The Digital Photo Guy

The Camera Loves Emily

In a previous post, I promised to post more photos of Emily as I finished processing them. Here are the ones I’ve finished to date. All images were made with a Pentax K-1 with a Pentax HD D-FA 24-70/2.8 and processed in Lightroom Classic.

If you’d like to photograph Emily in a workshop with assistance and instruction, register for the Red Bench Spring Fling Photo Extravaganza Weekend Workshop in Jerome, AZ (April 27-29) where Emily and other models will be available for workshops as well as 1-on-1 photo sessions. Instructors will also be available for individual mentoring. If you’re at all interested in nude and/or bodyscape photography, you will learn more in this one session than any other workshop this year.

Honest, Yongnuo Doesn’t Pay Me!

To date, I’ve written about the Yongnuo YN-622C-TX TTL flash controller, YN685 Canon TTL flash, YN560 manual flash and YN14-EX-C ring light for Canon TTL. Now, I want to tell you about the Yongnuo YN300-III from B&H.

I wanted a set of continuous lights to make it faster and easier to light art for reproduction. Based on my previous experience with Yongnuo products, I decided to try these and YN didn’t disappoint. First, the price can’t be beat – $63 for a light with accessories including 4 gels/diffusers and multiple mounting options. Next, it offers both 3200K and 5500K lights. I can have all 5500K or all 3200K or a mix of both. Third, this light can be controlled with a remote as well as an Android app. Finally, it can be powered by either 120v or LiON battery. Sadly neither the 120v power brick nor a battery are included but both are relatively inexpensive.

The integrated barn doors are very effective and the whole unit looks and feels well made. It’s not a pro grade light but, for projects around a home studio, it’s an outstanding value. Another cool features is the ability to control the lights in either 10% or 1% increments. So, if the light is set to 100% (full power) and you want 10%, it’s 9 clicks of the remote instead of 80. Conversely, if you decide you want 19%, 9 clicks of the 1% button gets you there. Last, if you use multiple lights, the controller can be set to different channels so they aren’t all adjusted each time you adjust one.

I haven’t done any stringent testing but they’re certainly well within the limits of my needs as measured with my Sekonic LiteMaster Pro L-478D-U Light Meter.  I can usually get within 1/10 stop with just a few adjustments. White Balance also appears very close when checked in Lightroom. If you need/want continuous lights, this is the best value.

A Pet Peeve (rant)

I’ve been noticing more and more “wanna be Rambos” in the news. These are people, usually men, who wear unauthorized military regalia and medals and spin fantastic yarns about secret missions behind enemy lines or some such baloney. There’s a whole network of real special operators whose personal mission is to uncover these fakes and expose them for what they are – cowards, liars & thieves, stealing the honor and valor of real heroes.

If you meet someone claiming to be a Vietnam-era Navy SEAL who partook of secret missions they can’t talk about but happily blabber on, you can bet your paycheck that they’re full of it. One of the biggest tells is if they claim their service records were lost in the 1973 National Archives fire. Given that only about 2-3 dozen Navy and Marine Corps records (out of approximately 18 million Army and Air Force records,) were lost in that fire, the chances of them being affected are between zero and nil.

There are many sites dedicated to unmasking these phonies. A quick Google search can help you find them. However, be aware that, unless they’re using their baloney for financial gain (fraud,) it’s not illegal to wear undeserved medals and tell lies. Just know that they’re cowards, liars and thieves.

In Vietnam, 80% of the personnel were support. I was an elite Remington Raider in a REMF unit. If you know what that means, you’re a real vet. If you don’t know, buy me a beer sometime and I’ll regale you with hair-raising stories about my 364 days “in-country.”

The Camera Loves Emily (contains nudity)

I met Emily last summer and was impressed with her intelligence, drive and “girl next door” good looks. I felt she had the qualities of an excellent model. Our first shoot was themed “Monsoon” where I wanted photos of Emily in a monsoonal rain, drenched from head to toe. As you can see, that idea was a bust. Our shoot was on a beautiful day with nary a cloud in sight. I did, however, get a chance to see Emily’s cute, adventurous nature mixed with her quick mind.

Last week, I invited Emily to participate in a nude shoot at Red Bench Photography Studio in Jerome, AZ which is owned by one of my favorite models, Zushka Biros. Being so new to the world of modeling, I was expecting her to be shy, tentative and/or nervous about posing nude. To my surprise, Emily jumped in with both feet and an enthusiastic, “I’m in!“

Emily turned out to be fearless in following directions as well as contributing her own ideas. And, the camera loves her. With new models, I’m lucky to get 5% good images; with Emily, I’ve identified over 50 good images and 15 or more great images. I’m still working on the rest so stay tuned for more of Emily in the near future.

All the photos were made with a Pentax K-1 and Pentax D FA 24-70/2.8 and processed in Adobe Lightroom Classic.

Spring Fling Photo Extravaganza 2018

Speaking of the near future, Emily will be one of the models at Red Bench Photography’s Spring Fling Photo Extravaganza Workshop on April 27-29 at the Jerome studio. I can’t emphasize enough the studio’s beautiful light and artistic ambiance. I’ll be leading several sections on bodyscapes. You’ll have the opportunity to book time with the models to practice what you learn. Check it out and register soon because space is limited and there’s a huge discount for the first registrants.

Enough Talk, Finally Some Photos

I finally have enough experience with the K1 to make real photos. These aren’t controlled tests where I capture two photos under the same conditions with the K1 and 5D MkII and compare them side by side. If that’s what you want, click HERE. Be sure to select the appropriate cameras from the drop down menus.

In Feb 201, I had the opportunity to photograph two models, one in a studio and the other outdoors using natural light. For both shoots I primarily used the Pentax K1 although I made some shots with the Canon 5DII. In the studio, I controlled a pair of Yongnuo YN685C with a Yongnuo YN560-TX manual flash controller.

Here are a few of my favorites. In the studio, I stayed with my favorite genre of B&W bodyscapes but followed the model’s lead on some of her ideas.

This was the first time I’d worked with this model so it took a while to get into sync with each other. She’s an excellent model who isn’t afraid to give feedback on my directions.

The 2nd model is someone I’ve previously worked with several times. For her shoot, I asked some friends to use their property. This series was all natural light with a little help from a reflector.

Sometimes, it’s difficult to see minor differences in photos resized for the web but I believe the Pentax K1 advantage is significant. If not, you’ll have to take my word on it until you can get your hands on a K1 to see for yourself.

The next thing I want to evaluate is Pentax K1 Pixel Shift technology. The hold up is the search for a better RAW converter than the included Pentax SilkyPix processor. Right now, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom does an acceptable job but Adobe has made it clear they don’t intend to put anymore effort into it. I’m also reviewing RAWTherapee and Affinity Photo but neither has gotten much of a workout up to now.

It’s Been an Exciting Summer

My main laptop was bricked by a Microsoft update at the beginning of summer. Being on the road, it was difficult to get anything done so I simply put the blog on a backburner until I got home. Upon my return home, I discovered my Epson 7800 had croaked and I no longer had the capability to print 24″ wide prints. Of course, I had a stack of print orders to be printed so I ran around like a chicken without a head. In the process, I met a fellow who had just installed a Canon 44″ imagePROGRAF PRO-4000.This was fortuitous since I had been thinking of jumping ship to Canon. After creating ICC profiles using an X-Rite ColorMunki Photo, I was able to turn out prints very close to what I was getting from the Epson. I’m now slowly getting back to where I was in April 2017. I hope to get this blog back on schedule by mid-January. Thanks for reading.

It Works, It Works! Yongnuo Flash with Pentax

I used a Yongnuo YN560-TX flash controller on a Pentax K1 to control two Yongnuo YN685C (Canon E-TTL) flashes and it worked like a charm. I also took a moment to add a Canon 580EX II in the mix and it worked as well. Two older non-TTL flashes also work fine as “dumb” flashes, i.e. I have to walk over to the unit to adjust power & zoom instead of dialing in adjustments from the controller. In the future, those will be replaced with more YN flashes.

A major concern when I upgraded to a Pentax K1 was flash, specifically, I didn’t want to buy all new flashes and controllers. For Canon systems, my Yongnuo YN685C flashes, Canon 580EX II and 2 older, “dumb” flashes all talked to the YN622C-TX controller. I wasn’t sure how this would work with the Pentax K1.

Fortunately, Yongnuo was looking out for me when they developed the YN560-TX. Notice, it doesn’t have a “C” in the model number denoting Canon compatibility. The YN560-TX is a universal controller that works with most Yongnuo devices. To control YN-685C flashes, I simply set the YN560-TX to the YN603 mode. That allows me to adjust power from 1/1 (Full power) all the way down to 1/128 and Zoom from 24mm to 105mm and works for both Yongnuo and Canon E-TTL flashes.

The signal from the YN560-TX is sent directly to the YN685C flash which are set to 603 Mode. When I make adjustments to the power and zoom on the YN560-TX, the commands are automatically received. With Canon flashes, I attach a YN622C receiver to the flash (580EX-II in this case) and turn on the YN622C-TX controller. The signal from the YN560-TX is relayed to the Canon flash via the YN622C-TX controller. The advantage is that controls on the YN560-TX allow me to wirelessly control power and zoom on each flash. I don’t have to walk over to each flash to adjust power or zoom settings.

If I add more YN or Canon flashes, the YN560-TX is capable of controlling up to 6 groups of 16 channels each for a total of 96 flashes, enough to fry an egg and crisp bacon. YN also has the “N” series for, wait for it… Nikon. For manual flash, which is the only way to go, the YN controllers and flash will work with virtually any camera system that has a standard hot shoe.

The only nit is a Pentax issue, not a YN problem. In flash mode, Pentax only allows shutter speeds up to the maximum flash sync speed, which, for the K1 is 1/200 second. That means 3rd party HSS or SuperSync can’t be used. Bummer. However, YN has just announced a flash for Pentax P-TTL. In a year or two, we should see full P-TTL controllers that, hopefully, fool Pentax cameras into HSS.