DIY Snoots Test Shots

Here are some test shots of the snoots I built. In the following photos, the flash head is 5'8" from the white wall. My SB-800 is set to 1/128 power and 105mm zoom. Bare flash Cardboard snoot with white edge facing out Cardboard snoot with dark edge facing out. The snoot drooped down a little which is why the spot of light is about 6" lower than the previous photo. Foam sheet snoot My portrait setup. The distance of the flash head does not change between snoots, but my foam sheet snoot is one inch longer than the cardboard snoot. Me and the foam sheet snoot Me and the cardboard snoot with the white edge facing out Me and the cardboard snoot with the dark edge facing out My face looks warmer with the cardboard snoot + white edge when compared to the cardboard snoot + dark edge. I reshot the photos (not posted) without changing the setup nor the camera settings and I got exactly opposite results. I'm not sure what happened. Conclusions: The cardboard snoot is heavy, so it tends to droop. I like the durability of the foam sheet snoot, but I don't like how its floppiness prevents it from consistently pointing straight, so it sometimes droops as well. The floppiness can also cause kinks in the tube. Furthermore, my velcro design makes it difficult to attach it to the flash. My next foam sheet snoot will forgo the velcro and be a permanent tube. Although it appears that the edges of the cardboard snoop + white edge are not as well defined as the cardboard snoop + dark edge, the difference is too slight for it to matter to me. In the end, it appears that all my self-portraits look very similar. Any significant differences between them can be attributed to poor aiming of the flash (e.g. the droopiness factor).

Critique: Baby!

This past Thursday, a coworker brought her baby to work for the first time. I was supposed to be in training, but I couldn't pass an opportunity to shoot photos of her adorable kid. I had under three minutes to snap the photos and then run back to my training session. What follows is a critique of some of these photos. None of the photos were edited with software. Info on the following photos: 52.5mm focal length, f/2, 1/80 sec, ISO 200, no flash. Both the mother and baby are blurry, at least one of them should be in focus. Curse of the lens flare! I must avoid this type of backlit situation in the future. Questionable composition choice. Did I crop out his head intentionally? Is that me or a coworker on the left edge? Either way, this is a poorly composed image. See the rest of the photos on Flickr.

DIY Snoots

Inspired by the Strobist cereal box snoot, I built my first snoot out of black poster board, gaffer tape, and adhesive-backed velcro. This has an effective length of 10 inches. Notice that one end is edged with white gaffer tape. This is supposed to allow a little more light to spill out. I will test this soon.

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Then I read about using a foam sheet instead of a piece of cardboard, so I tried that too. This has an effective length of 11 inches. Foam sheets cost around $1.00 (US). I bought mine at Michael's Furry side of the velcro On the flip side and opposite edge is the hooks side of the velcro In the photos above, you'll see that there's velcro around the head of the flash. This was inspired by the Strobist velcro speed strap. I use it to help hold the cardboard snoot and I use it to mount a cardboard flag. Full disclosure: I haven't used either of these snoots out in the field, but when I do, I will post up some photos.

My Favorite Photos

I love Flickr, but surfing that site with my first generation iPhone is torturous. So instead I'm putting up my favorite photos here. Check back here often as I continue to add more photos. People: My favorite little person Kasey! Mark, Kasey, and Amy Mark and Kasey Kasey pouting? My dad abalone fishing Esther and Brian Esther and Brian Esther you're a tiger! Esther and her bat Esther and Rusty Brian and Jeanna Brian golfing with his racquet Brian being silly Esther and Matt after her first triathlon Places: Emeryville Marina during sunset Emeryville Marina during sunset Emeryville Marina during sunset Emeryville Marina at night Pier Tiny boat in a big ocean Tilt-shift miniature of downtown San Francisco You can see these and more on Flickr.

No More Post-Processing For Awhile

My carpal tunnel is getting very painful. Along with seeking medical treatment, I have to reduce my time in front of a computer. This means I have to limit the amount of painstaking post-processing (along with cropping) I do to my photos. Because I cannot rely on Photoshop and Lightroom, I have to start taking better pictures right off the bat. To usher in this new "era", here are some of my recent San Francisco pictures that could benefit from some additional post-camera work. Problem: Why do I avoid shooting feet? Photo info of the previous four images: Shutter priority, 52.5mm focal length, f/4, 1/1000 sec, ISO 200, no flash. Photo info: Shutter priority, 52.5mm focal length, f/7.1, 1/200 sec, ISO 200, no flash. Problem: Missing too much of Mike: Photo info: Shutter priority, 52.5mm focal length, f/4.5, 1/1000 sec, ISO 200, no flash. Problem: Need to expose Andrew's face a bit more: Photo info: 52.5mm focal length, f/5, 1/1600 sec, ISO 200, flash at full power on Andrew's forearm, DOH! Photo info: 52.5mm focal length, f/4, 1/200 sec, ISO 200, no flash. Problem: Too much on-camera flash on Andrew's face: Photo info: 52.5mm focal length, f/2.2, 1/2000 sec, ISO 200, on-camera flash in auto mode. Problem: A telephoto lens would be nice: Photo info: Shutter priority, 52.5mm focal length, f/3.5, 1/1000 sec, ISO 200, no flash. Photo info: Shutter priority, 52.5mm focal length, f/4.5, 1/1000 sec, ISO 200, no flash. Photo info: Shutter priority, 52.5mm focal length, f/4.5, 1/1000 sec, ISO 200, no flash. Switching gears: I liked how I caught most of the disk along with all of Su-Wen: Photo info: Shutter priority, 52.5mm focal length, f/4.5, 1/1000 sec, ISO 200, no flash. Typing this blog post is painful, but I can't give everything up!