PhotographyBanzai.com

A group of people I know from the convention scene went back to an abandoned church in Gary, Indiana recently. This was a great opportunity to try out some off-camera flash, so I went all the way and bought another Cactus V5 and a middle-weight tripod for a setup I was planning. Here are some highlight photos from the excursion:  Here is the lighting setup: The strobist lighting setup consists of: 2x Yongnuo YN460-II flash units Custom Brackets CB-Mini flash bracket 1x Cactus V5 trigger A flash extension wire (has a hotshoe on both ends) A Manfrotto MKC3-H01 tripod The flash extension takes place of a second trigger or using the optical slave method. Both of which would have either a downfall in expense or usability.  The optical slave method could cause issues with orientating the flash heads away from each other and, of course, having two triggers would mean more cost and more batteries to deal with. I used this setup most of the time and it worked quite well. With cosp...

I went on a big excursion recently where I used off-camera flash and full manual setting control. The nice thing about Pentax cameras is that you can have a few conveniences in manual that make setting changes faster and more accurate.  Cameras and  Cactus V5  flash transceivers. For example, changing the green button functionality from “P Line” to “Av Shift” allows you to get a quick exposure reading that changes the aperture, but not the shutter speed. This is important when you are limited to the flash sync speed of your camera, because you don’t want the green button to select a shutter speed that will be too fast for the flash to function with. “P Line” (aka. Program Line) bases your sampled exposure on a number of simple options. There is one for maximum sharpness (MTF), one for maximum background blur, one for action, one for landscape, and so on. The flash sync speed is the fastest shutter speed that still allows for your camera’s sensor to be completely visible w...

I decided to do a quick test to see how my collection of 58mm UV filters damage image quality. I also took an image without a filter to see what difference using no filter makes.  A simple test. Why do I personally use filters? I want the added protection that a filter brings as well as the simplicity of cleaning a filter instead of the front element of the lens. I occasionally take the filter off when I know the situation will cause issues such as extreme reflections from that added glass. This test was intended to test reflection and glare, not image sharpness. I might eventually do another test to see if there is a reduction in sharpness. Here is an image with all filters and the no filter sample. Here is the video I put together as I was testing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-ituue1zeo Get the replacement Hoya 58mm EVO Antistatic UV(0) Filter here: B&H Photo Video Amazon.com Used from KEH.com Get the Hoya 58mm Ultraviolet UV(0) Super Multi-Coated (S-HMC) Glass Haze Filte...

Yesterday I took some photos at a local arboretum for the person in the photos. Overall the results turned out decent, but I was having some issues with judging the level of exposure. I’ll talk about that more after the photo break. Here are additional example photo from the photo session: I again went with the combination I used for my event at the Botanic Garden in Chicago. As per usual, I shoot in RAW format and post process in Adobe Bridge / Camera Raw. Once I finish up with tweaking each photo, I run an automated batch process in Photoshop to create JPEGs. K-01 with 14mm f2.8 Used in aperture priority at f5.6 for the entire time. Some fill light and additional contrast was added to most images in post. K-5 with 55mm f1.4 Used with an external flash and in aperture priority with some negative exposure compensation. I didn’t deal well with some of the extreme exposure variation. I should have decreased the overall exposure more than I had in many of the situations. My aperture...

The K-01 comes after the K-5 and K-r series of DSLRs. It was also proceeded by Pentax’s first mirrorless camera called the Q, however that camera was a completely new system. The K-01 appears to have a mixture of components from the K-5, and in some simple aspects, the Q camera.  The Pentax K-01 camera. It has an improved imaging engine that shares a few features of the Q such as manual video control with MPEG4 encoding and full time live-view, but primarily takes components and features from the K-5 series such as the 16mp sensor and K-mount. It is certainly a unique concept in the camera world being the first mirrorless to use an existing SLR system mount.  Personal appeal. I bought the K-01 as a replacement for my K-7 camera that was having issues. If you have visited my site before, you probably know by now that I frequently use two cameras at once. Each camera has a prime lens attached and serves a different purpose from the other. This allows me to have a nice rang...

A friend on Facebook posted a notification to me about a charity event that the website DeviantArt.com is holding at San Diego Comic Con 2012.  Here is the event details: We need your coolest COSPLAY PHOTOGRAPHY for display as part of the deviantART Benefit ART Show at the San Diego Comic-Con! Proceeds go to the Schreiner Burn Hospital, which routinely invites cosplayers to join in their fundraising events and encourages cosplayers to interact with the hospital’s young burn victims as part of their therapy.  So far, I have three submissions of photos I took recently at the Chicago Botanic Garden gathering. I might ask a few additional cosplayers, but I’m not sure yet. Regardless if if my work gets into the event, it sounds like a worthy cause to help children suffering from severe burns. 

I promoted this on my other outlets such as Twitter and Facebook, but I thought it would be nice to make an article as well. I’ll go into technical details after the highlight photos. Some highlights of the event:  Situation: We were there from around noon to 7pm. The beginning hours had a lot of strong harsh light we had to deal with, but it worked out alright. The garden is amazing and very large. It’s really worth the trip if you live around Chicago. There is no admission fee, but there is a parking fee of currently $20 for cars. The equipment I was using: Pentax K-5 with the DA* 55mm f1.4 lens and Sigma 530DG Super flash (small diffuser attached some of the time). This setup was on a tripod mounted shoulder strap. Pentax K-01 with the DA 14mm f2.8 lens and occasionally a monopod when I had it attached for the purpose of video. This setup was around my neck with a standard strap. I attached a shoulder strap with a quick release to the monopod. Settings and technique: The ...

I went to a small cosplay gathering last weekend and took photos as well as video clips. I always talk about trying to spend more time with video, but it usually takes a back seat to my photography. Now that I have the Pentax K-01 mirrorless camera with full video control, I have a bit more motivation to try. This time I think I was moderately successful at getting enough content to work with as well as assembling a solid “cosplay music video.” I eventually transitioned a lot of my cosplay and convention videos to a different YouTube channel. Here is a compilation… Various videos spliced together with music compatible with YouTube. I have enough source material that I should be able to make another one. Now for some background information… All of the clips for this video were: Taken with the Pentax K-01 camera. Some clips were with a monopod attached and others were hand held. Clips were recorded in 720P at 60 FPS. With the 14mm f2.8 lens attached. Using Aperture priority mode… I belie...

If you are unfamiliar with cosplay, this phrase “Tiger & Bunny” the name of an animated TV series in Japan that is also available in the USA on DVD (licensed by a company called Viz Media). Blue Rose is a female character that has been pretty popular in the convention cosplay scene. A friend of a friend wanted to get some photos for a calendar contest that is happening soon, so I went along and helped.  She was popular in Chicago. I decided on some older equipment. I had another photoshoot the day after and had already charged the batteries and packed everything up for that. I brought the Pentax K-7, AF-280T flash, and DA 40mm f2.8 XS lens. It was a small yet effective kit that I could easily manage. Another reason for that small kit was because the photo session was in downtown Chicago near the Cloud Gate aka. the “Bean” in Millennium Park.  I’ve never been too thrilled with the treatment Chicago gives to photographers, but it worked out well. On a few occasions we ...