Recent content by Gordonmac

I stuck with my 1000D for two years and bought a few L Series lenses before upgrading to a 5D MKII this month. I'm pleased I did things that way!

I've using an elderly Gitzo Tatalux, but recently upgraded to a 3 Legged Thing Adrian tripod when they went on sale: http://www.3leggedthing.com/kinasale/adrianblack.html They are compatible with BlackRapid straps and you get a ton of free stuff with them at the moment.

I've been using a combination of Spudz microfiber when I'm out and Pec-Pads and Eclipse fluid when I'm at home.

Thanks for all the help guys! Just hit the "order" button on the Lastolite Softboks Ezybox Hotshoe 60x60cm. I had a look at some reviews for the Westcott Apollo 28", but the main disadvantages (for me) was lack of easy access to the Speedlite once inside the box, and also not having an easy...

Hi Pat. Those pictures are fantastic! My faith has definitely been restored in the smallish softbox's ability to produce some fantastic lighting! The 60cm option is definitely looking like the winner for me. I do want the portability, no faffing around and I'll be using with a stand anyway...

The Apollo is the other one on my shortlist... :) I think I will opt for something around the 60CM mark, it seems like a no-brainer to buy the biggest one you can afford. Now, looking for pics taken with both these softboxes :)

Thanks Graham, appreciate it :)

It doesn't actually sit on the hotshot flash, the flash sits on a stand to the rear of the soft box. What should be the minimum size for a practical soft box?

I was wondering if anyone here has one of these, has used one of these, has any opinions about these or has any photos taken using one of these. I quite fancy one for the portability, but I'm at this point undecided :) Thank you in advance!

Really? It's often quite nice to do some of the learning yourself - without the social interaction and subjective opinions of others; a bit like your subjective critique of Understanding Exposure - "Waste of money". Hmmm, constructive :)

If you're on full manual mode using the flash increase the aperture to maybe something like f/8, and set the shutter speed to about 1/125 Sec. The lower f/ numbers increase the flash brightness, and the lower shutter speeds increase ambient brightness. Mess around with those settings and see...

The best tip I ever learned about using flash is to adjust for the ambient light first using shutter speed (faster shutter = less ambient light, slower shutter = more ambient light). Then adjust the amount of flash using aperture (wide aperture = more flash, narrow aperture = less flash)...

Cameras see everything in shades of grey, going from black to white and including every tonal shade between. The mid-point between white and black is known as middle grey. Middle grey reflects 18% of light; this is why it’s commonly called 18% grey. All Camera meters are calibrated to...

Get yourself the book "Understanding Exposure, 3rd Edition: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera" by Bryan Paterson. I wish I had before I started taking lots of disappointing images during the first year of having my camera :)

There's a product called a Lenskirt, which is a suction-based large lens hood, it attaches to the glass and eliminates reflections. I've never used one, so can't say yay or nay about it. I saved an evernote from a website a while ago about this very subject: * Hold your camera with both hands...