely full.  It was just rising up over the scarecrow’s shoulder and I thought about how cliche the scene was.  I couldn’t help myself and I grabbed my camera and took a few quick shots.  I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to photograph a work in progress in such a “Halloween-ish” setting.

Talk to you soon

Getting ready for Halloween!

Full Moon on 10/14/2008 - Nikon D3 with 300mm IF-ED Nikkor Lens

I have sort of gotten into this random hobby of creating fractal art using a fractal generator or in other words, a really fancy mathematical program that uses math to create art.

The results seem to be largely random so far, but I hear that with a little practice, you can actually get this app to do what you want it to do.  I thought I’d upload a few of my first flames.  Each one took about 15 minutes to get the way I liked them.   They are then post-processed in Photoshop.

UPDATED 7/29/08
Change Log:
Added info and images regarding bent forground piping.
Changed Piping Measurement Info

If you are a photographer on a tight budget like myself, you have probably noticed how over priced photography equipment can be.  Fortunately for us, many of the expensive items and equipment that we need are fairly basic in design and perform fairly fundamental tasks.  Take for example a strobe soft box.  It’s an enclosed space, with a reflective interior, and a translucent sheet at the end.  I have to admit, I’ve never actually made my own soft box, but it’s nice to know that if I had to, it wouldn’t be prohibitively difficult to make one, for half the cost (or less) than if you were to purchase one at your local camera store or online.

I found myself needing a shooting table for the studio, as I have been shooting a lot of food an product lately.  Naturally, I went online to see what my options were and I wasn’t surprised to see that shooting tables are quite expensive.  I realize that manufacturers need to make money, but a shooting table just seemed too easy of a concept to drop $700-$1000 plus shipping on some metal tubing and a shooting surface.

In this tutorial, I will show you how to make a functional and nice looking shooting table, much like a Bogen / Manfrotto 4′x8′ shooting table, which retails for $649.99 plus shipping.  While there are literally dozens of different ways create your own shooting table, this method creates a very sturdy shooting surface, it’s collapsible, and it looks professional.   While this tutorial won’t show you how to make a shooting table for free or almost free (although it can be done!), it is still significantly less expensive then purchasing one from a manufacturer.

Here is what our shooting table will be modeled after:

Bogen / Manfrotto 4x8 Shooting Table - Retail $649.99

Let’s get started:
Read more…

Just some production shots from the shoot last week.  I was surprised to see how few people it takes to make a television show! Just two camera men with mini DV cams!  Ill see about posting some more if/when I get an OK from MTV.

MTV is the last place I thought I’d ever show up on television!  Interestingly enough, I had the privilage of working with one of their camera crews last week for a television program called “Made”.   I expect that I’ll actually be appearing on the show.  I admit I haven’t really seen the show (or watch MTV for that matter), but I guess it chronicles people’s journey as they become a pseudo-celebrity from being a nobody.

I’ll see about uploading some pics from the shoot once I hear that its OK from MTV.  I technically still own the copyright to the images, but I don’t want to burn any bridges.

The TV show should be airing sometime in September.  I’ll keep you posted.