The photographer's nest

Another scam store: ktpshop

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 15:23:00 +0000

Do not believe the prices shown in http://ktpshop.com. This shop is another one in the list of scam stores!

Lee filters

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:58:00 +0000

I am pretty happy with the Lee filters and gels. I use two types of them.

1. The Lee filter holder system, together with neutral density filters. I do have a foundation kit with a 77m adapter ring and the 0.3 and 0.6 GND (graduated neutral density) filters. They work pretty nice!

2. Flash gels. I use them to modify/match the color temperature of the flashes. This is the basic list of gels one should have:

CTO - Full Colour Temperature Orange	Lee 204
½ CTO - Half Colour Temperature Orange	Lee 205
¼ CTO - Quarter Colour Temperature Orange	Lee 206
CTB - Full Colour Temperature Blue	Lee 201
½ CTB - Half Colour Temperature Blue	Lee 202
¼ CTB - Quarter Colour Temperature Blue	Lee 203
Plus Green (aka Window Green)	Lee 244
½ Plus Green	Lee 245
¼ Plus Green	Lee 246
.3 ND - 1 stop neutral density	Lee 209

It is possible to order a very nice set from Flash Gels (UK).

Portable flashes

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 08:59:00 +0000

Sometimes it is very convenient to carry our flashes out of the studio and shoot outdoors. The problem is that such devices are not very very cheap. Here is a list of portable flashes devices that I have been able to find around and that are sold at affordable prices.

Lencarta Safari 600. A review can be found here.
Godox EX series. You can find it on ebay in other stores. Linkdelight, Adplo, eBay search for "ex400", eBay search for "ex600".
Jinbei RD-400, RD-600 and RD-1200. Can be purchased here.
Quantum R+ Dual Power 600. Can be bought here.

An interesting comparison can be found here. If the original spreadsheet is no longer available, I will keep my personal copy here. There is also valuable info provided by the flickr strobist community. You can follow the discussion on flickr about these and some other devices.
Last, but not least, you can read an exhaustive article at Photo.net (thanks to my friend Gabriel for showing me the link).

www.gotoozoo.com, just another scam store

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 20:42:00 +0000

Another scam shop that you should try to avoid

http://www.gotoozoo.com

Don't buy there or you will loose your money!

In Spanish:

Ni se os ocurra comprar en http://www.gotoozoo.com. ¡Es una estafa anunciada en google!

Photography, architecture and computer graphics.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:47:00 +0000

Watch this video first...

The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

And then this other one...

Compositing Breakdown (T&S) from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

Kelby training especial offer

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 11:00:00 +0000

Scott Kelby is one of the Photoshop Gurus (if not THE Photoshop Guru) and does also offer an excellent on-line training service. Well, he has anounced in his blog that a whole year of access to Kelby Training costs 149$ instead of 199$. Taking into account the high value of the euro, I am thinking seriously to pay the fee and subscribe.

Just to let you know...

How to hang prints

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 08:28:00 +0000

Scott Kelby credited a great idea about how to hang unframed and unmounted photos. Ikea has a rail system + clips that do the job.

This is a photo of the rail.

This is a photo of the clip set...

Girl in yellow

noreply@blogger.com (Photographer's nest) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 08:17:00 +0000

Streetportrait in yellow, originally uploaded by manganite.

Vision mongers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 06:52:00 +0000

My freshly printed copy of Vision Mongers, by David duChemin just arrived. I started to read it and must say that it is a pure joy to travel through its pages...

David has a very special way of saying things with sense and sensibility. I recommend his book fully!

The Canon boy - Nikon girl rap video

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 10:04:00 +0000

Watch JoeyL in a very particular video.

Laundomat 01

noreply@blogger.com (Photographer's nest) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 19:00:00 +0000

Laundomat 01, originally uploaded by annalucylle.

TTL flash trigger/receiver for Nikon

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:53:00 +0000

It is not a Pocket Wizard but an ebay flash trigger/receiver. Let's see what are the comments about it, but the thing looks pretty interesting.

Here is the link to the ebay store and here the link to the company's web.

It's main characteristics are:

1. TR-331 is using FSK 2.4GHz frequency channel, 15 specific channels .
2. Operating distance range is 65M or above.
3. The display is protected by coating; it’s not easy to get scratch.
4. LCD is showing “Channel”, “Battery life” and “Function mode”.
5. Multi-control is available.
6. Through the camera to send the data
7. Compatible with all Nikon DSLR cameras.
8. Compatible with Nikon SB-900, SB-800, SB-600, SB-400 flash gun.
9. Support all of the shutter speed, up to 1/8000 sec.
10. Available to use on the studio light through PC socket.
11. Transmitter stand-by time: 1000 hours above (CR2 lithium battery)
12. Receiver stand-by time: 400 hours above (CR2 lithium battery)

matrix sexy shoot?

noreply@blogger.com (Photographer's nest) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 06:47:00 +0000

matrix sexy shoot?, originally uploaded by mododorico.

Visit www.mododorico.com !

Valuable thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 07:46:00 +0000

These words made me think for a while... Hope you enjoy them in the same way I did!

What Every Aspiring Photographer Should Know (by Cheryl Jacobs from Photodino)

These are my thoughts, nothing more and nothing less.

I get asked all the time, during workshops, in e-mails, in private messages, what words of wisdom I would give to a new and aspiring photographer. Here’s my answer.

- Style is a voice, not a prop or an action. If you can buy it, borrow it, download it, or steal it, it is not a style. Don’t look outward for your style; look inward.

- Know your stuff. Luck is a nice thing, but a terrifying thing to rely on. It’s like money; you only have it when you don’t need it.

- Never apologize for your own sense of beauty. Nobody can tell you what you should love. Do what you do brazenly and unapologetically. You cannot build your sense of aesthetics on a concensus.

- Say no. Say it often. It may be difficult, but you owe it to yourself and your clients. Turn down jobs that don’t fit you, say no to overbooking yourself. You are no good to anyone when you’re stressed and anxious.

- Learn to say “I’m a photographer” out loud with a straight face. If you can’t say it and believe it, you can’t expect anyone else to, either.

- You cannot specialize in everything.

- You don’t have to go into business just because people tell you you should! And you don’t have to be full time and making an executive income to be successful. If you decide you want to be in business, set your limits before you begin.

- Know your style before you hang out your shingle. If you don’t, your clients will dictate your style to you. That makes you nothing more than a picture taker. Changing your style later will force you to start all over again, and that’s tough.

- Accept critique, but don’t apply it blindly. Just because someone said it does not make it so. Critiques are opinions, nothing more. Consider the advice, consider the perspective of the advice giver, consider your style and what you want to convey in your work. Implement only what makes sense to implement. That doesn’t not make you ungrateful, it makes you independent.

- Leave room for yourself to grow and evolve. It may seem like a good idea to call your business “Precious Chubby Tootsies”….but what happens when you decide you love to photograph seniors? Or boudoir?

- Remember that if your work looks like everyone else’s, there’s no reason for a client to book you instead of someone else. Unless you’re cheaper. And nobody wants to be known as “the cheaper photographer”.

- Gimmicks and merchandise will come and go, but honest photography is never outdated.

- It’s easier to focus on buying that next piece of equipment than it is to accept that you should be able to create great work with what you’ve got. Buying stuff is a convenient and expensive distraction. You need a decent camera, a decent lens, and a light meter. Until you can use those tools consistently and masterfully, don’t spend another dime. Spend money on equipment ONLY when you’ve outgrown your current equipment and you’re being limited by it. There are no magic bullets.

- Learn that people photography is about people, not about photography. Great portraits are a side effect of a strong human connection.

- Never forget why you started taking pictures in the first place. Excellent technique is a great tool, but a terrible end product. The best thing your technique can do is not call attention to itself. Never let your technique upstage your subject.

- Never compare your journey with someone else’s. It’s a marathon with no finish line. Someone else may start out faster than you, may seem to progress more quickly than you, but every runner has his own pace. Your journey is your journey, not a competition. You will never “arrive”. No one ever does.

- Embrace frustration. It pushes you to learn and grow, broadens your horizons, and lights a fire under you when your work has gone cold. Nothing is more dangerous to an artist than complacency.

- CJ

Digital boo? Bah!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:44:00 +0000

Well, another incredible shop. A D700 for just 1599$? Bank transfer to a Chinese account as the unique payment method? Do you believe it? Dont even try. Digital boo is just another scam photo shop that make easy money with dreamers!

Ni se os ocurra comprar en digital boo. Es una tienda fraudulenta en la que perderéis hasta el último céntimo.

Lightroom 3 beta

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 05:57:00 +0000

La nueva versión beta del Lightroom 3 ya está disponible para su descarga. Parece que los de Adobe han hecho caso de los múltiples comentarios de usuarios y han incorporado nuevas e interesantes prestaciones al software:

Nueva arquitectura de procesos con rendimiento mejorado, pensada para las, cada vez más grandes, colecciones de imágenes.
Nuevo sistema de reducción de ruido que mejora el proceso de fotos con ISOs altas.
Herramienta de marca de agua para personalizar y proteger fácilmente tus imágenes
Creación de pases de diapositivas ligeros con audio — diseñados para dar mas flexibilidad e impacto a la manera de enseñar tus imágenes, ahora se pueden guardar y exportar estas presentaciones como vídeo incluyendo audio.
Personalización máxima a la hora de crear pack de impresión personalizados Así las plantillas de impresión podrán ser todas tuyas
Herramienta de simulación de grano en las fotografías para mejorar las imágenes y hacerlas todo “ruidosas” (de grano bonito :P ) que uno quiera
Nueva herramienta de importación diseñada para que el proceso sea más ágil y fácil
Mayor cantidad de opciones a la hora de exportar las fotografías así podrás publicar tus fotos online en diferentes sitios directamente desde lightroom 3 (puede requerir de plugins de terceros)

Si todo es cierto, el nuevo Lightroom va a ser claramente superior al actual.

Canon EOS 1D MkIV

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:28:00 +0000

Vincent Laforet had the chance to test a prototype of the new EOS 1D MkIV and the results are truly impressive. According to him, there is NO VISIBLE noise on the LCD at ISO 6400. The new Canon body with 24 MP, a 1.3 crop factor sensor, 10 fps for stills, a new AF system and 1080p video can explore the darkness much better than the human eye! If half of what Vincent says is true (and I have no doubt, he's a great professional), we might be witnessing the re-invention of photography!

It seems that Nikon will have to beat a quite strong competitor. Releasing re-furbished bodys like the D300s, D3s (and maybe D700s) with 720p video doesn't seem to be a big thing!Come on, have a look at Canon and do something spectacular!

First videos witht the Nikon D3s

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:51:00 +0000

One of the very first videos taken by Vincent Munier.

Do you need a new camera? Just tell her!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 15:21:00 +0000

I do follow What the Duck cartoons since some months. Aaron Johnson knows about us, the photography freaks, and expresses it in a fantastically funny way!

This one will show you how to convince her about your needs of a new camera...

¿Qué podemos esperar de Nikon la semana que viene?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 05:54:00 +0000

Según Nikon Rumors, la semana que viene serán anunciados los siguientes productos:

- Nikon D3s
* ISO 200-12800
* Nuevo modo ISO HI-3 a 102400 ISO
* Sensor FX de 12.1 mp
* Modo D-movie con 24 fps/1080p
* Nuevos modos crop 1.2x o 1.3x
* Velocidad de 14fps

- Nikon AF-S 24mm f/1.4.

- Un nuevo Nikon AF-S 85mm.

- Nikon AF-S 100-500mm f/4-5.6 IF-ED VR lens. Puede que solo asistamos a su anuncio.

- Nikon AF-S 16-35mm f/4G ED VR. Baja probabilidad

Lo que cada vez parece más claro es que no habrá ni una D700x ni una D700s.

A ver qué sucede...

El futuro de la revista

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 05:58:00 +0000

En el siguiente vídeo, el fotógrafo Alexx Henry nos hace partícipes de su visión sobre cómo serán las revistas y magazines en un futuro no muy distante. Una combinación de imagen fija y vídeo que será posible gracias a las pantallas de Leds Orgánicos flexibles (OLED) y a la tinta electrónica (E ink).

Fuente: Living Art Media

14 de Octubre, día Nikon

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:18:00 +0000

Algo se mueve en el mundo Nikon. Hay anunciadas numerosas ruedas de prensa de los distribuidores Nikon europeos para el día 14, y la razón no puede ser más que una: el anuncio de nuevos productos. Se rumorea con el anuncio de la nueva D3s (vídeo y algún que otro arreglo estético) y algo más. Los más esperanzados esperamos la noticia de una D700x, pero Nikon Rumors no da demasiado crédito a tal rumor y apuesta por una cámara compacta y "tal vez" alguna nueva óptica. Habrá que esperar al día 14 para ver qué "se cuece en el radar".

Play with the focal distance and the DOF

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 05:30:00 +0000

With this interactive Applet you can play with the focal distance and the aperture and verify what is the result. Funny, isn't?

Sets de baterías EN-EL4 y cargadores

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 07:10:00 +0000

Tienes un grip MB-D10? Te gustaría disfrutar de la duración extra que proporcionan las baterías EN-EL4 y disparar a más velocidad con tu D300/D700? He hecho un poco investigación por la red y las cosas no parecen exáctamente lo que son.

No todas las baterías tienen la misma capacidad. Las puedes encontrar de 1800 mAh (miliamperios * hora) a 2500 mAh (valor nominal de las originales de Nikon).
No todas las baterías pueden ser cargadas con el mismo cargador. Hay una cierta tasa de fallos y la gente comenta haber tenido algunas malas experiencias (gastar dinero para nada). Algunos ejemplos: he preguntado a la tienda Camera ACC de ebay y me han respondido que sus baterías (29 € - 2500 mAh) deben ser cargadas con el MH-22 (¡220 €!), y no con cargadores clónicos o con el MH-21. Por otro lado, pop_batteries de ebay comercializa un cargador aparentemente universal por 29 €.
Hay algunos cargadores baratos pero tampoco está claro que puedan cargar las baterías originales de Nikon. He podido leer en varios blogs y foros que algunos compradores se han encontrado en esa situación.
Para el grip MB-D10 hay varias opciones "todo en uno": batería + tapa BL-3 + cargador a buen precio (70 euros).

Aquí os dejo algunos enlaces de vendedores y precios orientativos. Como veis, la cosa varía mucho de un sitio a otro. En cualquiera de los casos, os recomiendo que preguntéis antes de comprar, para así ahorraros un buen chasco.

Baterías EN-EL4a
Nikon original 100 - 130€
Duracell
Akkuinternational
Pearstone (vendida en BHphoto, lo cual da mucha confianza) 75$
Ebay from Camera ACC for 29€

Cargadores para EN-EL4a
Nikon MH-21 original 120-130 €
Nikon MH-22 for 220 €
Pearstone (vendido en BHphoto) 35 $
Cargador clónico en ebay 30€

Sistema completo
Phottix Kosmo (con tapa BL-3 y cargador) 70€
Un kit similar de pop_batteries (ebay) por 70€. Igual es el mismo que el Kosmo con diferente nombre.

PD. Si disponéis de más enlaces y/o información, no dudéis en compartirlos con el resto a través de comentarios a esta entrada.

EN-EL4a battery sets and chargers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 07:09:00 +0000

Do you have an MB-D10 grip? Would you like to use the extra length of the EN-EL4a batteries?
I did some research and found out that things are not as easy as one would expect:

1. Not all the batteries have the same powee. You can find them in a range from 1800 mAh to 2500 mAh.
2. Not all the batteries can be charged with the same charger. There is some trial and error and one could have "nasty experiences". For example, I did ask the Camera ACC ebay seller and they told me that their battery cano not be charged with the MH-21 but with the most expensive MH-22 (about 220€!).
3. There are cheap chargers around but it is not clear to me if they will be able to charger original Nikon batteries. I read in various blogs and fora that this might not be the case.
4. For the MB-D10 grip users, maybe the cheapest and simplest option is to buy a complete kit consisting in a battery attached to a BL-3 like pice and a charger. That costs 70 euros and is a complete system.

Batteries EN-EL4a
Nikon original 100 - 130€
Duracell
Akkuinternational
Pearstone (sold at BHphoto) 75$
Ebay from Camera ACC for 29€

Chargers for EN-EL4a
Nikon MH-21 original 120-130 €
Nikon MH-22 for 220 €
Pearstone 35 $
Clone charger at ebay 30€

Complete system
Phottix Kosmo (with BL-3 cover attached to it + charger) 70€
A similar set from pop_batteries () for 70€. Maybe the same as the Kosmo.