I Can Finally Exhale.

Just got word that the data on my dead only mostly dead, burnt-smelling Powerbook is safe and backed up on a local network. The computer itself is going to Apple.

Apparently, only Apple has the special sledgehammers needed to fix it.

Thanks for all of the advice, prayers, chants, spells and well-wishes...

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DIY Collapsible Softbox

Strobist reader EMarc has posted a tutorial on how to make a DIY, collapsible softbox out of an inexpensive bug shield.

You can get the bug shields at any kitchen store.

This is a very cool use of a scrounged household item, IMO. But if you happen to find yourself at a picnic with EMarc, skip his carrot and raisin salad.

Those might not be raisins.

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Free and So Easy: DIY Grid Spots for Your Flash

This is so cool.

I would love to take credit for this idea, but the props go to Strobist reader Gut Mann, who posted a note in the Flickr Strobist threads a ways back.

It sat on my list of (about 20,000) things to do until I saw a piece of thick, corrugated cardboard yesterday. Making these little grid spots really could not be easier. (Heck, the top picture pretty much explains it.) And can be done with things you are likely to already have around the house.

I made a few grid spots for my speedlights. Here's what I used:

• Some corrugated cardboard - the thicker the internal cavity the better, and you won't need much. Just keep your eye out for a biggish box designed to hold something heavy. That tends to be the thick stuff.

• A ruler.

• A box cutter or razor knife.

• Some glue

• A rubber band.

First a little theory.

The grids will give you a very tight spot of light - tighter than a snoot - with nice edge gradients.

The beam width is a function of the thickness of the grid vs the size of the internal spaces of the corrugation. I made a half-inch and a one-inch thick grid for each of my flashes, and they work great.

There are two things you should know about these grids.

One, they will eat some light. But that is not an issue, since they are used with direct flash and generally in pretty close quarters.

Two, they will warm the light up somewhat. This is actually a bennie as far as I am concerned, as they tend to get used to light people and the warm light on skin is quite pleasing.

That said, they are, uh, free, which compares favorably to the ridiculously expensive extruded aluminum models.


Time to Make the Grids

The instructions are to make one grid of each size (1/2 inch an one inch) for a speedlight. Adjust to your needs accordingly.

1) Cut a 1/2-inch wide strip of cardboard about 16 inches long. Cut longer if your cardboard is not the thick, corrugated type.

2) Your strip should be cut so when you look at the long side, you look through the little corrugation tunnels. Be careful not to crush the tunnels when you cut. Use a sharp knife, and not on a surface you can damage.

3) Repeat, making a one-inch wide strip in the same fashion.



4) Cut the long strips into sections a tad wider than your flash head.

5) Stack them without glue to make sure they are wide enough to cover the flash head when stacked.


6) Apply glue to them as shown. The last section will not need to have glue applied, as it will be held by the glue on the next-to-last section.

7) Spread the glue with a finger or piece of paper to get complete coverage on one side of each piece. You do not need to use a ton of glue.


8) Assemble them as shown.

9) While the glue is still wet, align them with a flat surface so they will rest properly on your flash. As long as one side of the stack is straight and even, they will work fine.

10) Let them dry. You can "clamp" them with a rubber band as they dry if you wish. Be careful not to crush the layers.


Attaching And Using Them

You're good to go. Attach to your flash as shown in the top photo. Use a neutral or warm-colored rubber band. You can get fancier with the mount, but this way works fine.

They will give a very tight beam spread. Mine grids approximate about a 300mm lens.


The fall-off is quite smooth, with a nice, hot-spot in the center.

You can put a nice cardboard border on them, like Gut Mann did. But it really isn't necessary to get the job done.

And there is no law saying you need to use cardboard, either. You could use corrugated plastic. But you'll want to use a dark, neutral color (black would be ideal) to keep the light from bleeding out of the edges.

White is going to have a very soft - maybe too soft - gradient at the edges. And a colored version, say red, is going to change the color temperature of the light. The cardboard works in this case because the color shoft is actually beneficial for skin.

I am planning to use these for some assignments soon and will post the results as an On Assignment piece or two. The effect will be similar to that of a snoot, but tighter and with more control. They will also take up less space in your gear bag. Both tools have their own uses, and give slightly different looks.

I wanted to show you what I was playing with so you could try it out for yourself in the interim.

Give it a try. We'll compare results later.

And if you just stumbled onto this place from Makezine or another blog, you see what we are all about here.

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DSLRBlog Reviews eBay remotes

Chris Garrett, over at DSLRBlog.com, has gotten a set of "eBay remotes" and is blogging about his experiences with them.

If you are considering buying them, you might consider using Chris as your guinea pig.

There's also a long discussion thread about them on the Flickr Strobist discussion board, if you want to know more than anyone should ever want to know about them...

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Bits and Pieces, Oct. 13, 2006

An Untimely Death

My laptop is dead.

Burnt up.

Not Dell-burnt-up, but any time you smell "burnt" coming from the inside of your laptop, it cannot be good.

I don't even wanna think about what I have had (hopefully, still have) on the hard drive. The first 5,000 or so frames from my time lapse multimedia project on a maple tree in fall were there. I shot some more early this morning, just in case the project still lives.

If you want to know how tied I am to my hopefully-not-former Powerbook, my wife refers to it as "The Mistress."

That's an exagerration. We're just friends.


The Book is Great

I have been reading a copy of John Harrington's book - the one I posted about yesterday - and it is great. I will do a full review on it in a few days.


"Use the FLASH, Luke. Trust Your Feelings..."

On the bright side, I have been getting plenty of assignments that lend themselves to lighting. I have three ready to go in the "On Assignment" hopper. Gotta wait till they are published, tho. They will go up soon.


A 30-Year Reunion of Sorts

As a kid growing up in a small, southern town in the 1970's, Thursday night meant watching The Waltons on TV with my family. Yesterday, I spent the afternoon photographing Richard "John Boy" Thomas, who is currently starring in the national tour of the Broadway play, "Twelve Angry Men."

It was such an interesting experience to meet a TV star from so far back in my life. He is a great guy - intelligent, personable, down-to-earth and full of many interesting opinions and stories.

I have a great job some days. Most days, actually.

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So, You Wanna Turn Pro...

If you are like many of Strobist's readers, you are still an amateur. But you've gotten just enough knowledge and skills to be dangerous and you are entertaining the occasional thought about turning pro.

Well, I have some bad news and some good news.

The bad news is that if you just "kinda sorta" want to be a professional shooter you will never make it.

Why? Because if you do it half-heartedly, there are 100 people ready to compete with you who live and breathe this stuff. They will outlearn, out-hustle and out-shoot you. You'll get creamed.

Maybe not the first day, but eventually. And consistently.

Oh, and there's more bad news.

There are new companies popping up every day, trying to lure you into producing good work for them, so they can sell it for 20 cents (to you) a pop.

That's about 10 cents a pop after taxes.

You can argue "new paradigm" all you want, but that is simply not a sustainable, professional lifestyle.

In short, the market is ready to chew you up like a piece of cheapo gum, suck the flavor out of you, and spit you out.

And the news gets worse.

Let's say you have the drive. And let's say you are very talented. Let's even go as far as to say you are as good as you think you are.

Here's your main hurdle:

Most photographers who fail do so not from a lack of photo skills, but from sub-par business practices. The number that is commonly kicked around is 90%.

Ninety percent.

So, being a Certified Hot Shot just gets you past the 10% hurdle. If you cannot learn the business of the business, you will almost certainly still go down in flames.

So, to sum up: You have to eat and breathe the photo stuff. But you have to be a business type even more than a photo type.

Depressed yet? Had enough bad news? Well, here's some good news.

There are some very good books out there that can teach you not to do the stupid stuff that will otherwise whack your career.

Some have been around for quite a while, and are (or should be) staples on any professional-leaning photographer's bookshelf. I have a selection of several coming to the bookshelf page as soon as I can scrounge the time to update it.

But there's one in particular that stands out, and merits a post of its own.

I have a professional photographer friend in Baltimore who also happens to be a C-P-freakin'- A.

He knows this stuff backwards and forwards.

He has been raving about "Best Business Practices for Photographers," by (professional photographer) John Harrington since early on in the publication cycle.

The book, which was only just "officially" published, has been making waves among the professionals who have had early access to the info. I have heard nothing but great reviews about it.

Harrington is a business guru in the pro photo world. Shooters attend his seminars, keep his handouts and read them until the pages are dog-eared and falling apart.

And you can have access to all of his distilled knowledge for less than $20. That's like what you'd spend for just another compact flash card. A small one.

If you are even vaguely considering going pro, this is a no-brainer. If it helps to put it in perspective, consider it an essential piece of camera gear for your brain. A software upgrade, if you will. If you already are an (independent) pro, you'll definitely want to have it.

The book covers client interaction, negotiating contracts and licenses, and sticking to a good business roadmap. In short, it is about how not to be stupid as a professional photographer.

I first met John while covering Reagan's funeral in 105-degree heat in D.C. I was dragging butt and sweating like a dog hauling gear into position. John was on a Segway, toting his gear effortlessly. And had a case of ice-cold bottled water with him, to boot.

John's a smart guy.

Succeeding as a pro in photography is not easy under any circumstances. But trying it without the type of leg-up a book like this can give you would be nuts.

Even if you are only considering leaving your stinkin' day job to try your hand as a professional photographer, give yourself a fighting chance with a book like Harrington's.

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To Gerard G.:

Thanks much for your generous donation to the site. I tried to write to you to say thanks, but the address connected to Paypal bounced back to me.

Glad to be of help, and more important, congrats on getting the catalog shoot!

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