domipix

Gearlust. I’m going to need more money in 2008 I think.

Axiotron’s ModBook looks pretty nice and now it’s shipping.

At least this gearlust more or less obviates another.

As everyone knows, photography is 10% photographer, 10% equipment and 80% lighting (or something like that) proving again the 80-20 rule I suppose. Then again, lighting’s 80% can largely be answered by equipment or more precisely its correct application.

Anyway, the point is that there’s not much difference between shots with an SLR and a good compact if the lighting is good. (Not taking in to account responsiveness, speed and all that…) I’ve done this twice in the last few days, setting up a couple of 285HV’s with umbrellas in the first case and bounces off a low-ish white-ish ceiling in the second case. The shots from the 20D and the GX100 aren’t that easy to tell apart.

This is “sensible” gearlust though! Still waiting for these to be available in Europe for something like a reasonable price. UK: £350 (c. $700!) when it’s under $500 across the pond.

Of course, there’s always been gearlust for the big Cintiq, but this puts it tantalisingly close.

Pretty cool for playing Hordes of Orcs as well, no doubt. Ahem…

[Update: Gizmodo has a video review of it, heaping praise, and ramping up the lust!]

So, because all my friends are too chicken to pose for me, I decided I’d have to do a bit of tethered shooting to try some lighting out. This is a first time I’ve used EOS Capture on the Mac, and it’s quite workable. Pretty good, even, if I wanted to get effusive.

All these shots are variations on two 285HVs into silver umbrellas, one on each side, except for the obvious gelled background shot. Triggers are Gadget Infinity originals, which for the price you can’t argue with, but now I’ve got Pocket Wizards so I can combine my reliable model with reliable triggers.

I saw this on John Nack’s blog and he doesn’t know much about where it’s from, or who it’s by, so I’ve no idea. But it’s very nice!

Not a new phenomenon but certainly more and more in the collective consciousness, taking pictures (gasp!) of children (gasp!) even when they’re your children is deemed “inappropriate”.

[photo: from MEN, but I assume by Steve Brook]

Smell Fresh For The Crusher: Junkyard Little Tree Gallery

I just added a tutorial using Photoshop to create a template to make HDRIs from scratch, specifically for directed at Cheetah3D, but exactly the same applies for anything that can use HDRIs in a scene.

Radiance HDRI for Cheetah3D

Love this shot! By Stephen Vanfleteren, from a series on hobos. [via The Online Photographer]