Recent content by CharleyL

I don't think fire blanket ponchos existed when I tried this, but knowing what I do about ponchos, it might help, but not cover you well enough to be completely safe. If I had one, it would likely make a good top protection layer, but I would want thick cotton under it as one wouldn't be...

It's all about the kind of shooting that you do. Though a "Well seasoned" photographer who uses Manual Mode often, it depends on the kind of photo that you are shooting. Quick pop-up shots are most always caught best in Auto mode, but there are many times when I'll start a shoot in "TTL"...

When we did it we were wearing some of my welding clothes, blue jeans, thick cotton shirt, treated cotton welders hat, welding gloves and safety glasses. My son and I buy our welding clothes at the local thrift shops whenever possible, because they don't last very long. I still got a few burns...

White on white is equally as difficult. Charley

Use regular steel wool, not stainless, and not with soap imbedded (in the US the embedded soap version is called a Brillo Pad). Experiment with different grades. The 0000 grade is the finest (smallest strand) version and will burn the easiest. A sleeve of steel wool is not expensive and readily...

I have some small square (about 12"X 12") Godox SA-30 Soft boxes that I bought several years ago for one shoot, but find that I'm frequently using them for my tabletop shoots. They are used with Bowens mount adapters or S2 brackets, so fully interchangeable with all of my other soft boxes and...

My studio has white walls and ceiling. When I need the effect of a large soft box, one of the methods that I use is to reflect one of my lights off the studio ceiling or wall to spread and soften it. Another way is to use the center of a large 5 way reflector. It's a translucent material, and...

I have been using a folding wagon to haul my gear when I do outdoor shoots in local parks, but it only folds front to back and it isn't very friendly when hauling light stands and other long items. When folded, it won't stand on it's own either, and the collapsing handle falls to horizontal when...

@Bondservant, I am also on the West side of the big pond in Central North Carolina, USA. I sold off all of my more expensive lights about 6 years ago because I was having reliability problems with them, and I went with Godox. I tested the water, by buying two TT600 speedlites (flash guns) and...

I always carry a pair of filter wrenches of the size range of the filters that I am using. One wraps around the edge of the filter, while the other wraps around the end of the lens or previous filter. Squeeze the two handles of each wrench together, and turn. I have only needed to use them once...

A roll of diffusion material suspended (I suspend it with a C-Stand and boom positioned horizontal with the roll on it, hanging down the desired distance) where you wish to have the face of the soft box, with a strobe on a stand several feet behind this diffuser, it will make the function of a...

Though I have never used it on photography gear, a small amount of talc or the relatively new replacement stopped the stickiness on some old man's cane handles and it's lasted 4 years so far. Be cautioned about trying it on cameras, because it will likely find it's way inside over time. Charley

My table isn't a table at all. It's a table top, probably the extra from a batch made by a cabinet shop to replace the table tops of a small restaurant. This one has a slight warp to it, so never got made into an actual table with legs. It is Formica covered top and edges with a red wine colored...

Spigots are available with 1/4-20 or 3/8-16 female threads in their bases. You could make this shorter, less wobly, and lighter by going this way. There are double male pieces to go between as well. Charley

Well, I have re-joined the living. I wasn't convinced that I was going to for a while, but I'm back. I had my pacemaker replaced on Monday and I was back home on Tuesday, but it was a pretty rough surgery and I'm still in considerable pain. A Technicolor movie has nothing on the shades of color...