grey light blog

dj super scott

2011-06-24T14:13:00.000-07:00

got the opportunity to do some work for an old friend/room mate. he's a dj in the pittsburgh, pa area. i shot him in and around the charlotte area and at club phoenix in charlotte. check him out at www.djsuperscott.com and download his new mixtape.

multi flash bracket

2011-05-29T13:59:00.000-07:00

while shooting a wedding recently i borrowed a flash bracket from a buddy of mine that allowed me to mount 3 speed lights on a single umbrella bracket. this proved to be an invaluable tool when shooting portraits of the couple outside in direct, early afternoon sun light. so then of course i had to have one of these of my very own. as usual i figured i could build one just as easy as buy one. i also figured that if 3 lights worked as well as they did then 5 lights would be even more useful.

so i present to you my multi flash bracket capable of holding up to 5 shoe mount flashes. here's the finished product sporting about $1400 in nikon strobing goodness. click through to see the details on the individual lights.

i based the design of my bracket on the one that i had borrowed, and i believe is available for sale at B&H. i just added two more cold shoes and spaced them out a bit. most all of the parts were pretty easy to find. the steel for the base was purchased at Home Depot. the cold shoes and brass mounting spigot were purchased at Biggs Camera, a local camera shop. the knobs that the cold shoes mount on were the most difficult part to find. they're 1/4" 20 machine threaded shafts with plastic knobs on the end. i finally ended up finding them at Renfrow Hardware in Matthews, NC which is just outside of Charlotte. Renfrow is the kinda place your grandfather used to shop at and is a real local treasure. they have everything, and i really mean everything. (where else can you buy a live baby chicken and a cast iron pan to fry it in once it grows up?) total materials cost was around $45.

fabrication was fairly straightforward. first the steel had to be cut to length.

after looking at several different flash sizes i settled on a length of 16 inches end to end. this allows enough room to access the various knobs and set screws on the cold shoes and umbrella bracket.

the next step was to mark out the positions and drill the holes.

go slow and use plenty of lube.

once all of the rough cutting was finished then i had to grind off the corners and clean off the burs from the holes and edges on a bench grinder. i ended up doing some finishing with a wire wheel to smooth everything out.

that left me with a more "finished" end product that was safe to handle and wouldn't poke or scratch anything that it came into contact with.

the final step was to reduce the length of the threaded knobs that the cold shoes mount to. they were about half an inch too long. so i cut them down to size and beveled them on the bench grinder.

so when it's all said and done you have a platform for mounting up to 5 shoe mount flashes in just about any sort of modifier that will mount to an umbrella bracket. here it is inside of a 50" westcott apollo softbox.

in the 50" apollo the 5 lights managed to get f16 at about 3-4 feet away.

remove the front diffusion fabric and use the apollo like a silver umbrella and you can push it up one more stop to f22.

both of those last two shots were taken outside in full sun at about 4 in the afternoon. so you can see how useful this rig is for controlling ambient light during the day. and that's really the whole idea. i wanted something that was light weight and give me the same amount of power as a monolight would, but would be powered by AA batteries. so now the only thing left to do is to go blind some people with this thing!

so i guess i shoot weddings now........

2011-05-17T15:33:00.000-07:00

it's funny how the things you say you'll never do always have a way of turning into the things you enjoy. i've always said that i would never be a wedding photographer. after shooting my first one a few weeks ago i've found that i actually kinda like it. so if you're planning a wedding i do hope you'll consider me. please enjoy these pictures of mark and kelly white from their wedding at daniel stowe botanical garden.

'Tis the Season

2010-10-12T10:36:00.000-07:00

i just love halloween. it's the only holiday that i don't mind seeing stores get ridiculously over prepared for (altho it is a bit unsettling that christmas seems to be encroaching further and further on halloween's territory). i'm not really sure why it's my favorite. it's probably b/c it's become a celebration of decadence and debauchery. and who doesn't like that? it may also have something to do with the fact that it's always celebrated during the evening and i tend to be a night person.

oh well, whatever the reason it doesn't much change the outcome. here are a couple of pumpkins that i've carved way too early. click through to see the larger versions.

enjoy!

everything old is new again

2010-08-21T18:31:00.000-07:00

as previously mentioned in my last post i have gotten my hands on a new camera. a polaroid 104 automatic land camera to be more specific. and to be even more specific it's not new at all. the 104 was manufactured from 1965 to 1967 making it the oldest camera i've used to date. it uses a peel apart instant film that, fortunately, fuji film still sees enough value in to continue manufacture of. i am completely in love (read: addicted) to this thing. the deliberate process, the amazing density of the prints, and the really unique depth of field. this quaint lil technology that predates me by at least 13 years has me totally smitten.

the first part of the process is pretty simple and straightforward. aim the camera, focus, and shoot. the next part is what's totally fascinating. after pulling a paper strip to expose the edge of the print, you begin development by very deliberately pulling the print through steel rollers and out of the camera. wait a 30-90 seconds for the image to develop and then you peel the negative off of the actual print. now to me the still wet negative is almost just as interesting actual print. i've always shot negative film (as opposed to instant print film) in the past and i'm not used to seeing this opaque negative. plus they smell cool.

i ran a pack of fuji fp-100b through it as a test. to be honest i wasn't even sure if it would work at first. there are no lights or other indicators to tell you that the camera is powering up. the guys over at batteries plus fashioned a battery for me and i had to splice it into a corroded battery compartment. so when i peeled apart that first shot of the blinds on my bathroom window, my heart jumped into my throat.

i asked a friend to come over that night so i could play with some lights and see if the pc socket still worked. i put an alien bee 800 in a 50" westcott apollo softbox, and set it to 1/4 power. that turned out to be a lucky first guess because i never had to adjust the power on the light after that. for portrait work i do think that the minimum focal distance could be a bit closer, but at the same time i kind of like the softish look of the prints. it's hard for me to explain really.

what i think is the most astonishing thing for me is the really finished look that these prints have once you peel them apart. they have great contrast and density. shooting digital, i'm used to tweaking a bit here and there to get it just right. it's really nice to be able to just shoot, pull, and enjoy. it really does allow you to just focus on composition. suddenly photos are a bit more fun, because i'm actually able to experience a bit of the emotion that i'm trying to convey to the viewer of the end product. for me this is the perfect mix of high and low tech.

the scans really don't do these images justice in my opinion. that's partially due to the fact that i really don't have any idea what i'm doing when i'm scanning them. a friend lent me a scanner and i'm learning as i go. trying to figure out the best solutions and processes for removing dust and cropping the images. i'm really not looking forward to tackling my negative binders. i have a feeling the perfectionist in me is going to just tear my hair out trying to get those just right. if anyone has any suggestions please feel free to speak up in the comments.

among the many things that this camera has inspired me to shoot is a series of simple portraits like this one. no theme, no limit, i'm gonna put everyone i can onto my cheap stool in the front room of my house. it'll be my own personal polaroid project. so if you'd like your photo made then please speak up. if not, i'm probably going to ask you anyways, haha.

there will be a lot more to come concerning instant film, polaroids, and the like. i'm still working out and working through my first few packs of film from the impossible project. keep your eyes peeled for those.

Polaroid 104 Automatic Land Camera

2010-08-17T15:03:00.001-07:00

116-104automatic-2, originally uploaded by greyhills2.

just a quick update. i haven't forgotten about this blog already. i just got my hands on one amazing little light proof box. it's a polaroid 104 automatic land camera. i'm actually pretty astonished at how sharp the lens is and how easy (and totally fun) it is to use.

thank you to the folks at batteries plus for helping me get it powered up. and also to fuji film for continuing to make really top notch instant film.

lots more images from this thing to come.

kicking things off with a big golden bang

2010-07-26T09:08:00.000-07:00

hey everyone (or maybe just you) thanks for checking out my very first blog post. this will primarily be a photo blog. just a way for me to air out new work and projects. i'm sure the occasional rant will make it's way in there as well. feel free to comment, complain, rant back, question, or whatever else you'd like to do.

this first post is just a photo dump. spent a lot of time working on these and want to get them out there for all to see. lighting is pretty simple and straightforward. single alien bee 800 in a 30" octabank directly above the camera. 40" gold reflector below the camera. that's about it. enjoy sara in gold.