#1 reason living at home with the rents is awesome.

3/24/2008 7:05:50 AM

Hi5... wait... damn, I suck.

At least I have these:



[Edited on March 24, 2008 at 7:22 AM. Reason : blah]

3/24/2008 7:20:18 AM

i'm gonna go ahead and steal your equipment now

3/24/2008 7:21:31 AM

consider it stolen...

3/24/2008 7:21:52 AM

Got yer PM, congrats.

3/24/2008 7:23:25 AM

but I still live at home...

3/24/2008 7:24:33 AM

I was talking about the camera you were talking about in the PM.

3/24/2008 7:29:16 AM

my coffee is bedda

3/24/2008 7:31:00 AM

Needs more Nikon.

3/24/2008 7:32:17 AM

On my 2nd cup of java; today is going to be a long one...


<-- Is too nerdish.

3/24/2008 7:39:04 AM

I don't know much about photography

Explain wtf that is

3/24/2008 7:39:48 AM

it looks like a WMD. and i know me some WMDs

3/24/2008 7:43:06 AM

you would

3/24/2008 7:45:04 AM

It's a WMD. Motherfucker even has power outlets in his backpack.

3/24/2008 7:47:27 AM

Commonly referred to the "ghostbusters". Its a ring light studio strobe that I made mobile using an specialized inverter, a motorcycle battery and a camel backpack. It's meant to end all other mobile flashes. I've been stopped by Raleigh police on two separate occasions about the "device" being a "weapon".

A ring light surrounds the lens and effectively makes a subject's shadow "go away".

3/24/2008 7:48:14 AM

That's pretty badass

3/24/2008 7:51:10 AM

Can I rent it? lol.

3/24/2008 7:52:35 AM

Yeah, it's made for fashion and portraits. It's meant to be on a tripod in a studio. The backpack weights about 20lbs and the camera, lens and ring light about another 10lbs. I do some night light stuff for clients and regularly go into local bars and clubs with this beast, even ride up on my motorcycle...

Btw, it's a good bit of exercise hauling it around and taking pics. Who needs to go to the gym? lol I did some motor sports stuff recently and spent the whole day panning with the 300mm lens, which weights 6lbs by itself. My arms were dead tired by the end of the day.

[Edited on March 24, 2008 at 8:01 AM. Reason : ]

3/24/2008 7:58:50 AM

Quote :

"Can I rent it?"

Quote :

"Yeah"

How much?

3/24/2008 8:00:19 AM

While I understand the purpose and thoroughly admire your ingenuity, I have to say that in your example picture, it kind of makes the subjects look fake. That is, that the girl at least was placed in the photo during post processing. Maybe it's just me. Something just looks off?

It's a pretty cool contraption, though.

3/24/2008 8:03:01 AM

Haha, I was replaying to ScHpEnXel's post. I don't think you'd want to try it out. A regular flash with a gary fong flash cup and a flash bracket will do wonders. The real main advantage of the ghost busters is the no shadows and the fact that I can shoot at ISO 50 or 100 at f/5.6-11+. Which means the image quality is magazine worthy with no grain and they are sharp as hell.

^yeah, it gives that kind of "pop" or "wow" factor. Something a bit different than regular flashes. It has a built in shoot through diffuser so it's pretty soft, like shotting through an umbrella. I have a 30" octagon softbox (moonunit) that goes with it, which is nice for off camera photo shoots for the circle catch eye.

[Edited on March 24, 2008 at 8:08 AM. Reason : ]

3/24/2008 8:05:05 AM

Yeah, still interested in renting it.

3/24/2008 8:08:00 AM

makes the subject look fake? isn't that what 99% of all fashion shoots do anyway?

3/24/2008 8:08:11 AM

^I know I was just thinking the same thing, lol.

3/24/2008 8:08:45 AM

Quote :

"makes the subject look fake? isn't that what 99% of all fashion shoots do anyway?"

exactly. You should see some of the post processing techniques used in the fashion industry. I've turned a 160 lb B cup woman look like a 95 lb girl with DD's in a skimpy outfit, and she had no makeup on... Shit like that takes hours and hours of editing.

3/24/2008 8:10:38 AM

I'd like to see some before and after pics

I guess I could google though

[Edited on March 24, 2008 at 8:15 AM. Reason : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHLpRxAmCrw]

3/24/2008 8:12:46 AM

It's his business, btw, he's not gonna post his shit on here for legal reasons.

Quote :

"Shit like that takes hours and hours of editing"

Just don't get carried away if it's a bride, she could get insulted. I've always kept it subtle and realistic (removing double-chins, glass glare [ahem] and last-minute pimples).

3/24/2008 8:15:18 AM

I mainly don't post up my modeling shoots. Next thing I know I'd be labeled as that iphoto guy (or whoever he was) who just takes pictures of naked women and does a horrible job at it. Besides, most shoots are done with contracts and I don't want to diminish my brand identity since I do weddings and other shit. Reason why I don't have any fashion pictures on my site.

Not a good idea to mix kid portraits with half naked women in showers...

^yeah, I do minor editing for simple portraits like weddings and such. I really don't spend much time on them besides simple photo editing on most stuff. Social events, I just get the exposure and contrast correct, export them in jpeg's, run through noise filter, and upload them. It's just the fashion and modeling pics I spend 2+ hours a picture on. Airbrushing, smoothing of skin, fixing body posture, removing skin wrinkles, scars, reduce the eyes and nose, refine the mouth, fix the teeth, reduce the profile of the ears, remove single strands of hair (I try to watch out for that at the shoot), and blend or fix the make-up. I also sharpen the eyes a bit and jewelry if there are some.

[Edited on March 24, 2008 at 8:22 AM. Reason : ]

3/24/2008 8:17:19 AM

oh wow... haha
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ0adXaY_bs&feature=related

3/24/2008 8:29:13 AM

oh yeah, shit like that is crazy. I'm not that skilled to do post processing like that yet.

3/24/2008 8:35:50 AM

where do they get the sets of eyelashes and hair and shit like that to use when they do this kind of stuff?

3/24/2008 8:40:14 AM

Quote :

"#1 reason living at home with the rents is awesome."

i'm guessing that's the end of the list.

3/24/2008 8:43:33 AM

Usually the girls bring their own stuff and do their own makeup. Some shoots I coordinate with hair stylists, makeup artists and fashion designer. I go to the College of Textiles so I have some connections there with fashion stuff.

3/24/2008 8:46:59 AM

I'm talking about in photoshop they put eyelashes on the girls and stuff and add hair and stuff

3/24/2008 8:47:57 AM

euphemism for his penis?

3/24/2008 8:48:22 AM

they just paint brush it in. Usually when you do extreme stuff like that, you'd use a pen tablet and draw.

3/24/2008 8:53:19 AM

Yeah, I don't know much about makeup and style so I let them bring their own stuff.

3/24/2008 8:54:01 AM

I don't know shit about make-up. If I did, I would be gay... Good thing a close friend is a pro make-up artist and render her services for free when doing TFP based shoots.

Although, it's kind of comical because I have about 40 women's magazines in the back of my car for "research". People have thought the owner of my car is a girl. I wonder why...

[Edited on March 24, 2008 at 8:57 AM. Reason : ]

3/24/2008 8:56:09 AM

Quote :

"they just paint brush it in"

i'm trying to find the video where i saw them pull up a huge ass pallet of different eye lashes and pieces of hair... i guess they might have just made them all their self with paint brush but it seemed like a shit load of them

and now i can't find the video gah

3/24/2008 9:01:42 AM

Same here, always flipping through fashion/bridal mags and getting looks from others in the grocery checkout line because I look like a lesbian.

3/24/2008 9:02:04 AM

hehe, a while back when I was at borders, I bought like $200 worth of photography books, magazines and shit. The cashier noticed all of the books and asked if I was a photographer and struck a small conversation with her during checkout. When she got to the last book, her face went from smiling to disgust. The last book was "The art of nude photography" and had boobs on the front. HAHA

3/24/2008 9:07:06 AM

Lol. They've got a chapter on nude photography at the NYIP online course, and I'm still debating on whether I should sign up for that or not because I don't know if I'll be able to find a model willing to get nekkid.

3/24/2008 9:09:58 AM

I can help in that department. I know plenty of local women willing to shed clothes off for fun...

To be fair, I've only done implied nudes and not full artistic nudes shoots. If you do sign up for it, we can do it together. I'm going to get another strobe to use as a kicker with a strip softbox. I also want to get a 4'x8' lexan clear panel for modeling shoots, just because I've seen some cool shit done with it before.

So much creative stuff to do, not enough budget or time...

3/24/2008 9:14:33 AM

I was thinking working with dudes in natural light though.

Course that could just be that you're a man and I'm a woman so our taste preferences differ.

3/24/2008 9:18:10 AM

you just said you "looked like a lesbo" so I just naturally assumed...

3/24/2008 9:19:16 AM

3/24/2008 9:25:59 AM

On my 3rd cup of java...

3/24/2008 9:39:41 AM