Finally finished the DIY Ring-Flash project!!

Now I know what that stubborn last pile of crumbs at the bottom of a Pringle's tube must feel like...

So I had been surfing through some of the DIY posts on strobist.com and I came across a post on ring-flashes. That started a month-long process into determining the best way to build a ring-flash for my needs. I finally arrived at a couple of youtube videos (link) to base my design on. Then there was another month or so of collecting the odds and ends that would be necessary to build the thing.

So one of the reasons it took me so long to get moving this thing was that it was an issue of logistics--finding the parts, finding solutions to what I thought could be an improvement to the original design or perhaps I could not find a part called for and had to come up with or create something else.

Since I did not have a vise to help me bend the steel stock, I pulled a rock from the garden that served as an anvil. The rock worked awesome as it had different edges that would allow me to bend the steel at different angles by smashing it with a really big hammer!

So the few mods I made to the suggested process in the youtube vids was to use some tinfoil and spray adhesive to help diffuse the light, I wrapped the cold steel stock with black hockey tape to warm it up and make it look a little better, made the tripod mount and the flash mount with wing-nuts for ease and speed, used a radio trigger instead of a tether, and used a tinfoil-wrapped card directly at the bottom of the diffusion screen (dollar store cutting board) in front of the flash head to get rid of a hot spot (instead ended up with a dead spot! Oh Well!) and with my 580 ex, I would mount it so that it was actually crooked so I could have easy access to the flash controls. I also have left a couple of spots of velcro on the inside so I can gel the flash if I want to.

So although pleased with the final product, I am very much aware of the limitations that this thing has--the biggest one being holy crap this thing is heavy!! Heh! Heh! Actually it's more about the fact that is is awkwardly weighted, this makes finding a good place to hold the thing difficult--it's a two-hander!! With that said, I didn't really have a problem with it when shooting macro in the yard for a good two hours. Maybe I just need to toughen up...

So on to the results!! Man I love the soft light from this thing--at least for macro shots. Yeah, so I went through the yard with this around my canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens and shot everything I thought may look interesting. This dandelion head is my favourite.


I find the soft light really fills in the textures and with the right aperture and exposure settings, the light falls off to give a great separation from the bg. On some of the subjects that were a little reflective, you could see the ring-flash in the reflection like in our cat's eyes or, if you look really close, in these water droplets--you may need to click on them to enlarge them enough to see what exactly it is that I am talking about.

The next step is to find a willing (or not) subject to do some portrait stuff with! Anyway, I've already started my next project which will be a DIY beauty dish. I have all the parts I think I may need, I just need the time!

For a look at my first round of shots with this flash, click here.

He is 9' 3", she is average height--how to compose without cropping his head....

Alright, so not really--but Mark is 6'7"! So yeah, we had some fun during their engagement shoot! There were some really fun and funny moments and all the while, we were carrying around a little step-stool so I could get Jen into the shots! Heh! Heh!

So to get these pictures, it took two nights, a couple of heavy, black, matching jackets (real cute guys... what, were your track suits in the laundry!? Ha! Ha!) and some warm drinks afterward!

The night of the black jackets, the temperature could not have been more than 6 or 7 degrees... My hands were having trouble working the camera but more importantly, Mark and Jen were freezing even in their matching jackets.

I was looking at their red, running noses thinking about all the photoshopping it was going to take to salvage some pics... The night wasn't a complete loss since we had a lot of fun and some really beautiful light!

This shot was just lightly touched to adjust some contrast but had some nice light, a nice flare, a sweet moment--and you can't even see the cold noses!

As I'm going through the shots, we really captured some great moments.

I've sent Mark and Jen a gallery of teasers that I will be updating each day up to their wedding. Once they have seen them, I'll do a quick update and put a link up!

Stay tuned...

Yaaay!! They're done and Mark and Jen love'em! Check out the slideshow here. I'll be making a post soon about the first image in the gallery which is my first HDR... I like it!!

"Flying around the house" while getting chores done--vacuuming makes me angry!!

I got home from work the other day and had to run the vacuum over the floor before company came over... okay, I'll stop lying to you! It just sounds better than, "my girlfriend wasn't home for another hour so I better get some foolish photography ideas out of my head before she gets home and laughs her ass off at me!" I wouldn't even be able to blame her- what, with all of the falling on my face and all every single time I tried to get that timing just right... You would think that the self-timer would not have been such a hard thing to get the timing right on--but I can assure you, that long beep just before the shutter snaps is a looooong beep!! Heh! Heh! When I have some time I'll be sure to flickr a few of the MANY outtakes and some details...my ribs hurt...

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate the lawn mower? Stay tuned...

Alright, so I haven't gotten into the whole Flickr thing yet--Paul I need you to tell me the difference between free and pro accounts...BUT I have posted the series of photos on my website here.


So as you may have figured out, I used some photoshop here. This is a composite of two images--one of me jumping with the vacuum onto pads and the other of just the room. I erased the pads from the shot and the rim flash and that's about it! The rest is real.

What a chore it was to actually get everything right! Other than the timing the biggest thing I had the greatest difficulty with was intentionally falling on my face.... again, and again.... In fact, my first bunch of trials were me chickening out and as a result, even if the timing was right, my body position wasn't great! The result was a ton of outtakes and lots of laughs!!

Anyway, I'll leave you with my favourite of the outtakes and that is actually the very first attempt I made. As you can see, not only was my timing off but I also turtled in mid-flight as I chickened out since I did not want to land flat... I guess I didn't think I may land on my face instead...

For more info on the lighting setup or more pics, go HERE.

I'm a blogger--what's next, facebook!?!?

Here I am blogging... I never thought I would see the day! My girlfriend laughs at me since I haven't even updated my facebook profile in a year or two! Ha! Ha!

As this is my first post, I thought it would be fitting to say I am hoping to turn this site into a bit of a 'behind-the-scenes' of intensephotographic.com. We'll see what this thing looks like first, I'll take some time to put a first true post together then it's just a matter of maintaining it--right!? Ha! Ha!
Time will tell...