135/365 - Jim - Old Flashbulbs

( f/13 105mm 1/125 sec ISO 200 Nikon D300 )

This is the result of little time and less creativity. I quickly pulled out something from the old camera collection to photograph. This is a full box of flashbulbs and I'm not sure how old they are. It's interesting to me thinking about why it is blue. Digital cameras can change the white balance, but film cameras white balance is all on the film used. The blue bulbs would produce a cooler more pure white look. I guess people had to use either colored flashbulbs or filters to change the white balance. I'm glad to be in the digital era.

095/365 - Jim - Studio Flashes

( f/5 22mm 1/60 sec ISO 200 Nikon D300 )

Theme is photography equipment. When I refer to my studio flashes, these are what I'm talking about. They are Alienbee strobes and I have all three that they offer. The B400, B800, and the B1600 are named for their effective watts. I have used one or more of these flashes for most of the photos on this blog, so they have been well worth the money. I also have several light modifiers. In the background, even though it's hard to see properly, is a large softbox (32" x 40") and I have two of these. They are extremely useful for producing the soft shadows. On the bottom left is a honeycomb grid spot. This allows me to produce spots of light behind the subject or can be used as a hair light for portraits. On the right side is a snoot which limits the output light to a small circle. I have used it for background spots and vignetting. The little unit in the center is a remote. All the flashes have a phone cord connection which goes into this LG4X remote unit. Then I can set the power of each flash from a central place. Hopefully one day I will be able to get something wireless. I see that RadioPopper is working on something that can control the Alienbee flashes without wires. That would be nice.