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Israel FroKnowsPhoto Meetup At Google HQ: 12 May 9:00am
I am headed to Israel from 5 May to 12 May and will be holding a meetup at Google Headquarters in Tela-Viv at 9am on 12 May Monday.
This is a FREE event open to anyone to come out and have a conversation. All you have to do is e mail officemanager@kinetis.org.il and let them know your name, phone number and how many people will be coming. They will e mail you back on Thursday 8 May with all the information you will need to attend. You will need to e mail them to attend this FREE event.
Feel free to share this information with your local photo clubs or schools.
I look forward to seeing and hanging out with you guys very soon.
Cactus Flashes and Triggers
As you guys may already know, I love off-camera flash. Especially a nice portable system that does just about everything I need. So when the nice folks at Cactus contacted me about sending some of their new flashes and triggers, I was seriously stoked! I received two Cactus WIRELESS FLASH RF60′s and three Cactus WIRELESS FLASH TRANSCEIVER V6′s. To me this is a perfect editorial portrait kit. Two off-camera flashes and 3 triggers to allow for completely hands free, wireless control.
I was immediately impressed with Cactus’ packaging. The boxes look great. Very nice graphic design and labeling. I’m a sucker for graphic design and feel that packaging makes a strong impact. I opened the flash and the build quality is great. Very solid feeling, the seams are tight, the build materials overall solid. I popped in some batteries and really like the backlit LCD display. Big lettering and nice orange backlight make for easy to read controls. The buttons are very well laid out and easy to use. Its great that the flash comes with a PC sync port for either using a pc sync cable or a different radio trigger directly plugged in. I liked that the flash has a USB port for updating firmware and a threaded slot on the side for directly mounting to a stand. Some other nice features are the padded bag it came with and cold shot foot. Overall, it seems really nicely made and feature rich.
The flash goes from 1/128 to 1/1 power in 1/3 stop increments. Very nice. The flash head zooms from 24mm – 105mm, also a very nice touch. It has a flop over fresnel lens and pop up bounce card. All the kinda stuff you find in a high-end branded flash.
On to the flash transceivers. Again, very nice build quality. They come with a cold shoe foot, and are also threaded on the bottom for easy mounting. The buttons are laid out really well and it’s super straight-forward to configure. There are four buttons along the side for Groups A, B, C and D. Just press to activate and they glow orange. Sweet! You just dial in the power for each group on the back, so simple. And you can set the channel very simply as well.
Apparently, these flashes and triggers are compatible with most current camera manufacturers and I’d recommend getting the Cactus set that’s designed for your system. I also see that they are capable of performing HSS (High Speed Sync), that allows you to fire your flashes beyond your camera’s built-in sync speed. I love that feature and can’t wait to check it out!
I’m going to put these things thru their paces and provide a more detailed review with images, but for now, I wanted to share my first impressions from the unboxing and initial thoughts on their ease of use and build quality.
Check out all the detailed specs on Cactus’ site, http://www.cactus-image.com.
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What the…..Favicon?
Click Here to get your 14 day FREE Trial of Squarespace. If you decide you would like to sign up for their service use code “FroTube” to get 10% off your first order.
Have you ever noticed those little graphic icons on the top of web browser tabs? Those little things are called “favicons” and they are really simple to add if you use Squarespace.
If you don’t have Squarespace there are still ways you can add the favicon to your website. So you don’t have to have Squarespace to add this feature.
Adding something as simple as your branding to your browser gives you added value. It’s visual branding that people will recognize every time they see your website tab. The color you choose, the logo you design all become engrained in peoples minds.
This is a simple addition to your webpage that will make it look more professional and start to get people to remember your brand.
To follow the tutorial on Squarespace please go here.
Click Here to get your 14 day FREE Trial of Squarespace. If you decide you would like to sign up for their service use code “FroTube” to get 10% off your first order.
Why I Like To Shoot Through A Photo Hole and Not The Glass
Have you been to an arena and noticed there were hole cut in the glass? These are photo holes and they are extremely important when it comes to getting quality images at sporting events.
I equate shooting through the glass to using a filter in front of your lens. In all reality it is much worse to shoot thorough the glass being that it is not as clear as a filter. Also the glass is much thicker than any filter you would ever use.
Some issues you will run into when shooting through the glass is you will lose some light and focus will be a little tougher. The focus is tougher because you have something that is not perfectly clear that you are trying to shoot through.
If you have the ability to shoot through a photo hole you will be much better off. No longer will you have anything between you and the action. You just have to be careful not to stick your lens out when the play is close to the hole.
Here are some tips if you encounter this at a youth game. Most local hockey rinks will not have photo holes. My suggestion is to try and shoot from a spot down low where there is no glass. Sometimes that is at the end of the bench and others it’s in the penalty box.
The key is a clean shot without anything between your lens and the subject.
I hope this quick tip helps you out.
