Tuesday News Stuff
Apr. 21
1:23 am
Here’s what’s up this beautiful Tuesday in April:
- Pinhole Photo Gear
One of my readers, Holly Tarquinio, turned me onto a very cool “Pinhole Camera” kit called the Hole-OnEx (shown above), that you can pick up for around $20. It’s made of cardboard (hey, it’s under $20), and you have to assemble it yourself (you’ll need some glue, and it doesn’t hurt if you’re crafty), but it’s amazing the images you can take with it. I found a couple of links to the camera here and here (though I haven’t done business with either of these companies). This got me digging around a bit, and I also found some slightly more expensive alternatives that don’t require assembly, like the Hole-OnEx Pin Camera Kit” (for $22 on Amazon.com—here’s the link), and the “Pinholga” with its own cable release for $62. I’m going to have to get at least one of these, so if you’ve got any experience with one or the others, let me know—I can’t wait to try it myself. Thanks Holly for the tip! - Rick Sammon Releases New Wedding Photography Book
Our buddy Rick Sammon just came out with a Wedding photography book which features the work of a host of different pro wedding photographers, with insights into their creativity, workflow, and there is even a Photoshop tips section with 40 pages of Photoshop tips for wedding photographers. I just got the book on Friday, so I haven’t had a chance to go through it yet, but if Rick is involved, it’s gotta be a great book. Here’s the link to it on Barnes & Noble.com and Amazon.com - Just How Strong is a Pelican Camera Case
Steven Frischling over at the photography travel site, “Flying with Fish” really wanted to test the strength of a Pelican camera case, so he drove a really big truck right over the Pelican 1514. Here’s the link to find out how it fared after having a few tons cruising over it. - D-Town TV Download Problems On The Mend
Man, did we have a mess of D-Town TV download problems last week. It’s a long story why, but it was one of those “Perfect Storm” kind of things that brought things to a screeching halt. Some folks had no problems; so folks were totally stuck. The good news is: the number of downloads is phenomenal, and continues to grow. The bad news is: the number of downloads is phenomenal, and that brings about bandwidth and delivery problems of its own, but you’ll be happy to know that we’re working on a fix, and hopefully by this Thursday, most of the problems will be behind us. Plus, we’re working on the iTunes issues as well. Thanks so much for your patience while we get this worked out. Luckily, the previous episodes will still be right there online, so you can watch last-week’s show without it hiccuping so much. - Asking Brad Update
Our first “Ask Brad” post went up last week (along with another one yesterday) over at the D-Town TV website, but I wanted to clarify what the Ask Brad weekly feature is about. “Ask Brad” is for you to get help with Nikon technical questions, or more detail or follow-up questions about something we mentioned on the show. If you have ideas for the show, or suggestions (except for “don’t wear black shirts,” don’t waste your time with that one), you can just post those as comments right on the D-Town site. Matt and I read each of those daily. - GridIron’s “Flow” Beta Version Now Available for Free Download
If you watch Photoshop User TV, you saw Steve Forde (from GridIron Software), showing their incredible software app “Flow” a few episodes back. Well, they made the beta version of it available for free download, and the number of downloads they are getting is insane!!! We’re running the Flow beta at NAPP HQ, and I have to say; it’s absolutely amazing technology (watch the demo video on their site), and what I like best is that it’s nearly invisible until you need it. Here’s the link to download the beta.
That’s it for today, folks. I hope you’ll check out my guest blogger tomorrow, and then join me back here on Thursday, for another startling episode of “Embarrassing Photo Thursday.” Have a great Tuesday!!!
Hey Scott,
You missed two links for the pinhole camera paragraph (”Here’s a link to the camera” and “for $22 on Amazon.com—here’s the link”)…
Thanks,
~Eugene
Hey Scott, that Pinhole looks neat. I wonder if I can get it in the UK. Also, the Rick Sammon book is available in the UK in about ten days I believe which is cool!!
Hey
Can you please limit the ads in your RSS feed to just one line? When I read your feed the first SIXTEEN LINES of text are google ads! I can only just see the top of the article without scrolling down.
Thanks
Matt
I love making pinhole cameras. Here is a link to some templates you can print out and build for free! Makes a great rainy day craft project for the kids (and the adults).
http://www.corbis.readymech.com/en
Did I hear anyone say they want an even cheaper alternative?
Well, here’s a pinhole camera you can make at home.
http://www.prophotolife.com/2008/05/05/video-35mm-pinhole-camera/
Enjoy! It works!
My best,
Edwardson
I knew there were probably lots of freebie templates or even other kits out there on pinholes, but when I saw the Hole-OnEx I just loved the idea that it looks like an old camera. There have been several guest blogs in the recent past here that have touched on maintaining the idea of staying true to the roots of photography and how much more rooted can you get than the pin-hole camera
I’m glad I could share that with you and my fellow readers Scott!
Holly T
Gridiron Flow took a long time to catalog my hard drive after installation. There was a noticeable slowdown in the speed of the computer. The storage requirements are huge. This affect backups which backup changed files, requiring more time for the backup. The endless stream of popups when I would go to delete a file became a nuisance. Overall, I decided it is a useful program but not critical.
Dan,
Flow can take a while to catalog existing data (an optional, but powerful, step we recommend running overnight), but once the “backtracking” process is completed, you should see no noticeable difference at all in performance.
The file size issues you encountered are configurable in preferences; i.e. how much room Flow uses for versions; in short, you get to decide how big your “airbag” is. 1% of your hard drive to recover a flattened Photoshop file may be worth it.
The messages in the newer betas can be configured in preferences as well. (Note that Flow is notifying you that you are deleting files that may be depended on by other files and deleting them could damage a project.)
If there’s anything else we can clarify, don’t hesitate to email support@gridironsoftware.com
Thanks!
Daniel Brown
Sr. Evangelist
Gridiron Software
Hi there,
I thought you may appreciate this link to some of our new online mini-tutorial videos which help to explain how you can customize Flow’s to work exactly the way you want it to.
As Daniel has pointed out, there’s an incredible amount of control within the Volumes preferences to assist you in setting up Flow so that it works as efficiently as possible on your system.
There are movies covering various different aspects of the application but he two ‘Scanning’ movies in particular will help you with any problems you may be having in getting your setup just the way you like it.
http://www.gridironsoftware.com/products/flow/flow_tutorials.html
I hope these help.
all the best,
Angie Taylor, European Creative Director – Gridiron Software
Extremely cool pinhole camera. Wow, I made one many moons ago when I was a kid! Nostalgia.
I love my Pelican case. Used to use it often while kayaking in Northern NH. Always kept stuff super safe and dry! Good to know it can really take some heavy abuse!
I’ve always thought that these pinhole cameras were pretty interesting.
http://www.zeroimage.com/
Here’s a series of images made with the ZeroImage camera referenced in an earlier post. I have used my 6×9 version for the past three years. They are wonderful cameras!
http://www.seanduggan.com/galleries/artifacts/index.html
Sean Those are fantastic! I just bought a zero Image 6×9 and can’t wait to use it now. I too love Holgas and other plastic cameras. But I always used them as an escape for Work (digital) .
Thanx for sharing !
Love the PinHole camera kits! I had no idea. I’m thinking about getting one for my nephew for his bday. Has anyone built one with a youngster? He’s going to be 8. Too young?
Sara…I made a coffee can pinhole camera with my daughter when she was 5. She loved the project (especially decorating it with fairy and dinosaur stickers!). –Sean
Great, thanks!
One of my Pelican cases passed the “fell out of Chuck’s truck on the highway” test. The equipment inside survived unharmed and you’d never know the case bounced down the road unless you look closely. I swear by ‘em
Hey Scott (and Holly)…very timely on the pinhole camera stuff – just in time for World Pinhole Camera Day which is this Sunday, April 26, 2009. See http://www.pinholeday.org/ for more info!
uh… make that World Pinhole Photography Day. At least I got the web address correct the first time: http://www.pinholeday.org/
Scott,
you kinda use the word embarassing quite loosely there,cause to tell you the truth,( you’re only a year older than I am ) , I thought you looked kinda cool then. I mean exactly how I would have liked to look like then!
Heheh.
Tim
Making a pinhole camera is fun and all, but if you’re more interested in photography than in fabrication, especially if you prefer digital, consider a $33 body cap with a nice laser produced pin hole from these guys: http://www.lenoxlaser.com/pinholephotos/SLR_Pinhole_Camera_Kits.html
After experimenting with making various pin holes in foil, etc, I never could get a nice sharp, round hole and the images were disappointing. Purchasing one made with a laser was the answer and worth every penny. Lots of fun too.
My sweetheart of a niece bought me one of these for Christmas a couple years ago. The problem with this little camera isn’t the cardboard construction. The problem is the rather large pinhole that comes with it, and that it uses 35mm film. My experience is that DSLR sensors and 35mm film are not a large-enough canvas for the pinhole’s light.
So I suggest 120 film, and the easiest way to use that is to convert a Holga camera or buy one already converted. This guy sells converted ones, and if you scroll down his page, you’ll see he has a bargain version for about $20:
http://www.holgamods.com/pinholga/pinholga.html
Or, convert your own Holga with the great instructions provided here:
http://www.argonauta.com/html/pinhole_cameras.htm
I like the Holga, its a great camera just for kicks and provides excellent light leaks that really bring out the image.
I have a Pelican 1514, and is the answer to so many problems. It’s tough (of course), it holds enough gear–including a tripod and umbrellas–for a specific shoot, it’s a bench, a step-stool, an accessory hauler (ever had clients show up to the shoot with extra clothes, shoes, brushes, etc? carry them on top in front of the pull handle) and in Tan it doesn’t get too hot in the sun. It’s sweet.
The test by Flying Fish was good enough for me–though, I bought the carry-on size (and Pelican designed it) so that I wouldn’t have to worry about it checked…