David Reid Photography http://www.davidreidphotography.com//blog/pocket_wizard_ranger_rx_hypersync_fantastic DRP Desc here {weblog_language} Copyright 2012 2012-02-14T10:01:11+00:00 Pocket Wizard + Ranger RX + Hypersync = Fantastic David Reid http://www.davidreidphotography.com/index.php/blog/2012/02/pocket_wizard_ranger_rx_hypersync_fantastic  

So i sold my car, i was happy with the price it sold for so i thought i would spend. 
 
One of my mine gripes with my existing Pocket Wizard Plus 2's is that you often poked yourself in the eye with the enormous antenna on top of it when using an angle view finder, which i regularly shoot with.  So the decision came to buy the new Pocket Wizards.  
 
Shamefully again retailers within Australia are pretending that we apparently have more money than the rest of the world and also whack on photography tax thus rendering it a useless activity purchasing in Australia so i hit up flEaBAY and was able to purchase the receiver and also the transmitter for less than purchasing the transmitter alone in Australia. Just to be extra safe i ordered the CE versions so they would work with my existing Pocket Wizards that i stupidly got ripped off buying in Sydney from a store who apparently only sells premium equipment, and thus charge stupid tax for it.  Heres looking at you L&P.
 
I started to read a couple of different sites on what is required and how to set it up and i found it (honestly) all a bit too hard to understand.  This could be 1 of 2 things.  1: im stupid.  2: they wrote it badly for average joe to understand.  I dare say its a mix of both.
 
My main point of reference were the pathetic tutorials on Pocket Wizards site which did nothing more than market the products (ermm guys i have already bought them, tell me how to set them up....) and another site from Tom Bol (here).  This is a rather famous site due to the Pocket Wizard article on it and so it should be as it was fairly easy to understand.
 
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Thats the back story, the foreword is a simple tale of a simple person.  Me.   I didn't care much for how hypersync worked and what it did and all that jazz, as much as its impressive its not relevant to me (possibly naive, however accepting of this).
 
This is what i have:
 
Canon 1dsmk3
Elinchrom Ranger RX AS Speed
Elinchrom Ranger A Heads
Pocket Wizard Mini TT1
Pocket Wizard Power ST4 
EL-19374 Skyport Transceiver (better known as the bent adapter to plug skyports into the ranger pack due to an obvious design flaw).
 
Thats it.  There is no other wizardy here.
 
My simple instructions for anyone who wants to get into this are:
 
Purchase the appropriate transceiver (Mini TT1 or Flex 5) triggers for your canon / nikon camera.  Yes they have different versions. No you do not need the Flex 5 in order to do this but if you are made of cash go ahead (plus they have other benefits).
Purchase the Power ST4 Receiver
Purchase / Find your Skyport plug thing
Download the Pocket Wizard Update Utility [here] 
Install the Pocket Wizard Update Utility
Plug in the Receiver / Transceiver and update their firmware.
Plug in the Power ST4 to your pack with the bent plug
Go back to your computer
Ensure you tick "Advanced Settings" down the bottom of the window whilst the Flex5 / MiniTT1 is attached
Goto the HyperSync tab and start to play.
 
Unfortunately this is where the basic ends and the trickery comes in.  
 
Simply put, you need to fire your flash at a white wall until you find you get clipping from either the first or second curtain.  This is where you hit your theoretical maximum hypersync speed.  Feel free to use the slider to manually overwrite the settings as its all camera dependant.  Once you hit the sweet spot you (after many test fires) you are done.  Thats it.
 
Long story short, on my camera with a manual slider time of -1245milliseconds i was able to achieve a sync speed of 1/640 without issue.  at 1/800 i had a very slight curtain creep and would happily shoot at that speed if i had to and crop it out later.  Another note is that as i use A Heads, i hear that S Heads are "better" than the A Heads with Hyper Sync, good on them, unfortunately i dont have the cash to pony up for more heads at the moment but if anyone feels the need to donate me one im happy to accept it and will let you all know smile
 
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This is by all means a very quick and dirty way of getting HyperSync to work.  Im sure the PocketWizards can do far more than this and i applaud them in getting the technology into these devices.  If i have missed any steps please let me know and i will edit the post for others to see however keep in mind this is only for Hyper Sync and not to do with the setup of channels etc that i know you can do.
 
All in all, enjoy, and feel free to leave a comment telling me how jaded i am about Australian Retailers and how badly i wrote this tutorial smile
 
Enjoy - Dave.
]]> 2012-02-14T10:01:11+00:00 David Reid Photography http://www.davidreidphotography.com//blog/le_chocolat DRP Desc here {weblog_language} Copyright 2011 2011-12-18T11:25:20+00:00 le Chocolat David Reid http://www.davidreidphotography.com/index.php/blog/2011/12/le_chocolat chocolat Noun, masculine  
hot chocolate, drinking chocolate

chocolate n. chocolat, substance alimentaire faite avec des fêves de cacao, de la vanille, du sucre et d'autres aromates; couleur chocolat, brun foncé  adj. chocolat, de couleur brune, marron 

Its french for Chocolate smile

I have been considering buying some grey paper for some time.  This would serve as a great backdrop for beauty styled shots.  Yet still i dont have one, however, i do have a grey wall outside on my balcony and this is exactly where we did this shoot, in the middle of the day.  Why am i talking about that when i have a model who wanted to be covered in chocolate!  

Lay the towels, this is going to get messy!

And didnt it... We were equipted with 2 litres of chocolate sauce, a towel and a sausage dog who kept trying to clean Ally one square inch at a time.  With my latest birthday present from Ed, i got a Elinchrom MaxiSpot and a Frosted Glass Dome.  Fitted this to my Ranger heads, boomed it over and shot away.  I am absoltey inlove with the maxispot!  I love the look and i think Elinchrom have done a great job on it.  Its crazy efficent too!  But i will do a review on that next time.

Here are a couple of shots from our shoot and no - theres no behind the scenes shots or videos coming out smile

]]> 2011-12-18T11:25:20+00:00 David Reid Photography http://www.davidreidphotography.com//blog/olivia_-_all_the_way_from_the_us DRP Desc here {weblog_language} Copyright 2011 2011-12-08T02:03:42+00:00 Olivia - All the way from the US David Reid http://www.davidreidphotography.com/index.php/blog/2011/12/olivia_-_all_the_way_from_the_us So its not often you get a international travelling model contacting you for natural glamour wow on the beach.  Olivia is all the way from the US and has just finished shooting in Las Vegas for some of the casinos over there and is headed to Australia to do some shoots.  

I was contacted by Olivias manager and the directions were clear, make it look naturally pretty.  

Its pretty hard to miss a shot with an international model working with you!  Heres a small sample of the images we got.

]]> 2011-12-08T02:03:42+00:00 David Reid Photography http://www.davidreidphotography.com//blog/melissa_p_-_glamour_photograpy DRP Desc here {weblog_language} Copyright 2011 2011-12-06T01:42:22+00:00 Melissa P - Glamour Photograpy David Reid http://www.davidreidphotography.com/index.php/blog/2011/12/melissa_p_-_glamour_photograpy Wow want to talk about a good shoot, well this one with Melissa was it.  Crazy aluring eyes and fierce poses.

Melissa hadnt got in front of the camera for some time and wanted a refresh and pick-me-up.  Getting in great shape, Melissa contacted me months earlier to line up a shoot and when she was ready we headed out in some awesome bikinis to take some stellar shots in the sun.

I cant wait to shoot with Melissa again!

]]> 2011-12-06T01:42:22+00:00 David Reid Photography http://www.davidreidphotography.com//blog/megan_-_portfolio_shoot DRP Desc here {weblog_language} Copyright 2011 2011-12-03T01:38:37+00:00 Megan - Portfolio Shoot David Reid http://www.davidreidphotography.com/index.php/blog/2011/12/megan_-_portfolio_shoot Megan to my amazement has only done 1 shoot before the shoot with me.  Megan was amazing infront of the camera and so confident, not without her mum coming along to give some support.

Megan has been refered to me from Danah from Gorgeous Filthy Makeup.  Danah and I have shot on many times before and is just gorgeous to work with not only as a model but also as a makeup artists.  However this shoot, we had Ally Hayward come in again to do the makeup and assist with the poses.

Great working with Megan and hope to again.

]]> 2011-12-03T01:38:37+00:00 David Reid Photography http://www.davidreidphotography.com//blog/jessica DRP Desc here {weblog_language} Copyright 2011 2011-12-01T01:35:55+00:00 Jessica David Reid http://www.davidreidphotography.com/index.php/blog/2011/12/jessica Jessica was a dead set stand out shoot! As soon as Jess turned up it was game on. 

Jess contacted me through my website who was refered to me by other one of her friends.  Jess was after some new portfolio images and wanted something really fun and really bright.  

We headed down to the beach to get some classicly glamour images from the beach scene and wow did we turn a crowd.  The makeup was done exceptionally well by Ally Hayward who helps me on all shoots.

Absolutely blown away with the clarity and crispness of the images and Jesses poses were amazing.

]]> 2011-12-01T01:35:55+00:00 David Reid Photography http://www.davidreidphotography.com//blog/ignition_products DRP Desc here {weblog_language} Copyright 2011 2011-11-30T01:28:48+00:00 Ignition Products David Reid http://www.davidreidphotography.com/index.php/blog/2011/11/ignition_products A good friend of mine who owns Ignition Productions has recnetly moved into a new office and was wanting some stock images to produce on his marketing material, flyers, website and to show off his equipment.  

Ignition Productions are famously known for doing all of the V8 Super Car races producing and RPM shows along with doing some indie film productions.

A few snaps are attached for his office

]]> 2011-11-30T01:28:48+00:00 David Reid Photography http://www.davidreidphotography.com//blog/custom_tan DRP Desc here {weblog_language} Copyright 2011 2011-11-28T01:25:08+00:00 Custom Tan David Reid http://www.davidreidphotography.com/index.php/blog/2011/11/custom_tan Some of you may be aware that my sister is one of the leading spray tan suppliers in all of Australia.  She has built her company up from the ground incorporating only the best products in her line.  So much so she demanded more quality she has built her own solution.

With this, the rebranding of her company had begun and needed to be captured.  Doing very little product work before i thought id get involved and was pleasanly suprised with the results.  

Be sure to get in contact with her if you are wanting to get into the spray tan industry or just looking for a spray tanner in your local area.  Click here to check our her fantastic new site too

]]> 2011-11-28T01:25:08+00:00 David Reid Photography http://www.davidreidphotography.com//blog/anchor_security DRP Desc here {weblog_language} Copyright 2011 2011-11-26T01:15:32+00:00 Anchor Security David Reid http://www.davidreidphotography.com/index.php/blog/2011/11/anchor_security Anchor Security are going through an exerice to update their website to incorporate their new services and refresh their images.  I had spent a day with Michael and his team doing various different security activities from money handeling, attack dogs, door security and security camera work.

Attached are some of the images of that are being used on the website and one mean puppy!

]]> 2011-11-26T01:15:32+00:00 David Reid Photography http://www.davidreidphotography.com//blog/god_i_have_been_slack DRP Desc here {weblog_language} Copyright 2011 2011-11-01T21:30:54+00:00 God I have been slack! David Reid http://www.davidreidphotography.com/index.php/blog/2011/11/god_i_have_been_slack ......so please forgive me.  

I have been absolutely crazy busy with shooting way too much of recent and alot of the work i have been doing i havent been able to display at the clients request.  Luckily enough i have got out of that situation and im ready, locked and loaded for a big couple of months. 

Just to name a few things that i have coming up are:

  • 2 National Calendars of Bronzed Aussie Guys and Bronzed Aussie Girls hitting the shelf for 2013.
  • Summer workshops, the first of which will be on this weekend so keep your eyes peeled for the results and the BTS shots and videos
  • Some further upcoming publications
  • Weekly / Bi-weekly tips
  • ...and a couple of suprises.

Id like to kick this off quickly though with everyone who emails me asking for upcoming dates on workshops.  Both Edward Hor and I do our workshops on a fairly regular basis.  They are mainly focused around the summer periods and warmer periods and we are trying to get some more out this year than last year to satsfy the demand. As much as we promote the workshops on our own site, we also have created a site which not only hosts our workshops, but other photographers workshops which we classify as "good and fair" for other photographers to attend.   This site is:

http://www.photography-workshops.info

Be sure to book mark it, sign up to the mailing list to get fist dibs on the courses offered.

Yesterday not only being the Melbourne Cup day but was also a day of one of those little suprises you receive.  I got an email in from an image i took years ago down on cronulla beach.  A lady wanted it for a website she was creating so i just handed it over to her for free.  She had thanked me and now the site is done.  Take a look at:

http://sydney.schmap.com/

The brief that i have been given is "... real-time local buzz for events, restaurants, bars and more" Hopefully for Claire it picks up and is a goto point for all things local in peoples areas.  On the note of my image its a tinny weeny little one up in the right hand corner of Cronulla Beach Walk - http://sydney.schmap.com/attractions/cronulla_beach_walk?pn=5

Thats about it for the moment guys, i am currently writting up a draft to hopefully help people not get in a situation which i was in by not being able to utilise images and get paid fairly for the work you do.

If you have anything else you would like me to cover be sure to drop me a line.

 

ps, im getting a miniture dashound puppy next week!! 

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