It's getting to the point, if not well past the point where it is very very hard for a photographer to justify the cost of Photoshop. Since Lightroom (or equivalent) is doing the brunt of our work, a fancy editor is used for only those things which aren't Lightroom friendly. But it is getting to be very little that Lightroom isn't able to do. What you can't do in Lightroom, you can do in a $100 editor.
The premise, though, is that the very presence of Lightroom has turned Photoshop into an overpriced, pudgy beast of a program that requires a very expensive computer to even run well. With the cost of upgrade--especially now with the enforced "thou shalt upgrade EVERY time, no matter what" policy, people are seriously starting to consider not even bothering ever upgrading Photoshop again.
As we've seen over and over again, it doesn't take much for the leading product in a category to dive in a hurry. Ten years ago, nobody expected Palm to cease to exist. Five years ago Blackberrys ruled the world. Some of us remember Wordstar, Wordperfect and DBase+. How about Sears and GM? Hewlett-Packard, anyone? It wasn't long ago that Dubai was the place to be.
KODAK.
Eventually, everything will go the way of the Roman Empire. It's just a matter of time. Sometimes it ends because of the obesity of age, sometimes it ends because of some upstart that is able to ride a new metaphor into the limelight.
Is Photoshop teetering on the edge? Maybe, maybe not. Rarely do we ever recognize the trigger points while they are happening. Only by looking back can we truely know when a turning point occured. What we do know is that programs like Lightroom (sold by the same company as Photoshop), Aperture and others are on the rise. Photoshop isn't. How quickly Photoshop declines is purely speculation. It might be rapid or it might be through gradual attrition as users retire and the new ones go with something else.
I believe Adobe knows all this very well and has a pretty good handle on the time-line. Their new "rental" program is actually something that may help keep the program viable for some time--especially since the feature set is becoming more important to designers and less so for photographers. The product feature set has been migrating towards the designers for quite some time.
When we signed our lease, the building was tan. Was.
I arrive at the studio to prepare for my first session in the new space the following day, only to find that...voila, our building is now half Apricot. What? Apricot of all colors, and half done. OK, moving on, I've got a set to prep and gear to lug inside. Except the person painting is right in my doorway, on all 4's, painting the trim an even darker shade of Apricot. Super wonderful. He assures me he won't be painting tomorrow and all will be on hold until the next week.
Heading on into the studio with my gear that I brought this time (I try not to store anything of real value in this location) I realize that it's an unseasonably warm day and the studio is heating up nicely. This is fine for me, I am almost always cold, but tomorrow I will be shooting a maternity session, the client is in her 35th or so week of pregnancy, and I know from past personal experience that she will be hotter than hot, downright melting, and miserable. This does not make for beautiful images. So, I think to myself, time to open up these windows. Good idea, right? Wrong. The windows have all been painted shut. Not wonderful. The lady who owns the hair salon next to me and I spend about a half an hour trying to get the windows open, after I'd spent about a half hour on my own. We finally get them to at least "vent" a little, thankfully, but by that time both of us are hot and miserable.
I decide to go into the manager's office to see if there is anyone who can come help us and if they even knew that the windows are painted shut, and of course, the reply I get is: "Yes, we know the windows are painted shut. We will come back and scrape the paint off after the entire building is done." When will that be? Well, it *is* Colorado, and it is winter, so...that depends on the weather. Joyous news. And not an option. I have to have windows that will open and ventilate for my clients. Newborns like it hot, but they are about the only subjects that do.
Back I go, armed with a screwdriver and my mini-Leatherman, I trim away what I can so that the windows will swing more freely. I still require help getting them shut, but at least they are workable. My client doesn't know it yet, but she will be thankful for this tomorrow! (Now, a hammer, screwdriver, and a few other key tools reside at the studio permanently).
And now, to text my client and let her know that the building is not tan, but half Apricot. Obviously, the addresses and signage has been removed for painting. So...look for the half Apricot building. With the windows painted shut.
Candace Lemarr is contributing articles to www.zone-10.com on the continuing efforts to convert this space into an effective studio as well as writing other articles about the business of photography. She is based in Grand Junction, Colorado.
Exclusive 5-days Masterclass by world renowned fine arts photographer Michel Szulc Krzyzanowski in the French village in Brittany Le Gorvello starting June 18, 2012.
Persons who are involved in photography in a passionate way reunite in the village of Le Gorvello in Brittany, situated in the northwest of France, for an exclusive 5-days Masterclass directed by Michel Szulc Krzyzanowski.
For who is this Le Gorvello Masterclass intended?
- For persons who are for some time actively involved in photography and who make their work based on their own ideas.
- For photographers who have the ambition to develop a more personal style in their work.
- For persons working with photography who have the feeling it is difficult to progress with their work.
- For photographers who wish to experience new inspiration, new enthusiasm and new élan with their photography.
- For persons working with photography who are eager to discover new possibilities, new approaches and new directions and who are open to make exciting discoveries.
This Masterclass is especially effective for participants who love to share their experiences and those of others to evaluate and learn together.
You can be a professional photographer with a lot of experience to participate in this Masterclass. But even when you have photography as a part-time activity and are not that experienced, this Masterclass is a unique opportunity to find new enthusiasm and inspiration.
The unique pedagogic method of the Le Gorvello Masterclass.
The starting point of the Le Gorvello Masterclass is the participant and his/her photography. This is the centre of the whole experience and the most important. It will be about the personality of the participant and what he/she wants with photography.
Michel Szulc Krzyzanowski has over 40 years of expertise in the field of top level fine arts photography which is made available tailor made: as the participant desires and needs. Nothing is being imposed. There is no Master telling the participant how and what to do and what has to be accepted.
Each participant is not a student or a disciple: each person is the own Master deciding what is best to advance. However, guided and assisted from the experience and knowledge that Michel Szulc Krzyzanowski has acquired about fine arts photography.
There is the option to continue during the Le Gorvello 2012 Masterclass with the photography that is already performed. Or the option is to get specific assignments based on the existing portfolio to work on during the 5-days Masterclass in the beautiful village, the interesting landscape surrounding it or on the nearby beaches.
Each day the work made will be presented and evaluated. This in the group of max 10 participants but also in private consultations with Michel Szulc Krzyzanowski.
The ambition is to have made at the end of the Le Gorvello Masterclass a crucial new step in the own development as a photographer, to have added an important new body of work to the portfolio and to return home filled with reborn enthusiasm and revived passion.
Practical details about the Le Gorvello Masterclass.
It takes place in the charming village of Le Gorvello, not far from the big city of Vannes in Brittany, France.
The group of Masterclass participants consist of not more than 10 persons. You will have your own private room with private bathroom and breakfast in one of the beautiful houses in the village. Each evening we have dinner together, but this is optional.
During the day there are private consultations and group meetings but most of the time will be devoted to actively work with photography in the village, the surroundings or what is chosen as a subject. In the evening is the major meeting where everybody shows the results made that day to be shared and evaluated.
The approach is absolutely not to criticize the result: the method is to share and discuss the process of making the work.
The Le Gorvello Masterclass by Michel Szulc Krzyzanowski will take place from June 18 to June 23, 2012 .
Le Gorvello can be reached easily by high speed train from Paris.
The costs of this 5-days Masterclass by Michel Szulc Krzyzanowski is € 825. (About $ 1,070)
This includes the Masterclass, your room, breakfast and dinner.
It is unfortunate that Olympus' last significant innovation in the OM series was the OM-4 which came out in 1984. The OM-4Ti followed in 1987. There were some internal modifications through the years to help it conform to CE certification, but other than that, Olympus packed it in. The OM system died. Nadda. Literally 12 years after the introduction of the OM-1, Olympus ceased to develop any more professional bodies. The OM-4(T/Ti) had reached the pinnacle of what they were capable of. Everything after 1984 was a rehash. Ten years ago, the OM system was finally officially killed.
Most people don't realize that the OM-10 is what made the OM system successful. We can look to the OM-1, OM-2, OM-3 and OM-4 bodies (and variants) as being the "proper" OM series, but it was the OM-10 that made it a household name. Unfortunately, this success caused Olympus to redirect itself into thinking about the amateur first and started to produce cameras to this market at the expense of the higher-end photographers. Example: OM-707. This camera had auto focus and eight new lenses. It had great potential to be a usable tool for photographers wishing for auto focus capability. But Olympus thought that this camera would only be of interest to the P&S crowd so it had program-mode only. That's right. You couldn't control aperture, shutter speed, exposure compensation--nothing. Olympus too narrowly defined the market for this technology and kissed off the professional or even enthusiast to auto-focus. There was no further development with no new AF bodies. The OM-AF system was abandoned.
At a very specific point in time, the OM development team was effectively disbanded. Other camera product lines were developed. The most significant of those was the IS series. I still have and use my IS-3. The IS-3 (IS-3000 outside of the USA) was pretty much as close to a professional camera without quite getting there. The lens, a built-in 35-180 is simply incredible, the AF was snappy and the metering and flash exposure control outstanding. There is actually very little to dislike about this camera. Except for one show-stopper. To manually focus the camera, you have to press a button which changes a rocker switch from power zoom to power focus. That's right, you can focus or you can zoom, but you can't do both. The electric motor driving both was also a bit noisy. I said for years that Olympus needed to build an OM mount version of the IS-3. No, wasn't going to happen. Not then, not ever.
So, now we have the m43 mount. History tells us that the Pen system was replaced by the OM system (zero system crossover), the OM system replaced by the IS system (zero system crossover--even the hot-shoe changed), the IS system replaced by the Camedia system (zero system crossover--even the hot-shoe changed again), the Camedia system replaced by the Four-Thirds system (very little crossover), the Four-Thirds system replaced by the Micro Four-Thirds system (some crossover), the question lurking over all our heads is when will Micro Four-Thirds be replaced. Is it now? is it next year? The only thing for sure is that it will happen. Oh, there was also the FTL system, which was introduced and killed hence abandoning a line with just one body and a set of lenses.
I mentioned the OM-707 for a reason. Olympus chose to specifically target a narrow demographic with a feature or capability and neglected the serious/professional photographer. With the IS series, they again chose to specifically target a narrow demographic due to unfortunate design choices, again blew off the serious/professional photographer. With the E-Pen series, they repeated this again. Each time, they show the inability to walk and chew gum. Amateur or serious photographer, but never both.
So, here we are with the OM-D. If you are a short-term buyer/user and will buy whatever is fresh, new and innovative, then I believe the OM-D is the beginning of something worthwhile. But if you are in this for the long-haul, you really need to be very careful in choosing this camera. We'll see how the accessories line up on this camera and whether or not Olympus builds a sufficient ecosystem around it. If the OM-m43 lens adapter with reduction optics comes out, then maybe somebody like me with a large OM system will be served well to buy the camera. But if this is just a E-Pen in a fancy OM-shaped body, then we must consider it as just a piece of fashion jewelry for 2012.
The next week finds me in the studio, cleaning, making sure all backdrops are hung, pressed if necessary, props are properly stored, shelves are put in place, and the storage closet is utilized in the best possible way for quick and easy access to anything I might need during a session. the challenge is that the storage closet is not in my studio, but next door, in the hair salon that adjoins my room. The objective here is to have everything stored in a logical method, i.e., boy baby props on one shelf, girl baby props on another, boxes, hats, blankets on another, seasonal taking up the rest.
Prior to my sessions, I grab a large decorative basket that can also be used as a prop, and fill it with whatever items I may need from the storage closet and bring those into the studio to have on hand. After the session, those items are restocked, or taken home to be cleaned before restocking. This was my amazing colleague's idea, I'm not sure I would have thought of the basket until a few sessions down the road.
Large items, such as chairs, cubes, tree stumps, high chairs, crates, and trunks, are all stored at the opposite end of the studio space. Some chairs are hung from the walls, and all bows, headbands, hats, and neckties, are also hung from the walls at that end of the studio. It would be so wonderful to have more space, it is cramped already, but it is just not in the budget right now.
Also at that end of the studio is a small cabinet/shelf that we use to hold our separate business items. When I am in the studio, my business cards, brochures, etc, are out. When my colleague is in the studio, my items are put away and her information is out. Unless we both forget, then all of our stuff is out all of the time. Which happens. More on this later.
Then it's on to setting the floors into place along with backdrops and taking some test shots to get the lighting as close to right as I can, and see exactly what amount of room I have to navigate in. It's not much. The end of the week will see me shooting my first session in the studio, and I want to be as comfortable as possible. It's a little like moving into a new house and having to prepare a gourmet meal the next night. Sure, you can do it, and you have all the stuff, but nothing's where you're used to it being, so it seems like every little thing takes that much longer.
Candace Lemarr is contributing articles to www.zone-10.com on the continuing efforts to convert this space into an effective studio as well as writing other articles about the business of photography. She is based in Grand Junction, Colorado.
When a photographer gets a job, there are others who decide what to do. In a way that makes it easy. There are no doubts because there is a beginning and an end. A perfect circle. However, an artist photographer is an explorer. Nobody tells her or him where to go and why. It is always based on a self created and imposed concept and then it is like parachuting from a high flying airplane in the darkness of the night: when will land touch the soles?
First I was sitting during one long night in a KLM airplane during 10 hours to travel from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to Bangkok, Thailand. Next, I was flying from Bangkok to Chiang Mai in Thailand. Followed by a bus ride of over 4 hours from Chiang Mai to the village of Soppong. Today, from Soppong, sitting on the back of a light motorbike called Honda Dream, Thai producer “Sunny” and me, we drove more than 2 hours into the mountainous jungle.
During that journey, going up and going down, seeing the beautiful jungle pass by, seeing people working in the rice fields, seeing birds flying from one tree to another, seeing the river finding its way between the high mountains, I came to wonder what the heck I was doing there. Obviously traveling to somewhere but I had no clue where “Sunny” was taken me. We went higher and higher into the mountains, the road getting worse by the mile. If at that moment a journalist had landed by parachute in front of our Honda Dream and had asked me where I was, I would not have known what to reply. Well, obviously I was in Thailand and somewhere in the northeast. Clearly close to the border with Burma because at one point 5 large Army trucks loaded with soldiers and their impressive guns passed by to the nearby area of possible international trouble. The road was bad and often steep and slippery because of the gravel.
I was not wearing a helmet.
An inner voice was asking on behalf of the Department of Security, Survival and Foolishness, based somewhere in my brains, if that really was such a good idea to sit on a light motorbike on a slippery and dangerous road out in nowhere although somewhere in Thailand but close to Burma. The good point the inner voice made was, what for hell’s sake was driven myself to go to this far corner of the world and this in a total irresponsible way. Who could deny it was not a survival trip at all but more likely making gambling in a casino look like a way to become an easy millionaire?
But then another thought flashed when the Honda Dream hit another pothole and this one was that a photo project was performed and persons were to be found that can show what nobody has seen. In big cities this means doing intensive research for weeks and in the countryside it means making miles and miles to reach the end where a man or a woman explains what it is. What in their case it is what the world has never seen.
Did this trip, possibly considered as absurd and irresponsible, bring a result that justified the effort? That is the beauty of life. A man can fall in love, which is a reckless thing to do, but it is the way to find the one.
"What The World Has Never Seen" is currently in production with Michel and his team travelling around the world. To keep up with the latest from Michel Szulc Krzyzanowski and the project "What The World Has Never Seen", please visit his blog at:
The Olympus OM Camera Grip 1attachment is an interesting little accessory. The only thing it provides is a tiny bit of lip for holding onto the camera when it is being carried in a ready position by the right hand. When actually shooting, it adds a little something, but doesn't really make much of a difference on or off. When carried by the right hand, this attachment allows the camera to be held with the thumb and middle finger. Without the attachment, you need to squeeze a little harder and incorporate most of the fingers to keep from dropping the camera.
This is entirely different than when a winder or motordrive is attached to the camera. In this case, most of the hand and palm is used to hold the camera. These power attachments do have one distinct advantage, though. When you have the camera hanging down at your side, you can actually relax your finger and literally let it dangle from your fingertips. The winders actually do this a little better than the motordrives.
The usefulness of the grip depends a lot on the lens attached to the camera. I actually prefer the OM body to be gripless if I'm using my 24/2.8, 35/2.8, 50/1.4 or 100/2.8. But if the 35-80/2.8 or 100/2 is attached, the grip makes a lot of difference. Asking the question 'why" does reveal a dramatic change in how a camera is held based on weight and design of the lens. The older and shorter lenses really balance correctly with the left hand cradling the lens and body. Thumb and middle finger land on the focus ring, index finger landing on the aperture ring. It is very very natural for me to then carry and hold the camera with the left hand and when I bring the camera up to the eye, my right hand will then join the action and provide guiding, shutter-release and film-advance duties. With these lenses, the camera body itself is firmly planted in the upturned palm of the left hand.
The 100/2 and 35-80/2.8 present a totally different situation, though. The CG is shifted so far forward that the camera ends up landing in the heal of the hand and the fingers are farther forward of the camera body. In the case of the 35-80/2.8, the rings are reversed position with the aperture next to the lens mount, the zoom ring in the middle and the focus ring farther forward. Because the CG shift, the fingers are now load-bearing. Using a 35-80/2.8 on a driveless OM body is fatiguing after a while. I can carry and shoot an OM with 35/2.8 all day, but the 35-80/2.8 requires some assistance.
When you add a winder or drive to the right side of the camera, the right-hand becomes load-bearing. If it provides enough height, the camera will wedge in nicely into the heal of the hand and you get a lot of stability and load-capacity. This is one reason why the E-1 with battery-grip is so comfortable to hold. A motordrive or winder equipped OM body has the distinct advantage over many other systems by still allowing you to place the body into an upturned left hand with the fingers falling naturally to the focus and aperture rings. If the attachment height is too tall, you can't cradle the body at all and instead the left hand has to go palm down with the fingers wrapping over the top of the lens. The E-1 with battery-grip is at the absolute limit of size to allow for upturned palm holding.
The problem with adding a winder or motordrive to the OM body is that it completely alters the weight, size and holding shape of the camera. An OM body with MD2 and 35-80/2.8 is a heavy rig and not necessarily something that you want to take an a walk. The little grip attachment for the OM body is a nifty little compromise. The CG of the body-lens combination has shifted forward onto the upturned fingers of the left hand, but the lip now allows the right hand to take a little more of the weight as the same amount of squeeze by the right hand now increases its capacity/stability by probably 50%. The middle finger is able to anchor the body better with the thumb. It's not much, but it seems to be just enough to make a noticeable difference.
After reading the article thoroughly and taking some measurements, I headed down to my local Lowe's and the tile board area. I picked up 2 4X8 white tile boards for about $12.00 each, then looked at what else they had that I could make work in the small studio space. I decided on some brick-looking tile boards, same size, but at a much higher cost. They were about $38.00 each. I also grabbed a smaller size single sheet of tile board that looks like beaded pine, painted white, for small tight area shots which would be mainly newborns. That piece was roughly 3x4 and cost about $11.50.
After looking at the tile board for a while and thinking about the soft-ish carpet that would be underneath it, I knew I was going to need a firm surface for the tile board to lay on top of, to lessen the likelihood of damage to the tile board from being stepped on. I added 2 sheets of the heaviest OSB subflooring that Lowe's had in stock. Hoping that the heavy subfloor would not slide around on the carpet like plywood would. I also grabbed a plastic baseboard (which I am not too certain of, more on that later), some cleaning supplies, trash can, and tape. The hardest part of that trip was getting it all to the register, then the vehicle, then into the studio. But we made it!
Once in the studio, the "flooring" will lay against the backdrop wall, until it is needed for use, at which time I simply flip it down, overlapping the one in the front over the one in the back, just as the tutorial suggests. If I forget to overlap the front board like this, I just have a line that I have to edit out of all of my images. If I overlap it, the line is usually not seen in the images, providing my lighting is correct. This system works very well, it's just a bit awkward to manipulate, especially by oneself. The space is small, so it requires some delicate maneuvering. It is best to not have to change the flooring during a session. Although it can be done.
Now I need to remember a swiffer or something like it to quickly get the little dust particles and thread, fuzzies, etc off of the floor before shooting. Seems like the backdrops or people's clothing are always shedding drastically on my floor.
A bonus of this flooring, besides the obvious benefit of it being a low cost, space saving fix, is that it holds up rather well, better than expected, and is super easy to clean. For the most part, it stays put once it's down. It's not like anyone's doing gymnastics on it...yet.
Candace Lemarr is contributing articles to www.zone-10.com on the continuing efforts to convert this space into an effective studio as well as writing other articles about the business of photography. She is based in Grand Junction, Colorado.
The Canon G1X is announced and the specifications published. The camera looks to be smartly specified as it looks like the G12 with a larger sensor. Same complaints of the G12 are present in the G1X. Namely the viewfinder. Second issue worth consideration is the relatively slow lens. Other than these two issues, the G1X is going to be an outstanding camera that compares well to the Micro Four-Thirds (m43) cameras.
Especially since it has a larger sensor than the Micro Four-Thirds cameras--almost as big as an APS-C sensor. According to some sources, it is 16% larger.
Or is it? We're talking some really creative math if it is 16% larger.
The G1X sensor is 18.7 x 14mm in size. (unknown what the active region size is)
The m43 sensor is 17.3 x 13mm in size. (active region)
The sensor in the Panasonic GH1 and GH2 is actually larger.
As we do not know what the actual active region size of the G1X is, we'll assume that Canon is saying that it is of what is published. Rounding the equation, the sensor is at most 8% larger than the m43 standard sensor. In reality, it's so close as to be irrelevant. If the sensor size is NOT the active region, then the Canon has EXACTLY the same size sensor as a m43 camera.
But that doesn't stop Canon and every forum rat from proclaiming how Canon trumped m43 in size. It is most certainly not true. What Canon has done is produce a camera with a sensor which is exactly the same as a m43 camera, but with a fixed lens.
Now for two questions:
1. When will Canon be producing this camera with the m43 mount?
2. Will Olympus abandon Panasonic and produce the next set of Micro Four-Thirds bodies with the Canon sensor?
All over the world people are busy making pictures and many of them have the ambition to become professional. Either as a commercial or as a fine arts photographer. Whether these ambitions are fulfilled depend on many things. One must have determination, willpower and talent. But even then, the context in which a person lives has a strong influence as well in how far dreams can come true.
Context in Europe is very favorable and in the United States, Japan and many other countries as well. Young people with ambitions and the other necessary ingredients can make it there and become successful.
But imagine a young woman in Iran these days. Like Ziba Maghreti.
She has the ambition to become a fine arts photographer and has been accepted as a student in a photography school in Switzerland. However, her country is being boycotted so Ziba cannot get the travel documents to go to Switzerland.
Living with her parents in Teheran, Iran, she is in deep frustration now because she realizes that her future is not going to be in sync with her dreams. She does make pictures though and when we see these pictures we feel with her what she is going through.
"What The World Has Never Seen" is currently in production with Michel and his team travelling around the world. To keep up with the latest from Michel Szulc Krzyzanowski and the project "What The World Has Never Seen", please visit his blog at:
Once in a rare while a company comes along and produces products which not just fulfill a need, but create the need. The Apple iPhone, is an example of this--we didn't realize that we needed a touch-screen telephone that did everything but the laundry. Without the iPhone, we probably wouldn't have "Angry Birds". It is one thing for a company to spot a need and create a product to fulfill it, but it is another thing to invent an all new category of product. Sometimes, this is an all new original concept, but more often than not, it is the repackaging of a concept or idea. There was nothing really new about the iPhone, but it was a repackaging of ideas and concepts into a new design when accompanied by a brilliant marketing campaign that has altered the course of communications.
ExpoImaging is a company I've been familiar with for many years. I purchased and reviewed the Flashbender (review here) and have found even though the concept of a flash reflector is nothing new, the execution of the concept is not only fresh, but the logical choice. It is so natural of a fit to what we want that we wonder how we could ever be without one again. ExpoImaging is the company that produces the ExpoDisc, which absolutely was an original concept invented by George Wallace. Wallace's family continues the legacy by dedicating themselves to the photography industry with products which just make sense.
After reviewing the Rogue Flashbender, ExpoImaging made a Rogue 3-In-1 Honeycomb Grid available for testing. Long overdue, this review is finally presented here on www.zone-10.com. The delay in writing this review has had the unintended advantage of time. Instead of a "Hey, I got this thing yesterday and it rocks!" review, I can honestly say that I've been using it for months in multiple situations and environments. My appreciation for this modifier has grown with time and I'm even more excited about it now than I was in the beginning.
The Rogue Grid is one of those products which isn't necessarily a new concept--grid spot light modifiers have been around for decades. What is new is that we now have a grid spot attachment which fits in a pocket and attaches to nearly any portable/battery flash. As late as ten years ago, a product like the Rogue Grid didn't have much usefulness, but now with every major camera manufacturer having dedicated flash systems supporting wireless flash, the Rogue Grid has entered into the prime moment of adoption.
What is the Rogue Grid?
The Rogue Grid is a multi-component honeycomb grid modifier which provides beam widths of 16, 25 and 45 degree coverage patterns. Fitting inside a small pouch are two grids (one 45 degree, one 25 degree), the bezel and the flexible-body with velcro strap which will fit to nearly any portable (shoe-mount) flash. The flexible body attaches to the flash head with the built-in velcro strap and has enough rubbery surface to stay in place. Beam width is selectable by placing one of the two honeycomb grids into the bezel. If you want the narrower 16 degree coverage pattern, place both grids in the bezel.
If the flash is rectangle, how can the spot be round? The shape of the lightsource does not define the shape of the spot. The shape of the openings determines the shape of the spot. The honeycomb shape of the holes are slightly rounded, but with the way the light reflects through the grid, the shape of the spot ends up round. The honeycomb shape contributes to a softer penumbra and smoother transition. Perfectly rounded openings result in a harsher transition as well as a tendency to create a rimming "donut" of light on the subject.
There is lightloss as a result of using the grid, mostly through physical blockage of part of the flash tube, but also through absorption and redirection of light. The amount of loss varies depending on flashtube design as well as how close the grid elements are to the flash. As a grid light is usually used for accent or secondary use, this is not typically a problem.
What can you do with the Rogue Grid?
1. Accent lighting. Aiming a light at a specific location in the scene can bright up the exposure of that location or object without affecting other elements of the scene. If your style of lighting is "additive lighting" then a snoot or grid-spot light is invaluable to be able to selectively place light just where you need it.
2. Background lighting. Aim a grid light at the background behind a person. Doing this will raise the background level and create a fall off vignette. One classic style of portraiture lighting is light against dark and dark against light. Use a neutral background and light one half of it with the gridded light. Now, have your subject turned the away from the lit background and towards a lightsource. The light side of the face is against a black background, and the shadow side of the face is against the lit background.
3. Hairlight or rimlight. When using a normal flash as a hairlight, two problems come up. First is uncontrolled spillage--the light goes everywhere. The second is the potential of the flash shining back into the lens causing flare or incorrect exposures. The Rogue Grid will allow you to light just the person's head and shoulders with just the right amount of light to give background separation without overpowering everything around it.
4. Controlling light pattern from a distance. An obvious circumstance is the hairlight, but there are times when you can't get the flash close enough to the subject. Maybe, you are shooting a group and the composition includes plenty of foreground. A normal flash will overexpose the foreground. If you are trying to light just the subject and flash-to-subject distance is far, the flash will light far too much of the scene. Place the grid on the flash, carefully aim it at the subject and you'll have just the subject lit.
5. Catch lighting. Need to add a little sparkle to the eyes or just a touch more exposure to the face? Use your large, diffuse light source to light the subject as you normally would, but then place a portable flash with the Rogue Grid in front of the softbox or umbrella carefully aimed at the face. You get the wide, soft lighting of the softbox with just a touch of exposure lift just where you need it, providing a touch more 3D modelling.
6. Event photography, involving photographing people on a stage. Using a powerful on-camera flash while photographing an event has the unfortunate side-effect of disturbing the audience. We are typically shooting with a longer lens in this circumstance, a 70-200mm being normal. Placing the grid on the flash will restrict the coverage to about that of the lens. When the flash fires, the subject is lit up for the camera, but the audience is largely unaware that a photograph was even taken.
Many other uses abound, but these are some that I've personally done with the Rogue Grid. In all cases, the Rogue Grid performed well and was the solution I needed. It isn't often that I need this type of modifier, but just as with the Rogue Flashbender, the Rogue Grid is always with me. If I'm using my portable flashes and have a three-light setup, I can pretty much guarantee that the Flashbender is on one light and the Grid on another.
Why Now?
I started this review stating that the time for the Rogue Grid has come and the timing is right for it to be on the market. NIKON's Speedlights and Creative Lighting System as well as the CANON's Speedlite and E-TTL II offer extensive integrated flash control from the camera. Multiple flashes can be triggered and balanced in many on-location photography situations. Wirelessly triggering remote, dedicated flashes makes using modifiers very easy. Before these integrated flash systems, balancing modified remote flashes becomes more difficult. Not impossible though, as I'm using them on Vivitar 285HV flashes, but does require more time to measure, chimp and adjust power levels. A modifier like the Rogue Grid has always been useful, but without today's exposure automation, is usually just difficult enough to use that most photographers find other lighting angles or stay with what they've always done.
Criticisms
Can be knocked off. The bezel pressure fits into the flexible mounting sleeve that attaches to the flash. It is snug and won't just come off through motion, but it will come off when you bump it in a rough and tumble environment. This is not necessarily a bad thing as it will come off instead of having the entire flash break off of the camera hot shoe. Just as with the Flashbender, it is designed to comfortably fit the Speedlights and Speedlites. It is a very tight fit to go on a Vivitar 285HV. The other criticism would be that at some distances, you may get a slight donut light around the primary spot. If this happens, usually adjusting the bezel to flashtube distance or zoom position will take care of it.
In my review of the Rogue Flashbender, I made note of a design weakness with the Velcro strap. ExpoImaging had made an alteration to this design and the improved strap design is part of the Rogue Grid. (The Flashbender now includes this newer strap design). Just as with the Flashbender, the Grid is extremely well built and rugged. This is a device that can be taken anywhere and not be worried about.
Rogue is not just a product line, but a System
Most of the Rogue modifiers can be repurposed with other modifiers to accomplish different lighting tasks. The bezel of the Grid will fit on the end of the rolled up Flashbender. Of course, there is no reason why you can't place two modifiers on a single flash. Recently, ExpoImaging introduced the Rogue Gel Kit. The Gel Kit adds color filters to your flash unit and is useable with any of the other Rogue modifiers. These are available in two styles, one generic style for any portable flash and a rounded version which is specifically designed to work inside the Grid.
ExpoImaging, the company
ExpoImaging has established an excellent reputation in the photographic industry. I have absolutely nothing but the highest praise for this company. Customer service is supurb and they really do listen to the users. The products are of excellent quality and engineered not just to a need, but beyond the need. Just as Apple had engineered the cellphone to a level of perfection and clean design, so has ExpoImaging with their products. These aren't just light modifiers, they're ExpoImaging light modifiers. WIth the Rogue product line, it is a pretty safe assumption that if ExpoImaging sells it, it will be outstanding and attractive. ExpoImaging doesn't just engineer their products, but they perfect their products.
Once in a rare while a company comes along and produces products which not just fulfill a need, but create the need. The Apple iPhone, is an example of this--we didn't realize that we needed a touch-screen telephone that did everything but the laundry. Without the iPhone, we probably wouldn't have "Angry Birds". It is one thing for a company to spot a need and create a product to fulfill it, but it is another thing to invent an all new category of product. Sometimes, this is an all new original concept, but more often than not, it is the repackaging of a concept or idea. There was nothing really new about the iPhone, but it was a repackaging of ideas and concepts into a new design when accompanied by a brilliant marketing campaign that has altered the course of communications.
The Rogue Grid is a multi-component honeycomb grid modifier which provides beam widths of 16, 25 and 45 degree coverage patterns. Fitting inside a small pouch are two grids (one 45 degree, one 25 degree), the bezel and the flexible-body with velcro strap which will fit to nearly any portable (shoe-mount) flash. The flexible body attaches to the flash head with the built-in velcro strap and has enough rubbery surface to stay in place. Beam width is selectable by placing one of the two honeycomb grids into the bezel. If you want the narrower 16 degree coverage pattern, place both grids in the bezel.