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Showing posts from March, 2012

Trying out the Neewer NK002 camera and lighting mount for desks.

In this article I set up my desk with a new overhead camera mount rig from Neewer, the NK002. I’ve been using a standard monitor arm with additional mounting hardware to hold my camera for years, but I wanted to see how this mount works in my creative computer workspace instead. Keep in mind that they sent me this mount at no cost with the expectation that I produce a few videos about it based on my standard collaboration terms . The were not allowed to give me talking points or preview anything that I created.  Check out the full video on YouTube :  Check it out on Neewer's official shop (not affiliated).   Or through my links:  Amazon:  https://amzn.to/4g3I2GI B&H Photo: https://bhpho.to/3Ce6I1u   As an affiliate of Amazon and B&H, I earn from qualifying purchases!  Unboxing and First Impressions The main box with accessories. The NK002 comes in a big, solid box. It was shipped with dense foam support around the rails to keep everything prote...

Mitt Romney in Rockford, Illinois (Machine Shed Restaurant)

My family and I decided to attend an event Mitt Romney was hosting in Rockford, Illinois at the Machine Shed Restaurant. I took my camera along and tried to get a few decent photographs. This isn’t a political blog, I consider myself someone who is not fond of the 2-party system and not especially fond of either party’s policies. I’d like to see a lot more cooperation and understanding between people. My photo results were not that positive, but it’s good to get some practice in a situation like this regardless of the result. I shoot with fixed focal length lenses most of the time, which makes things like this a big challenge. For this event I brought along the Pentax K-5 and 31mm f1.8 lens. Inside the restaurant it was dark with strong light flooding in through the windows. Without the use of flash, there isn’t a set way to counteract the large difference in light intensity. In addition to the difference, there is the issue of lens flare, which the 31mm suffers quite a bit from. This...

Camera Flash Communication Methods Comparison (TTL vs E-TTL i-TTL p-TTL) and Thyristor Auto Mode

I talk about camera flash communication methods (TTL vs E-TTL i-TTL p-TTL) as well as thyristor sensor based auto mode.  Flash talk Here is the Youtube video: Diagram for TTL and pre-flash based TTL methods: TTL and more advanced methods. Standard TTL: This was the original method of flash power control. It happens as the film/sensor is being exposed to light. There is a dedicated sensor near the film that monitors the reflected light off of the film/sensor and eventually tells the flash to “quench” (stop) outputting light. The nice thing about TTL is that it works with any lens and was generally pretty reliable. p-TTL, E-TTL, i-TTL, and similar systems that use pre-flash: This is the newer method that all of the camera manufacturers use now. The flash sends out a pre-flash burst of light (or multiple bursts) and records the results with the standard light meter built into the camera. So this all happens even before the mirror has been flipped up and of course before the sensor Thy...