Black Diamond Productions

This is worth a watch with setup and behind the scenes pointers:

Part of the PhotoAssistant Series: http://www.profotoassistant.com

Nice work from these guys to help all of us improve our studio work.

I have been asked many time for a run down on the Alien Bees Ring Flash – Well I found a better source for the info on Studiolighting.net.

You can go to the page here: CLICK HERE

The above Podcast is well worth the listen for the interview with Paul Buff of Alien Bees.

I have one of these and I am very sad to say i have not devoted the time to even play with it as of yet so my first hand experience will come at a later date. From the word on the net many like the ability to be able to use this unit and Alien Bees bringing this to us on a more budget oriented basis is a great help to us more budget aware photographers.

The ABR800 AlienBees Ringflash

The ABR800 is a highly evolved, self-contained ringflash system designed to meet the challenges of the new-generation creative professional photographer. It is extremely compact, lightweight and easy to use with professional or semi-professional cameras with lenses up to 4 inches in diameter. A studio ringflash is an invaluable and instantly favorite tool of the professional photographer due to its ability to produce essentially shadow-free lighting, revealing unique catchlights in the eyes of subjects when used with fashion and portrait work.

“I don’t use Photoshop and am debating whether I need to take the time to learn. I would much rather learn to take great photos from the start.”

My opinion on this would be there is no question if you need to learn it – the question is should you learn it or pay someone who is already great at it… To properly learn PS will take a huge outlay of time and effort – I know many that have pushed aside that learning to better their business and photo skills to hire a pro Photoshop user to get done what is needed.

I think in the future you will see a significant change in who uses Photoshop vs.. Lightroom style applications.

I think you will see the photographer use Lightroom – and their "editor" using Photoshop. Or whatever workflow application you use for small adjustments etc – vs.. pixel editing of images.

If you are going to try to learn Photoshop – take my advice and before you do anything sign up with an online learning source like lynda.com and check out some of the courses first – then you can look at the initial expenditure – and the time of learning etc – and compare your bottom line…

You can get allot of Photoshop work done these days for the amount you will outlay in PS software, and most importantly your time… many never take into consideration their personal time and more should as that is time that should be spent working on the thing you really want to be best at.. not all the support role items.

That all said you should always strive for the best out of camera image you can first – do not shoot to edit… rather shoot to edit less…

Here are the photo seminars put on by Mark Daughn for this year… And they are coming up FAST:

nov 6 1-day la shooting workshop models: martina warren & christine nguyen nov 7 – 1-day la shooting workshop models: sunny leone & jelena jensen

nov 8 – are you ready to be the best? lights, models and more nov 8 – glamourcon shooting workshop 3pm to 5pm models: martina warren & malloy martini nov 8 – glamourcon shooting workshop 6pm to 8pm models: jelena jensen & sunny leone nov 9 – how to deal with models and all the other pain in the neck stuff that comes with the territory nov 9 – glamourcon shooting workshop 3pm to 5pm models: christine nguyen and second model tba

Check them out it’s a great opportunity to get input from one of the best in the industry.

Topic: Available Light
Camera: Nikon D-100
Lens: 70-200AFS VR Nikkor
Shot At: 15-20 feet – Aprox 100-200mm
Exif Info: N/A
Etc: Add notes here

Example Picture:

Setup Description:

Notes:

Notes on Diagram

Topic: Available Light
Camera: Nikon D-100
Lens: 70-200AFS VR Nikkor
Shot At: 10 feet – Aprox 90-120mm
Exif Info: N/A
Etc: Add notes here

Example Picture:

Setup Description:

Notes:

Available Light – No Flash used – Shot in Belize – South America at aprox 7pm. Photoshop work performed: Toned – cropped and slightly softened

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