The Big Switch Part one.

Hi there,
Last week I took the plunge and joined the likes of Chase Jarvis and Joe McNally. No, my pictures aren't along side of theirs in a gallery; I'm using Apple's Aperture to organize and globally adjust them. When we went into business we did the right thing and bought full copy of Adobe Photoshop (Ps) CS4. The PS bundle includes Bridge (Br) as a powerful file browser. I've been using Bridge since last summer and until Adobe Lightroom (Lr) 3 Beta was released in November. I've been using Lr3 until Apple released Aperture 3 in January. In my blog I'll give you my take on the strengths and weaknesses of both and why I chose Aperture.

I'll start out with how Bridge, Lightroom, and Aperture are similar. All three are file browsers of sorts, with Aperture and Lightroom Adding the ability to edit image files. Lightroom and Aperture are sold as stand alone programs and Bridge ships with programs in the Adobe Creative suite (like Photoshop). All give you the ability to browse files as lists or thumbnails as well as viewing them at full resolution, sort by just about any data associated with the file such as file type, date/time, aperture, size and so on.

Lightroom and Aperture differ from Bridge when it comes time to edit. Both Aperture and Lightroom are non-destructive editing programs; meaning when you make adjustments to an image those adjustments are store in the program library file and the original or "master" files are left untouched. In this case the an actual file is not produced until it's time to export for some sort of purpose like printing or sending to the web. This differs from the workflow with Bridge as files are sent to the editing software (Adobe Camera Raw, ACR), where files other than raw are actually saved after adjustment and RAW files have the data written into sidecar files or within a DNG file. In all the above software, when an image is sent to an external editor (such as Photoshop) a duplicate file is produced as a TIFF or PSD sent for editing and then added to the image catalogue as a separate file.

Working with library files in Aperture and Lightroom has the primary advantage of allowing multiple versions of an image with virtually no penalty storage wise. A big 24 megapixel 30 megabyte file can have a multiple versions, such as B&W, or toning adjustments for just kilobytes per copy. To accomplish the same thing in Bridge would require saving a full file copy of the edited file.

Aperture goes beyond the library file that contains the adjustment data for our image files by offering to store those files within the library file itself. Although this had scared many photographer away from this option as they thing this is one big file just waiting to get corrupted, it is in fact a package file that contains all the separate files in their original state. This is probably Aperture most powerful feature and arguably worth the $200 price of the software alone.

I'll use me as an example. Last year I had a hard drive "issue" while updating some drive firmware. The firmware update trashed my drive's (yes the backup too) library files leaving them a mash of data spread over terabytes of disk storage. After a week of data recovery I had all my files back along with thousands of duplicate and partially corrupted files... all without their original file names.

Aperture give you the ability to import these files into the library, and then export them into a file structure of your choice based on embeded metadata. I my case year/month/day with a filename hour-minute-second. In a mater of hours (that's computer time not yours, you can go drink coffee or take pictures etc.) you have taken tens of thousands of files and organized them into something even the most OCD of us could live with.

As a sidebar I'll mention a great app for culling all you duplicate files from your Aperture library: Duplicate Annihilator, Aperture Edition. This software takes on the time consuming task comparing the Master images in your Aperture 3 database using effective algorithms to make sure that no duplicates escape. When a duplicate is found the versions of that master will be marked with a keyword of your choice to make it easy to locate and delete. By default the keyword is duplicate (you can change it if you have this in your keywords). Simply search for files with the keyword duplicate, select all, clear the search criterial and you will see all your duplicate files next to the originals! Once you're sure that the program hasn't made any mistake (it didn't for me in over 20 000 duplicates) hit command delete and annihilate them! The best $7.95 I ever spent.

To be continued...

Send it into overtime...

This is for Steve Crowshaw of the Alberni Valley Photo Club (AVPC).

Paul C Buff (White Lightning and Alien Bee) Zeus 2500 Flash Review.

Hi there,

I've been promising to write some reviews of gear for a while and this snowy Friday seems as good a time as ever. I've had my Zeus 2500 power pack and associated heads for a few weeks now and I've been using the system quite a bit. I'll give you my thoughts about the system in the following review.

The gear showed up well packaged and in two days from the time I ordered it. Not bad considering Paul C Buff Ltd. (PCB) is in Nashville. The downside is that PCB will only ship UPS to Canada. I'm not sure if you've had the pleasure of having something delivered to you from the US by UPS yet. Let's just say it's akin to being a cellmate to a giant bodybuilder who likes to be called daddy. I avoid shipping UPS at almost any cost; in this case it was unavoidable and the bill was over $500 not including tax.

I should preface this by saying that prior to these units arriving I've been shooting with rented Profoto equipment so that is what I'm judging this by.

First Impressions: The first thing I un-boxed was the flash generator. It's made of a black ABS plastic with an aluminum strip covering the seam. I'm not a fan of plastic anything, but it's growing on me in the couple weeks since it showed up. The top of the unit opens like a clamshell. When it's closed it forms the carry handle. My first thought on this was that there is a some wasted space in the cover that could be used to store cables and remotes etc. Other than that It's pretty much what I'd expected from looking at the PCB web site.

2500 watt seconds is on the big end for flash units. For comparison, a Nikon SB900 (on camera flash) is about 60 w/s and mono heads are between 300 and 1200 w/s. The drawback to getting a big flash unit is when you don't need the power it can have too much even when it's idled right down. In the case of the Zeus units, however, they are adjustable over a five stop range at the full power setting, and another two stops when using the asymmetric power setting if you use one head on the 1/4 power "B" outlet giving it a seven stop total range. Another drawback is that the stability of colour temperature and flash duration tend typically suffer when running big flashes and low power. Indeed one of those is the case with the Zeus; flash duration for 3/4 power and full power distribution and minimum power is a rather pedestrian 125th of a second. Switching to the 1/4 power setting, however, gives a very usable 425th of a second and 8.7 w/s giving a meter reading for 100 ISO of ƒ2.5 (ƒ2 and five tenths) at ten feet using the standard 7" reflector. I can't speak to to the color temperature other than to say that in my use of the flash I haven't notice any significant color variation.

Of course big flashes are available for a reason. Lots of power will let you do things like compete with the sun while using stop stealing light modifiers like softboxes and narrow grids... and win... easily. They also give you more working distance from the flash heads to your subject letting you have less falloff over a given depth of field. At the full power setting and the same conditions as above it meters ƒ32.4. I purchased a pair 8.5" high output reflectors that further increase the efficiency by over a full stop to ƒ45.5. Recycle time on big power packs at medium and low power is typically very fast. This is the case here with 2.4 seconds to a full power zap, .7 of a second for a very useful 625 w/s, and almost instantaneous at low power outputs.

The controls are easily accessed and logical. Starting at the top left and moving clockwise there is the power distribution switch (located between the two head outputs). This switch selects between a symmetrical full power output to both heads and 3/4 power to head A and 1/4 power to head B. Next is the power switch. There are two slider type adjusters in the center. One is for flash power and the other is modeling lamp power. Both of these are marked with graduations indicating ƒ stops below full output. My one bitch about this style adjuster is that it's also a big hole in the case to let dust/rain/coffee into and it's impossible seal. There are four buttons below the power adjusters. The test/dump button, modeling recycle beeper on/off, modeling lamp recycle indicator, modeling lamp tracking, and the modeling lamp on/off button. Strangely, there is no button to turn off the optical slave; this is done instead by plugging in a sync cord. Sadly, none of the controls have even had an attempt made to dust/weather/coffee proof them.

Excuse the terrible photography. Camera for size reference.

I bought two of the Z2500SH (Zeus 2500 w/s Standard Head) flash heads and a ZRM2500 (Zeus Ring Master) ring flash. Did I mention that the flaky names and graphics of the PCB stuff drives me crazy? I digress. I'll review the ZRM head in a future blog, here's my take on the standard heads:

The SH heads are made of a sturdy aluminum extrusion and are all metal with the exception of the polycarbonate back plate and head angle adjustment lever. It's the same housing as the PCB White Lightning flash units. They also share the reflector mounting arrangement with Balcar and are plug and play compatible with some Dynalite flash generators. I've heard a couple people complain about the Balcar style of connector, where they say that it isn't strong enough to hold large octas and softboxes. In the Z2500SH PCB has made some big improvements over the Alien Bee reflector holder that makes it considerably stronger and I haven't had any problems with it even when using a 30"x60" softbox. The flash heads have integral umbrella holder on the top of the case; this makes the offset from the flash tube about 2 inches. For some reason there are two umbrella mounts. I think this is just a function of the manufacturing of the extrusion. The heads ship with a shipping cover for the flashtube and modeling lamp, a permanently attached 12 foot power cord, a 250w modeling lamp, and a seven inch reflector. The manual say they ship with plastic clips to hold gels but neither of mine did (I'm sure a phone call would have had two coming my way from PCB but I use different gel holders anyway). The head angle adjuster is the nice pull out to reposition type and is sturdy and easy to tighten.

Beside a Bee for comparison.

The Light stand mounting screw.

The reflector release.

Detail of the beefy reflector holder.

I really like this flash head. I have only three things that I think would improve it: First would be a pyrex or similar lamp/tube protector as it's easy to bump these when changing light modifiers and reflectors. Second would be a larger stand mount tightening screw as this one is hard to get tight enough when using the unit on a boom stand and not vertically. Lastly is that the cooling fan runs continuously (rather than being thermostatically controlled). Besides being noisy, this drastically reduces the useful life of battery powered inverters when working on location. All in all pretty minor considering a similar head from a Elichrome, Profoto, or the like can easily cost three times as much.

Function and reliability have been perfect with the exception of a modeling lamp failing almost right away. But... I had several failed modeling lamps out of this shipment and I'm going to chalk it up to rough handling during shipment. My experience with the PCB customer service thus far has been outstanding. I had a problem with a remote that I'll talk about later as well, an item that was different that what I ordered as well as the modeling lamps I just mentioned. All were replaced right away without question. When you phone them, you get to talk to a real person! Way to go PCB!

Talk to you later, Greg

The delervery man cometh...

Hi,

I received my order of Paul C Buff equipment this week equipping us with enough watt/seconds of flash to handle all but the biggest commercial jobs that we see on any kind of regular basis. Until now commercial jobs have always meant renting flash, and that has meant a trip to Vancouver. It made bidding or offering commercial jobs was onerous and often impractical.

I chose to go with PCB contrary to my usual purchasing modus operandi. I typically never buy anything other than industry proven high end brands. In this case I bought equipment that has a price tag much bellow the equipment I typically rent (Profoto) with, arguably, the same capabilities. One of the big selling points was the PCB warranty and glowing reputation from their customers.

High end flash equipment is one of those things that you pay up to half of your money for the brand. Granted, in most cases these names have established themselves with well proven track records. For the most part, however, there is nothing revolutionary about commercial flash equipment these days. In fact it's been a rather stagnant technology for quite some time; very different from the state of digital capture that is making leaps and bounds with every new model release.

I'm hoping to review the equipment here on the blog over the next few blogs. One of the things I find frustrating about shopping online is the lack of a tactile experience with a product before I buy it. This is one of the challenges with running my business in the "sticks" as apposed to the "big smoke": I can't walk into a store and handle or try the products I'm interested in. I'm stuck with the seller's website and any online reviews I might find. Hopefully I will put out a decent review that some of you might find useful.

I hate UPS. If you've ever had them deliver something across the border from the 'states you know why... they could have at least kissed me first.

Greg

Just a walk on the beach.

The three of us got bundled up and went for a walk on the beach in the wind the other day. The sun has peeking out between the showers and we are all feeling a little short on vitamin D. Momma nature treated us to a beautiful rainbow along the way. Here are a few pictures from our walk:

I'm really stoked for a studio day I have lined up for Thursday. 10 models, proffesional makeup and hair, wardrobe an me! I'll to a blog on the lights and have behind the scenes stuff here to follow.

Cheers, Greg

Behind the scenes

Hey, I seem to be not very good about getting blogs out at a decent rate... sorry.

Here is a shot from last week. I'm planning to give you a how'd he do that blog. I'll talk about how it was made from the concept to print.

We started doing a portrait session for Mark, a Lieutenant for The Parksville Fire Department. While shooting inside the hall Mark mentioned that Ladder 41 is his favorite truck and he love to do some shots on it. Right on!

I started to build the shot in my head: shoot him from above wide... to exaggerate the height. I'd light him to bring the detail of the sky and bring him off the background. I was thinking about a dramatic/gritty looking image.

So, I had a concept now it was time to make it happen. The truck was moved behind the fire hall and I began to set up lights for the shoot. So why light it? It was daytime an I could have gotten a decent exposure without flash. Well, at the concept stage I though about the feel I wanted for it and having a dark detailed cloudy sky would definitely do that.

The problem was that the sky was a good three stops brighter than my Mark. When you look at the behind the scenes shoots you will see the the sky totally blows out.

There are a few ways to solve the problem. I could have shot a bracketed burst of shots and made and HDR (High Dynamic Range) image. My camera will shoot eight frames per second so I can get away with hand holding HDR captures. But I chose to use off camera flash instead.

The off camera flash, in this circumstance, has some advantages to get me the image I had imagined at the concept stage. I personally have a preference for off camera light as I can usually get an image out of the camera that requires little to no post production. That fact alone makes it worth it for me as I regularly output up to thousands of images a month; needing to spend even 10 minutes per image in post would kill me.

I missed taking an image of the setup so you will have to gleam it from my super cheesy self portrait.

I took two SB-900s and a couple lite-tites (umbrella holders) with cold shoe clamps and zap-strapped and gaffer taped them to the truck ladder. Both flashes were set to remote, one group A and one group B. I zoomed them both to 50mm for a little bit of kick. It was beginning to rain so I put the flashes in zip lock bags for insurance. I had a third SB-900 as the master flash on the camera.

I brought two cameras with me up the ladder as I didn't wan't to do a lens change up top or have everyone climb down to do the same. As it turns out I would have been fine with just the wide angle. For the record: I am still having nightmares of cameras falling 40ft to a gravely death.

I shot the camera in manual so that I could easily balance the flash and the ambient light. I set f 5.6 (that gives lots of depth of field at 14mm and doesn't tax the flashes too much) aimed the camera at the sky and set a shutter speed that gave me a two stop under exposure to bring out the details. I told the master flash on the camera to make group A over expose by one and a third stops and group B to over expose by two thirds of a stop. This would bring my subject of the background and still retain details in the unlit areas of the picture.

Using manual modes for balancing flash is a great way to maintain consistency between images. By setting and exposure for the sky I am choosing to keep that exposure constant throughout the shots as it is unaffected by the flash. Although I'm using a manual mode in the camera the flashes are still pre-flashing and I'm able to task the camera with adjusting flash outputs automatically. This is awesome because it gives me total control on the overall exposure while the flash automatically adjusts exposure as my subject moves closer and further from the lights.

I made a test shot and a few adjustments and then started to work with Mark on posing for the shot. I leave my display set to RGB "blikies" so that I'm easily able to see if my highlights are blowing out. I also use a loupe to view the display when I'm shooting outside. The loupe lets me have a very good view of the display in the field rather than to get things back to the cutting room just to find out I missed the shot. I shoot tethered when I can for the same reason and I'll cover that in a future blog. I'm not a light meter person when using TTL light setups. For that matter I often just use my camera as a flash meter even when I'm shooting manual flashes (don't tell anyone).

After getting a good set of images in the camera I did a little post production on this one and I'll go over here. I've been using Topaz plug-ins for a while now, specifically Adjust and Detail. I'm easily able to ad contrast to different tonal ranges without having to ad multiple adjustment layers making short work of an otherwise long photoshop session.

In this image I made a quick adjustment to level the horizon (I'm incapable of holding a camera level no matter how hard I try). I made a graduated filter in Lightroom and fine tuned the exposure and contrast for the sky. I then sent the file to Photoshop and made a duplicate layer of the background and sent it to the Topaz Detail filter. I started with the Interior Detail preset and did a couple minor tweaks before saving the changes. I then slightly reduced the opacity of the new layer and I was done.

So, in review we came up with a concept, considered the options for production and chose one, shot the images and finished with some post production. It's important to mention that throughout the process I had the final image in mind. Without that I would have been bumbling around waiting for something to happen. That's not to say that creative accidents are a good thing, quite the opposite in fact. But it's really important to visualize the finished image before you start out to make it.

Cheers, Greg

I do it for the boobs.