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WHITE/BLACK REFLECTION UMBRELLA:
32"
The White/Black umbrella is made
of the new P-Satin clothes-PU bonding with high denier Satin.
Their Black cover can achieve almost 100% light reflection rate
and provide soft almost shadowless light, which is suitable for
indirect and diffusive lighting. A wonderful method of softening
the light.
Technique:
Photographers use these umbrellas
to diffuse and soften light; in portraits, for example, this
soft lighting very effectively hides many of the lines and wrinkles
on the faces of our victims (umm, our "subjects" :),
making them look younger and more vital. It's also great for
photographing highly reflective surfaces, such as jewelry, glass,
and chrome (it avoids the bright reflections that mess up our
pictures). But don't let our clients know our little secrets,
just accept their appreciation (along with your quickly-escalating
fees), and let them believe it was your phenomenal photographic
skill that made them (or their products) look so damn good!
Look, you're spending a lot of time and money acquiring the
equipment, and learning the skills of the photographic arts;
you're becoming a skilled professional; your work is valuable
as well as beautiful. Don't price yourself out of the market,
certainly, but don't sell yourself cheap, either.
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Point of Information:
BTW (btw means "by
the way" for any "newbies" paying us a visit),
a "Reflection" umbrella is one that reflects the strobe's
light back onto the subject, and thereby softens and diffuses
the light. This technique is often used in portraits, delicate
items, and for photographing reflective surfaces, and performs
many beneficial services for all us hard-working, and under-appreciated
photographic artists. Keep it a secret from others, though, and
let them think we get our beautiful images through some sort
of secret and esoteric magic, passed down through the centuries,
from master to disciple. It helps increase our value ;-) - and
please don't send me any e-mail explaining that photography hasn't
been around for centuries, I know that. Duh.
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Here's a great little accessory
that all photographers always need more of: a panning light head with integral umbrella holder!
It's hard to wax philosophic about a photographic accessory,
but anyone who's ever worked with lights knows that these little
tools are absolutely indispensable. For example, even a super-duper,
antique, $100,000.00 table lamp isn't going to do anyone much
good without a light bulb that works. It's hard to admire anything
sitting in the dark! But this little baby works, and keeps on
working. You'll need one of these for every standard e-27 Edison
base strobe or continuous light you'll ever work with (the E-27
is the standard household light socket size, so you can use "regular"
lights with it too, if need be). Plus, this little baby has an
integral (built-in) umbrella holder, which saves you from having
to buy an additional umbrella adapter, whenever you might want
to "bounce" the light off of (or through) an umbrella.
You'll use these Tilt/Swivel Bulb Holder with your AS-120 and
AS-66 Strobes.
Specifications:
Single standard E-27 bulb socket
On / Off switch
10 foot power cord
3/8" Stud for attaching to light stands
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You're
also getting a great new 6' 8" X 9' Raw Muslin Background
/ Backdrop to start you
off! This is a great starter background for those of us who are
just begining to realize the importance of backdrops to good
photography. Raw muslin is a lovely cream color (sort of like
this background color), and has been used in its raw state as
a favorite of photographers for decades. Be aware that this is
a brand new, top quality, 100% pure cotton muslin (unlike the
cheap recycled and cotton blend so-called "muslins"
that others have been selling online recently). Also, you can
easily dye and/or paint raw muslin to create beautiful custom
backgrounds that sell for up to $450.00! What IS a "Muslin"
you may ask? Muslin is a type of cotton material that is light
weight, easily hung, draped, stretched, folded, or rolled. It's
easy to paint and dye, and relatively inexpensive. You'll likely
acquire several different color muslins as your photographic
needs advance. But if your budget won't stretch to buy additional
backgrounds, you add to your background creativity by using a
bed sheet (iron it first, so all the wrinkles are gone), or a
wall, or buy some cheap material at a local fabric store (use
solid colors, or mellow blends; avoid loud patterns or designs
- they just detract from your subject. You want your background
to compliment your subject, not overpower it). Set your victim
(um, your "subject," that is:) at least 4-6 feet in
front of your background (whatever it may be), and place your
background strobe behind your subject (hidden from the camera's
view, of course). No need to spend a fortune to get great pictures,
just be imaginative and creative with the equipment you have.
Please note that this muslin does not come hemmed or with a loop
sewn across the top (however, it's a simple matter to make a
loop - to insert a background cross bar through - with a few
safety pins (real photographers improvise:), or you can sew one
yourself, if you're handy).
Read some more about backgrounds....
see here
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 Technique: The most important "secret" of good photography is the thought the photographer
puts into a picture before s/he even considers what type of film
to use! The point here is that we have to train ourselves to
think before we shoot! What color is our subject? How
can we make that color (or shade) stand out? Look at the example
below, and see how the simple choice of using
a background that matches our subject's eye color can improve
our pictures. In the lovely picture to your left, notice how
the blue-violet shadows to the right of the model's head accentuate
her blue eyes. Notice, too how half the face is in a light shadow,
adding depth and texture. We have to ask ourselves: What do we
want to emphasize in our picture? How will we direct our viewers'
eye to our subject? If it's an outdoors photograph, how will
we separate our main subject from any other distracting elements
in our photograph? At which angle should we shoot? Is it important
to establish place in this photograph (i.e., is it important
for the viewer to know where our subject is? Or do we want to
hide the location)? If we're shooting people, what is our victim's
least appealing feature (i.e., a large nose, a bald head, pot
belly, lotsa wrinkles, etc.:)? How can we hide or de-emphasize
it? What's our subject's most appealing feature (i.e., eyes,
profile, smile, boobs - oops! sorry, I couldn't resist:) ? How
can we emphasize the attractive aspects of our subjects? These
are the questions photographers have to ask, before we
shoot. THINK before you shoot! MAKE a photograph - don't "take"
a snapshot! Learn to "design" your picture before you
pick up your camera! Take a piece of paper and a pencil, and
sketch out what you want in the picture you're considering; this
will be a great help in the beginning, and after a few weeks
or months of doing this, you'll start to do it all in your head,
and won't need the pencil and paper any more. I promise you that
a good photograph doesn't require the genius of an Einstein -
it just takes a little thought and preparation (creativity and
practice doesn't hurt either)! You don't have to study photography
for 20 years, just train yourself to think before you
shoot! Don't try to plan out 100 subjects all at once; think
about one or two, and then use 10 rolls of film on just a few
ideas. Shoot from different angles; shoot from different heights;
shoot with different lighting angles; shoot with color film;
shoot with black and white film; think, then shoot! Pretty soon,
you'll wake up one day and realize that you've changed; you'll
look at the world differently; you'll "see" things
most people never even notice; one day, you'll realize that you've
become something special; something different, but different
in a most amazing and wonderful way; you will have become - a
photographer!
© 2001
Quickie
Photographic Technique #3: Portraits
- Set the camera at subject's eye level; focus on the eyes; light
one side of the face brighter than the other (half in light to
medium shadow); to hide wrinkles use umbrellas or softbox/softcase;
to further hide wrinkles, use a "soft focus" filter
(it works like magic!); to de-emphasize a large nose, raise camera
level slightly and shoot full or 3/4 face; to de-emphasize a
receding hairline, lower camera slightly or have subject raise
head slightly. More "quickie technique" information
will be included in my other auction descriptions. Thank you
for viewing this auction, and good luck! Tell me more about getting
perfect exposure... see here
From
whom should you buy your photographic equipment? Hey, it's your hard-earned money,
so you should buy from anybody you darn well like! However, one
of the advantages of buying from another photographer is that,
unlike "salesmen," who just want to "sell"
things to you, a photographer will know what you need,
and what you don't need; a photographer will know why
you'll need something, and why you won't need something;
a photographer will have actually used the equipment being sold,
and will be able to offer advice based on real-life experience.
Of course, the facts that photographers (like us) are usually
much better-looking, a lot smarter, definitely kinder,
and unquestionably much more creative than other folks, doesn't
hurt either, does it? ;-)
Unlike the others who try to
cover up their own photographic illiteracy with vague warnings
cautioning you against buying from anyone else (but them,
that is:), I won't stoop to such reprehensible behavior; I guess
I'm just not greedy enough to do such things. In addition, I
trust you to be smart enough to make up your very own mind, without
my self-serving advice, telling you who you should and
shouldn't patronize. Sure, I'm in business to sell photographic
equipment, but I'd rather lose a few sales than insult my customers'
intelligence with admonitions like: "Buy from me! Don't
buy from the other guy!" So go ahead and check out what's
available, compare prices, quality, and customer service philosophies
see here; see who you think will provide
more help and support. Then, check out the feedback profiles
see here; go look to see what the other "photographic
experts" were selling a few months ago (that'll be a revelation:).
Next visit the web sites, of your potential suppliers (especially
those who claim to be photographers with "100 years experience,"
and see how much they really know about photography).
Then, in addition to the usual, logical, informed, procedures
for making your purchasing decisions, check with the old standby
that's almost always right, your gut feelings. Check things out;
make up your own mind. Then, without doubt, you'll probably come
to the right conclusion. [However, - just in the interest of
saving you time and trouble ;-) the conclusion you'll surely
come to is that "PhotoSource3"
on eBay (who is also the
beloved founder and talented creator of MyPhotoHome.com and Photographer's
SupplyStation: pss3.com) is "Da Man" from whom to buy
your photographic goodies! =:-) ] Thank you for being kind enough
to view this auction (I hope you realize that my humor is meant
to be fun, and is intended with good will), may you have the
best of luck, and don't forget, as always, no matter who you
choose to honor with your photographic purchases, take (or better
yet, "make") lots of great pictures! And remember,
you can't get good - unless you get started.
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And, as you can see here, the
AS-120 also has an integral (built-in) light stand connector.
This allows you to use either the Tilt/Swivel Bulb Holder (as
seen in the picture above), that's included with this package
(of course! all my auctions contain well-designed kits
and packages that come with everything you'll need to use your
new equipment - unlike some others you'll find selling "kits"
online that need extra parts - at additional costs, too), or
you can attach the AS-120 to the light stand with its built-in
attachment for better balance when using light modifiers (softboxes,
umbrellas, etc.) which add weight to the front end of the unit.
