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studio photography Tag

21 Feb

Posted at 08:56h in Blog, Dick's Rant by

I formed a very good opinion of the Fujifilm GFX 50S camera when I tried it out in my studio a year or so ago. The test shots done with a pin-up model in the style of a magazine cover pointed out the extreme detail available with the medium format sensor. The richness of the colour that the CMOS sensor produced told me that this would be s perfect studio camera - if the subject matter required a degree of enlargement and the price of the job would justify the extra outlay that medium format requires. I regretted that I didn't have that sort of business to justify owning the camera. I have now had a very brief chance to play with the alternate version of this camera - the Fujifilm GFX 50R - in an almost-studio situation. And as it was the sort of studio I dabble in, there was some point in me comparing that last experience to this one. The new Fujifilm has much the same sensor as its stablemate, but takes a different form - this one is...

20 Apr

Posted at 09:08h in Blog, Dick's Rant by

A great deal of photographic equipment is novel - at least it is the first time you see it. And some items are frivolous - mere mechanical bagatelles. Not so today's featured device. The box said Manfrotto 405 New Geared Head. I'm glad it was on a low shelf because I would not have liked to lift it down - it was a heavy box. The camera head inside turns out to be the closest thing to a naval cannon mount that you can buy commercially...

19 Apr

Posted at 09:28h in Blog, Dick's Rant by

I was a little taken aback when I saw the label for the Manfrotto 410* - it says " Junior Geared Head ". But it is actually quite large. I would say that this device would be capable of managing nearly all modern cameras. Certainly the specifications say it'll hold 5 Kg. But 5 Kg of what? What photographic equipment needs a geared tripod head - and when should you employ it? Well, the first thought that came to mind was the Little Studio studio stand - normally sporting a large Gitzo pan and tilt head, it was perfect for this one as well. the gearing is quite slow and means that you are not fighting to tap the camera assembly into a horizontal position - you can just wind it slowly into registry. Thank goodness the Fujifilm cameras all seem to have a green artificial horizon line that comes on as this happens. If you need to get close enough quickly the larger flanges seen on the control wheels are release mechanisms - twist them and the whole thing becomes loose -...

18 Apr

Posted at 08:48h in Blog, Dick's Rant by

Ever since I started to do studio photography I gained new respect for the chaps who put up scaffolding and hoardings on building sites. You see their structures all the time but you don't stop to think of how complex they are until you start to try to bolt together a set of camera or light supports. More often than not in the Little Studio the parts used are made by Manfrotto. This blithely named product - the MS050M4-Q2 - is just such a component - but rather than holding lights or backdrop rolls, it's a camera support...

05 Mar

Posted at 09:10h in Blog, Dick's Rant by

I opened the box of the Fujifilm X-A5 camera expecting something of a Po' Boy camera - an entry-level device that had been cut down to the bone to capture the cheaper Asian market. I could not have been more mistaken in my life.   The camera body is smallish - in keeping with the form of the other X-A series cameras. The lens is compact - again looking to keep the overall package small. There is no eye-level viewfinder. And after that it is all luxury goods and a fabulous technology - made all the more so for me as it is a camera that is well suited for studio shooting. The top plate feels like metal.   Here's the basic form of it. Tilting CD screen, standard RHS controls, in-built flash head, and as many modern eye-catchers like 4K and WiFi as you would want. Fujifilm have thankfully kept the pop-up flash tube but also included the full suite of TTL features in the hot shoe mount. A lot of the controls have been stacked onto the touch screen, but...

23 Feb

Posted at 09:24h in Blog, Dick's Rant by

The phrase " f:8 and be there " was one often quoted to me as the formula for success in event photography. I think it was good advice in many situations where a preset camera and a lively eye were the only chance to get an image - the occasions where you couldn't predict when the action was going to happen nor where it was going to. These were days when you were going to have to get the job done in 12, 24, or 36 shots. Of course it was also the days of a glass flash bulb in a circular reflector and a focus locked at 12 feet, so the formula was easy to remember - it was goosing the film later in the darkroom that took the finesse. Well, now we can goose the ISO beforehand, let the automatic focus decide what we are doing, and reconstruct reality pixel by pixel with a Wacom tablet...