All posts filed under: Photography

PocketWizards in the field

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PocketWizards also allow you to easily use off-camera flash when shooting in the field. Connect one PocketWizard to your camera and then the second Pocket Wizard  to the flash. I use a transceiver caddy to mount the PocketWizard to the handle of an old hammerhead flash. Press the shutter and, wirelessly, the flash will trigger. You could add a second off-camera flash by setting the second flash to slave mode. Another useful thing to consider if you are taking PocketWizards into the field is a hard case which will protect the antenna while it is bouncing around your bag. Some are designed to fit with the transceiver caddy making things even easier. This one is by Hildozine.

PocketWizards in the studio

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I got a set of PocketWizards recently and tested them out in the studio with fellow photographer Eboh. One PocketWizard was connected to the power pack. The second PocketWizard was attached to my camera via the x-sync socket as I don’t have a hot-shoe on the Pentax 67. I  put a Radio Triggering Module in the back of my light meter so that I could trigger the strobe when I took a light reading. Simply select the digital transmitter mode on the light meter and confirm both PocketWizards and light meter are on the same channel. Make-up artist Kim Clay and Eboh’s wife Ursula then posed for some shots. Overall the PocketWizards work really well in the studio. They remove many of the wires making things easier and safer. Their popularity with studio photographers is such that many power packs come with PocketWizard receivers built in. They’re not cheap, but they are a quality product.

Okinawan Lizard

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I found this little creature in the bathroom this morning. He was quite cold so easy to catch and happy to sunbathe while I took some photos. (In fact, once I had finished taking photos with my point & shoot I went back in the house got out my Pentax 67, changed lenses, attached a 1:1 macro adapter, inserted film, found light meter, and he was still relaxing on the shell when I came back.) I have field guides for Japanese birds, and even a list of Okinawan dragonflies, I don’t however have a list of herps (This is where my friend Matt would step in when I lived in Peru ). Does anyone out there now what species this is?

Pentax 645D at Yodobashi

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A day before tomorrow’s big announcement, Yodobashi Camera has released all the details along with the price. You can see the details on the Yodobashi website. Body  is 848,000 yen and a new 645 55mm lens is 100,000 yen. Not sure on the release date at the moment. The body and lens are also available at Amazon.co.jp here  PENTAX 645D with 10% Amazon points.

Pentax 645D : 40 megapixels from 44x35mm sensor

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With just a few days until the camera is revealed there has been a steady trickle of information released by email and on a special “new” section of the Pentax Japan website. For those who can’t read Japanese, as summary of the information so far is: News Vol. 1 Sensor 1.7 times the size of full frame 35mm News Vol. 2  Eight custom image functions News Vol. 3  Dual SD/SDHC memory card slots. News Vol. 4  40 megapixel sensor News Vol. 5  44 x 33mm sensor All very interesting. The rest of the details should be released on the 11th at the CP+ Camera & Photo Imaging Show in Yokohama. (As a guess I expect the sensor to be the KODAK KAF-40000 )

Photographer John Shaw

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I happened to meet photographer John Shaw while at Jigokudani Onsen. John was leading a wildlife photography tour of Japan. They had just spent around 10 days in Hokkaido and were enjoying their last few days photographing the snow monkeys. John’s a really nice guy and great photographer. He has written numerous books on photography including John Shaw’s Nature Photography Field Guide, John Shaw’s Closeups in Nature and John Shaw’s Landscape Photography.

Return to the Valley of the Snow Monkeys

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Just got back from a few days up on the Japanese mainland. I flew from Okinawa to Niigata, met up with my friend Steve, then drove south into Nagano prefecture for a day with the snow monkeys and a couple of days snowboarding. There was much less snow than during my previous visit so the hike up the trail was no problem. At the hot springs I spent the afternoon photographing the various monkeys. You can read about my first visit to Jigokudani Onsen on my main website.  Previously I had taken most of my snow monkeys photographs with a huge 400mm telephoto lens, but this time I wanted to get even closer so I left the telephoto lens in Okinawa and brought a macro lens for some portraits. As you can see it wasn’t difficult to get very close to the monkeys. Once it was too dark to shoot, we headed over to the Korakukan Jigokudani guesthouse to relax in the onsen. I was hoping that the monkeys would come and join us in …