Friday, September 05, 2008

Introduction

I'm zetson. I'm very interested in photography and have found it's a very expensive hobby... My list of equipment have grown and grown the last six months and think it's enough right now. The list looking like this as we speak:

Nikon D300
Sigma 10-20mm
Nikkor 35mm f/2D
Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D
Sigma 70-200mm f2.8
Three  Nikon SB-600's
SB-800
Two  translucent 42" umbrellas
One 45" reflective umrella with silver lining
Two light stands
Cactus triggers and recievers

A couple of weeks ago I found the big advantage of shooting manual (both camera and flash). Before that I relied only on aperture priority in the camera and CLS for controlling the flashes. Even though CLS is short for "Creative Lighing System", I feel that I can be more creative controlling everything manually.

The reason why I created this blog is to show you how I use this equipment to create different types of effects with a strobe setup. This is pretty much a technical diary for myself so that I have a reference of what settings that were used, but I would be glad if this information can be helpful for other strobists too:)

Zetson

6 comments:

John Brainard said...

I'm glad to see you put up a blog. I'll be looking forward to your lighting setups.

You might want to fill in the title field when you're creating your blog entries. They show up with "Title unknown" in Google Reader.

The Sigma 10-20mm lens is a great lens. I have it in a Canon mount and love it.

How do you like your cactus triggers? I'll be in the market soon for a set and have been going between the CyberSyncs and Skyports.

zetson said...

Thank you for the comment. Wow, my first one:) Where do I enter the title? I can't see it...

The cactus trigger are pretty nice. They don't work 100% of the time, but they work just fine considering the price. They work about 10-15 from the transmitter.

I love my 10-20, and use it only on 10mm where I have found it works best. A circular polarizer is recommended for those "blow you away" landscape shots:)

John Brainard said...

Hmmm... When you create a new blog entry, there's a text box above the editor box for the title.

I'll have to play with my 10-20mm and see if I can tell the difference in quality at 10 and 20mm. Normally I have mine at 10mm, but when I taking pictures of the kids in the back yard, I'm more likely to set it to 20mm. And I definitely need a polarizing filter for mine.

zetson said...

Thanks, I found the title thing. I had to change the settings for the blog page. There was an option to show the title box or not... Strange option, if you ask me:) But thanks for reminding me about that.

According to the review for the 10-20mm it was designed to work best at 10mm since that is the focal lenght that people will use the most with this kind of lens. I think the sharpness and distorition changes when you increase the focal lenght.

Leona said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Leona said...

I stumbled on to your blog when I checked out that cool texture pic with the pencils. Dude, you amaze me! I think I have learned more reading your handful of post than I have in the last couple months. Downside: (for you) Now I know who to come to with lighting questions! I will definetly be keeping tabs to see what you do next.
lissykeeper