What's in the Bag? Lastolite EZ Balance Collapsible White Balance Disc

Every digital photographer should have some kind of white balance system. This is especially true for those who use the histogram to determine exposure, because histograms are wildly affected by white balance. For accurate histogram readings, always perform a custom white balance before shooting. Raw shooters can set a custom white balance during raw processing.

What's in the Bag? Vivitar 285HV Flash

This is a continuation of the “What's in the Bag” series, and is the first post of several to come describing the contents of my portable studio kit. By time we've gotten through everything I think we all will be ready for a new subject, but for now, let's get on with it.

A Pair of Flashes
If you are going to make photographs, you must have light. These are the two that I pack for goodly power and reliability in a small package. The head swivels from 0 to 90 degrees, but does not rotate. It has a manual zoom from 35 mm to 105 mm, and can go down to 28 mm with the wide-angle lens (more on that later). They operate with thyristor controlled self-metering or in manual with power settings for full, 1/2, 1/4, & 1/16 (note that 1/8 is missing).

What's in the Bag?

The previous post mentioned a “truly portable studio kit” and gave a sneak peak at the bag. This posting will dive into the bag and introduce you to what I consider an essential kit for anyone who needs portability. In this posting you will get an overview with a list of contents. In the followup postings, I will be going through each item to report on why it is there, what I like about it and what I don't like about it.

Lighting with Just One Umbrella

Farewell 2009
2009 is fast coming to an end and I wanted to get at least one more post out the chute before 2010 arrives. Today's post is a bit of a departure from the more pedantic nature of past postings. I thought it about time to start showing what can be done with some studio equipment in real world use. Keep in mind that by my way of thinking, a studio is any space where I can control the lighting to make photographs. While that includes the use of natural light, here in the greater Seattle area we have learned not to depend on the sun, so artificial lighting is more a way of life than a convenience.

How I Started with Off-camera Flash

Comparison: Color Shift from Reflectors - Why it pays to buy quality (take 2)

Forward
The last post dealt with color shift from light modifiers. This prompted me to conduct yet one more similar experiment, only this time using light bounced from my collection of various reflectors. suspicion that some of my reflectors are causing a color shift was fueled by the findings from testing umbrellas and softboxes. Since reflectors get used primarily for filling shadows and often in conjunction with a fill light, the color shift is often not particularly noticeable and therefore easy to overlook. However, when using a single light source and a reflector for fill, the color shift could be very dramatic, so if there is a problem with any reflector, it needs to be identified and eliminated.

Comparison: Color Shift from Light Modifiers (Why it pays to buy quality)

Comparison:
Color Shift from Light Modifiers
Why it pays to buy quality

Forward
In this posting we are going to explore the difference between some light modifiers of various styles and brands. This is not a review or an endorsement for any particular product. Instead, we are going to take a look at how different manufacturers light modifiers affect the color temperature of light. This important aspect of light modifiers seldom gets any kind of attention, yet it is just as important as any other characteristic, especially when mixing light modifiers. My goal is to point out just how dramatic the differences can be. There also appears to be an implication that the savings from buying cheap Chinese products, does come at a price.

Temperature of Light - part 9 (Manual White Balance with Raw Files using Bibble 4.10 Pro)

This is the last posting for the series on the Temperature of Light. It has been a long series and this post has been absurdly long in coming. No good reason for that, just allowed it to keep getting pushed down on priority list. Anyway, my apology to anyone who may have been disappointed with this long wait.
Now, let's get back to business. Today we are finishing up by setting a manual white balance for a raw file using Bibble 4.10 Pro.