Qiuck Tip #1 Amazing DIY Reflector
I am super excited to announce the first installment of the quick tips and review section on the blog. In this video I show with just some simple items you can create an effective reflector that is useful for bouncing and reflecting light on to your subject. When using the beauty dish I personally like to place the this reflector approximately a foot under the models chin to illuminate any dark areas and bounce light in to the eyes. This is great asset to add to your lighting arsenal and the best thing about it "Its Cheap" On a side note, if you want something less reflective just flip the board on the reverse side and that should solve your problem : )
Items
Form Core Board 20x30in
Aluminum Tape
Scissors
Quick Tip #2 Shootings with Gels DIY
This is the second installment of "Quick Tip and Reviews"
In this video I bounced around a bit, I wanted to share how I light my subjects with DIY gels, but before I addressed that I shared my story on how I got into photography, lastly I wanted to leave you guys with a positive message. As always I hope that this video was insightful and helpful! Listed below are links to the items presented!! The lighting banks you see acting as rim lights are the very same lights used in all of "How to achieve amazing catch lights in the eyes videos" I seriously love these lights, big shout out to Joe Edelman for the inspiration. As I always say, "A grain of inspiration is enough fuel to travel the universe"
Hygloss Cellophane Sheets
http://www.amazon.com/Hygloss-Cello-Sheets-11-Inch-48-Pack/dp/B000K78HUI/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1426231139&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=cellophane+sheets
Clear Sleeve
http://www.amazon.com/We-Memory-Keepers-3-Ring-Protectors/dp/B004TTHU0Q/ref=sr_1_3?s=arts-crafts&ie=UTF8&qid=1426231215&sr=1-3&keywords=clear+binder+sleeves
Hurricane Fog Machine
http://www.amazon.com/Chauvet-Hurricane-1100-Fog-Machine/dp/B001WM6WNE/ref=sr_1_cc_8?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1426231266&sr=1-8-catcorr&keywords=hurricane+fog
2Pac Airbrush Painting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giOxHpw3qZ4&list=PLVXXfEqovM9rcGSuTIbMrEPcq_aqrSnuU
Sirui K-40X BallHead Review
Crafted to perfection The Sirui K-40X is an extremely well designed ball head. Suited for the professional and photo enthusiast alike. Aesthetically this ball head is beautiful, it is evident that simplicity rang supreme here. From end to end it is high end CNC coated giving it a nice professional matte-semi gloss finish. With reinforced rubberized grips, beveled groves at the mid-section, and base of the body providing the ultimate grip allowing for maximum tightening to your tripod. This BH has two main dial one function controlling the friction of the ball head, and the other the 360 degree panning rotation. I also admire the blue accent around the dial nob. Solidly built it feels hefty in the hand and with a 54mm ball head is it not shy to the more beefier cameras, averaging a height of 6.1in and weighting in at 1.2lbs this BH has the capacity to support a maximum load up 77.2lbs. It is primarily geared to medium to large format and DSLR's photographic cameras. Now I don't know of any camera on the consumer market weighting anything thing relatively close to 77lbs but just know this baby can support it.
Let’s jump ahead to some of the features, now I would not particularly consider this a “feature” but I am really fond of the overall smoothness of this BH. Everything from the dialing nobs to the articulating rotation of the actual BH is buttery smooth. The large nob contains numerical adjustable friction and a quick locking mechanism screw locking in the dial. What is cool about this once you have adjusted the dial to your liking, you can lock in the tension preventing it from ever budging. The Sirui K-40X has a 125mm expandable Arca Swiss quick- release plate style platform suitable for a variety of quick-release plates. Included on the quick-release plate platform is two bubble levels vertical and horizontal this is perfect for optimal composition, and balancing. Also included on the plate is a red safety button preventing your base plate from sliding off, I find this feature to be very useful because I didn't have this on my last ball head. Although it has never happened I was always concerned about my camera accidentally sliding off hitting the floor, and that would just be tragic so I was in need of a feature such as this.
My impression of the Siuri K-40X it is an absolute winner, this BH is the epitome of professional ingenuity. The overall build quality smoothness of this ball head excites my expectations in performance. As I mentioned in the introduction it is crafted to perfection and virtually indestructible. Aside from the awesome features it packs such as the quick locking pin, 125mm Arca Swiss style quick release plate, two bubble levels and the red safety button. Coming in at a fraction of the cost in comparison to its counter parts, I am sure you will find this ball head a bargain. It is well packaged coming with instruction, extra quarter inch small screw for the “QR” plate, an Allen key, labeled soft pouch, generally you will only see this in your higher end ball heads, and last but not lease a 6 year Warranty you heard that right!. Paired with my Gitzo G-2220 they offer the ideal support, balance and stability.
Sirui K-40X $165
http://www.amazon.com/Sirui-K-40X-Ballhead-Release-Capacity/dp/B004QC3CMG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1433145594&sr=8-1&keywords=sirui+k-40x+ball+head