PhotographyBanzai.com

Another convention has come and gone. This time it was Kollision Con 2012 located in St. Charles Illinois at the Pheasant Run Resort.  All of the Photos: Facebook ( Masquerade , Saturday , Sunday ) Edit, here is a video I put together to go along with the articles : For this convention, I was pretty limited with the DSLR gear I had on hand. I’m still trying to sell off some of my Pentax lenses, so that cash is tied up until it happens. I do have a few Nikon lenses on order from KEH, but that will probably be a few days until they arrive. Being challenged is part of the fun, so I didn’t have any qualms going into a convention like this. Nikon D7000 Nikon 50mm f1.8g (crop makes it similar to 85mm focal length) Yongnuo RF603 flash triggers Yongnuo YN 460-II flash Impact flash diffuser (compression fit with white fabric on 3 sides and one side that has a silver reflector) This was my first time attempting complete manual control with manual flash in a hallway cosplay setting (eg. t...

Two friends and I visited another restaurant in the area. This time it was a Japanese style restaurant with various foods like yakisoba, udon, bentos, and sushi. Here is the video I put together ( Youtube ): For this site I will focus more on the media part of my excursion, you can see more about the restaurant in the link above. Equipment: Pentax Optio WG-2 digicam Nikon D7000 with the Nikon 50mm f1.8g lens I used the WG-2 for my video clips. The setting used was 1080p 30fps and with electronic SR on. As always, I need a lot more practice to make higher quality video captures. Simply put, move slow and brace your arms to avoid as much camera shake as possible. When editing the videos, I extract the audio from the clips and edit them in Audacity to make the mono recording into stereo as well as attempt some basic noise reduction.  For the photos, I used the Nikon D7000 in my U2 custom setting mode. This mode is set to aperture priority and -0.3 exposure compensation. I have a...

I put together a portable flash setup for a convention coming up. My plans here are to potentially use this as a secondary light source in more detailed photo sessions (assuming I have any). The nice thing about it is the portability and I’m also able to get around a few limitations of the gear being used. All of the items are things I’ve acquired in the past, so there wasn’t any inherent cost to get this going.  Here is my related Youtube video demonstration : The related video on this setup. The setup consists of (current prices listed): Sony VCT-R100 tripod isn’t available anymore, but check out the new one called the Sony VCT-R640 . UNDFIND FishBomb Lens Filter and Accessory Case Yongnuo RF-603N flash triggers Adorama Camera PC to Hot Shoe Adapter with Connecting Cord Cold Shoe mount bracket (tripod >> pc sync hotshoe adapter, not the exact one I have) Yongnuo YN460-II manual flash isn’t available anymore so check out a newer model like the YN-560 IV . As an affiliate of...

Yesterday, I met up with a group of friends to visit Chicago’s Chinatown area of the city. This was the first time I had been there, so I was pretty curious about the place. I decided to bring along two cameras and a backpack. Specifically, the Nikon D7000 and Optio WG-II. I even brought along two RF triggers and a flash as I thought I might have the chance to practice with it. 😀  In retrospect, I took too much with me, which ended up just being added baggage that I had to carry around. There just wasn’t enough time to use the D7000 and still keep things casual. I ended up just sticking with the WG-II because it was quick to access and weather resistant. As you will see from the photos, conditions were dreary and included bouts of rain. Here is a compilation video I put together : The clips were taken with the Pentax Optio WG-II (1080p 30fps with SR on). Taking decent clips hand-held is extremely challenging and I need a lot more practice. The WG-II camera generally did wel...

I went to a Mediterranean restaurant with a friend to try a place neither of us had been to and to take some food photos. I brought with me the small yet dependable Pentax Optio WG-II camera for some video and photos.  Here is a short video of the experience: A few photos I had taken:

I received a set of Yongnuo RF-603N radio frequency triggers today. They are low cost, yet decent quality flash and camera triggers available online. While I like them for their small size and general reliability, not all is perfect. There was an odd design omission related to the shoe connection that is generally used when connecting one of the transceivers to a camera.  Links are potentially affiliated in this article, I earn from qualifying purchases!   The Yongnuo RF-603N I haven’t found the exact cable ties online, but you can check out my links to Amazon and Walmart for similar ones. You can see my related video about this here . Here is a quick modification to help Yongnuo RF-603N triggers stay stationary on the camera. These units don’t offer a locking mechanism for the shoe connection, which could be an issue in the field if the unit gets misaligned or pushed off the camera. Using a ziptie (cable ties) of the proper thickness seem to add more vertical force to keep...