A Blog for the Intentional Photographer

This blog is designed for and about what I call the "Intentional Photographer". That is a person that has been taking pictures for several years and has advanced through the point and shoot years, to their first DSLR, to a stage where they may be professionals and getting paid for their work. Or, they may be photographers that are right on the edge of going professional.

Storage and Transportation of Photo Equipment

Over the years I have acquired numerous pieces of photographic equipment that I use in my business Randy Jackson Images.  I don't operate out of a studio, but instead go to locations and set up equipment or use natural light.  More and more over the last several years I have started to utilize lighting equipment and backgrounds that I set up in the remote locations. I use both continuous lighting and off-camera flash for my lighting.

I have developed several configurations of cases, bags and containers that allow me to grab a certain lighting or background "kit" that is appropriate for the shoot of the day.  With this post I wanted to explain how I build these kits, what they contain and why they work for me.  You will notice that many of the products are the most inexpensive available and I utilize a lot of DIY constructed systems. Most of the purchased products were bought from Amazon.com and some were purchased on Ebay.  I take certain kits with me depending on the venue and the nature of the shoot.

Background Kit 

This consists of a long canvas bag with a PBL Compact Background Support System with 9' Crossbar that holds muslin or paper up to 9' wide, the stands extend up to 8' 6" and compacts down to 38", Very easy to set up.  Includes a Cowboy Studio 10' by 20' tie dye grey muslin backdrop.

Umbrella Kit:  

• Two(2) professional tripod/light stands, 7 Ft Max height
• One(1) Professional Tripod/Mini Light stand, Maximum height is 2.2 Ft, Note: stands can also be used for off-camera flash
• Three(3) High quality light sockets, Two(2) High quality 33" Soft umbrellas
• One(1) High Quality Carry Case
• Three(3) fluorescent daylight balanced photo light bulb
• Adorama 40" umbrella with removable black cover
• 1,000 W fluorescent continuous lighting soft box with stand 

 Location Kit

A bright orange Home Depot utility tool bag with bulbs, extension cords, scissors, clamps, gaffer tape, lint pickup tool, black fabric and other miscellaneous parts that might be used at a location. 

Flash Kit

This is a Plano Gun case (Walmart for less than $20, designed to house 4 handguns) with the center section of foam removed and now containing three Canon flash units, Canon ST-E2 speedlite transmitter, Cactus V4 flash trigger system, Rogue Flashbender (right),  two 9 LED flashlights, bounce flash diffusers plain and with gel packs, swivel brackets, Color & White Balance Grey Card, and a Rosco-Strobist Collection, 55 Piece Cinegel Filter Kit. Includes a small canvas bag that contains spare rechargeable batteries and other parts needed for flash photography.

 Lowepro Slingshot 200 AW

This is my primary backpack carrying system for camera bodies, multiple lens, Sekonic L-358 Light Meter, spare batteries, spare flash cards and other equipment associated with the camera system. I also have a Think Tank Pro Speedbelt System and a Photojournalists Vest for carrying the equipment in the backpack at special locations (for instance during sports shoots on the field) when it is not convienient to wear a backpack.  The Speedbelt is used in place of the vest for weddings (fits in better with a sports jacket) and when the heat is intense-like in Phoenix in the summer.

While this sounds like a lot of kits and bags, it is organized such that I can grab a system bag on the run and be out the door with everything I need for a particular shoot.  I find that I rarely will need all the bags at the same time.  You will notice that I use mostly inexpensive brands of equipment. 

As I build my business practice I will add and replace some of the less expensive equipment with standardized and mainstream products that have greater capability or reliability.  An example of this is to eventually replace my Cactus V4 radio triggers with Radiopoppers or Pocket Wizards. 

DIY Photography tweets about my DIY gel holders

Thanks to DIYPhotography.net for tweeting to their 40,000 + followers about my DIY gel holder from earlier this month. 

DIY Photography is a great website to learn about all sorts of photography skills and to see new ways that their followers are creating inexpensive accessories. 

A DIY Gel Holder System

I reported in an earlier post my use of colored gels to correct or modify the light output on my off-camera flash.  As I started using the gels it quickly became apparent the way I was attaching the gels to the flash unit was not working all that well.  That method required me to attach the cut gel to the flash using either tape or Velcro dots.

I use a Sto-Fen type diffuser on my flash most of the time.  I discovered that I could remove the top of the diffuser and the cut gels could be mounted inside the diffuser to provide an easy to use platform for the gels.

I looked on Ebay to see if I could find some inexpensive diffusers.  Using the search term "flash diffuser canon 430EX" I found several Hong Kong distributors that were selling the diffusers for less than $2.00 each. Ebay Source for Flash Diffusers. I bought four of the units and waited only two weeks for them to be shipped from China.  The Chinese units were much cheaper than similar units in America that were priced around $12.00 each.

This is one of the units as it arrived.  You can see that the top has a patterned section that provides a template of where to cut the hole.  I used a box cutter to cut the top out.  Be very careful cutting because it is easy to slip out of the plastic and cut yourself.

Below is the diffuser with the top cut out.  Notice that this cut leaves a lip along the top that will be used to support the gel on the inside of the diffuser.

The next challenge that I had was how to attach the diffuser to the inside.  I discovered that my Velcro dots that I had with my previous method of attaching the gels would work good on the diffusers. There are other Velcro products that might work just as well. 

I was using a Velcro product designed for mounting posters.  That provided a very thin adhesive that was fairly easy to remove from the gels when you wanted to change them. I will continue testing other methods to mount the gels inside the diffuser.

On

On the right you can see the diffuser with a red gel mounted to the inside of the diffuser.

I bought four of the diffusers and mounted red, blue and green gels in the units to provide a quick way to modify my flash output.  I saved the other modified diffuser for using a different color gel that might modify the light for tungsten or fluorescent conditions for instance.

Below you will see several of the units that I keep in my flash kit* for use in the field. I can keep these units ready for use and in the future I will buy more diffusers to keep my commonly used gels mounted and ready to go. 

This entire project cost less than $ 15.00 with the cost of the diffusers the gels.

* Flash Kit is a storage and transport case that I use for storing all the parts and pieces used for my off-camera flash accessories. I will create a post later in this series telling about how I store my equipment. 

Canon 430EX Flash-A review about an Ebay purchase

I recently purchased a Canon 430 EX flash on Ebay. The flash I received was like new, and was auctioned as a used unit. There were no scratches or scuffs on the unit. It was missing the box and the foot stand (a usual circumstance when buying on Ebay). Like most Ebay items it did not carry a manufacturers warranty.

The Canon 430 EX flash is a great value flash for those looking for both E-TTL II and the power of manual flash control. I chose the 430 EX mainly because of price when compared with the Canon 580 EX units. I needed a flash that would work in an E-TTL environment and link up seamlessly with my Canon EOS T1i (500D). I also needed to use a flash in a radio wireless mode for portable location shots where line of site was not available.

I wanted to have a true Canon flash because of its integration with my camera that other flashes can not emulate. However, I do mix different flash units when using my manual remote radio triggers when on location.  I have a Vivitar DF400MX flash and frequently borrow another 430EX flash to round out what I call my "flash kit". 

The 430EX is a best value in that it has all the truly important features: bounce, swivel, auto zoom head, autofocus assist, good power, and E-TTL II compatibility. It also has two things that put it ahead of most independent flash units. First and foremost is the high flash synch capability. This is invaluable when using the flash for outdoor, sunny day fill flash portraits. Large apertures (for shallow depth of field) and bright light necessitates shooting at faster shutter speeds. This can truly make all the difference in your outdoor portraits.

Second, and of equal value, is the wireless capability. The 430EX, the 580EX, some older flashes and the ST-E2 controller can be assembled into a portable, multi-flash wireless set. This is a setup I use most often using the ST-E2 as the master on camera and using multiple 430EX units off camera. I also am using the Cactus V4 remote triggers and receivers until I can afford the more costly Radiopoppers or PocketWizards MiniTTL and Flex TT5. The Cactus units are non-E-TTL only where the Radiopoppers and newer PocketWizard units utilize E-TTL II. The picture on the left shows how the ST-E2 looks when attached to the hot shoe of the camera. 

A couple of notes about the flash; when you lock it on the hot shoe, it can be very, very difficult to unlock (you twist a wheel to tighten it on). It is a tight location for a person like me with big thumbs. I would recommend a diffuser (like a STO-FEN) so that the light can be subdued especially when you wish to brighten the flesh tones of the people in the photo or to light the shadows under a hat. Finally, flashes perform best with rechargeable batteries. The rechargeable (I use Energizer) have a higher capacity when used in a flash. I've definitely noticed this with my flash.