Planetaki Planet photography

Sony DSC-P41 C:13:01 main circuit board problem

2008-11-21T01:24:47+00:00

I have a DSC F717 and the infamaous error has been happening on and of for several years. It would usually just correct itself. I learned that "banging" on th . . .
Category: Digital Camera: Sony

Thanks for the Nomination!

2008-11-21T01:24:43+00:00

Muchas gracias to whoever nominated Strobist for a 2008 Weblog award in the Photo category. (Apparently, they didn't have a DIY black-straw snoot category.)

The gesture is much appreciated. If you want to second (or third) the nomination, you can do so by clicking the little green "+" button on this comment right here. Thanks!

-30-

Thursday! Thursday! Thursday!

2008-11-20T18:58:37+00:00

At a loss for something to shoot? Here are a few Thursday thoughts: Inspire Me Thursday, Thursday’s Child, Gorgeous Green Thursday, Self Portrait Thursday, Thrift Thursday, Happy Aloha Thursday - HAT, Quinta Flower / Flower Thursday, and Narcissism Thursdays. View more Thursday related groups.

Photos from Claudecf, Leo Reynolds, urbanmkr, labworks and Eva the Weaver.
Created with Spell with Flickr.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3K $399.99 Shipped

2008-11-20T06:44:42+00:00

Panasonic DMC-LX3K 10-Megapixel Digital Camera - Black for $399.99 with FREE Shipping. F2.0 24mm Wide-Angle Leica DC Vario-Summicron Lens / 2.5x Optical, 4x . . .
Category: Trade

“this proves…

2008-11-20T02:30:19+00:00

….the existence of space between your dreams and mine” is my new favourite group.

Photos from wailintse, nich hance, bobbydoherty, and beaf.

PL on Vivitar Mini Digital Camera

2008-11-19T21:32:48+00:00

PL means its plugged in via USB. When it's plugged in the power comes from the USB cable, so it's not using battery power, and so there's no option to turn it o . . .
Category: Digital Camera: Vivitar

Preview Photo Show: Chase Jarvis’ 6 Tips for Exceptional Photos

2008-11-19T19:44:10+00:00

Preview of PhotoShow: Chase Jarvis’s 6 Tips for Exceptional Photos. Chase is a multi award-winning photographer with a stunning portfolio. He is also generous in sharing his know-how, which is what brought him to PhotoShow.

Coolpix into webcam

2008-11-19T17:57:32+00:00

Hi, I have nicon collpix L16... Wiil it be possible to convert it as a webcam? Thanks in advance for any reply
Category: Digital Camera: Nikon

WARNING ELEFOTO(Mr.SHimada Koji): BAD COMPANY

2008-11-19T11:23:51+00:00

Hello I'm writing to this forum just to advert of a possible Bad Company http://elefoto.hp.infoseek.co.jp/ENGLISH/index.html http://elefoto.com.cn/announc . . .
Category: Trade: Resellers

WARNING ELEFOTO(Mr.SHimada Koji): BAD COMPANY

2008-11-19T09:52:53+00:00

Hello I'm writing to this forum just to advert of a possible Bad Company http://elefoto.hp.infoseek.co.jp/ENGLISH/index.html http://elefoto.com.cn/announc . . .
Category: Lens: Adapter

Cheap Bouncy Fun

2008-11-19T05:43:02+00:00

A couple of weeks ago, when we ran the post on the DIY bounce reflector thingie, I got several "Do Not Publish" comments that basically said:

"Are you brain dead? Do you realize you are pointing people to instructions to DIY a product made by one of your advertisers?"

To that, I say:

"Geez, ma, why do you always leave DNP comments on my blog? Can't you just phone me like all of the other bloggers' moms do?"

Kidding -- I love Mother Strobist to bits, which is why I always take advantage of any excuse to run her photo on the blog. (Click it for a corner headshot tute.) And I certainly hope you did not get the wrong idea from that headline.

But while I'll grant you that the brain-dead thing may be debatable, there are actually some gear manufacturers who genuinely want to teach people to light -- whether they buy the gear or not.

Don't believe me? Check out this video from Lighting Academy, after the jump.
__________

I know lots of questions are popping into your mind right now. Questions like:

• Why would a lighting gear manufacturer publish DIY tips using Home Depot stuff?

• Forget the lighting tips, where can I get that fly outfit?

• And, how come German mannequins got nipples and ours don't?

Actually, turns out that the low-budget themed Lighting Academy is run by the very same folks who were being DIY-hacked by the blogger in the post mentioned above. It is the pet project of Peter Geller, the head honcho at California Sunbounce.

And while CSB's pro gear may not be for the faint of wallet, what he really wants is to teach the world how to shape light. Lighting Academy may have an ad for CSB on it, but it is also chock full of videos (with English versions coming on line soon) to show you just how simple it is to shape light with cheap, DIY gear.

I do not have to tell you how cool I think that is, and how happy I am to be associated with CSB as a result of that compass point. They have produced a ton of videos on how to light using the CSB line. But even if you can't afford the good stuff right now, you at least can afford the good light.

My only question: Why doesn't every company do this?

Well, for one, it costs very little. And he is not giving away the store, either. Quite the contrary, his is minting photographers who want to better shape their light -- even if they currently are dirt broke.

And if there is any justice in the world, some of that good karma will come back later when his bouncy photographers want to pony up for the good stuff later.

You can watch more cheap, bouncy fun at Lighting Academy.

Sony Video8 Tape Won't Eject

2008-11-19T02:47:56+00:00

i want this on my myspace. becasue i want people to see my pics. this is a cool way.
Category: Video Camera: Sony

First Look: Annie Leibovitz: At Work

2008-11-18T23:28:16+00:00

First previewed here last August, Annie Leibovitz: At Work is finally wrapped in those little brown Amazon fold-boxes and hitting doorsteps everywhere.

I have just spent the afternoon with my copy, which I pre-ordered when it first became available. It is a departure from the previous picture books she has published, the main difference being much more back story to go along with the photos.

What to Expect

Originally, I expected to get a more nuts-and-bolts, gear-and-technique type book. But instead the she spends the time on her experiences surrounding approximately two dozen different sittings and projects.

Instead you are taken along with her on her shoots, almost as if she is sitting down after each one and talking with you about it over a cup of coffee. Much space is given to her approach, what she is thinking, problems to be solved, photographer-subject interaction and the like.

From the comments I get in the On Assignment posts, it is clear that many people put a premium on this type of information. From my perspective I have sometimes found that hard to understand. (Just shut up and tell us how to light it, Flash Boy...)

But having read through Leibovitz's book, I find her openness and honesty about the process to be far more valuable to me than the lighting stuff. The cover may show her inside of a typically Leibovitz lighting setup, but the book is not about lighting. It is more to get you inside her head.

If you are a fan of her work, you will find it very enjoyable -- and come away with a much better understanding of her motivations and how she works. If you are sick of her, this book will only make you more so.

Count me among the former.

The book comprises her entire career to date. She revisits the early days at Rolling Stone, the American Express ad campaign, Vanity Fair, etc. She spends time on those multi-panel "big pictures" that did for VF, too.

For those of you who are not near a Borders or some other big book store, I did a quick thumb through of the book simply to give an idea of the photos-to-text ratio. While not a picture book per se, it is very much a book about photography. And by that, I mean a look at everything that goes into Leibovitz's photography.

You'll remember the video of her session with The Queen. Having seen footage from that shoot, it is very interesting to hear her talk about it, too. She devotes ten pages to that shoot, and includes each of the photos approved released from it.

I was surprised to find that not one, but two of the Queen photos are composites. Also, I found it oddly gratifying to read how the whole thing seemed to be coming apart at the seams in Leibovitz's mind. Of course, she was still able to make four gorgeous historical portraits despite her internal panic.

That tells me much more than the shoots with her Hollywood pals who will do damn near anything for her. I expect that this is a book I will read a few times at different levels, trying to glean what information I can that will help me with my own portraiture.

She does spend a chapter on gear: Cameras, lighting, fans, music, etc. But that is not the focus if the book.

Which is fine. The lighting stuff is physics. A trained monkey can do that, my friend Jed Kirschbaum is fond of saying. (I would note that Jed shoots mostly available light, tho.)

What I am interested is learning more about the difference between the way I think and the way someone like Annie Leibovitz thinks. And for that, At Work foots the bill.

_________

Annie Leibovitz: At Work is available at Amazon.com and, soon, at bookstores everywhere.

Anyone seen the Vivitar Mini Digital Camera?

2008-11-18T23:28:05+00:00

well all of you who has problems with the mini digital camera its quite normal to have problems with the camera installation but all you gotta do is first you i . . .
Category: Digital Camera: Vivitar

Recent Activity — updated!

2008-11-18T19:53:27+00:00

You’ll notice that we’ve implemented further changes to your recent activity.

Check out the screencast for a quick tour of all the features.

Bugs can be shared in this Help Forum Topic and feedback can be shared here.

Photo from Aye Ayee Captain.

floppy disk to memory card adapter

2008-11-18T14:25:22+00:00

Bom Dia1 gostaria de saber como posso adquirir este adaptador aqui em Rio Claro S/P pois tenho uma maquina da sony mavica e gostaria de adquirir este adaptador . . .
Category: Digital Camera: Sony

failed to recognize 24280 micro cam

2008-11-18T05:38:36+00:00

Im having the same problems as you guys. I even downloaded the drivers from sakars website and the computer doesnt know its there or something.
Category: Digital Camera: Sakar

5 Questions for Minas Papadopoulos

2008-11-18T09:52:32+00:00

In this installment of 5 Questions, we interview Minas Papadopoulos (as suggested last week by Susan Mac — if you missed her interview, please check it out).

Minas’ moving studies in black and white have inspired the following:

“There exists this place, a sort of bipartition, a dichotomy between the Appolonian and the Dionysian. That gray area between the black and the white. In this place dwells the mind of Minas Papadopoulos…” SkyShaper

“a continuous mind flowing blues of perception. a very personal and subjective work, having no idea at all with what he will come up next.” reconstruction

“Sometimes as a pragmatist, other times as a contemporary surrealist, Minas ferrets out the Truth and Soul in his portraits and possesses a unique artistic charisma…” Εύα

1. Minas, we know it’s a tough question, but if you had to pick just one camera to shoot with from now until the end of time, what would that be?

Minas: I wish I had a straight answer for this one. I use all the equipment I can get my hands on and surely have a shopping list of cameras I want to try and buy. Thus far, the camera that treated me the best and rewarded me with some of my favorite pictures, is my Yashica Mat 124G.

2. Another (possibly) tough question… Tell us your favourite photos on Flickr, and why you like them. First, a favourite from your photostream?

Minas: When you feel that time stops, the voices mute and all feels right.

And from another Flickr member?

Minas: I love this photo by Stavros. I have the privilege of having a darkroom print hanging on my wall. No words can do justice to it.

3. What’s one tip that you would share with someone who’s just picking up a camera?

Minas: Don’t try to channel your beliefs, thoughts, emotions to your shots before even raising your camera. Shoot constantly, persistently, everything that catches your eye. At the end of the day, do your evaluation, choose the shots that apply to your aesthetics and save them to mind as patterns for the next photo excursion. As you keep shooting, you will realize that, subsequently, the world and you, become one in the photos. You see your favorite photographers speak to you through your images, you choose your themes, your aesthetics evolve and everything else comes natural. Its like learning a new language.

4. When we interview peeps for employment here at Team Flickr, we always ask: “Kittens, babies, sunsets or flowers? Pick one.”

Minas: Kittens!

5. Which Flickr member should we ask these 5 questions of next?

Minas: karton kutuda shot zımbırtısı — once you open her treasure chest there is no return.

Heather: Minas, thank you. It’s been a pleasure. We’ll be back soon with the next installment of 5 Question when we interview karton kutuda shot zımbırtısı.

Photos from minαs, StaPa, milky-brown, and karton kutuda shot zımbırtısı.

Level 2 Service Manual for Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P8 and DSC-T1

2008-11-18T01:02:09+00:00

Hey Brett Could you send me service manuals 1,2 and 3 for the F717, My charger shorted and I need to do some circuit level repairs Thanks
Category: Trade

Lighthouse

2008-11-18T01:02:11+00:00

Every year at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse along the San Mateo County, California coast, they light up the old Fresnel lens in a special celebration. And of course, Flickr members were there Saturday night to capture the event.

Photos from PhotoBud, moucri, aktse and maxxsmart. You can search for more or check out the Pigeon Point Lighthouse group.

driver for IBM PC Camera Model NO.SZYHT

2008-11-18T01:02:09+00:00

I too have the problem that I dont have the correct driver for pc camera model #SZYHT. can someone send it to me if they can. thx
Category: WebCam

7 Steps to Improve Your Compostion

2008-11-17T19:56:11+00:00

Photography is such a technical subject that many photographers get caught up in it, or snarled up in it, as the case may be. Cameras are such wonderful contrivances that we can get lured in by the latest gadgety. While it certainly is important to know your camera, the camera doesn’t take the photo, you do!
So how do you learn to get better shots and find your “voice” (or eye) as photographer? Are there some practical steps to take?

I believe there are. These are the steps that I recommend to my students, and that I myself have taken along the way:

1. You must get out and shoot, shoot, shoot. Like any activity—tennis, surfing (my sport of choice)—you name it–you’ve got to stay in shape by constantly looking for and capturing images.

2. Critique your work: Look over your shots and see if they match what you visualized. If not go back out and, if you’re able to, get more of the same shot, or in any case more shots.

3. Look at other photographers’ work for inspiration. Look through photography books and exhibits. Look at other visual artists’ work too.

4. Go and get more of your own shots.

5. Find out what other photographers have said about composition. Here are two of my favorite quotes:

“Composition is the strongest way of seeing.” Edward Weston
“Our eye must constantly measure, evaluate. We alter our perspective by a slight bending of the knees; we convey the chance meeting of lines by a simple shifting of our heads a thousandth of an inch…. We compose almost at the same time we press the shutter, and in placing the camera closer or farther from the subject, we shape the details –taming or being tamed by them.” Henri Cartier-Bresson

6. Go out and shoot photos using these points: Really look for the strongest way of seeing the image you have visualized. Bend your knees, tilt your head, look up, down and around until you see that shot.

7. Go out and shoot some more!

I hope this helps, let me know your thoughts…

Marc

help downloading and editing video from DCR-HC23e

2008-11-17T16:21:11+00:00

probleme de connecter mon camera sur le pc
Category: Video Camera: Sony

Lost Picture Package CD

2008-11-17T21:43:38+00:00

I need help!! I lost my picture package software as well for my DCR-HC42E handycam.please send me cd rom number aakash
Category: Video Camera: Sony

On Assignment: WiMAX

2008-11-17T05:55:18+00:00

I am a geek.

For the first 30 years of my life, that was seen as a liability. But lately, it has been a lot more fun.

And as a geek, when I got a recent assignment from USA Today to shoot the first-ever rollout of WiMAX on a city-wide scale, I was stoked.

If you are not familiar with WiMAX, think Wi-Fi, stretching for several miles from each access point. Think 5 megabits downstream and 2 upstream in a car traveling 70 MPH on the interstate in the middle of nowhere -- WiMAX rocks. But as sexy as the tech is, my assignment was to shoot a photo of guys testing out the system.

(I don't care. I am still interested.)

And on top of the potentially boring picture part, the worry was that they might be showing up just for our benefit. That is always a concern on this kind of a newspaper shoot.

"Use your judgement," the editor said. Which is fine up to the point to where you try to figure out what you will turn in if it turns out that the whole scene is a setup.

Needless to say I wanted to light, but I did not want the gear to create a big fuss and influence the scene. So I went with a single SB-800 on a stand. Speedlights give me the ability to light quickly, portably, and without the excess gear that can influence a situation.

Flash on a Stick

The assignment was to shoot technicians testing the WiMAX gear in Ellicott City, MD, then head up to Baltimore's Inner Harbor for a rooftop installation which would afford us a full view of the city the WiMAX was designed to cover. So I knew where my lead photo would be -- on that high-rise rooftop. My plan was to shoot the techs first for the jump page (assuming they were really working) and then move on to the second site for a cool, lit-portrait lead.

"Plan A" bit the dust as soon as I arrived at the installation testing site. Turns out the next site had the antennae enclosed in a shed on top of the building. No view for me. Now the technician/testers were gonna be lead. The good news was that they were actually working, and not just for my benefit. (That was a relief.) So I stuck the SB-800 on a stand while I wondered what the heck I was gonna do for a jump page photo.

Bare speedlight on a stand is usually the first thing I do when I get to an assignment. I am almost certainly gonna use at least one, and it allows me to appear to be doing something while in fact I am wondering what the heck I am going to shoot.

True to form, the tech was working in the strong shadow created by the morning sun. Ten years ago, this would have pissed me off as I resigned to use on-camera fill flash. But today I see this as a blessing -- it gives me nice diffuse light a few stops off of my main ambient exposure in which to build some directional light.

Looking at the photo up top, with sun coming in from back camera right, the obvious key light position is gonna be from front camera left. This crosslights the tech who is wearing a branded XOHM shirt -- as I am sure he does every day even when newspaper photogs are not there shooting him. (Hey, at least he is doing real work. I'm not complaining...)

But that key light is gonna leave me with dark, harsh shadows both on my technician and in the area where he is working. So I stuck another SB on my camera to reach up in there and provide some fill. Now we have a no-fuss, three light setup: Sun back/right; key front/left and fill from on-axis.

In a situation like this, shooting in manual is probably gonna make more sense than TTL. Reason is, that highlight on the panel at left is gonna change as you change your shooting angle. And it could very well influence your TTL response. I used both TTL and manual in this shoot, but ended up in manual just for that reason.

For a trigger, I fired my fill light on-camera and slaved the SB-800. Dear Lord, I love those perfect little flashes.

Last week, we talked about how to do this in TTL mode. It is very easy in manual, too. Crank the ISO down low. Shutter at 250th of a sec. Choose an aperture that gives you a nice, rich exposure. Bring your key light in against the ambient on manual power until it lights your subject well.

Generally, in a situation and working distance like this a 1/4-power manual shot is gonna get you very close. If it is not dead-on, it is in the ballpark for an easy, quick adjustment.

The key-to-subject distance is fixed, so nothing changes as long as your ambient is constant. If the sun goes behind the clouds, open up your shutter to adjust your ambient and then keep shooting. It's so easy, even a photographer could do it.

The one variable you'll need to keep an eye on is the on-axis fill if you are working in manual flash. I dial in the power level until the fill looks good in the screen on the camera back. Then I adjust it, based on whether or not I move in or out from the subject. Remember, this flash exposure is going to change as your camera-to-subject distance changes.

But you can use your movement as a quick flash adjustment, too. If I need a tad more fill light in manual I may just move in a foot or two and zoom out to compensate. Presto, your manual fill flash is brighter. You get the idea.

I knew a wrestling shooter who used to fine tune his focus that way before the days of autofocus. He would just sway to and fro as he shot, looking like he was lost in some sort of religious chant. Worked, too. Or maybe he was praying for sharp photos. I certainly have done that on occasion.

Back to the light, the on-axis fill defines the contrast range of the photo. Ambient sets the environment, key light properly exposes the subject and on-axis fill dials in the shadow contrast. He wasn't doing anything sexy (unless pumping stream after stream of throbbing test data through a network turns you on) but I was able to get quite a few different looks very quickly with this lighting setup.

On to Plan B

So, now that the skyline is a bust and the jump photo has just bubbled up to the lead, I need a new jump photo. A few questions later, we find out that other engineers are testing WiMAX bandwidth with mobile laptops nearby.

That is not the kind of photo that would normally excite me. But compared to not having a jump photo, it is absolutely fantastic. A half hour later we caught up with them, sitting in their car in crappy overhead light.

Once again, what I used to consider as a liability is now an opportunity. My guy is sitting in a car in backish/overhead light, working on a laptop in a car. (Yeah, I know -- they can't all be firefighters tossing babies out of burning buildings.) But, like I said, compared to having no jump photo I'll certainly take it.

Again, bare flash on a stand makes easy work of a guy in a car. I just walk it around to the front of the car and aim it through the front windshield by sighting the angle from the flash. I aimed it to hit his face from a profile-to-slightly-backlight position. I set the flash on 1/4 power (I hang out there a lot) and walked around to check the intensity and direction of the light.

Direction was good, but the light level was a little off. A quick adjustment of the flash's power level and I was in business. Trigger on this setup was a Pocketwizard. (Since I was not using on-axis fill, I had no light to trigger the key via optical slave.)

Are these sexy, glamorous photos? No. They are simple, block-and-tackle, hit-for-average shots that define what you settle for on the low end of the quality scale.

I have said it before, and I will say it again: I consider these photos just as important to light effectively as is the bigger stuff. All the more so, really, when you consider that what you do with these types of jobs define the "floor" on range of what you produce.

CYA With a Detail

One last thing. Like Bob Hamilton, my DOP at The Sun, used to tell me: Always look for a detail photo.

If you get into a practice of grabbing at least one relevant detail on every assignment, you frequently will save a page designer's butt. And occasionally you'll save your own. And if your light-on-a-stick is already set up, adding dimension to the detail shot is a very easy thing to do.

For this close-up shot of the XOHM WiMAX card, I already had back/overhead key from the sun. So sticking my flash down close to the ground in front and uplighting the card was the best way to cross light it to give it a little more pop. Nothing earth-shattering, but it gives a secondary highlight and makes it look better than a one-light-source shot.

Did I mention how much I love those 5-section, compact light stands? This is one reason why: You can crank them down to the height of a tiny background stand for a quick uplight when you need it.

Again, nothing sexy. But being in the habit of lighting the details (and shooting them, for that matter) is a good work ethic and will pay you dividends down the road.