Technical Secrets of Studio Photography blog

Studio Photography Insights on Google plus #3

Alex Koloskov — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 03:41:12 +0000

Ok, this is our third ”Studio Photography Insights” Google plus hangout (previous one is here).

If you’d like to join hangout you need to be in my special “Studio hangout” circle, which I am filling with fellow photographers and amateurs who interested in studio photography.
I assume you are one of us if you read my blog, so most likely you’ll be qualified and added immediately. To get in, you need to find me on G+ (it is easy) and ask to be added to “Studio hangout” circle.

Our latest work, Dior creme in a splash flower

Alex Koloskov — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:07:44 +0000

So, this is what we’ve been working lately.

The whole process was captured and I am working on putting the video together. In a few weeks we’ll have it released as a video tutorial.

A little bit information about how the image was done:
Every paddle splash was shot individually, and then we got jar of the crème shot alone, and then jar was dropped in a water, similar to this shot below. Everything was combined together in a post.

BTW, I have a detailed video walk-through of the creation of this shot on MasteringSplash.com: unlike Dior, this is as-is, only cleaned in post capture. You can buy the video it in our e-store, it cost one average car-wash :-)

Now, let me tell you a story behind this shot:

This was a self-assignment, not a commercial job for Dior (One day I’ll explain you why we doing this). First, we got this idea to shoot a crème’s jar made of water-colored glass surrounded by splashes, like a flower and it’s paddles. Then, after we got a pretty good idea of the concept we went out to find a crème which will look like we imagined. We found Dior “HYDAR LIFE” series to look exactly like we wanted, so we got this Dior skincare crème.

Then after we completed the shot, and got a final image, Genia went to Dior website and found this (permalink):

What a surprise! Pretty similar idea of a crème jar in a flower, but quite different in realization, isn’t it? And I swear, we have not seen the original Dior shot before. It looks like we and Dior creative team were thinking about the same, which is cool :-)

All the best my friends! Next week we’ll spend swimming and snorkeling around Cancun, and I hope to post few underwater images for you:-)

Alex

Studio Photography Insights on Google plus: your weekly show from our studio

Alex Koloskov — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 01:37:43 +0000

Every Wednesday at 10PM Eastern time( -5 GMT) me and Dave Nitsche are hosting a “Studio Photography Insights” Google plus hangout. The idea is to have dedicated to studio photography video podcast, where we’ll be discussing all the aspects of studio photography: technical challenges, techniques, unveil behind the scene info of interesting shots, etc. Beside a talk, I’ll be doing live demonstrations, right from a studio. Short, but interesting shots, with explanation of what I am doing:-)

Studio Photography insights

We already had 2 events, first was posted on MasteringSplash.com (see here) , second you’ll see below on this post. Again, podcast will be going online at Google plus, every Wednesday, at 10PM eastern time (-5 GMT), and everyone who interested can join us. However, only 10 people can be on a hangout at the same time (limitation of G+) so you better be ready to react fast when you’ll see my invitation:-)

To be invited, you need to be in my special “Studio hangout” circle, which I am filling with fellow photographers and amateurs who interested in studio photography. I assume you are one of us if you read my blog, so most likely you’ll be qualified and added immediately. To get in, you need to find me on G+ (it is easy) and ask to be added to “Studio hangout” circle. I still have few thousands seats available :-)

To make this show more interesting, we need active participants to join us on the hangout, people who have some experience (not required) and passion (required) in studio photography: those who will be ready to join our discussion. There is no reason to be on a hangout only to watch and listen: broadcast or recording is much more convenient way to do so, right?

Every event will be broadcast live on Google plus in realtime as well as recorded and posted on the blog. It will be hard to miss it :-)

Studio Photography Insights G+ hangout #2

So, what we did during this one? I’ve repeated the image of the bottle of Vodka (see above) using only 2 Canon speedlites and $5 DIY light modifiers. The result is below, AS-IS, unedited but converted from camera RAW:

Shooting glass - studio photography insights

Now, the video, full 50 minutes. Please do not bother watching if you can’t tolerate my accent: it comes with the package:-)

The translucent plastic I was using for DIY saberstrip is this one: Savage Translum Diffusion – 54″ x 18′ Roll, thank you +Danny Brown for the reminder!

Another announce

is about our new e-store at masteringsplash.com: I decided to let readers to buy articles from “Splash Master’s Corner”, as an alternative way to monthly subscription. Now you can buy any individual article you’d like to read. Just go to our e-Store and select which one you like, pay $6.95 and download instantly after the payment (via PayPal) is made:

Buy premium liquid photography tutorials on MasteringSplash.com

BTW, Photography Liquids: tutorial #1 is a really cool 20 min walk-through of the shot, I should probably sell it for more than $7…

All the best!

Project in development: Inexpensive way to shoot expensive jewelry. Part one

Alex Koloskov — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:46:05 +0000

I am working on a series of tutorials (not sure what to name it yet :-), but the idea is to develop a very non-expensive DIY lighting and shooting technique to produce stunning results, so jewelry designers and hobbyists can build and use it.

The idea came from +Genia Larionova‘s hobby. She and few her friends create hand-made gemstone jewelry and they all need good photos of them, without spending much $$ to hire a pro photographer or buying professional lighting/camera. I know most hobbyists don’t have the budget for pro photography anyway, so why not try to help them out?

I’m sure such tutorials will be interesting for photographers as well, as I’ll be explaining all the ins and outs of the shooting process.

This example below was created using pro camera and lighting (very simple setup though), and the second step would be to repeat these shots (we actually did 10+ jewelry pieces) using $50 lighting setup, similar to this.

Handmade necklaces

Like I said previously, I’ve created these with pro strobe lighting and a serious camera. So it will be even more interesting to see our next steps when we’ll use cheapo stuff for both, camera and lighting.

Now, the lighting setup: a stripbox form the right, spot light from the left. The Stripbox was a fill light and the spot is the key. Pretty simple combination, isn’t it? If you look closer at the first image above you’ll see the reflection from each light source (well visible on a spherical gem).
DIY shooting table, I found that it is easier to use such small and flexible table rather than my monster Manfrotto large shooting table.

The lighting setup, top view

By adjusting position of both lights I was getting the desired look: for less transparent gems I had lighting more on top, for more transparent I was lowering both lights (especially key light, spot on the left) so it will penetrate gems and show the real 9refracted, not reflected) color.

The lighting setup, side view

Now with the video, enjoy:

Lancome Mascara shot behind the scene

Alex Koloskov — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 21:59:49 +0000

I promised to post it long time ago, and now have done so. It is posted on MasteringSplash.com: it is half a liquid shot, and it won’t be wise not post it on the new website I am working so hard to bring people’s attention in:-)

Lancome Mascara and liquid drops

Alex Koloskov Liquid photography shot Lancome

Lighting setup for the lancome liquid droops shot

Read the full article: Lancome Mascara and liquid drops

Yours,

Alex Koloskov

Behind The Scene: “The Magic of Water” beauty shot

Alex Koloskov — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 16:14:10 +0000

Behind The Scene: “The Magic of Water” beauty shot

Post-production assembly piece is posted on MasteringSplash.com.

Happy Holidays!

Alex Koloskov — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 16:53:48 +0000

Happy Holidays!

Wish you guys to live with no fear, live like it is last day in your life. Believe in yourself, fight for life, and you’ll get what you want!
If you think you can’t, watch the story of this happy man:

All the best to you and those who you love, my friends.

Alex & Genia

Liquid Snail from splash garden

Alex Koloskov — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 03:13:07 +0000

One more creature from our splash garden:-)

Liquid Snail

As usual now, the complete post is on MasteringSplash.com.

Enjoy:-)

DIY lighting tent for glossy subject, top-down shots

Alex Koloskov — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 16:06:10 +0000

Chrome brush tabletop studio photography

Recently we had a shoot for our long term client of ours, Anisa International. You already know what its for, right? Yep, chrome cosmetic brushes. This time the client wanted the brushes to be photographed directly from the top (top-down shot), which brought up an interesting challenge to me.
If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you’ve seen that we’ve done many other shots of very similar glossy reflective cosmetic brushes (see them here), but none of them were from a top-down perspective of mirror-like brushes.

Its obvious that flat diffuser panels, which I use in many situations won’t work here. It will be impossible to get a smooth transition between flat panels and the camera. A cone-like sphere won’t work either, as it won’t create a uniform gradient across the brush, even if highlighted with stripbox (because of its spherical shape). The brush is a cylinder, therefore the light modifier should be cylindrical as well.

It took me 10 minutes to build this lighting setup:

DIY shooting cylinder for tabletop photography lighting setup

As you can see, I’ve used a translucent sheet of plastic (this one) mounted on a plastic PVC pipes (any construction store like Home Depot has them) with scotch tape. I then bent it to form half-a-cylinder shape and fixed everything with the wires. Then I cut an opening for a lens in the middle of DIY tent and mounted the whole setup using diffuser holder arms.

I won’t to tell you much about the lighting, is should be pretty self explainable: Two stripboxes from sides to form desired gradient, one spot light for a brush hair. The brush hair absorbs much more light then the handle, therefore it should be lit with a more intense light.

This is how it looked like from inside:

DIY shooting cone for tabletop photography

Few notes here:

The camera I was using (technical camera best for focus and perspective tricks) was not necessary here, but I had to use it because canon 5DMKII USB controller stopped working and I couldn’t shoot tethered with it.

The piece of scotch tape inside was a fix for the crack in the plastic, it was not affecting the picture as it is transparent:-)

The resulted images looked like this:

Chrome brush tabletop studio photography

The image came out as perfect as can be in this situation. Nice and smooth gradient (where needed) over the brush handle and the only thing left for post production was a tiny reflection from a lens (it is a line on top of the brush).
I had stripboxes close to our DIY diffuser, so that the bottom edge of the box was almost touching it. This formed a bright line followed by darker at the bottom of the brush. This was needed to show the reflective nature of brush surface.

Another brush done with the same setup:

Chrome brush tabletop studio photography tutorial

If you look closer, you’ll find that I forgot to turn off the hair light (which wasn’t necessary here) and it added that bright highlight on top tip of the brush. I had 6 “normal” brushes and only one brush-less. I simply did not think about that hair light.
Therefore a tip for all of us: always re-evaluate lighting setup even when switching to a very similar product:-)

Hope it was helpful. As usual, I wish best to you and your photography:-)

Alex

Triggertrap universal off-camera trigger

Alex Koloskov — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 04:04:46 +0000

I do not want my readers here to miss this little article I posted on MasteringSplash.com: Triggertrap device: universal off-camera trigger

TriggerTrap : a little helper

I’ve contacted Haje Kamps, device developer and it looks like soon I’ll get one in my studio! It will be an interesting test, as I have never worked with such helper before. Stay tuned:-)

Alex

Hasselblad H4x camera hands-on review: back to open architecture!

Alex Koloskov — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 17:54:04 +0000

This past weekend I had a great opportunity to play with newest Hasselblad model, H4x (x for extended) medium format camera. As you know (if not, check here) I own an old PhaseOne P25+ digital back for H mount, and I use it with a H1 Hasselblad. It works great and I love the system, but I was locked form any camera upgrades as hasselblad had stopped accepting non-Hasselblad digital backs since the H3D camera, when they went from “open” to “closed” architecture.

I’m not sure what made them re-think this, but now (and I can only appreciate such changes) they’ve released the H4x camera (which is almost identical to a latest H4D) which works with non-hasselblad backs. I was one of the first who got to play with this new device:-) Here we go:

Hasselblad H4x camera review

Many thanks to John Williams from Hotwire-Digital.com as well as to Eric Peterson from Hasselblad USA for the event!

So, what the advantages H4x has over the old H1/2 cameras?

Full list of features can be found on the H4x press release, but I can tell you what’s the most important for me:

The most valuable feature is the True Focus technology. Because Hasselblad cameras only have one center focusing point, in many cases you have to recompose the shot after setting the focus. This inevitably leads to getting your subject slightly out of focus. Here is the illustration from hasselblad.com:

True focus by Hasselblad

For the full description of the process: True Focus and Absolute Position Lock. In short, True Focus adjusts the lens when you rotate the camera up and down or sideways. The camera monitors the angle that its being moved at and adjusts the focus accordingly. Sounds easy:-)

As you’ve seen in the video, I’ve used both cameras with my P25+ back to compose similar shots. Both sets were done with the HC 80mm lens with a wide open aperture F3.5, 1/800 sec shutter.
If you’ve ever taken a handheld shot with a medium format camera you know how precise you should be able to get the focus after recomposing the shot.

Here are my results:

Hasselblad H4x full shot

hasselblad H4x review, re-sized

Hasselblad H4x 100% crop

hasselblad H4x (with true focus), 100% crop

Now a similar shot with my old H1:

Hasselblad H1 100% crop:

hasselblad H1 (without true focus), 100% crop

I can say that True Focus definitely helped me in this shot: on about 60% of the H1 shots I’ve managed to get model’s eyes in a precise focus after re-composing the shot, and it was about 90% shots in a focus with H4x camera.

Upgrade option (with trade-in of your h1/2 camera) will cost somewhere around $5-$6K (my guess), so it is not bad considering prices of new H4D camera.

All the best!

Alex

Elinchrom RX series strobe review: pros, cons and comparison with PCB Einsteins lights

Alex Koloskov — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 15:25:33 +0000

I had an opportunity to test the Elinchrom RX series strobe lighting in a studio environment. I’ve got one of the most interesting Elinchrom’s to work with, the top of the line Style RX 600 Pro monolight and Digital RX 1200 Pro Power Pack with A3000N speed flash head.

Below are my personal thoughts and conclusions about these strobes.

Build quality:

Being a long term Paul C Buff customer, I was thrilled by the Elinchrom build quality. Everything from the packaging to the assembly and the product itself are built exceptionally well.

Everything fits perfectly. All of the parts look nice and give you that “polished” feeling, similar to what you find with luxury cars. I’ve got two softboxes with the kit, a large stripbox and a square medium softbox. Both were very easy to assemble. I figured out how to get it right in just a minute, without needing to look in the manual. (the manual is this is the last thing I usually check ;-)

Elinchrome Digital 1200Rx

The light modifiers are very light, especially when compared to the Paul C. Buff softboxes. The speedring connection is secure, seemingly there is no way the softbox can fall off; even if you accidentally hit it, as it happens sometime with PCB stuff.

The way the softbox attaches to the unit was slightly more confusing for me. I had to open the softbox and hold the speed ring from inside the box to be able to push it in to a socket. There was no way for me to connect it by holding the fully assembled softbox having the flash unit on a stand. I guess I could have placed the softbox on the floor and screw-in a flashhead in it… but still, it was cumbersome :-)

But like I said, once attached it holds very securely.

Elinchrome Digital 1200Rx A300N head

What I also found great is that the flash head and mono-light stays cool during the whole photo shoot. Quiet fans suck air from the back of the unit, exhaling the hot air inside the softbox. It even created an inflating effect, as the speed-ring attaches very securely to a light, leaving almost no escape for the air, making the flat front surface of the softbox to look like a pillow:-)

Elinchrome style Rx 600

Controls and ease of use

On-unit Controls are straight forward and have completely self-explainable labels. Again, no manual was needed to start working with Elinchroms :-) Take a look yourself, can you guess the purpose for each of the buttons?

Elinchrome Rx-1200 controls

For me, the hardest guess was the snail button. I wasn’t exactly sure what it did, but my second guess was for a slow charging mode (for weak power sources like battery powered ones), and I was right.

You can check your answers right on a product page.

Almost identical controls can be found on the mono-light unit.

Elinchrome style 600 Rx monolight controls

Product page of Elinchrome Style RX 600

Specification and features

Elinchrome Style RX 600:

Interface for Mac and Windows workstations. Control 1, 2, 3 or 4 studios each with 16 units, with EL-Skyport.
EL-Skyport, wireless control and triggering! Set flash power and switch on/off the modelling lamp with the Transmitter, or control and set all features with Mac™ or Win™ computer.
Low 5 V sync voltage protects digital camera systems.
Ultra consistent performance for every digital application. (QuickTime VR, multi and single shot digital imaging).
Rapid re-cycling times, maintaining stability.
Action freezing flash durations at full power Style RX 300-1/2850 s; RX 600-1/2050 s; RX 1200-1/1450 s / t=0.5
Optional remote control with large digital LED feedback display of all functions!
New dark grey, fire retardant, robust body shell encasing the die cast alloy chassis.
Lightweight elegance for easy ”out of studio use”.
Integral reflector, designed to maximise power efficiency combined with our plug-in omega flashtube precisely positioned avoids the inherent uneven illumination produced by non–concentric or U-shaped flash tubes.

Digital RX 1200 Power Pack

Ultra stable circuitry for absolutely consistent flash power.
Unique dedicated Digital S flashheads for QTVR and 4-shot durability and stability.
Budget priced Digital SE, SEE flashheads for single shot use.
High Speed A – and regular S heads available for fashion and general purpose photography.
Precise digital power display to complement advanced technology.
Digital power values compatible with the Elinchrom system.
Modelling lamps proportional or independent, with display.
Fast recycling consistent with precision and stability.
Remote control (optional), 2-way with read out. Extension cables available for tracking / wall installations
Surge resistant circuits, Auto Dump Function, twin sync sockets, ready beep, sensitive photocell, anti shock edgings, fan cooled.
Price / performance / quality – Elinchrom
value, just buy the best!!
EL-Skyport, wireless control and triggering! Set flash power and switch on/off the modelling lamp with the Transmitter, or control and set all features with Mac™ or Win™ computer.

Everything looks nice here, except flash duration. They call thse strobes “Action Freezing”, but 1/2000 t.5 is not what I personally can call action freezing. From my experience with Einsteins, I can tell that 1/4000 sec t.1 (BTW, t.1 vs t.5 is a serious difference) or shorter will give you confidence that no motion blur will be presented on a splash shot. I have no idea why many photographers are thinking about Elinchroms as action freezing strobes.

Remote controls/triggering

I had the EL-Skyport RX Computer Remote / Trigger Set: trigger for a camera, 2 receivers for strobes and EL Skyport USB trigger/remote for PC/Mac. Very small and efficient devices:

Elinchrome EL-Skyport RX Trigger Set

Elinchrome EL-Skyport RX Computer Remote / Trigger

Software

One of the most interesting things for me was a remote triggering functionality provided by EL-Skyport Software. There was no CD in the package, but they had a link to free download listed in manual. Too bad that it wasn’t clickable:-).

Install was a breeze and everything started to work right after I’ve plugged in USB wireless remote unit called Skyport. Application control screens matched the controls on the units, while configuration and advanced settings let photographer to adjust many hidden settings.

Elinchrome El Skyport software screenshot

Cool feature I found was a delayed flash you can set a group of flashes to fire one after another, up to precisely 1 millisecond.

Elinchrome El Skyport software advanced features screenshot

Price, Power and Flash Duration

As the model name suggests, I’ve got 600Ws mono-light and 1200Ws powers pack, which can fire one or two two flash heads. Nothing extraordinary with this power, and few 600 Ws mono-lights will suit many studio photographer needs. Set of two Rx 600 monolights with remote triggers will cost you about $1600.

Power pack is more expensive ($1500 alone), and paired with 2 flash heads it will cost about $3000 for a set. This is a good price for such a well built device flu of features.

I’ve read where many people were naming Elichchroms as a good action-stopping strobe. In fact, this was one of the reasons why I chose Elinchrom for the test. I’ve been working with PCB Einstein mono-lights, priced lower than Elichrome Rx 600 ($500 vs $800) and delivering slightly more power (640Ws v.s 600ws), I was curious to compare their ability to freeze action.

What a disappointment!

While being well built and better engineered, Elinchromes simply can’t compete with Einsteins when it comes to action stopping photography, like moving liquids and splash, for example.

I know that Ranger Quadra RX can fire up to 1/6000 sec short flash impulse through “hi-speed” outlet (B) but I never considered battery power pack to be a good choice for a studio photographer, and max power of 400Ws does not seems to be enough even for one head. Also, considering the price of RS Quadra with two A flash heads (with only one hi-speed) of 2,109.95 at BHPhotovideo, it seems slightly unbalanced to me. Not saying that this is not a good product, just pointing to the fact that it can’t compete with less expensive and more powerful Einsteins when it comes to freezing the action.

Below are the tests in different power levels of the Elinchrom RX 1200 unit with A3000N haed , using exactly the same spinning disk I had for Einstein tests.

Elinchrom Digital 1200RX at minimum power

Elinchrome Rx1200 at minimal power

Elinchrome Digital 1200RX at medium power

Elinchrome Rx1200 at middle power

Elinchrome Digital 1200RX at maximum power

Elinchrome Rx1200 at max power

As we see, the Elinchrome Digital 1200RX behaves exactly like any non-digital strobe: it has least flash duration at maximum power. Same as in my test with Alien Bees 400.
For a second I thought that it might be spinning speed of the disk got raised, and snapped a shot with Einstein E640 in close to a minimum power, without stopping the disk. Result is below.

Paul C Buff Einstein E640 in action mode

PCB Einstein E640 min power duration

Color shift is evident, but 1/13000 sec of flash duration is evident as well:-) To see in-depth flash duration test I had with Einsteins and Canon speedlites, go there: Paul C. Buff Einstein 640 in-depth flash duration test: action v.s constant color mode.

If you are going to buy Elinchroms in US, I recommend to do it through BHphotovideo.com, they have one of the best pricing and great customer support. Saying this not because I affiliate with them, but based on my 7 year purchasing experience:-)

Elinchrom Digital RX 1200 Elinchrom Style 600

All the best!

Alex

Sticky trip

Alex Koloskov — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 03:44:12 +0000

We call it Mastering Splash

Alex Koloskov — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 03:53:43 +0000

Mastering Splash to create a beauty

Mastering Splash by Alex Koloskov and Genia Larionova

While preparing the Godiva liqueur shot we tried shooting with many different liquids, including water colored by fabric dye. During that particular photoshoot I was developing different techniques for splash shapes and learning how to consistenly throw them. We’ve got hundreds of different colored splashes.

Yesterday we were celebrating the launch of “MasteringSplash.com” and I bought roses for Genia Larionova. Today she had a little time (well, 4-5 hours in total:-) and did this amazing composition using images from our photshoot I described earlier. Think she got inspired by the beautiful roses? :-)

The colors are real and the shapes were slightly adjusted using Photoshop; mostly using masking and combining. We got a huge image, the full size resolution is about 300 megapixels! Because each splash was shot on a full size 22 Mpx sensor and we combined many of them without downsizing, the resulting image is 20000 pixel wide and 14000 tall. Time to print it on a billboard :-)

Update: Post-production details including original layered PSD file is posted MasteringSplash.com.

All the best!

Alex

Few Announcements: Mastering Splash project and Californai trip

Alex Koloskov — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 18:21:32 +0000

This has been the longest time that I hadn’t posted on my blog for in almost two years;-) The last one was more than 2 weeks ago! Some things definitely got changed and I did not post what promised (Elinchrom test-review), nor did I finish the e-book I was hoping to finish.

So, this is what happened:

First and foremost, we’ve got a new project called “Mastering Splash” (www.MasteringSplash.com). This is a dedicated liquid photography resource, and as far as I know, there is nothing else like this on the web!

Working with liquid is my and Genia Larionova true passion and I am sure we can bring many more interesting stuff for those who are passionate about this type of photography as we are.

For now I have moved most of my articles about liquid photography from the AKELstudio blog to this new website. At the time myself and Genia Larionova are the only contributors there, but very soon we’ll have articles from other talented photographers posted there as well.

The site is open for everyone, but there is a paid membership option as well. Members (call us ‘Splash Masters”) will have access to a private community forum and access to exclusive behind the scene (BTS) videos and articles. I want to be able to spend more time on this project, including interactions with readers and the member area is what will let me to do this.
However, about 80% of the content will be open. You know how freely I share my stuff:-)

For now, the private area contains only one never before published BTS video,”The making Of Godiva Liqueur”, but we’ll be posting many more interesting “making of” articles very soon. The price is $9.95 per month.

What you’ll get is this:

Collaborate with other photographers and learn from the pros.
Access to a private consultations, in-depth tutorials and behind the scene videos, photo reviews and critique.
Behind the shot tutorials and in-studio hangouts.
Fully moderated, AD-free, members-only community.

I hope you’ll like it and I’d appreciate any feedback from the community. Please help us by spreading the word about this!

The second major thing is out trip to California:

I have created hidden from RSS category where we’ll be posting all our trip updates. I plan to post a lot while out there, making sort of a “blog on the go”, and I did not want to flood my rss stream. If you feel that our journey will be interesting for you, bookmark this link:

Our 2011 trip to California

All of our trip updates will be there including time for a photo walks, shots, HDRs (if we’ll ave time to assemble them) and everything else that happens on our trip.

Alex

AKELstudio Halloween party -2011

Alex Koloskov — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 03:08:33 +0000

Halloween 2011, AKELstudio & friends

This is what we did this Sunday night: Halloween party. Looks like we started a good tradition few years ago::-)

AKELstudio Halloween party 2011

AKELstudio Halloween part, 2011

AKELstudio Halloween party

Setup was pretty simple: fog machine, 2 light on a back with gels, one large stripbox on front. I was thinking to use PLM umbrella, but it would spill to much to background, and I wanted it to be as dark as possible.
Dozen running toddlers around and nothing was broken:

Halloween party studio lighting-setup

Happy Halloween!

Alex

High-Speed Photography with Splashes, Flashes, and a Fish Tank by PhotoExtremist

Alex Koloskov — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 17:37:10 +0000

Look what I found!

This is a very well done tutorial on how to get started on your own journey in splash and liquid photography. Created by Evan Sharboneau, owner of PhotoExtremist.com. This video is really good, fast and very intuitive with cool results; exactly the way i wold do it myself:-)

Enjoy!

High-Speed Photography Tutorial with Splashes and Flashes

As for me, I am busy with an Elinchrome vs Einstein review I promised to post long time ago. Hope next week it will be here.

All the best!

Alex

Realistic HDR book: now available on Kindle!

Alex Koloskov — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 20:30:29 +0000

Now if you buy the e-book from RealisticHDRBook.com you will receive both versions! PDF and Kindle.

Get the free Kindle app for your iPad, iPhone, Android or Tablet PC device and enjoy a true e-book experience.

The e-book will be available on Amazon Kindle store as well.

For those who bought PDF version of the e-book previously:
There is a free upgrade to the Kindle edition for you! Please get back to me (reply on your purchase notification), and I’ll send you the kindle file.

You can buy it right here!

Can’t consider spending $45, but still want to learn HDR?
Submit your best HDR (the one you’ll call the most realistic) on “Submit HDR” page and I’ll give you my critique and advice. Plus, your image could be selected to be featured on our Reader’s Showcase. All of this is absolutely free:-)

All the best!

Alex

Behind the scene: Godiva liqueur splash shot

Alex Koloskov — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 14:26:19 +0000

I’ve already shared some of the insights of this shot on Google plus and now it’s time to post everything on here.

So here is our hero shot:

Milk and chocolate splash Godiva liqueur

Godiva Chocolate splash by Alex Koloskov

Part one: the Godiva bottle

As you have probably already guessed, this shot is a composite made from several separate images. First, we did the bottle.

The lighting setup was relatively simple (I almost call it obvious) for the look I wanted to have. Two stripboxes on sides slightly behind the bottle to form an edge around it. One more light to create a spot on a brown paper background. The last light was a ten degree spot in front of the bottle, which was needed to highlight the label and bottle cap.

Continue reading: Behind the Scene: Godiva liqueur splash shot

Sorry for the mess

Alex Koloskov — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 13:09:23 +0000

Guys,
Sorry for the flood with Google plus posts in blog’s RSS feed, it happened by error while testing Gogle + post creator plugin. Now we are in a good shape. :-)
Alex

Technical Secrets of Studio Photography blog

Studio Photography Insights on Google plus #3

Our latest work, Dior creme in a splash flower

Now, let me tell you a story behind this shot:

Studio Photography Insights on Google plus: your weekly show from our studio

Studio Photography Insights G+ hangout #2

Another announce

Project in development: Inexpensive way to shoot expensive jewelry. Part one

Handmade necklaces

Lancome Mascara shot behind the scene

Lancome Mascara and liquid drops

Read the full article: Lancome Mascara and liquid drops

Behind The Scene: “The Magic of Water” beauty shot

Behind The Scene: “The Magic of Water” beauty shot

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays!

Wish you guys to live with no fear, live like it is last day in your life. Believe in yourself, fight for life, and you’ll get what you want! If you think you can’t, watch the story of this happy man:

All the best to you and those who you love, my friends.

Liquid Snail from splash garden

DIY lighting tent for glossy subject, top-down shots

Triggertrap universal off-camera trigger

Hasselblad H4x camera hands-on review: back to open architecture!

Hasselblad H4x camera review

So, what the advantages H4x has over the old H1/2 cameras?

Hasselblad H4x full shot

Hasselblad H4x 100% crop

Hasselblad H1 100% crop:

Elinchrom RX series strobe review: pros, cons and comparison with PCB Einsteins lights

Below are my personal thoughts and conclusions about these strobes.

Build quality:

Controls and ease of use

Remote controls/triggering

Software

Price, Power and Flash Duration

Sticky trip

We call it Mastering Splash

Mastering Splash to create a beauty

Few Announcements: Mastering Splash project and Californai trip

So, this is what happened:

The second major thing is out trip to California:

Our 2011 trip to California

AKELstudio Halloween party -2011

Halloween 2011, AKELstudio & friends

High-Speed Photography with Splashes, Flashes, and a Fish Tank by PhotoExtremist

Look what I found!

High-Speed Photography Tutorial with Splashes and Flashes

Realistic HDR book: now available on Kindle!

You can buy it right here!

Behind the scene: Godiva liqueur splash shot

Milk and chocolate splash Godiva liqueur

Part one: the Godiva bottle

Sorry for the mess

Wish you guys to live with no fear, live like it is last day in your life. Believe in yourself, fight for life, and you’ll get what you want!
If you think you can’t, watch the story of this happy man: