Month: August 2005

  • IT HAS BEEN NEARLY 3 YEARS SINCE I “RETIRED” BUT….


    I
    haven’t forgotten hardly anything!  It all came back in an
    instant.  Congratulations to Angel and Ryan, Angela Talley’s
    wedding clients.  I have to tell you, I REALLY like
    shooting weddings!


    I cannot honestly say that I have missed
    them but once I was back behind the camera it was FREAKING
    AWESOME!  I just love getting the shots.  Today I had some
    new toys to play with, the Nikon 4500 IR converted by Brody Dezember,
    and of course the new LS2PJ.  I shot a lot of different gear -
    Fuji S2/S3, Canon EOS20D and the Nikon 4500.


    I honestly never think of myself
    as a photographer, so at times like this when I nail some shots that
    are really pleasing to me, it’s a little serindipitous to think that
    I’m a professional photographer, and I like my work.  I think of
    myself more as a real estate guy, but today was pretty cool because it
    showed me that I really like how I shoot weddings. 



    CLICK HERE FOR SOME IMAGES FROM TODAY

  • FIRST IMAGES EVER DONE WITH THE LS2PJ!


    I
    just wish you could be here to see what we saw today with the new
    LS2PJ.  It is absolutely amazing.  This shot is done in a low
    ceiling and I did not need the dome, because the LS2PJ is completely
    transparent so there is very little loss.  I shot this wedding
    with Melissa and the poor girl just had to deal with me all day going -
    LOOK!  LOOK!  (at my LCD) The quality and white balance of this thing is
    amazing.  I can’t wait until it gets out into the world so people
    can rave about it in the forums.  This thing is incredible. 
    I wish you were here to see what it can do.


    I
    didn’t get to illustrate this earlier, but look how spongy the LS2PJ
    is.  You can squish it, and it returns to its original
    shape.  For formal group photos, it is unreal.  I had Melissa
    take a video with the F10 to show how high the ceiling was, and how all
    I used was ONE LS2PJ to light the whole group inside the dark church -
    to get this amazing lighting… it was so cool!  Anyway, it will
    be on the market in about a week… I can’t wait until it hits our new
    distribution facility and goes out into the world…


  • INTRODUCING THE LIGHTSPHERE PHOTOJOURNALIST!


    Tomorrow
    we will be shooting the final prototype for the new Lightsphere II
    Photojournalist.  This is a design I came up with a while ago
    specifically for event photography.


    While the original Lightsphere is
    incredible for lighting, I wanted something slightly more compact and
    more suited for fast-action event photography.  The original LS2
    is very large (it had to be) but it also is kind of bulky for fast reportage.


    So I now have the
    Photojournalist, and the original will be called the
    “Portraitist”.  The Photojournalist is so exciting to me for the
    following reasons:


    1) it is a flexible, bead blasted
    industrial VINYL.  Why Vinyl?  Because it is flexible,
    stretchable like a swim fin.  Imagine how a swim fin fits tightly
    on your foot.  This one will not fall off in a bump, instead it
    will bump into hard objects silently.  This is the only diffuser
    anywhere that is made out of flexible vinyl.  Nobody else has done
    it because most diffusers wouldn’t hold the shape if it was
    “spongy”.  This one will because of the shape of the diffuser but
    also because of the cool ribs we put inside the flash…


    2) The inside of the diffuser is
    completely textured to make the light dispersion even more
    sloppy!  And because of this design, we were able to make the
    material more translucent, keeping the unit from losing a lot of light
    while actually increasing the diffusion and softness of the
    light.  Because of this – the new “Photojournalist” does not require the dome!


    3) It is 90% of the size of the
    “Portraitist”… smaller would not give the lighting qualities that you
    are used to with the original Lightsphere.  So while it is large -
    it does not have nearly the bulky appearance because of the more
    transparent vinyl and soft construction.  And because it is
    “stretchy”, there are no adapters.  It will stretch over a wide
    range of flash sizes with flexible ribs inside to ensure a secure grip.


    The “Portraitist” is still the
    greatest solution for diffuse flash because it accepts the dome and has
    just a very soft look.  The “Photojournalist” is nearly identical
    in flash quality (A/B tests will be coming up tomorrow on this
    website!) but it will be more compact, flexible, fast-moving and will
    look um, slightly less like Tupperware :)   I welcome your
    comments!!!


    This time we will not be doing a
    pre-release offering, and we will sell these in blocks of 500 only – so
    later this week when it comes on the market, when we clear a 500 block,
    it will hit “sold out” status until we release the next block.  I
    want to do this to reduce the anguish that we experienced last time
    when we couldn’t fill the orders.

  • THE LIGHTSPHERE IN COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHY


    It flatters me when I see the
    Lightsphere II on tv in use at a press event, or when it is being used
    by the world’s best photographers.  Like Andreas Avdoulos, one of
    the most amazing photographers I’ve seen.  He photographed the new
    Porsche Cayman in Stuttgart West Germany using the Lightsphere
    II.  He sent me a wonderful testimonial, and anybody who does that
    I just have to visit his site.  I was blown away by his work…
    simply incredible…


    Andreas said, “The
    guys in the studio were like “ey, what is this tupperware on your
    camera” (german accent of course), they laughed, and scoffed at it, but
    when I pumped off a few shots, and showed them how it added a nice soft
    light over the silver paint of the car they said “wow”, followed by
    “where can I get one.”

    So there you go, it rocks, I use it in the most unconventional of ways, from shooting weddings to massive car shoots. “


    Here’s the shot he did with the Lightsphere II:

    For an educational experience, please visit his awesome website by clicking here


    To purchase your own Lightsphere II – click here!