I have stopped reading reviews of new music.  Instead, I listen to the album and decide for myself.  Aside from a really awkward way to entice readers to continue on with a review of my own, I also need to admit that while looking for a photo of Halestorm for this writeup, I managed to read a review, one that I agree with.

Metal Machine has a pretty good review about the band.  Notably, the article references the song that caught my attention:

The record’s first single, “I Get Off,” blends a sexy hook with a rough and tumble groove. “On that song,” says Lzzy, “I reach outside of myself and explore sexuality.

I would have to agree.  She certainly puts some sexuality to the hook of the song, but delivers it with a unique sense of power, which is where the real appeal is brought in.  At least for me.  This was not just another band with lead female singer like Evanesence or Flyleaf.  Sure, there are some similarities but the lead here is a much more interesting voice for me.

Some of the slower songs, such as Familiar Taste of Poison, could be taken in smaller doses, but that does not mean that they are bad.  It is just that they have a difficult time competing with the dynamics of the more powerful and faster paced tracks, such as Innocence, I Get Off, etc.

Overall, this is a pretty good album and worthy of repeat play.

Back in December of 2008, when my brother-in-law approached me about his dream of opening a studio, I was really quite surprised.  I had started to venture more into my own photography and was working on branding myself to do just that.  Now I was being asked to abandon that idea and join with someone else.  So far, I realize that has been a great leap for me and has also helped to further my own knowledge of photography.  After working nearly 3 months on the build-out, Studio 42 is now officially open for business!

There are other studios in the area, though few.  More are well north of our location yet there are many photographers and clients on this end of Atlanta.  Studio 42 is the place.  Why drive into Atlanta if you don’t have to?  Save gas, save time, and save money.

Minutes from the interstate, the studio features approximately 1,100 sq. ft of shooting space, a make-up/prep room, 2 large changing rooms, private bathroom, refrigerator, sound system (iPod/iPhone compatible), double doors (motorcycle access), plenty of parking, and is located in historic downtown Locust Grove.

In addition to the many features, ability to rent hourly/daily, we plan to host several workshops.  As the studio opened, there were already three workshops planned.  The first, is a maternity workshop taught by Julie Harnage.  This will be on July 25th.  The second is “Get to Know your SLR” taught by Dan Edwards which will be held August 1st.  Dan is also teaching an intro to lighting course at the end of August.  I also plan to announce dates for two different Photoshop classes.  Lastly, Studio 42 has partnered with South Atlanta Flickr to host monthly model shoots and portfolio booster sessions.  Keep an eye out on our schedule page for details.

We hope to have a lot going on and would love to network with fellow photographers, models, make-up artists, stylists, etc.

On a personal note, this marks a milestone for me.  It is something that I am now a part of that I never thought I would have been able to participate in.  At least not to the degree that I am able to now.  Being a co-owner of a studio is exciting and gives me a permanent home to execute any ideas that I have.  The icing on the cake is that my business partner has extensive technical knowledge.  You could throw the guy into a cave with a flashlight and Holga and he could take a perfectly exposed photo.  That is great for people like me who are still very much in the learning process.

Visit Studio 42 online and while you are at it, why not become a fan on Facebook.

In April I purchased a ABR800, 56” Moon Unit, and the carrying case. My only complaint with all of this is the color selection, or lack of, for the carrying case. Pink was all I had to pick from. But hey, this is an Alien Bee, right? It needs to stand out and be different, so I figured I could live with it.

About 2 weeks ago, one of the zippers on the case began to have problems. When I zipped the case closed, rather than actually closing the zipper threads it would leave them open. I moved that zipper head all the way to the end of the case and just used the other zipper head. Until that messed up as well, leaving me with no way to close the case and carry it from shoot to shoot.

Now I need to contact customer service. Ugh. I absolutely hate getting to that point. Customer service can be so poor that it makes you feel as if you are in a car, facing a cliff. Driving forward is the equivalent of speaking to customer service when all you really want to do is turn around. Not with Paul C. Buff. Customer service is actually alive and doing quite well.

I contacted them, told them my story, and asked if the case was still covered under warranty. I actually was expecting to hear a reply back, a few days later, short and rude stating that the case was not covered and that I needed to purchase a new one. I expected that or to be instructed to return ship the current case, wait for an evaluation, and then have another shipped to me. Neither was the case.

Rather than having to wait a day or two, I heard back within an hour. Very politely Kimberly informed me the case was covered and asked to provide a shipping address for them to send out a new one. Later that day, I received an auto-generated email saying that the item had already been shipped. Within hours, my little problem was resolved and as of right now, I am officially sold on these products, with the reinforcement of stellar customer service: timely, polite, and appropriate.

As a side note, I wrote this blog out earlier with the intention of posting it later this evening.  After checking the tracking on the package, I see it was delivered to my box this afternoon, already before I could post about how great they are.  Now that my friends, is service.

As a user at Deviant Art I purchased a print account quite some time ago.  In fact, it was during their 2-year anniversary (if memory serves) and the print accounts were offered half-price.  With no local options and my work already on Deviant Art, their print program seemed like a great option.  As the years went by, my work and needs have also changed, evolved, and adapted.

For the longest time, I have wished to see improvements to the Deviant Art Prints (DAP) program to make it more user friendly for experienced artists.  A fellow photographer recommended using Mpix.  After seeing some of his work printed I knew that I had to give them a test run and see how their services compared against that of Deviant Art Prints.

Some might cry foul here stating that Deviant Art built their print program on top of a “community” and did not start off with the same purpose as Mpix might have started with.  Deviant Art added the print program on top of the community and integrated it in, offering a cool and unique service that many communities cannot do.  All things considered, I think they did well with the integration, separating their site from others that are similar.

Regardless of origins, offering the same services opens you to the same critique.    For the review below, I compared both companies in the following categories: shipping, quality, uploading , pricing, options, and speed.

UPLOADING

To upload an image to Deviant Art Prints, you first have to upload a web-safe version to your account.  After sifting through various categories and other information, you can finally upload your image.  I feel that Deviant Art has one of the most complicated processes for uploading images around.  Perhaps it is due to how the images are organized on the site, but it grows tiresome to have to continually sift through what sometimes feels like endless categories, titles, keywords, descriptions, etc.  Again, I realize that much of this is because the same interface that you use to upload prints is used to upload artwork and display it.  Why not offer a different and more streamlined console for those who are interested in such a service?

With Mpix.com, I was taken immediately to a screen where I could upload several images at a single time.

To my knowledge, there is not a method for doing this on Deviant Art.

Had I been comparing the community aspect, I do not believe Deviant Art would have lost this round.  Being able to upload a hi-res image, set max viewing on the web safe version, have your work sent out to the entire community, while also selling prints can be a very powerful tool.

Round Goes To: Mpix
Score: Mpix – 1, DAP - 0

SPEED
If you have been in the field long enough, seen your work printed by different printers, and know yourself and system enough, you do not want to have another person approve your work saying it is suitable quality to print.  That is what Deviant Art Prints does, and while I am sure it has plenty of valid reasons behind why such a structure exists (I had lots of trouble with getting the quality correct the very first time I had my work printed.), the truth of the matter is that it offers a stumbling point for many people.

Mpix upload and speed is what I need.  I was able to upload 4 hi-res images and have access to purchase them on the spot to kick-off the order process.  Deviant Art Prints, as stated before, has a manual check in place to ensure the print is high enough quality, not copyright protected, or whatever else is checked.  As a test, I uploaded an image at 11:29 p.m. and got the automated reply of:

“Thank you for submitting your print. It may take a couple of minutes for the system to process your submission before your prints and products become available for purchase.

Prints submitted using the Premium Print Subscription Account should be reviewed and approved or rejected within 24 hours on weekdays and non-holidays. Prints submitted using the Standard Prints Service will not be reviewed by Quality Control until a purchase attempt has been made. If the image should fail inspection, the buyer will be notified and the order canceled.

Click here to return to the associated deviation. “

I could technically add the item to my shopping cart, but there is a disclaimer at the bottom.

Approximately 15 minutes later (11:43 p.m.) I received an email notification that the print was approved and could be ordered.  Not a major issue here and that was one of the quicker response times.  I submitted a couple more right after the first.  Here is the submission and approval time line:

+ Print #2 Submitted 12:04 a.m. and approved the following day at 11:16 a.m.
+ Print #3 Submitted 12:10 a.m. and approved the following day at 11:16 a.m.
+ Print #4 Submitted 12:14 a.m. and approved the following day at 11:33 a.m.
+ Print #5 Submitted 12:18 a.m. and approved the following day at 11:16 a.m.

Each print took approximately 10 hours to approve.  Thankfully these were not rush orders.  One print I could not submit to DAP due to its unique size.  Mpix offered a size to fit it (10” x 20”).

I am not aware of what time frame, if any, these print submissions are being reviewed and approved.  The FAQ does not list “hours of operation” only that users with the premium account have their work approved quicker than standard users.  According to the FAQ:

“Prints are available for purchase immediately after submission after it has been processed by our system.??Prints submitted using the Premium Subscription Print Account should be approved or rejected within 24 hours on weekdays and non-holidays. Prints submitted using the Standard Prints Service will not be reviewed by Quality Control until a purchase attempt has been made or upgrading to a Premium Subscription Print Account. If the image should fail inspection, the buyer will be notified and the order canceled.”

I have two issues with this.  First, when I signed up with Mpix, I had an account.  I was not standard or premium, merely a customer.  My work was immediately available for printing.  With DAP, there is a distinction which is probably meant to help drive people to purchase the premium account.  Nothing wrong with a little marketing.  But there is still no real definition of when prints will be reviewed, what time zone they are operating in, etc.  In my example above, I was working in the middle of the night, something many of us do.  Clearly nobody was working on approvals at that point beyond my first submission and it took about 10 hours to have the rest approved and available for purchase.

The second issue I have is the first statement of “Prints are available for purchase immediately after submission after it has been processed by our system.”  Standing alone, that statement is misleading.  They are available for purchase but should the print not already be approved or even be rejected by DAP quality control, then it really not available for purchase.  It lives in a holding pattern until someone looks at it and says yes or no.  So technically, it is not available immediately after submission for purchase.

With Mpix, I uploaded all of the images I wanted prints of, placed my order, and then received an email notification that as 9:43 a.m. CST my order was in process.  At 7:16 p.m. EST I received an email with a tracking number for FedEx.  Not the tracking that states the shipper has notified the carrier that a package was waiting.  Actual tracking was available that evening stating my prints would arrive the following day.  Yes.  The following day, by 10:45 a.m.! My business partner and I needed this prints in a crunch and Mpix delivered.

If you need to upload an image, have your order processed quickly, and shipped immediately, DAP is not your option.

Round Goes To: Mpix
Score: Mpix – 2; DAP - 0

OPTIONS
More times than not, I just need prints.  I do not need a coffee mug, thong, or postcard with a custom print on it.  It is difficult to compare these simply because I am not often in the market for them.  DAP offers canvas, photo, and fine art prints with framing options.  Additionally, they offer coasters, greeting cards, magnets, mouse pads, mugs, postcards, calendars, and puzzles.  DA’s shop is a storefront, so to see what products are offered for artists looking to sell them you can read the details in their FAQ here.

Mpix offers prints, mounting, framing, retouching, wall clings, greeting cards, prints with envelopes, standouts, gallery wraps, calendars, magazine covers, albums, statuettes, puzzles, trading cards, tickets, magnets, keychains, proof portfolios, buttons, and a few others (See all products here). The custom albums are superb and my business partner and I have already received numerous compliments on the several albums we have ordered. Due to the nature of what I need by way of printing, Mpix offers more options that suit my needs, so they get the point this round.

Round Goes To: Mpix
Score: Mpix – 3; DAP - 0
PRICING
The prints I ordered were larger format, such as 24” x 36”.  The Mpix price for a single 24” x 36” print on Kodak e-surface paper was $44.99 and the DAP price for a 24” x 36” matte finish print is $27.99 (Normally $69.95 but reduced with artist discount afforded by the premium service).  Side Note: One option that I like, being a very visual person, is the scaling example pop-up when selecting a print size.  If you are not used to seeing the size, or need a reminder, this is a helpful tool. You could easily change paper types and finishes to vary your price, but I did my best to compare apples to apples here.

My guess is that DAP is offering the lowered pricing to those who have paid to be premium members, thus offsetting the pricing a bit.  To pay a one-time price to reduce everything else is worthwhile to me because it is a very minimal investment.

Round Goes To: DAP
Score: Mpix – 3; DAP - 1

SHIPPING
With my Mpix order, I only had two options of the quicker FedEx services.  According to their site, this was due to the size of the prints that I had ordered.  In this instance, I was not really bothered because I was going to order the fastest shipping option anyway.  I also wanted an option with tracking.

In the past, I had placed an order with DAP and the email notification provided a tracking number.  This was misleading as it was actually shipped USPS and I did not think tracking was offered.  That is confirmed via DAP’s FAQ:

“Also please note that USPS shipping options do not offer tracking capability or information. deviantART recommends using FedEx shipping with tracking as the preferred option. This gives you information to track your order while in transit, and provides added assurance of delivery in a timely manner. FedEx also has a thorough process for reporting any damaged mail and other issues that may result from shipping. Also, the delivery time starts once the order is actually shipped.”

When you go to check out, here are your options (or at least mine for the particular order):

Perhaps a big undertaking to make the revisions, but I would like to see some clarification on that screen that says “First Class via USPS to United States”, etc.  A nitpick I realize but there is nothing wrong with making sure customers know exactly what they are paying for.  That would also change the notification email wording away from “tracking number” on USPS shipments since that is not accurate.

Here is what I was given when checking out with Mpix:

Next business day shipping via Mpix using FedEx is $10.75.  Overnight shipping, also via FedEx at DAP is $23.27.  While the final bill was cheaper at DAP, the shipping spelled out and offered cheaper at Mpix was what gave them the edge in this round.

Round Goes To: Mpix
Score: Mpix – 4; DAP - 1

QUALITY
I had to save the best for last.  How about the quality of each?  As difficult and critical as I have been on DAP, their quality of products has done nothing but improve in my eyes.  From the initial prints offered to the newer finishes, I have been more than pleased with their prints.  In fact, I have used prints from DAP to enter contests and won.  Not solely because of the quality of the print but you can easily tell a quality print from something on the lower end and it has a great impact in situations where you are being judged.  Even the shipping of the items and packaging has been improved since their program first launched, which is a plus.

On the other hand, I have seen the work from Mpix and also thought it was top notch.  I first heard of Mpix about a year or two ago from a fellow photographer, Scott Ash.  The guy has simply stunning work and we have teased him in the past of winning any contest he puts his work in.  On top of everything else, he is one of the most humble and polite people you will encounter.  So he shared with me that he ordered prints from Mpix.  Many were mounted and framed (without glass) and the colors simply leaped out.  We have also ordered several photo books and been more than pleased with the quality.

When I received my prints, I was blown away.  Believe me, looking at your work at 24″ x 36″ it is easier to see flaws.  These were exactly what I wanted and I had no complaints about the quality at all.  To be fair in this round, both Mpix and DAP get a point because they both offer quality prints.

Round Goes To: Tie
Score: Mpix – 5; DAP - 2

SUMMARY
One feature that I enjoy about Mpix (which I could not figure out the best category to include it in) is the privacy of your work unless otherwise shared.  Again, DAP was built on top of an online community, so you would expect the purposes here to be different.  However, I like the ability of uploading an image and not allowing others to see it.  For example, if I liked the services of DAP and wanted to use them to order prints from a certain shoot, I would not want to have all of the DA community to see every image.  I might want to upload the hi-res versions strictly to order prints from.  If I wanted to sell my work locally at shows, exhibits, or events, Mpix would allow you the ability to order prints as needed and handle the marketing/selling on the local level.  You do not run the risk of someone finding it online at DAP for a different price.  Mpix allows marking work private and I think is a great feature for those wanting to sell their work.

Final verdict?  I believe the next time I need to order prints online it will be through Mpix, not Deviant Art.

So am I saying in this review that DAP offers a horrible service?  Absolutely not.  Depending on how you need to use a printing service will change your own review.  If you are looking to sell a couple of pieces of your work here and there, DAP is great.  If you need something quick or an online service to get prints from, I believe Mpix is just the best route to go. Thought a little higher in pricing, Mpix offers very competitive quality prints with quicker service and turnaround.

“When I get 5,000 followers, I am giving away a prize.”

I have seen something similar to this several times over.  Having more followers means spreading your message even further, extending your virtual reach.  Let’s say you have 5,000 followers and then have 1,000 of them retweet that message.  Think about how drastically different your impact is.  So it makes sense to seek as many followers as possible.

But to what end?

Let’s say that you reached your goal.  You have selected some prize or something worth giving away and now have 8,000 followers.  You can easily sift through the followers and pick someone to give the prize  to.  In the process, you have now basically built a mailing list at the cost of whatever the prize was.  But what is going to be done with this new found fame?  Is it going to be used to tell 8,000 people that there is nothing on TV or that your yard needs mowing?

Do you have a plan?

One great example that I stumbled upon was the marketing plan executed by Papa John’s Pizza.  There is a contest running giving away free pizza for a year.  By “passing the pie” you could be selected to receive free pizza.  In order to qualify you have to register on their site, passthepieatlanta.com, and then pass along the message via Twitter or Facebook.  Granted, this does not require you to follow them on Twitter, but it does rapidly send out the message.

From my perspective, this is extremely effective marketing for the following reasons:

1. This is done at a very low cost to Papa John’s.  The costs for them are the free pizza and whatever employee hours were spent with the website, tracking, etc.
2. They now have a great mailing list, Twitter trend & following, and Facebook group.  This “database” is perfect for them because by filling it out, they have information from people that they know are interested in their pizza.  Why else fill it out, right? This was done without purchasing a mailing list, using direct mail, etc.
3. Others are now aware of their social media presence that were not previously aware and should they follow Papa John’s, they can now receive news and updates.

Another example is a local illustrative designer, Scott Thigpen.  According to Scott, he is running a contest where he will give away three custom prints.  The guy has skills and I have no doubt that the recipients of the prints will be very pleased.  I found out about the contest a couple of different ways, which to me shows planning on Scott’s part to get the word out.  I read about it via an email blast, read it on Twitter, as well as Facebook.  So it is clear Scott thought out the delivery of this contest and what it could do for his potential marketing reach.

All notifications point back to his blog here, which is also tied to his site.  Great way to get people back to your site, reading about you, your services, and viewing your portfolio.  On top of that, they get a chance to win something for nothing.  Well, probably should not say “nothing”, especially since part of the contest requires posting on Facebook as well as Twitter.  This will help Scott’s online presence and notify others of the fabulous service he is capable of providing.  I would be interested to hear from him about the percentage increase in subscribers and how that translates to an increase in business.

Lastly, I recently won a Twitter contest help by Artistic Photo Canvas. I won a $50 gift certificate for their printing services.  In a way I was shocked because I had to do very little to win.  What I found was a new worthwhile Twitter feed to follow, but more importantly to their company, I was made aware of who they are and what they do.  Prior to the Twitter contest, I had not heard of them.  I would venture a guess that others who participated, or even just read the Tweets from others, were made aware of APC that were not previously aware.  All of that from $50.  Imagine the cost of a printed mailer and the low return rate?  Imagine direct calls, email blasts, or other previously used marketing methods that may or may not have worked.  I guess the simple fact that I have posted something on Twitter about them and now included them in this blog post could tell you something, right? Twitter is a powerful venue but the real power is in harnessing that to your benefit.  I cannot wait to pick out a canvas print and it comes at a great time as we are opening a photography studio, which means these services are even more important to me and my own clients.

Summary

If you are planning on using a contest to boost your Twitter following, or other social media presence, have some type of plan.  Figure out what you are going to do with the data.  Think about the information you are putting out and what value is carried with it.  Do not waste the potential, because the potential is too great to be wasted.  It reminds me of a great quote, and I really wish I knew who said it so that I could give proper credit, but here it is: “Knowledge is not power.  The use of knowledge is power.”

How are you using what you know?

By the way, if you are not already following me, you should be twitter.com/dubtastic because you never know when I might start up my own contest!

I will not bore you with the play by play that has already happened, but to make a long story short we just need to finish mudding, sanding, paint & trim and we should be ready to go.  As soon as we have finished that (within the next couple of weeks) we will be able to pick up our business license and officially open the doors.  Here are a few shots that I took yesterday…

This is the main shooting area, which will feature approximately 1300 sq. ft. of open shooting space.  We were able to fit 3 large backdrops and lighting setups along the far wall.  There are speakers mounted on the walls allowing us to play the radio, CD, or our iPod/iPhone playlists and really rock the place out.

This is the back dressing room area.  The room to the left is the make-up station and the two to the right of that will be dressing rooms.  The slanted door to the far right is a storage closet.  To the very far right, and almost out of sight is the restroom.  Where I am standing to take the shot will be a fridge/microwave/coffee pot area.

If you enjoy those progression and more behind the scenes shots, hit this set on Flickr.

Once finished, we will be operating our own photography business out of the location.  Also, it will be available to rent for shoots, events, workshops, etc.  If you are interested, contact me or visit the Studio 42 website (which will launch along with the studio opening).

There is still a good bit of work to do, but we are right around the corner from the grand opening and are pretty excited about it.  This has been Mark’s (my brother-in-law) dream for quite a long time.  I am excited to be his business partner in the deal and to do what I can to help make this happen.

For many years now I have been a member at Deviant Art, sometimes active, and sometimes not.  An early criticism of the site was that it was a marketing engine and not a community as one might think of a community.  Who really cares, right?  It is up to them to make their money and they don’t have to promote themselves as an actual community.  I am sure a site of that size and traffic would require a healthy amount of money thrown at it in order to keep it working.

My interaction with that site has been both positive and negative, with most of the negative stemming from their print program.  I have long been a heavy critic of that service and also seen it drastically improve.  I had a membership for about a year which has since expired, so now I have been getting a taste of what a free member experiences.  And I am nauseated.

First, the functionally is clearly limited.  I have no issues with that.  I do not expect a site as large as DA is to run for free and to offer unlimited capabilities to everyone.  I would expect that as a paying member I would get something that unpaid visitors do not.  That is just how it works.  The advertising, however, is a different ball game and also illustrates how out of touch DA actually is.

Here is one advertisement:

Are you a committed artist?  Then sign up and “get the respect an asterisk next to your username demands”.  I guess by having a free account I am announcing to the world the lack of seriousness.  I have never paid any attention to any special character in front of any name and wouldn’t really know why having an asterisk would afford more respect to the work that I upload.  For me, I would take more pride in knowing that I am supporting a site that I enjoy participating in rather than feeling like donating money makes me more of a committed artist in the eyes of others.

It gets better.

Here is another ad.  Maybe I am not the target demographic for these ads, which is why I throw up in my mouth when I see them.  I am a 30-something dad.  Reading some of the ads makes me feel as if the targeted audience is much younger.

Now that I see my profile page is getting “tiredzZzz!” I guess I should really jump on the ball and give DA my money.

As I continue about my business, uploading an image, toward the end, I see this:

I have heard too many people say that they never received quality feedback on their work at DA.  Comments such as “OMG! tHat is awesome!” and “kewl” were not just to be expected, but standard operating procedure.  If you know that and understand that about the site, then you are good to go.  But to me, to be able to request serious comments about work only as a subscriber is sad.  What does that say to non-subscribers?  More importantly, that very option drives at the heart of the level of seriousness, or lack of, with many users.  If you feel the need to market that to people, then one could make the argument that it has been lacking.  Why else would there be the need to ask for it or promote it?

While I am not a paid member and cannot request a “real critique” of my work, I do get to see the critiques of pieces I follow through the message center.  Here is one that caught my eye. 

Gee, if only I could pay to get that type of feedback.

As I said, perhaps I am no longer the targeted audience for these ads.  It is just a shame that the features and advertising does not appeal to a different group to make it more tempting to subscribe.

Like any true photog & blogger combo would do, the entire process was documented.  First, I was reading the Strobist Blog which had some great information.  Mostly, I admire the DIY folks and stand in awe of their ability to achieve really great results from next to nothing.  But something struck me with this project, especially as it is something that I truly need.

The Strobist blog says that it cost them $10 (with a bit of a stretch).  Mine cost $1.  That of course is assuming that you have all of the items already, which I did.  I used the ABR800 box, which with the top flaps removed it was about 12” x 12” x 18” (if I remember correctly).  I also had some plain white paper from a large easel pad that was at work (the department was going to toss it out!).  We already had tape as well.  So really, I just needed some posterboard and then I would be set.  I ran up to Publix and got 2 sheets for $1, came home, and started cuttin’.

First, I have to admit that this took me two tries.  Normally I wouldn’t mention it except that the first time around I made the cutout too large so the box was too flimsy.  Also, I had cut the top, which I didn’t really need to do.  So before you get started, get a tape measure and also figure out which area of the box allows the box to sit most steadily.

Grab your measuring tape and measure out where you want to cut.  Given the size of my box, I measured out 1 ½” from the edge on all sides.  I cut out three sides but in reality, you could get away with cutting out the left and right sides.

Should you opt to cut all three sides, you should have something close to this:

Next, grab the paper (obviously you need to get something that will allow light to come through) and put it on the areas that were cut out.  I chose to put the paper inside of the box but I doubt it matters as long as light is allowed to come through.

I then took the posterboard, cutting it to fit the inside, and placed a sheet of it under the top panel of the box.  The Strobist blog made mention of that and how the reflective surface of the posterboard would help with the lighting inside of the box.  I then took the other sheet of posterboard and cut it to fit long ways. It was placed along the back and bottom panels, with the curve in the back similar to a cyc wall.

For shooting, that was rather simple.  For you Nikon folks, CLS works great here.  I placed a single SB-800 facing the left side of the box (TTL + 2).  The onboard was set to TTL -2 to put some light on the front of the object, but not too much.  I would have really liked to put another light on the right but didn’t have one handy to use.  Still, I was pleased with the result.  The below images were shot with a D80 and a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens, hand held.

Here is the setup shot for the above images.

Total credit to the fine folks at the Strobist blog for this idea and their fine write-up.  It was really fun to try it myself and now I have something that is actually functional which only cost me a $1.  Can’t really beat that.

The camera straps offered by Black Rapid are really quite impressive.  At first, I was skeptical as it did not seem too reliable in how the strap was connected to the camera and how the camera was supported.  Basically, leaving the camera to hang by my side with a single connector brought with it a feeling of vulnerability that I was not quite ready to deal with.

I had heard complaints regarding the original versions and that cameras were dropped.  Not due to the strap itself, but the connector/latch.  I was told that the lobster claw would invert and pop out, letting the fastener to come out causing your camera to drop.  This was said to be improved and corrected in newer strap models.

Still, I thought I would give it a shot.

With a price tag of $48, I was almost tempted to try the DIY versions offered via Photojojo, but I wanted to try the real thing and not trust my own ability to craft a quality product.  I was pleased with a relatively quick processing and shipment of my order.

I immediately fell in love with how the strap fit.  It felt far more natural than having the camera hanging on my chest.  Also, shooting portrait style completely removed the strap from my viewfinder.  It is a tad bit cumbersome for my right hand where it connects, but having big hands it is not an inconvenience, or so much of an inconvenience as to not use the strap.

The lobster claw and fastener area is vastly improved from what I saw of earlier models.  In fact, it is almost a pain to remove the connector from the strap itself, which I prefer because that means my camera will stay connected.  It is a sturdy connection and having shot several type of events with the strap, I no longer worry about the strap coming undone or dropping my camera.  The fastener paint chips really quickly and already looks a bit beat up.  I don’t really care though, because it is functional.

The zipper pouch to me is useless.  I guess I could see how someone might want or need that, but I have yet to use it.  I would have rather had some way to connect my memory card pouch to it, which is more practical for me.

What I like best is the overall feel.  When I am not shooting, the camera sits to my side and I feel freed in a sense (yea, I know that sounds a bit silly).

Overall, I think the price tag is just a tad bit high, but the product is quality so I did not mind paying for it, especially after using it.

Not too terribly long ago I submitted two images for possible inclusion in Bulb Magazine.  I was pleased to see that one of the images was picked up in Issue 11.

The original image was taken in McDonough, Georgia.  I found a trailer/camper with scripture written on every side.  Thankfully I had my camera with me.

For those that are not familiar with Bulb Magazine, here is what they offer in regards to their goal:

Fast way of living that is so modern today is reflected on all aspects of life, and photography is no exception. We are daily bombed with new info and improved photo equipment by big companies, cameras were never more available, and by this facts only this is very productive time for photography and more and more shots are taken every day. As a result of this rate you can find, all over web, galleries overfilled with shots with all kinds of quality. It is very often that because of that, some interesting and extraordinary authors with their style are lost in the mass.

Situation with photo magazines is no different than the one mentioned above. The accent is on the products and commercials instead on some interesting techniques, new creations, quality itself or artists. Bulb Magazine will slow down the rhythm propagating the message that it is more important to think through and about the photograph than to follow this rhythm of hyper-production. We are more like a book, and less than a movie: the place where you can enjoy in creative power of photography.

Our goal is through Bulb Magazine to point out creative authors with their diversity and give them the opportunity to show their visions to much bigger and wider audience.

Check out Bulb Magazine and sift through their releases.  Truly inspiring work.