cheap wireless transmitter

 What is it about gadgets and gizmos that have such strong appeal?  You may recall that in recent posts, I only just figured out a way to activate a slave flash trigger ($11.99) by a homemade adaptor cable.  Then, I learned that someone claimed you can use a dark blue and red piece from a gel swatch book ($3.76) to filter out visible light and wirelessly activate that same optical trigger.  I tried it, but for some reason, I can't figure out how to make it work as reliably as the wired setup.  You can see that the camera's flash is still visible as a mild purplish light, but it doesn't reflect a significant amount of light from your subject. so that on those rare occasions that I can get this thing to work, this plastic shield that I taped to my popup flash functions as a wireless transmitter.  Cool!

Here's one of the tests that I did.  One of the failed attempts made me look like a ghost, and I posted that pic on Facebook.  Oh, and it was done on a Saturday, while I was grubby.  And yes, I know that I'm badly in need of a haircut.  But this is not about me being a model, okay?

eyes that tell stories

You look to the eyes for a story, right?  From time to time, we take in an animal for foster care through our local vet clinic.  This is Mona.  We were supposed to have her for two weeks, but it's stretching to almost three.  Not to worry.  We think we may have found a good home for her.  I think her eyes tell us that she is content.  She has a sweet disposition.  She's gentle and mild, plus, she does not bark much.  In fact, I think my dog taught her that she's supposed to bark when she hears someone at the door.

Her eyes tell another story, too.  The reflection from her eye is in sharp focus, so that if you look carefully, you will see the lighting that I used for this picture.  I took some non-functioning relics that used to be a wireless flash transmitter and receiver, stripped the guts, and hardwired it to make an extension cable from my camera's hot shoe to an external flash.  I mounted the flash on a tripod, and aimed it straight up to the ceiling, and one or two feet to my left.  Since I was blocking some of the light from the windows behind me, the result was that the front lights came from my left and right for a soft fill.  The key light was what the flash bounced off the ceiling.  Black fur absorbs so much light, that I usually find it impossible to see this much detail.  That, plus her eyes are almost always hiding in the shadows.

Oh, and guess what... I did not realize that I had my camera set to "continuous auto-focus."  Last week's zone focusing was a type of manual focusing; this was auto-focused.  So anyway, when I was focusing, then repositioning, a lot of my pics were coming out blurry.  Grrr...  I can't believe it took me so long to find out!!!  That only presented a problem in one of the focusing methods I used.  Maybe I'll talk more about those, later.

s2

Part of the fun of a DSLR is that your camera can be an accomplice when you want to break the rules.  Sure, I like the simplicity of using a compact Point & Shoot on automatic settings, but there is something special about the response you get from playing with all these lovely manual options!

This portrait of my son (S2) was done by using a high ISO plus the flash.  I bounced the flash up at a 45 degree angle, so that I could also wash out the wall behind him.  Then, I cleaned it up just a little and tweaked the color for an effect that looks more like an illustration than a photo.  I hope you like it.

night lights

Good news - I've begun carrying my camera bag again!

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Daylight lingers until after I start heading home these days. Sunset's spectacle changes so very rapidly, that I hurried into a lot at the local park to set up a tripod and snap off a few pics.

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Besides the amazing colors in the sky, the ground was an interesting blue-gray hue. It was important to me that I capture the snowbank in the foreground, so I used a flash. The white snow in the foreground makes the blue behind it look like it's painted on, but that's what I found so fascinating here. I did not add the blue in the back... I removed it from the front (by using a flash). That blue compliments the orange sunset rather nicely, don't you think?

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It is 56 degrees (f) as I write this. (That converts to 13 c.) It is so warm, that I walked out front during a break, and filled my lungs, but could barely reconcile what I felt on my skin with the piles of snow that still cover the ground. I reached down to touch it and make sure the snow was still cold.

painted sunrise

There is not much going on outside for me these days. I am usually hurrying to get out of the weather, and into someplace warm and dry... especially if I can find hot chocolate and peanut butter cookies!

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I hope it's not too tacky, but I saw a nice sunrise on Sunday and thought I'd fiddle around with it in post editing. I ran it through a program that makes it look painted, but then pulled back a bit from that effect. This one is more intense than the original photo, but less intense than the paint feature wanted to make it.

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The next photo remained natural, but instead of allowing the silhouette, I added flash. That way, we can see the snow on the branches.

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time to relax

Big plans tonight. We have decided to... just sit back and relax... maybe watch a movie and read a bit. It should be nice.

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Friends, last night I ran sound for a band, and one comment got under my skin and bugged me the whole night. One of the guys picked up a cabasa and started shaking it like a maraca. I was re-doing the keyboard setup, and heard this man say that all sound is music; it just depends on your interpretation. I guess I could take that kind of pseudo-philosophical drivel better if he was an accomplished musician, but that was not the case. I could not stay silent; I challenged his position and attempted to show him the folly of his argument.

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There is a sense in which a person can listen to leaves rustling in the wind, and consider it music. But when a musician is part of a band, it is important to work together with the rest of the members. Learn the harmony. Hit your notes. Make sure the sounds you make convey the meaning of the words... that's music.

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Doing your own thing is fine for a child playing in his or her house, but not for a mic'd musician on stage. I'll tell you this, if it was up to me to assemble the band, I certainly would not choose someone who thinks like this quirky cabasa guy.

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As you can probably tell, I'm still wound up about this. I could sure use a break.

view from my cage

The rain fell hard on Sunday afternoon. I had been hoping to cut the grass, but instead found myself caged in. Not that I mind being indoors, it's just that Sunday had a gorgeous start, and I had a powerful urge to clip the top off of the lawn.

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The rain was spectacular. It came down in big, fat drops--lots of it! Then, it tapered off, and the birds began singing again. A few flew to the feeder, and I wondered if they might still come with an open window. The thing is that I can't use flash when they come to this window, and they are usually backlit.

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I opened the window nice and wide, thanking the Lord that we are not in mosquito weather. I draped a black backdrop over me and knelt next to the window. As the kids passed through the room, my wife made sure they didn't approach the window, so that I would have a better chance of getting a bird.

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I got a few pictures. These poor birds were all drenched. I wasn't sure how they would react to the flash... well, this is it! They each flew away as I set off the flash. Wow, they're fast!!

happy campers

A few of our young people attended a week's worth of intensive training to supplement their home education. These are a few of our scientists. As we drove back home from Wisconsin, the incessant download of information kept switching back and forth between the academic experience and social exchanges. I'm glad my daughter had a good time while she was learning. In case it is not obvious already, my daughter is the one in the middle.

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Clear, blue skies made way for brilliant sunlight as the students packed their bags in their respective minivans. I already had my new Pentax in hand, because I had been taking pictures of the trees, so I asked if I could get a shot of these girls together. They lined up on one side of the road, facing the sun. They were squinting at the camera, with cabins and busy-ness behind them. I suggested they take a few steps to the other side of the road. Wanting to avoid silhouetting from the strong backlight, I used an external flash for fill-in.

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I guess they had already traded emails and phone numbers, because presently, they were just engaging in light conversation. Perhaps they had already said their goodbyes. I finished my second cup of coffee, and hopped in the Caravan, ready for two and-a-half hours of cheerful gabbing.

gateway greetings

While I was visiting St. Louis, I nearly buffed the nose right off my face with Kleenex. Sunday and Monday were the only times I went out walking. Here, I used a secondary flash in an attempt to compensate for strong backlighting at the Gateway Arch. No tripod... I just propped the camera up with a bag, and held the second flash in place with goose poop and leaves. Seriously, there was a 20° slope where I placed it, so I had to use a stick to push a couple bird turds in place, and top them off with leaves for a place to lay my flash. I was hoping to try the shot again later with a bluer sky, and with a different solar perspective, but decided it would be wiser to drown myself in tea and rest quietly in my hotel room. I feel much better now.

people pics

This boy makes a good subject. (I have his dad's permission to post the pic.) I know that the photographer is supposed to make the subject feel comfortable, but it was the opposite with him. I asked, "would you stand by that tree? on the other side? come out a little more. now step back just a smidge... He let me tell him how I wanted him to stand on a nearby fence, and let me take several photos with the sun behind him, as I messed around with the flash. He was so accomodating, and put me at ease from the start. When I looked at this picture, I got to feeling pretty competent.

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Ha! Then I asked a visiting telecommuter if I could take her picture. She said yes, but I felt sooooo uncomfortable. I don't know why, but the creep-o-meter was off the scales. My confidence waned to zero. (I don't know why--it didn't make any sense.) She asked what I was going to use the picture for, and I didn't have the heart to tell her, "probably nothing, because most of what I take is thrown away." The LCD screen was dark, but I didn't want to take any more time to fix the lighting, so I told them (2 coworkers) thanks, and crawled back into the hole that is my cubicle. That is all.

nightlife

Momma doesn't like me hanging around with the riff raff who roam the streets at night. But I like these guys. The skunks are nice animals. They don't go 'round stinking on people unless they're provoked. And the bats have been eating the mosquitoes. The only thing on God's green earth that I hate more than mosquitoes is dandelions, so the enemy of my enemy has become my friend.

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As you may have surmised, these were taken with something more than just the pop-up flash on my point & shoot. I used an infrared slave device to trigger a stronger flash. The bats were really hard to catch, since their flight patters are so quick and irregular.

frankenstein's camera

Preliminary tests are in on my Franken-camera. (Thanks to Lime, for the nickname.) It is intimidating to me, especially when I add a white envelope high atop the stack for soft fill-in. I can only imagine what the subjects think when I point this enigmatic contraption at them. Naturally, I have lots to learn here. The very first picture I took with this external flash & slave trigger was a skunk at 10:30 PM. It was dark outside, but the photo lights up like the middle of the day.

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On the left, we have a sample of what happens when we leave the flash off. I could have spot-metered it, but what fun would that be? This was more dramatic.

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Compare that to this one below, bounced off the ceiling with strong backlight.

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(By the way, those are my beloved paternal units. Mom sets up a story with a poker face, while Dad's anticipation of the outcome telegraphs the ending... a subtlety we catch with Franken-flash.)

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All of this leaves me awestruck with wonder at the complicated workings of the human eye. I worship God for creating our eyes to automatically and freely process raw visual information without having to strap on a bazillion gadgets and gizmos.

a slave for Craver

My camera has a flash mount, but not a hotshoe. The difference? This camera is designed to exclusively trigger a proprietary flash, which costs too much money for me. I have another flash, but it sits unusable, collecting dust.

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Until now. I picked up a slave flash trigger for thirty-three bucks. This can be used as far as 100 feet away, and I would like to experiment with some shots where the flash is strategically positioned. But I also wanted to be able to bounce the flash off the ceiling and/or use a bigger flash on top of my camera. In order to activate the trigger, the infrared receiver needs to "see" another flash go off. It looks like a monstrosity, but I am eager to see how it works.

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The unit came in last week, but I haven't found occasion to use it yet. I hope to experiment with portraits next Sunday.

exposed

This worm in the grass was photographed at 11PM. Yes, POST meridian, and it was pitch black outside, too. After a hectic and rainy day, I went to sit out in the cool night air, and after my eyes adjusted, I noticed the worms on the sidewalk. Using a penlight, I found this one in the grass, manually focused, and turned the flash on. Voila! "The darkness has seen a great light!"

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Speaking of exposure, I was talking to my chiropractor friend. He said that during x-rays, women wear a smock, but his gentlemen patients forego the modest attire because they think it looks like a dress. I told him it should be plaid. That way, they can pretend they're wearing a kilt! Aye Laddie!

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[Click to enlarge the photo and see if you can find a second worm. I did.]