Gentle reader,
Just a few days ago, I wrote: The Robb Collections: Have a photo studio in our home....on a budget! and since have bought a couple items that make it work better.
I realized that the flash would work better and easier by having an adapter (of which I once had several of) which would mount a regular camera flash and hold the umbrella as well. This works better than the setup shown in the link above. Here is what I used today, got it for $3.99 via eBay:
It's the device that is attached to the top of the light stand and holds the flash via the flash's "foot". That is the flat part at the bottom of the flash with one or more small terminals in it which slides into your camera's hot shoe. The silver piece with the curly wire attached to it is another useful/needed part to making home studio pictures so much easier. More on that, below. 
Attached to the front of the flash is a small fold-able "soft box". It attaches with Velcro to the front of the flash head and widens and softens the harsh flash. Thus, the flash's light hits more of the umbrella's reflective surface, which makes that artificial light more like the Sun's. No harsh model's shadows or red eyes as a result. This one is a LumiQuest brand, called PROMAX.
Above and below one can more easily see the new adapter and how it holds the flash foot and umbrella's shaft.
Below, you can see the remote flash cord's foot as attached to the camera's shoe. It has the same number of electrical connections as the flash and camera do. Each serves a purpose. One of which is the camera's light sensor reads off the sensor's surface as the image is being made and cuts off the flash once ideal light has reached the sensor for a perfectly exposed photo. Clever! This is called "TTL" which stands for Through The Lens. "iTTL" is Nikon's term for their digital SLRs. One cannot use a TTL flash designed for a Nikon film camera on a Nikon digital SLR. Too bad as I have a nice one. That just guarantees that one has to buy more equipment. Same thing applies but in reverse for lenses. While Nikon DX (digital lenses for APS-C size sensor DSLR cameras) WILL mount on a film SLR, it will have darkened corners in the photos. This is because DX lens' "circle" of light is smaller than full size FX (35mm film size) lenses do. Thus not all the film is exposed to the light.
There is good news though, because in the case of Nikon and Pentax: almost all lenses designed since the early 1960's for Nikon (and Pentax) cameras can and do mount on digital bodies. The "crop factor" is x1.5. So, my 50mm film lens on my D70S shows an image equal to a 75mm lens on a film SLR. Great for long shots, but not so good for wide angle shots. There are adjustments that need to be made, however. But I am getting off subject. It happens, I tend to run off at the mouth or in this case, my fingers.
There is good news though, because in the case of Nikon and Pentax: almost all lenses designed since the early 1960's for Nikon (and Pentax) cameras can and do mount on digital bodies. The "crop factor" is x1.5. So, my 50mm film lens on my D70S shows an image equal to a 75mm lens on a film SLR. Great for long shots, but not so good for wide angle shots. There are adjustments that need to be made, however. But I am getting off subject. It happens, I tend to run off at the mouth or in this case, my fingers.
So what is the purpose of the silver umbrella? I'm glad you asked that. The Sun, being 93 million miles away still creates stark, crisp shadows. It is both a wide light source and a direct one. A flash pointed right at you is a narrow light source. The softbox I have attached to it widens and softens the light, but it will still make shadows.
For pictures of my listening room, a frequent subject of this blog, I point it to the ceiling so that the light bounces off and it is widened and softens the shadows.
The UMBRELLA, especially with the softbox, spreads the light in a great arc that tends to wrap around the subject. When you get to the pictures of me below, you will see only the faintest of shadow over my right shoulder. Had I a taller ceiling, I could have had the flash/umbrella combo directly above and behind the camera and there would have been almost no shadow at all.
For pictures of my listening room, a frequent subject of this blog, I point it to the ceiling so that the light bounces off and it is widened and softens the shadows.
The UMBRELLA, especially with the softbox, spreads the light in a great arc that tends to wrap around the subject. When you get to the pictures of me below, you will see only the faintest of shadow over my right shoulder. Had I a taller ceiling, I could have had the flash/umbrella combo directly above and behind the camera and there would have been almost no shadow at all.
The other item I bought is a infrared remote shutter control. This allows me to start the camera's countdown and (hopefully) hide the remote in my hand before the shutter fires. To see if I succeeded, see the home photo studio's first images.
I am 60 years old now and have always preferred to be BEHIND the camera rather than in front of it.
First off, I should have shaved, then I should have smiled. In fact, seeing the images, I thought, "I look so OLD! And a little like my late father." In fact, I look like a skinny bald grouchy old man. Oddly, I am not grouchy at all and in fact, I smile a LOT! What I don't understand is why SO MANY women of all ages and skin tones smile at me. I have teens and twenty-somethings young women that I know casually whom are always so HAPPY to see me and gladly engage me in conversation. WHY? I don't know, but do enjoy it. Great for my ego.
First off, I should have shaved, then I should have smiled. In fact, seeing the images, I thought, "I look so OLD! And a little like my late father." In fact, I look like a skinny bald grouchy old man. Oddly, I am not grouchy at all and in fact, I smile a LOT! What I don't understand is why SO MANY women of all ages and skin tones smile at me. I have teens and twenty-somethings young women that I know casually whom are always so HAPPY to see me and gladly engage me in conversation. WHY? I don't know, but do enjoy it. Great for my ego.
The other saving grace for my aging body and face is I'm married to the love of my life and very best friend. So, no young or otherwise nice-to-me woman is ever going to lure me away from my beloved Nancy.
Are you ready to see the results of my home photo studio? Oh, wait, I forgot. Like so many of my collections, I never intended to collect what you will see me wearing below. I realized a few years ago, that since I like cargo pants, I might as well wear the real thing, so I started buying US Military camouflage uniform cargo pants. Then as time went by, I discovered 5.11 Tactical clothing and started buying those in various colors and stopped wearing camo altogether.
My son-in-law spent ten years in the Marines and once he got out, gave me some of his uniforms. I am no stranger to USMC uniforms as I wore (then Woodland camouflage) the uniform for six years, plus all the other uniforms. I drew the line at Dress Blues, no civilian is entitled:
My son-in-law spent ten years in the Marines and once he got out, gave me some of his uniforms. I am no stranger to USMC uniforms as I wore (then Woodland camouflage) the uniform for six years, plus all the other uniforms. I drew the line at Dress Blues, no civilian is entitled:
Yes, that is Nancy and it was several years ago as the kids you will see below are now 29 and 30.
I don't know who made these two images. I have only one photo of me in woodland camo, so will have to find it and scan it. I was with a famous woman, daughter of a late US President in that photo.
The one on the left is now 30, the one on the right, 29 and she has three kids. Half of all the grandkids we have. As you can see, I was involved in the Young Marines program and started three Young Marines companies (Arlington, Alexandria and Manassas, VA and one battalion: Northern Virginia. I will also see if I can find that picture of my Young Marines and my staff at the White House.
Some time ago I wrote a blog titled: The Robb Collections: A Study in US Military Uniform Camouflage and it was quite successfully received. So, feel free to take a quick look at that to see why I have decided to do the continuation of that post today.
A WORD on the photographs below. Rather than stand there like a living manikin, I decided to add a duty belt, holster and Airsoft pistol. I have one Beretta and three Glock pistols. The rifles shown are also Airsoft, but look, feel and weigh like the real things and are capable of full-auto fire. Well, not "fire" more like..... I can't think of an adjective. No fire involved, though. Remember, I did this for fun and to test my digital studio. I'm going to sell almost everything seen once the "holidays" are over and the carriers are not flooded with packages. Because the fun of collecting is the chase and acquisition of the collectibles. Once one has had them for a while, the thought comes up, "What am I going to do with all this?" (The photos at the very bottom of the blog page shows two stages of my camera collection.)
I was going for a "tough" look on my face. Instead, I just look like I'm grumpy! To see for yourself how I have aged, look below:
Some time ago I wrote a blog titled: The Robb Collections: A Study in US Military Uniform Camouflage and it was quite successfully received. So, feel free to take a quick look at that to see why I have decided to do the continuation of that post today.
A WORD on the photographs below. Rather than stand there like a living manikin, I decided to add a duty belt, holster and Airsoft pistol. I have one Beretta and three Glock pistols. The rifles shown are also Airsoft, but look, feel and weigh like the real things and are capable of full-auto fire. Well, not "fire" more like..... I can't think of an adjective. No fire involved, though. Remember, I did this for fun and to test my digital studio. I'm going to sell almost everything seen once the "holidays" are over and the carriers are not flooded with packages. Because the fun of collecting is the chase and acquisition of the collectibles. Once one has had them for a while, the thought comes up, "What am I going to do with all this?" (The photos at the very bottom of the blog page shows two stages of my camera collection.)
I was going for a "tough" look on my face. Instead, I just look like I'm grumpy! To see for yourself how I have aged, look below:
I always wanted a pair of US Military pilot's coveralls. I came across these in like-new condition in a thrift store and snatched them up. Got the squadron patch at a gun show and the wings are from the National Air and Space Museum. Since I don't know what pilots wear on their feet (I can't imagine combat boots) I chose black Sketchers. I honestly don't know why I didn't smile. Oh well.
OK, so don't I look a little tough above? That same son-in-law is now in the Air Force Reserve and he will be getting this uniform if he wants it. Despite the way they look, there is no PINK in these boots! AF boots are actually green, but I was not going to buy a pair just for a photograph. I also don't know what color tee-shirt they wear under their digi-camo uniforms. That tee-shirt has U.S. Embassy, Bangkok on it and the USA official Eagle with the arrows, etc. Whatever the official name for that is on it.
First off, I forgot to take off my glasses for this shot. I bought a helmet that is normally used for paintball or Airsoft battles. It came with the Air Force cover on it, which fits perfectly. Since I wanted a helmet for the Army uniform, I bought an ACU cover which does not fit well. Remember all "weapons" shown are unloaded and Airsoft.
OK, so the USMC boonie cover above just looks silly. I also have a garrison cover, like below, but chose the boonie for the photo. I kinda look tough in this one, don't I? Sort of? Anyway, above is the USMC digital camo uniform for "sand-land" as they refer to places they've been lately.
Above is the digital camo USMC uniform that replaced the traditional woodland camo BDUs.
Above, as you can see, the US Navy had to get into the digital camo act. I had not seen these until watching the movie Battleship. I thought then, "C'mon, the Navy doesn't wear camo!" Well, I was wrong, as you can see. They do and it is pretty cool looking.
That is it for Military uniform photographs. Despite the aged model, they turned out well.
Long before 9/11, there was (and may still be) a catalog company called: U.S. Cavalry. Much like Guide Gear, they sold lots of military and police related items. One of my very favorite places to go as a kid, and now too, is a military surplus store. Ranger's Surplus is about all there is left, at least around here. The gun shows often have collectors selling stuff and I bought some of the pieces above there.
Anyway, as I was saying about U.S. Cavalry, my wife bought me a "FEDERAL AGENT" tee shirt. Something that is not available today. Sadly, if I or anyone else that had such shirts that you will see me modeling below were to wear it out in public they stand a good chance of being shot or possibly stopped and questioned by the law. They would be right in thinking one was trying to impersonate a police or other lawful authority figure.
That being said, I have NO intention to wear ANY of the items I have modeled above and below outside of my home. In fact, some cannot be resold because some less-than-savory character might get a hold of said articles of clothing and cause harm or terror. I will never be a part of that by selling such things. In fact, they will have to be destroyed to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands.
So, below, as I said, I am simply modeling these shirts and pants to demonstrate what they looked like on me.
Looking at these images, I feel silly, but what is the point of having a collection unless one can share it, right?
The badge shown is a PROP badge bought via eBay. It is the same one used in the hit TV series NCIS. Again, the pistol, a Glock 17, is Airsoft and unloaded.
So that is what the back of my head looks like. Believe it or not, the shirt and pants match in color almost exactly. For some reason, as you will see below, in these photos, they look quite different.
I am a big supporter and fan of our nations Border Patrol agents and all the hard, hot and dangerous work they do. The National Geographic Channel has an excellent show titled BORDER WARS. It clearly portrays real agents doing the seemingly impossible task of stopping people and things (guns, money, drugs) from crossing our borders, of which we have many.
I saw the following shirts on eBay and bought them. The blue one and black one are genuine CBP items. HOWEVER, they are not worn on duty. Watch BORDER WARS and see what they actually wear. So how I appear below is only a fan's way of supporting those hard working Americans that put their lives on the line everyday.
The HAT is genuine, I bought it from Guide Gear. The badge emblem on the shirt is what they really look like. The ICE ID is another PROP bought via eBay and wouldn't fool anyone.
See how the shirt and hat look almost brown? They are just as green as the pants. Weird. The hat is NOT genuine, but the patch is. Bought it, oddly, from a company that sells flags. Weird, again.
The image below has the other genuine CBP shirt. It too was bought via eBay. SRT stands for Special Response Team. A much more PC term that SWAT. The shirt is way too big for me and so, I put my vest on underneath. The vest is an out-of-date stab-proof vest NOT a bullet-proof one. I suspect prison guards must have used it.
So, there you have it, my Walter Mitty (Google that name) moments when I dressed up as our Nation's Finest. Next stop is photographing the items all separately for future sale on eBay, except for the tee-shirts, of course.
One final photo for you to enjoy. A beautiful young woman named Liah that works at our local grocery store. She is as nice as can be and I shot this a couple days after Halloween. The long hair is costume hair attached to what appears to be a headband. Isn't she gorgeous?
She was actually blushing when I shot this. Surprised that I would want to take her picture. Well, the world could stand to see more beauty, in it's many forms.
Thanks for looking (and not laughing) at my one-and-only effort at being in front of the camera.
Scott
That is it for Military uniform photographs. Despite the aged model, they turned out well.
Long before 9/11, there was (and may still be) a catalog company called: U.S. Cavalry. Much like Guide Gear, they sold lots of military and police related items. One of my very favorite places to go as a kid, and now too, is a military surplus store. Ranger's Surplus is about all there is left, at least around here. The gun shows often have collectors selling stuff and I bought some of the pieces above there.
Anyway, as I was saying about U.S. Cavalry, my wife bought me a "FEDERAL AGENT" tee shirt. Something that is not available today. Sadly, if I or anyone else that had such shirts that you will see me modeling below were to wear it out in public they stand a good chance of being shot or possibly stopped and questioned by the law. They would be right in thinking one was trying to impersonate a police or other lawful authority figure.
That being said, I have NO intention to wear ANY of the items I have modeled above and below outside of my home. In fact, some cannot be resold because some less-than-savory character might get a hold of said articles of clothing and cause harm or terror. I will never be a part of that by selling such things. In fact, they will have to be destroyed to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands.
So, below, as I said, I am simply modeling these shirts and pants to demonstrate what they looked like on me.
The badge shown is a PROP badge bought via eBay. It is the same one used in the hit TV series NCIS. Again, the pistol, a Glock 17, is Airsoft and unloaded.
I am a big supporter and fan of our nations Border Patrol agents and all the hard, hot and dangerous work they do. The National Geographic Channel has an excellent show titled BORDER WARS. It clearly portrays real agents doing the seemingly impossible task of stopping people and things (guns, money, drugs) from crossing our borders, of which we have many.
I saw the following shirts on eBay and bought them. The blue one and black one are genuine CBP items. HOWEVER, they are not worn on duty. Watch BORDER WARS and see what they actually wear. So how I appear below is only a fan's way of supporting those hard working Americans that put their lives on the line everyday.
Reading the back of the shirt, I do wonder what it IS for.
One final photo for you to enjoy. A beautiful young woman named Liah that works at our local grocery store. She is as nice as can be and I shot this a couple days after Halloween. The long hair is costume hair attached to what appears to be a headband. Isn't she gorgeous?
Thanks for looking (and not laughing) at my one-and-only effort at being in front of the camera.
Scott
