Coming Soon . . . A review of the Triggertrap Mobile Application for iPhone

Triggertrap Mobile is a promising new application for iOS or Android that allows you to use your smartphone for trigging your camera shutter. But how well does it really work. Full Review coming soon . . .

How to Make a DIY Light Box For Photographing In Your Own Mini Studio

Have you ever needed a photo for Ebay but you wanted to make it look more professional than just a “snapshot” or you just wanted a photo of any objet with a clean background that looks professional. It is EASY to make your own little studio for photographing whatever it is you want to photograph and everything you need is probably just laying around the house. Even if you have to buy the supplies, they will only cost you a few dollars.
Here is what you will need.

• 1 cardboard box – I used 18”X18”X16”
• Some tracing paper or tissue paper . . . something that is white and will still let a good deal of light through.
• white poster board
• tape
• a box cutter

That’s it. The light box is pretty self explanatory. Here are some photos of mine after it was completed.Cut out one side of the box completey so you can place the box over your subject. Three of the sides are cutout with the box cutter and then covered with the tracing or tissue paper. I left two flaps on the top of the box to control how much ambient light is let in and to just give the box more stability.
  

The idea is to use the poster board as the background so you have a nice smooth white background. You can then light up the box with desk lamps, a flash or two, etc. For mine, I use my sb-700 Nikon flash and I also use the built in camera flash although, I make sure to tone it down a lot. Here is a photo of my setup for the photos I took in this post. Depending on what you are shooting, you might want more than one flash/light. You can play around to get some really nice affects. This can also produce some nice shadows that are soft and diffused. If you want edgier shadows, just crank up the flash a bit.



It’s not a professional studio, but for a few minutes and a couple dollars, you can get some pretty nice photos.

Favorite Photography Books

I love this book. It is the best photography book I have read on photo lighting, ever. Joe McNally has a no nonsense way of communicating what is important for specific lighting scenarios. He has some more recent books as well but this is the one I like the best.

The Moment It Clicks: Photography secrets from one of the world's top shooters

If you are interested in following his blog too, it is here: Joe McNally's Blog

Published in Washington Trails Association (WTA) Nov/Dec Edition

WTA used one of my photos again. This time I was lucky enough to get a full page for the featured landscape shot. Very cool to see . . .

Colorado Trip

In September we drove to Colorado for USDAA Nation Dog Agility Championship. We spent five days in Denver and then a second week traveling western CO taking Fall photos. We missed the peak of the fall colors by a week or two but we still got some wonderful photos and had a great time!

 This photos photo is from Oxbow bend in the Grand Tetons. The misty look is from smoke from all the forest fires that were burning in the area.

This is the classic shot of the Molton barn on Mormon row. Didn't have the best weather but I did what I could.

After the weather didn't cooperate for the Molton Barn, I turned around and took some colorful photos of the sun rising.

At the USDAA Nationals, they also had a Splash Dogs competition where dogs try to jump as far as possible while jumping into water. Very fun to watch!

Maroon Bells near Aspen, CO

Another from Maroon Bells with the moon

Sunrise from Crystal Lake

I love the colors!

Near Ridgway, CO

We went to Arches National Park on the way home.

Turret Arch through the North Window

Balanced Rock

I wanted a star trails photo in one of the arches but the clouds ruined that so I tried to get a cool night shot with the clouds.