ScottAlanPhoto's Blog

Just For Kicks

Lightsmith — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 06:21:50 +0000

I recently got asked to do a shoot of a young lady and her shoe collection. However, she wanted me to photograph her with each pair on… about 50 pairs of shoes. So, I did… Here are some of the shots that I really liked…

My Review of Holga 120N Medium Format Fixed Focus Camera with Lens

Lightsmith — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 13:55:41 +0000

Originally submitted at Adorama

Holga 120N Medium Format Fixed Focus Camera with Lens

Mucho Fun

By Scott Alan Photo from Longview, Texas on 1/2/2012

Pros: Stable Flash Sync

Best Uses: Artwork, Photography

Describe Yourself: Pro Photographer

Was this a gift?: No

The Holda 120N. Ahhh. Great camera to play with. What I really realy like is that it has a hot shoe on it so you can connect a flash to it. It’s built from plastic so it’s not going to be as durable as a digital SLR but I knew that going into the purchase. There is 2 f stops (f8 & f11) and 1 shutter speed of 1/100th of a second. The camera is not complicated at all and is fully manual. If you are looking for something auto and durable this camera is not for you but if you are looking to play around with some 120 film and have fun with a camera and make some cool art this is a must get!

(legalese)

My Review of Sigma EF-530 DG Super Shoe Mount Flash for Canon EOS E-TTL-II Digital SLR’s, Guide Number 174 feet at 105mm Setting.

Lightsmith — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 13:49:26 +0000

Originally submitted at Adorama

Sigma EF-530 DG Super Shoe Mount Flash for Canon EOS E-TTL-II Digital SLR’s, Guide Number 174 feet at 105mm Setting.

Good Speedlight

By Scott Alan Photo from Longview, Texas on 1/2/2012

Pros: Fast Recycling, Durable, Powerful Output, Consistent Output, Easy To Use

Cons: Bulky

Best Uses: Portraits, Night Photography, Photojournalism, Fill Flash, General Use

Describe Yourself: Pro Photographer

Was this a gift?: No

As a photographer I shoot all kinds of pictures from high school seniors to families to weddings and events. This speedlight has been a great addition to my collection of grear. The output is consistant and powerful. Recycletime is not too bad either. The functions are pretty easy to figure out once you toy with it a few times. One downfall I found with this is that there is no pc terminal. I love shooting off camera flash and to do so with this flash unit it has to be used as a slave and for fill flash or a secondary flash. The only improvement I would suggest to Sigma on their speedlights would be to add a pc terminal.

(legalese)

4×6 prints in seconds

Lightsmith — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 16:12:57 +0000

Canon makes a small compact affordable photo printer that can have your prints ready in seconds. It’s called the Canon Selphy Photo Printer. I actually have two different models of the printer. I have the CP780 and the CP800. The CP780 was the generation just before the CP800 and there were a few changes. The most notable is the fact that it’s a little smaller as you can see to the left. The 800 also has a screen that pops up for much easier viewing. The third thing that I noticed is that at one point I plugged in the printers and the first one that I turned on said something to the fact that the power supply was wrong. So then I just switched power supplies and all was well. They both accept SD/miniSD and compact flash cards. The menus are quite easy to figure out once you are trying to print and there is a little “editing” you can do before you print as well (nothing like photoshop work though). The best thing about these printers are that they are very mobile and batteries can be purchased for the units so that you do not need an outlet to use them. The printers are what are called “Dye Sub” printers. The paper passes through the printer 4 times leaving a different color coating on with each pass and during the last pass the printer leaves a UV protective coating on the 4×6 print. The ink/paper comes in a bundle pack that can be purchased for about $34.99 and you get 108 prints out of it making each print about 30 to 32 cents. Once you have printed all 108 prints it’s time to change the ink cartridge. These printers can be hook up to your computer and you can print from your computer as well. If I were to rank these little guys amongst labs that can get your prints to you in an hour I would have to rate these prints as a 10. Are they the best prints I’ve ever seen? No, but they are very dadgum good. I would recommend these printers to anyone who loves taking snapshots of the kids and wants to see prints quick and somewhat inexpensive without the hassle of going to a one hour lab. These printers are also good for photographers who do event photography and would like to produce a product on the spot (remember there is not much editing so know your light and be confident using it). Overall these printers are a good buy at just around $100 each and I would highly recommend them to anyone!

Back Up Juice

Lightsmith — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 04:39:36 +0000

I recently got asked to shoot probably the biggest, or should I say, longest gigs the week after Christmas. I will be shooting football games all week long at the Cowboys Stadium. The shortest day will be 8 hours of shooting with the longest being about 12. I had to get some back up juice. As most (or some) of you might know I like to find a good deal on gear. I looked and looked all over for a good deal on a battery. I came across this battery on www.amazon.com put out by Maxtek. It’s an LP-E6 which is made for the Canon 7D, the Canon 5D Mark II, and one other Canon model if I can remember correctly. I just got it in the mail today. I opened the box and it looked just like the Canon brand. What I really liked about this battery was the fact that in the discription online it said that it could be charged by the Canon charger. I put it on the charger, plugged it in, and waited. FINALLY… Charged! I wanted to see if this battery would last so I put it in my camera today and took pictures off and on for several hours. The battery icon did not even budge. I’m hoping thats a good thing because if the icon is jacked up, I’m in trouble. HAHA! Anyway, this Maxtek LP-E6 battery was a mere $16.95 on Amazon, which was definitely worth the purchase. I may pick up a few more while they are still available for that price! Just thought I’d pass along the steal of a deal! Peace out!

Party Time

Lightsmith — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:01:42 +0000

This past Friday I shot a birthday party at the Mud Hut here in Longview. That was the first time I had been inside the place. Before shooting this birthday party I did not really even know what the place was all about. They have tons of different pottery to select from to paint. This is definately something I want to do once my daughter gets old enough to remember it.

Embrace the Struggle

Lightsmith — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 17:00:53 +0000

Many of you may have heard of Zig Ziglar. Many of you may have not. I remember my mom reading some books by him years ago when I was young. Back then I could not stand reading. Once I got older I started to enjoy reading. I would read autobiographies of athletes, books on business, art, photography, and religion. I recently picked up a book by Zig Ziglar called “Embrace the Struggle.” I did not know much about this man until I started reading this book. I knew he was a motivational speaker/writer and that was about it. Once I started reading this book I could not put it down. This book was so motivational. The book talks about obsticles his his life and the lifes of others that they had to overcome. The book talks about “living life on life’s terms” as Ziglar states many times throughout the book. Here is are some things that Ziglar talks about in the book: To Embrace Is to Accept, Transparency, Physical Struggles, Financial Struggles, From Addiction to Service, Marriage Struggles, and Spiritual Struggles, to list some.

I have had a lot going on this past year from personal struggles, to a job loss, to trying to get the photography business going in a very competitive market. I came across this book at the right time and I do not think anything happens by chance. No matter if you are in the midst of a struggle right now or have been in one in the past I can promise you that you will come upon another struggle in the future. I highly recommend finding a copy and reading it with an open heart and mind.

Sunpak

Lightsmith — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:43:25 +0000

This past Spring I shot a wedding and I love having back up gear and/or a backup shooter. For this particular wedding I had a shooter but they did not have a speedlight. I decided to purchase one at the last minute for my second shooter and so that I would have one on hand in the future. I did some looking around but did not want to spend a lot of money. I ended up purchasing the Sunpak PZ42X. Once I opened the package and started searching over the unit the first disappointment I came across was the fact that there was no slave mode (When a hotshoe flash or strobe is in slave mode that means that when it sees the flash of another unit it will fire itself). Turning the unit over I noticed that there were not a lot of buttons compared to other hotshoe units I’ve used. This makes it pretty simple in my opinion, which is a good thing. There is the on/off switch, a mode button, a select button, and a test/charge button. Once you have the unit on you can scroll through the mode menu and select if you want the unit in manual mode or TTL /auto mode, digital or 35mm, you can choose what exposure value you want, and if you want the flash zoom in auto or manual. Once you choose the mode you then hit the select button to scroll through you options. It’s as simple as that. As far as the power goes I was pleased with the performance. You can select between full power all the way down to 1/64th power, which is not as low as some hotshoe flashes go but it got the job done. The flash zoom goes as wide as 16mm and far as 70mm. Again, it does not have the range that other more expensive hotshoe flashes have but it got the job done. I want to say that I purchased this flash for no more than $130 and for the price I paid I was well pleased with the performance I got from it as a second/backup unit. This unit is meant strictly for on camera use so you cannot use it for off camera flash. They have units that are dedicated to Canon and Nikon for sure but I do not remember what other systems I saw that they would work with. If you are looking for a hotshoe flash and don’t want to empty your wallet or purse and don’t mind the limitations of using it strictly on camera this is a unit I would definitely recommend..

I’ve Been Abducted By Alien Bees

Lightsmith — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 07:57:53 +0000

Yes that is partially true. When I was working for a pretty well known studio (I try to avoid mentioning it as much as possible) we used White Lightning strobes. Once I decided I wanted to invest in some for myself I tried to do as much research on my own as I could. I looked at names like Photogenic, JTL, White Lightning, and several cheap-o’s listed throughout magazines I was/am reading. I hit up an old mentor of mine to find out what he recommended. He told me that Alien Bees where the way to go. He said they were made by the same company that made White Lightning but they were less expensive. I was like WOWzers… I’ve got to check these out. I did my homework on them and found out that they were the real deal. Where they top of the line strobes? No, not quite. But they would get the job done. I finally decided to purchase one. The first AB strobe I purchased was the black one, and the 800 model. When it arrived it came with this bag, the cord, the light, bulbs, and 2 attachments if I wanted to fasten some gels to the front. If you notice on the back they seem pretty simple to use since there are not many buttons or knobs to learn. There is a power control that slides back and forth. There is an on and off button for the modeling lamp. Of course you have the main power button and you have a test button. There is a sync port so that you can hook up a radio reciever and there is a remote terminal so that you can hook up a remote if desired. I was/am quite pleased. Since then I have purchased two more AB 800′s and I enjoy them. 98% of the studio work I do is with the AB 800′s (Probably 1% of the time I will use my Vivitar 285hv and lately I have been doing some work with blacklights). My only regret is that I did not purchase a AB 1600. The extra stop of power would come in nice from time to time. If you are looking to purchase some strobes I would highly Highly HIGHLY recommend Alien Bees as your first choice. The reason being is because it’s a quality, powerful light and if you go with something less expensive and less powerful you will most likely upgrade anyways. If you decide you do not like them or that photography with strobes is not your thing the resale value of them holds as well. AND Come to find out there are people out there shooting AB’s that I would have thought would be shooting Profoto or the like, if that says anything about the light.of t

Slingshot

Lightsmith — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 13:56:04 +0000

This camera bag is a Slingshot backpack. I am not exactly sure which model number this one is. I would have to guess it’s the 100 series. This type of bag is great for a photojournalist or someone who is needing quick access to their camera on a consistent basis. When you have the bag on there is a quick release latch that allows you to “sling” the bag in front of you. Once you have the main part of the bag open you will notice that there is a place for a large size DSLR such as a Canon 7D or Canon 5D Mark II (Sorry Nikon users I am not familiar with the Nikon equivalents) along with a medium-sized telephoto zoom attached. You will also notice that there is room for you to carry up to two more medium-sized telephoto zooms . I have even carried a Vivitar 285hv flash in there which is larger than todays newer hotshoe flashes. You will notice on the iside of the flap there is a pouch. You can easily put 4 memory cards in there. I have Compact Flash cards and those are the largest for a DSLR camera and they fit just fine. On the other side of the flap that is opened up there is a good-sized pouch for some pens, a small notepad, or whatever else you might think fits there well. At the bottom of the picture (the top of the bad which I photographed upside down) there is another good-sized pouch. In this pouch you could fit cords, extra batteries, wallet, eyeglasses, or a multitude of other things. This bag has a weather resistant cover that unzips out of the very bottom to protect the bag from rain, snow, and sleet. Overall I have been pleased with this bag and it has served it’s purpose. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to leave them and I will get to them ASAP!

Peace and blessings!quvi