Weekend Gear Test: Softlighter and Nikon CLS

This test has been overdue for a loooooong time.  I purchased a Photek Softlighter II back in August, and I have been looking to make a review of the product ever since. You see, I haven't really tested it on another person except for myself.  I thought of using on my recent shoot, but the bad weather didn't give me the chance.  So when my pal Daryl came over the weekend, we took it out, dusted it out (literally) and took it for a spin.

What came in the box? There's the 46" inch umbrella (removable backing), the white cover and, not in the picture, 2 disks (1 silver and 1 gold) that you put inside the umbrella to add more light (silver) and warm up your light (gold).

The umbrella construction is quite solid, and sports 10 spokes rather than the traditional 8.  The shaft is removable at the end, so you don't poke your models eye out. This means you your light can get  as close (and as soft) as possible.

The umbrella can be used 3 ways.  It can be a black reflective umbrella, a shoot through umbrella (with the black cover removed) and lastly a umbrella box (reflective umbrella with the white cover added upfront). 

The silver disk that came with it gives you a stop (+1) more of light as Photek claims, which is to compensate for the light it eats up when the light is bounce to the umbrella and when it goes through the white cover (which is why the light is soft).

Here's how it looks like from the front.  The flash in this case is a Nikon SB-800.  It is totally inside the Softlighter and is totally covered.  It would be difficult for the SB-800's power menu to be changed, as you need to take off half of the cover, so we just used CLS to trigger it and control the power from the camera (I used a D80 in the test).  The good news, the black back cover and the white in front lets the CLS signal in.  Yes, even the black backing lets the signal in. If you're just using the slave feature of the SB-800, it also let's that light in to trigger your flash. In my test, it triggered the flash from 15 feet away, but unfortunately, I didn't go beyond 15 feet, but I think you can go up to 30 feet and still trigger it (I was just using the pop-up flash of the camera, more on that later).  So I adjusted the power from the camera and clicked away.  The light is really soft, and being a "round" softbox (the "experts" say it's not an Octabox) the light is controlled compared to a shoot-through umbrella.  Here are the other shots for the day.

 

And the setup shot :

Here are other Photek Softlighter II Reviews (much, much reliable than myself)

Strobist Softlighter Review

DIYP Review

Not a CLS Review

I'm not a CLS expert (please ask Joe), but we kinda tested it anyway since we were using CLS that afternoon.  So, we found out that it worked even in a Softlighter and even from 15 feet away (or  possibly more) with just the pop-up flash (at pop-up flash "--" power setting), but we wanted to see how far we can go with just bare flash and the pop-up.  We tried at around a distance of 70-80 feet, with the pop-up power of the flash at Full, but no luck.

We moved a little closer at about 50-60ft with Full pop-up power and.....TADA!

This is very impressive, I should say.  I've been hearing from others who have tested it, but all of them have used another SB-XXX flash attached to the camera, adding more power to the signal.  I haven't seen any test with just the pop-up flash. This means you can use your CLS from 50ft away while maximizing your pop-up flash.  To see how far (and it is way, way farther as you might think) you can go while using a flash unit on-camera, check this out (he used a SB-900).

Also, we were using CLS and were also using the trick FP-mode thing which allows your shutterspeed to go as high as you can.  Too bad it's not available on my Nikon D70, but it is available on  Nikon D80 models and up (I think).  See more details here.

Tin's Maternity pics

My cousin's wife is due in a month, and they wanted to have some photos of her pregnancy before their little girl comes out into the world. I gladly obliged.

So we went to Mall of Asia and thought it would be nice to have pictures in the mall(and outside) while the place was still closed, with no people around.  We got there at 7am, just to find out that a ton of people go there even under the torching heat of the sun.  Alls well, as we made the most of it by taking photos under the shade.  Here are some more:

Gallery Page is up!

edit: I changed the title and the portfolio link to "Gallery". I think this sounds better.

The Gallery Page is Up! Finally! Well its not yet completely done, it's a work in progress. Feel free to click on the link at the left side of this blog to view it.

Enjoy!!!

How to Navigate the Site

I've been asked a couple of times about thow the site goes. It's still a work in progress but I think I'm coming along fine. I have added some neat links at the right side of the site to help people go to musch more specific pages that they need. I have also updated the site for a much better reading experience.

More after the jump


So first things first: the right side of the site. This is where all the shortcut lists to previous posts are located. At the very top is the help links. This is where you can find the introduction of the site, rates, how to navigate the site (this web page you're reading right now) contact information, portfolio page (will be up soon) and other things that I may see fit in the future. Clicking on any of the links will forward you to the specific page that you are looking for.

Right below it are drop down boxes that represent my previous posts by topic ( more on this later). This will help you read posts that are specific of the type of photography that you are looking for. This is very helpful if you are looking for sample photos of assignments that I have completed, or recent projects that I have posted. If you don't want to read the posts, better click on the portfolio link above it to view photos by type of photography (as of 3/15 it's still down, for now, please bear with me by just reading the posts. tnx). Current drop downs are Portraits ( meaning people photography) and Travel (photos I have taken during my recent travels). Up soon will be Product Photography, Events, and a Photography tips page for all you photographer's out there.

This is followed by my blog Archive, which is basically the same as above, only categorized by month/year.

Next is the profile page, which is still not updated, because I'm lazy : ).

Lastly are links to a list of my favourite sites. For now only Strobists (has to be the best blog site in the history of photography and lighting) is there, but I will update this as soon as I can.

Some other Features of the site:

1. Home page Posts are cut short: Posts are cut short in the home page so you can see more blogs. You can read the full post by either clicking the title or the Read More at the bottom part of a particular posts

2. Photos are clickable to view larger copy: This makes the web page load faster for you to read. If you want to see a photo up close, just click on it to get a better view.

For now that's it but I will be adding more features to this part of the site, as we go along.

Portraits: Beauty Queen Maggie Wilson

()



I had the chance to take some shots of beauty queen Maggie Wilson a few weeks ago during the13th Annual Balloon festival a few weeks ago,. which I blogged about here. She was having a shoot with another photographer and from the looks of it, was for a fashion or glamour piece.
More of this story (and photos) after the jump.
___

Maggie is this month's cover for FHM Philippines which you can find here.
It was 2pm and the blazing sun was burning my forehead. The balloons were replaced by kites as the heat of the sun could damage the balloons. Nothing really interesting, except for an exhibit from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, showcasing their guns, tanks, jets, missiles etc. I turned the corner outside teh exhibit building to check out the old military jeeps on exhibit when I saw Maggie sitting on top of one of the jeeps! Wow what a bonus. All of a sudden the sun wasn't a problem and I couldn't care less for my now sun burnt forehead. This was a chance that I wouldn't give up. She was nice enough to give me and some other photographers a few poses even if we were not really her actual photographer. She was very beautiful and a really good model too.


Some of the marines joined the action. A few good (and lucky) men indeed.

These are best seen larger. Click on the photos above to get a better view. This set is also part of my portfolio which hopefully will be up soon.

Update: for some reason, the pics above could not be clicked to enlarge. Sorry for that. You will still be able to see this set once the portfolio is up. Thanks.

Contact Me

If you would like to contact me, please drop a comment on any of the posts, or shoot me an email at reybugiaphotography@gmail.com.

If you would like to actually hear my oh so lovely voice, then give me a call at (632) 9285067328.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Rates and Pricing: Why you should not Burn a Hole in your Pocket

I really think that you should only pay for two things: the physical output (photobooks, copy’s on cds, printed photos etc) and the photographer’s creativity. In my opinion, no one should pay more just because one is using ultra-expensive equipment. It’s not the camera, it’s the person behind it who dictates what he captures (okay a good camera and good lighting helps, but its still 95% photographer).
____

_______________________________________________________________

Look at the photo below. I covered a Halloween Party last October. Aside from the camera, the only equipment I used was a business card taped to my camera's built-in flash to give the photo an even, 3D like lighting. Cost me almost nothing.

How about this photo of beauty queen Maggie Wilson? All I used was my camera and the sun and voila! Nicely shot fashion photo. Cost: next to nothing.

Right now I really don’t have any specific rates for any service. Just to give you a better idea on how much it will cost, I have prepared the following list. Nothing here is fixed, as the rate will depend really on your need. It could go higher or lower, (or who knows even for free). Better give me a call or shoot me an email so we can talk about it, as well as for details of the packages.

Events(Christmas, Corporate, birthdays, etc.) – php3000 for the first 4 hours

On Location shoot(Commercial, Fashion, Glamour, Portraits, etc.) – php5000/day (8hr shoot/day)

Products(for print ads, commercials, banners, etc) – php3000/day (8hr shoot/day)

Prenups – php3000/day (8hr shoot/day)

Weddings – shoot me an email

Portfolio(for models and aspiring models) – shoot me an email

Again all of these are not fixed. If you have any other specific need that does not fit those above, shoot me an email. If you have any interesting projects in mind, let me know.

Travel: 13th Annual Balloon Festival 2009

I recently went to see the 13th Annual Balloon Festival in Clark Pampanga (that's in the Philippines, for those readers from outside the Philippines) to take a break from my day job and relax a little. I went with my wife, who has dreamed of taking a ride in one of these balloons.

More after the jump.
___


I inquired with one of the "pilots" (didn't if this was what they were called) and he said it'll cost us Php 8000/person (about USD$40). Not really a bad deal if you look at it. Then I learned that this does not include any insurance if the balloon ride turns into a thrill ride. I have seen a lot of vids from tv and the net showing balloons crashing, burning while in the air, and getting tangled into street electric cables.

I went back to my wife and told her the most believable excuse I could think of: that they don't allow people to join the flight unless they're properly trained. She believed me. I did tell her later on that I lied, and told her the risks involved.


I was surprised that she wasn't a little bit angry. She later told me that she would like to go bungee jumping instead (yikes).

It was a fun and relaxing day nevertheless. Plus, I got to see (and take some out takes) a photo shoot with model/actress/host/beauty queen Maggie Wilson. Did not know who the photographer was, but I'll post a separate piece on this and post the photogs pic as well as some more photos of Maggie.
As always you can click on the all the photos to get a bigger version for your viewing pleasure.

Got to have some Weed

Welcome to BlueWeed Photography, where creativity and inspiration keeps on growing. This is not your ordinary photography service provider website. This is place to be if you want extraordinary photos of your most important events,gatherings and other needs. This is where you’ll get exceptional service that will fit your needs and budget. Weed Photography caters to your specific photography needs. Be it commercial, events, portraits, portfolios, fashion etc. You name it. You get what you want, even with a tight budget.

It’s a fresh new look at photography. Incorporating modern and hip ideas with classic and proven techniques that will give you absolutely one of a kind photos. BlueWeed looks at you and takes everything in consideration in taking your photos, your lifestyle, your favorite colors, your music, your favorite movies. Mix these all together in a pot full of ideas and you’ll get one unique theme that is all you.



In addition to this, BlueWeed incorporates cost saving techniques so that you can be assured that you are paying for the creativity and the output, not the photographer's fancy equipment. I'll go on more about this on a future post. This is not your normal photography service provider site. Stay tuned. I will be posting on some recent assignments and events that I covered. If your a photographer, I'll also be sharing some tips and tricks to get the most out of your hard earned cameras and equipments.

Til' the next post.