Recent content by John Harding

I think it is sensible to think about customer service very carefully especially if you are buying a rebranded item that nobody else sellsm What are you going to do if they go out business or stop selling that model? Even if they are good I would rather deal with a firm that's been around for...

People go on his training courses from all over the world. He is only an hour or so from you.

Just an update, called at Garrys studio at the weekend. Big pro studio with stacks of gear, I felt like a kid in a toyshop:) Anyway, had a good play with the ringflash, much better than the Ebay listing shows, really solid bit of kit and a piece of cake to use. Anyway I just ordered one...

Videos and books on lighting http://www.photolearn.co.uk Also Light, Science & Magic, should be able to get it from Amazon

Any chance I could have a play with the ringflash?

RU THE Garry Edwards who runs the lighting forum on photo.net?

This is right, but the main difference is the physical size. Proper ringflashes produce the ringflash effect at several feet, the macro ringflashes can only produce it at a few inches. As for price, they don't have to cost a fortune. This one is reasonably priced...

If you want the ringflash effect you'll have to use a ringflash, nothing else comes close to the same effect. The Macro ringflashes are only good for macro, apart from the low power they are just too small to get the effect with people. Alien Bee are OK but a bit flimsy. Try the Lencarta...

Shoot through brollies go between the light and the subject, because of this they can be placed close to the subject to produce soft lighting. The downside is that the light bounces around and is uncontrolled. Reflective brollies face away from the subject and the light is reflected from...

Basically, all flash meters work in the same way and do the same job. The best (Minolta flashmeter V) has loads of features that you may never want to use and excellent build quality The Sekonic L-358 has loads of features But even the cheapest will give very similar readings. As for...

The amount of space you have will affect the range of photography you can carry out and it's also easier to get good results in a larger space, but won't affect it's quality. If you want to use lit backgrounds then you really need about 8' minimum between subject and background. If you're not...

There are several different ways. A reflective umbrella can be a good approach because although the light direction is controlled it is also broad, so it shouldn't be a problem if the subject moves around a bit. A honeycomb produces more directional, controlled lighting and has the...

It's just a matter of balance. A cloth background will need more overexposure than a clean paper or vinyl one to get the shadow areas caused by the creases overexposed, the problem with that is that the higher level of overexposure on the areas not in shadow will direct more light forward on to...

Photolearn videos, 6 in all www.photolearn.co.uk

Very good for money and good after sales too. If you're going for cheapies, these are the best