I really have no idea where my thoughts on that go and why I’m writing it – I guess it’s just an abstract Sunday afternoon thought. Hold on, maybe my message after all is that abstract photography can be a very unique type of photography because it always will be defined differently by each photographer. Each one of us will see abstract in a different form – I think that’s what defines abstract photography

During that time, which lasts only for few weeks each year, the forest is very busy. When I arrived there, I was really lucky to find a parking place. Not only families with kids come to walk in the forest but many photographers as well.

When I came there, I thought at first that it would be fairly easy to capture the magnificent atmosphere of this place. However, I quickly discovered that it was much harder than I thought. Although, the bluebells were everywhere and you could easily see them with your eyes, the camera saw completely something else and captured the pictures in a different way than I wanted them to appear.

Wait for it…. just go to Wacom’s website and head to the Driver section to download the latest installation and driver files for your Wacom product (for Europe-based customers, you can go here). Just re-install and upgrade the drivers and software, restart your computer (unusual for Macs, I even had to restart my Macbook Pro) and enjoy your Wacom pen tablet as it was before you upgraded to Lightroom 4. Yes, it is so simple

I’m not sure why my Wacom pen tablet didn’t behave in the same way with Lightroom 4 as it did with Lightroom 3. I think it could have been an outdated Wacom’s driver or software.

(* by the way, I was neither asked by Rockmelt, affiliated with it nor paid by them to write this post… just to make things clear ).

Rockmelt is a web browser built on the Chrome’s engine. What makes it so special and worth writing about it, is the integration of social networks within Rockmelt. So some call it a ‘social media web browser’. And that’s where things get really interesting for photographers who are active on social media.

What I personally hate is that with today’s variety of social networks, it takes way too much time for me to be present and update each one of them one by one. For a professional photographer and somebody who runs his/her own business, it is important to effectively and efficiently spend their time on various tasks that involve running a business. And since in today’s word this also includes social networks and online presence, Rockmelt becomes quite handy.

Rockmelt allows me to update both Twitter and Facebook simultaneously. Although there are much more social networks, I believe that most of the photographers (including myself) use 3 nowadays: Facebook, Twitter and Google+ (about the latter one later). In fact, Rockmelt has both Facebook and Twitter built-in. When you open Rockmelt you are instantly logged in to both of them an you don’t need to open the Facebook page to chat with friends and followers or to see messages, notifications or friend requests – all these are built-in in the browser.

What I also like in Rockmelt is that it’s very easy to share webpages with others on Twitter and Facebook with the built-in ‘share’ function. There is also an App Center (looks more like an RSS functionality) which gives you instant updates from the websites you like. And if you don’t want to be bothered by notifications, chat and all the things Facebook and Twitter makes you spend all your time on, there is the so-called ‘quiet mode’.

I wish Rockmelt had…

I mentioned in this post already that I also use Google+ (G+ or Google Plus) and believe me or not but G+ has become a really big thing among photographers. I wish Rockmelt had Google+ built-in in the same way Facebook is built-in this web browser. I tried to contact the Rockmelt’s business department for comments on this but I haven’t received a reply yet.

http://www.rockmelt.com/

Using it to the side from a model creates a desired shadow and also a round reflection in the eyes, which I really like. Because the reflection is round, it looks much like the sun, therefore it looks more natural than using other light modifiers (i.e. big softboxes, etc.) – hooray!

*Ok, let me explain why I wrote relatively here: I meant to use it for a double purpose. Firstly, the light quality from the Orbis Ring Flash won’t be as good as the light coming out of professional and much more expensive ring flash. Secondly, when comparing the price and the light quality of the Orbish Ring Flash, it’s indeed very good.

This compact and portable setup is quite small, light-weight and allows me to set it up almost everywhere because it doesn’t require much space – a perfect situation for every photographer and that’s why I love it. Ohh and one more advantage of using such simple setup is that I can concentrate on the subject and interact better with a person and a client instead of spending too much time on setting up the equipment and worrying too much whether or not everything is set up as it should be – this is something I’ve learned long time ago from Bert Stephani.

But of course, there are some shoots where I need more light, more light modificators, more equipment, and much more muscles to carry everything around

I’m slowly abandoning Flickr and although I have a pro account at the moment, I’m having serious doubts whether or not I’ll renew it in April next year. Flickr isn’t a social network for photography lovers anymore and it’s not even a valuable photo-sharing service anymore for me. The possibilities for valuable interactions are minimal when compared to 500px and most of the comments on the photos are just plain spam (great work, join the group blablabla or something like that – hate that!).

Although I believe that there is still lots of great work posted each day on Flickr, I find the service horribly polluted with regular pictures and it’s really hard to find those good photographs, to learn from others. Not to mention, getting valuable and constructive criticism on your work is almost impossible. I have to admit here that I’m not as active in posting comments on Flickr as I used to be. There are several reasons but I think that the main one is that 500px (not to mention Google Plus which is HUGE among photographers but it requires a different blog article) is much more valuable and reacher for photography enthusiasts. I prefer to explore photographs on 500px and spend my time there rather than on Flickr and the reason is simple: 500px enforces you to upload only the best shots – that’s how the community and the system (for free accounts) are made. The work there is stunning, the comments you give and receive are truly valuable (at least most of them) and you can easily get constructive criticism on your work and learn from it.

It’s really up to you and your preferences if you want to use any of these services and which one to choose. In fact, you can choose more than one but it’s also the time issue for me – being on too many photography services is a bit of a waste of time for me. I just prefer value over quantity

Believe it or not but all you need is an empty box of Pringles and scissors. Take the box and cut out the bottom. Next, all you need to do is to slide it over your speedlight. You’ll probably notice that the round shape of the Pringle’s box is not exactly the shape of the speedlight’s head so it might be necessary for you to adjust the box a bit when you do it the first time. And here it it: almost at no cost, ready in 2 minutes, a home-made speedlight snoot.

I. Features of the Orbis Ring Flash

The first thing I noticed when I got my Orbis Ring Flash was the size of the reflecting area which is bigger when compared to other similar ring flashes. This means that the light source will also be bigger creating even softer light. I probably should have mentioned earlier that the Orbis Ring Flash is not a typical ring flash but it’s an add-on on your speedlight. In other words, you can slide your speedlight into the Orbis Ring Flash to produce the desired light. This makes the ring flash portable because you don’t need to connect it to a power source, which is usually required with the traditional ring flashes. The Orbis Ring Flash fits with most speedlights available on the market nowadays and it fits perfectly with my Nikon SB-900. Although it requires a bit of force to slide my SB-900 into it, the speedlight sits there tight and secure.

The other thing I got with my Orbis Ring Flash was what they call an Orbis Arm which is basically a mounting bracket for your camera and the speedlight with the Orbis Ring Flash on it. I used this setup recently while shooting an event in Gent, Belgium (yes, ring flashes are usually for close-ups, fashion and makro but they have many other uses as well) and I found the mounting bracket (Orbis Arm) quite useful but extremely heavy to carry around – this is because of the total weight of my DSLR (with a battery grip), speedlight SB-900 and the Orbis Ring Flash (I have to mention that the Orbis Ring Flash is relatively light-weighted by itself). Therefore, I recommend using this setup either on short assignments (preferably indoor where you can easily put aside it to let your arms rest) or on a tripod (the Orbis Arm supports tripod mounting but I haven’t tested it myself yet and it probably won’t fit onto all of the tripods due to its L-like shape.However, what I have noticed is that it was very hard to operate my zoom lens (18-100mm) while having the ring flash on the mounting bracket – no matter how I adjusted the ring flash around my lens, it was always getting in way with the zoom ring on the lens.

Another important aspect to consider is a way you will trigger your speedlight. In general, you have 3 options: (1) you can use a built-in flash commander  in your camera, (2) use a wireless flash trigger or (3) use a sync cord (TTL cable). I prefer the third option because it’s much more reliable (especially when you use the Orbis Arm and your built-in flash commander is hidden behind the ring flash which might not always communicate well with a speedlight which is positioned below the camera) and I don’t like having fragile wireless receivers hanging below my speedlight when operating the ring flash in my hand.

II. Light Quality and Light Distribution

I did few photo shoots with the Orbis Ring Flash so far and I’m very happy with the light quality. It acts exactly as a ring flash should behave and produces the desired light. However, you have to remember that the power of light will most likely be less than in stand-alone ring flashes. This is due to 2 factors: (1) the power of light produced by the speedlight depends on your speedlight’s power capabilities which is sometimes less than stand-alone ring flashes and (2) some of the light’s power produced by a speedlight is lost in the ring flash itself as it travels across the mirrors before it’s out towards your subject – this is a normal and expected behavior for such add-on ring flashes.

The pictures in this article clearly show that the Orbis Ring Flash has a very good light distribution and dispersion across the whole ring when comparing the opposite sides of the ring flash where the speedlight is inserted. In fact, the Orbis Ring Flash has an additional white coating on the side of the speedlight. This prevents the stronger light from dominating the rest of the light in the ring flash and ensures more or less equal light distribution.

III. Price vs. Quality vs. Product Ratio – Summary

I like to compare the product’s price to its quality and overall purpose and my needs as a photographer. Before anything, you have to realize that Orbis Ring Flash might not be necessary a good choice for you, especially if you know that you won’t be taking any outdoor macro/fashion shots and that you’ll have a different use for your speedlights indoor other than using it with a ring flash (for example to do hair-light, background light etc.). However, if you’re like me who takes lots of pictures outdoor and on-location, who looks for a versatile product and doesn’t mind using one of the speedlights as a ring flash, then Orbis Ring Flash is perfect for you. The quality of the product is very high and seems to be durable (just don’t throw it from the second floor to test its durability). When it comes to price I have to say it’s a bit expensive – you can get the Orbis Ring Flash System (the ring flash with the mounting bracket) from their online store for $249. However, if you compare this price to the self-contained AlienBees ring flash which is on the market for around $399, then the Orbis system might look expensive. Overall – is it worth it the price?-Yes.