13 Jun 2013

Konstruktor DIY Kit from Lomography

This looks like a fun project, and could be just the thing to while away a few hours on something creative with the added bonus of having a cool Lomographic style camera at the end. Could be a good conversation starter for the lounge as well.

Konstruktor DIY Kit


Take your analogue DIY experience to the extreme and build your own 35mm plastic SLR camera with this kit.



Victoria Falls - from a long obsolete camera!


An oldie from 2009 taken on a Canon 350D that I got super cheap because they were end of line and had been replaced by the 400D back in 2006! I took it with me on a trip to Zambia and got some great photographs from the old 8 megapixel obsolete relic. ;-)

This pic is of the Victoria Falls taken from the Zambian side looking towards the setting sun. It was the rainy season and the Zambezi was in flood making for a very spectacular flow of water over the falls and the "smoke" plume (water mist/spray) that can be seen from many kilometers away. The locals call these falls Mosi-oa-Tunya "the Smoke that Thunders". David Livingstone renamed it after Queen Victoria when he finally got there.

I still have the 350D but these days it mostly just sits in a drawer in my office. I have been trying to decide what to do with it as it is a pity to have such a wonderful camera just gathering dust. What would you do with it? Any great ideas how I can put it back into use? Be creative!

9 Jun 2013

Slow Shutter Speeds with Studio Flash for Ambient Colour and Mood

By combining a slow shutter speed and studio flash I was able to get the nice warm ambient glow of the candle falling on the scene as well as the lighting effect of the studio lights. The shutter speed was a very leisurely 4.0 seconds and the Elinchrom flashes fired at the beginning of the exposure. The Elinchroms are providing light on the label of the olive oil bottle (snoot), some fill and highlights (softboxes).


At a shutter speed of 1/200 of a second the mood and warmth is completely lost:


Doesn't really work for me the way the first one does...

And lastly, a slow shutter speed shot with all the studio lights switched off: