Another very cool DIY project...

I love DIY (do it yourself) projects, creating things with your own two hands is fun AND these kind of projects tend to save you a bunch of money in the process.

Mathew Monroe has put together a very cool DIY flexible flash arm that will run you less than $15 and is extremely functional.

Here's the link, go check it out... and thank you Mathew!

You have to check out these images...

Here is a sampling of the kind of images you will find over at the Weekly Photo Tips Flickr Group.

Pretty darn good stuff, don't you think?

If you would like to join our group (please, please, please) and share some of your images with us (and the world) you can find instructions right here.

Clicking on any one of these images will open it larger and in a new window (for better viewing).

A deal AND a date...

I have been a fan of Ibarionex Perello since I got into photography. I stumbled upon his podcast "The Candid Frame" back then and have listened to it ever since. Though you may not be familiar with his guests... David Hobby, Chase Jarvis, Joe McNally, Jay Maisel, Rick Sammon, and Tony Sweet... just to name a few.

So what's not to like, he has great guests, comes to the interview from a photographers perspective so he asks questions we the listeners would ask, and he has a voice made for radio.

In case you're not picking up on it, BIG fan here.

As you might imagine I was just a little excited the other day to get his new book "Chasing the Light: Improving Your Photography with Available Light" and though I haven't cracked the cover yet this post could not wait for two reasons:

Reason 1 (the deal). Peachpit is offering 35% discount AND free shipping on the purchase of the book, all you need to do is type in the code "PHOTOCLUB" when you get to the checkout page.

If you would like to read a little before you buy just follow this link where you can download and read the entire fourth chapter of the book "The Color of Light: White Balance".

So, here is the link to the book, go check it out.

Reason 2 (the date). Tonight (April 19th), from 8 - 9pm (ET) Peachpit Photo Club will be hosting the very same Ibarionex Perello. And the topic will be.... LIGHT.

There will be talking and there will be doing, from the webinar page:

"Webinar participants will receive an assignment at the end of the session. Once the assignment is completed, Photo Club members can upload their work to the Peachpit Photo Club Flickr Group where Ibarionex and the Peachpit crew will help critique your work. And of course, there will be a chance for prizes!"

Pretty cool, huh?

Here is the link t to signup for the webinar, you do not want to miss the webinar or this great book offer.

Food & Photography, a tasty combination...

We have been a fan of food photographer Lou Manna for a long time and used the tips and techniques learned from reading his outstanding book "Digital Food Photography" to shoot food for our clients (you can see the images here). If you would like to read our review of his book you can find it right here.

Lou Manna has a new site, well it's more than a site, it's an interactive community where folks can share their own work to be critiqued, get ideas, share information, and more... it shares the name of his book and is called "Digital Food Photography".

You will find articles, videos, and resources like "Taking Better Food Pics" that will, well... help you take better food pics.

;)

And it's not just Lou sharing, it's the entire community of photographers who share with you and with each other.

Speaking of sharing and learning, Lou will be teaching a seminar on May 8th called "Digital Food Photography: Creating Delectable Images" at Adorama (in New York City).

Adorama is sponsoring a bunch of workshops this spring that run just a couple hours to all day affairs and for as little as $25. You can check out the entire list/schedule here.

Check out these Lexar 16GB memory cards...

For the next 12 days you can get 3 Lexar 16GB Platinum II 200x compact flash memory cards for only $99 at Adorama. If that price isn't tempting enough they are offering free shipping and are throwing in a free memory card wallet too.

Not only are these cards fast, they also hold a lot, one card will hold 3,200 16MP images (or 2,300 21MP images). Video your thing? One card will hold up to 6 hours of video.

To give you some perspective on just how good this price is their competition is selling the exact same memory card at $87 for a set of (just) two. Plus shipping and no wallet.

GamiLight 43 softbox update...

Last month we posted our review of the GamiLight 43 softbox (here and here) but at the time it was not yet available for purchase here in America, well it is now.

You can now get your hands on the GamiLight over at Midwest Photo Exchange for the special introductory price of just $49.

Here's another sample shot I took using the GamiLight 43 softbox and below it is the (very) simple lighting setup.

Clicking on either image will open it larger and in a new window.

How 1/100 second can change your image...

Here are two images I shot while covering an event, I was taking a break just as the sun was going down and the sky was outstanding.

These were taken just moments apart, with (essentially) the exact same camera settings.

The only difference between the two shots was shutter speed, in this shot the shutter speed was 1/60s. The blue sky is brighter and where the sky meets the land it is pretty bright (and void of color).


I wasn't unhappy with the shot but thought it could be better so I changed the shutter speed to 1/160s and (I think) it greatly improved the shot, the sky is a deeper blue and there is now more color on the horizon.

The differences aren't "dramatic", just better.

For a better comparison click on either image to view larger and in a new window.

It is often said that if you think you got the shot take a step closer and shoot it again. I would add "shoot it a little different" as well.