Artistip

Impact Digital Light Shed Review

Ron Uriel — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:34:00 +0000

In this review I will explain and demonstrate the use of a light shed (aka Shooting Tent) for shooting products. The shed kit reviewed here is Impact Medium Digital Light Shed Kit, available at B&H for $99.95. It allows you to shoot products while isolating them from reflections and harsh shadows, and diffusing any type of light source.

Quick Review - Maha Smart Battery Charger

Ron Uriel — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:09:00 +0000

Rechargeable AA batteries are probably the most widespread energy sources in a photographer's bag. I personally have countless AA rechargeables... Some of them are quite old, some are new and some... well I don't really know their condition for sure. or so it was until I found the Maha Smart charger. It happened when I was looking for a better charger to recharge my batteries.

Index finger accident. My cactus story...

Administrator — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:22:00 +0000

Long time has passed since I last posted here. At first I was going through a very busy time in the studio, which left me with no time for blogging-reviewing-discussing... Then, when I finally managed to clean my table, I realised that due to the crisis the booking of new projects has significantly decreased, forcing me to take some actions and do what I always put last - marketing. Rough times call for actions, this is why I am in the process of marketing the studio services to new clientele, offering summer discounts etc. So the blog suffers neglect but this is temporary. Sorry, blog :-)

Anyway, I wanted to tell you about a small accident I had.

Quick updates - April 24

Ron Uriel — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 19:30:00 +0000

Due to some tight schedule and assignments that spread across multiple days I had little time to blog lately and it will probably be the same in the coming weeks. However, an exciting new series of articles awaits its launch so I hope to squeeze my timeline and make it happen soon... If you're not yet registered on RSS please do, so you don't miss the next updates.

Charging the DIY Battery Pack - update

Many people are asking me about the charging method for the DIY battery pack.

How to take photos in a clup/party?

Ron Uriel — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 09:13:00 +0000

Question: How can I take photos in relatively dark places like disco clubs and still get a nice background and a sharp subject?

How to batch select photos for printing

Ron Uriel — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 11:01:00 +0000

Do you sometimes get lists of selected photos from your clients, which they want you to print? How do you actually pick those photos out of the folder in which they were stored? Do you take the long, manual-select path, Holding your CTRL key and clicking on each listed photo? Do you sometimes lose attention for a second and release that damn CTRL key and need to go all over again? Man, this little thing can actually burn a photographer hours of work doing practically nothing. If it's only a small amount of photos - no problem, the manual selecting works fine. But what if you get a 400 photos list? Well there's an automated way of selecting and copying the files, it's easy to perform once you learn the workflow, and it's not based on a software, but only a simple batch file.

SP-Systems Excalibur 1600 Monolight Review

Ron Uriel — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 10:55:00 +0000

You know how it goes when you open the box and take that first look of the contents? The first thing you notice is always the largest,boldest item in the box. So when I opened the SP-Systems Excalibur 1600 package I was instantly caught by the shiny metallic blue colored flash unit. Like it or not, it sure has a strong presence... Then I picked it up and explored the design and structure more thoroughly; The flash is well built, compact, feels strong yet not too heavy,with good ergonomics including a built in carrying handle. With a positive first impression I went ahead and opened the whole kit to explore what's in it. Let's take a look:

Adding a Sync port to a Canon 580EX Flash

Ron Uriel — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:01:00 +0000

Do you have a Canon 580EX flash you wish to sync with your camera when used off shoe? I do. and for long time I've been using all sorts of hot shoe adapters, when all I wanted to do is just plug a Pocket Wizard or any other radio slave to my flash. Then I bumped into Lotto's post on photography-on-the.net forum. Now, you know how it goes when you see a useful and simple trick/shortcut/device and go "Gosh, this is so simple!! why didn't I see this a year ago?" This is how I reacted after seeing how simple it is to implant an1/8" socket to receive the standard sync plugs directly into the 580EX.

CD printing made easier and cheaper

Ron Uriel — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 12:24:00 +0000

How do you hand your photos to your clients? Do you have a pre-printed stock of your logo medias, or do you just burn your files on blank Office depot medias and scribble the contents with a Magic Marker?

Well I admit I used to do that in the past... Before I started printing my own disks I used to deliver my work on generic medias, either branded or blank labeled. Very unprofessional, but that was in early days when CD printers were not around yet. For large batches I would have ordered pre-printed medias with my logo on them but that was somewhat limiting as to what could be done with the design. What if I wanted to put on a photo of the couple got married? Or a portrait from the latest corporate photo-shoot? Or even just a logo of the convention I shot? I wanted to be able to custom design my disks and I didn't want to spend a fortune on that.

My DIY Rechargable Battery Power Pack - Part 2

Ron Uriel — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 20:01:00 +0000

OK, so in part 1 I wrote about the advantages of using a portable, independent power supply as an alternative to the power grid. Now I'm going to show you how I turned that into a working device.