DIY: Chimera Frame

After taking Andrew Clark's workshops I realized it'd be good to buy a reflector to help bounce the light back in for fill or as a quick backdrop for a head shot. I couldn't find black on one side and white on the other that I liked until I came across the 42 inch Chimera black and white panel reflector. So I bought a panel with NO FRAME....

Then I remembered David Tejada used one of these Chimera panels for a soft box/window in his Small Strobes Big Results workshop. It turned his SB-800 into a giant soft light modifier. After FaceBooking with him about it and if the frame was really necessary. I picked up the 42 inch Chimera 1/2 grid cloth too with NO FRAME.

There I was set..... but since neither one comes with a frame . You have to buy it separate and its over $100. So for just under $15 I made my own collapsible frame out of lite weight PVC pipe wrapped in black gaffers tape. I even made a video of me making it.
(watch me make a fool out of myself)













These were shot with one SB-800 through the 42" Chimera cloth about and hour after sunset. (we rode dirtbikes for to long)






















I thought it needed something extra, so I shot this with the same SB-800 through the 42" Chimera cloth and added one SB-26 on camera right. One stop hotter.












(this is the set up of the Chimera Frame, just imagine the SB-26 just out of frame)

Vivitar 285HV mod for PocketWizard.

Last week I was educating myself on Strobist and found instructions for a modification to the Vivitar 285hv flash. Over at Shutter Snap Studios they posted a way to modify these flashes so they could plug straight in and fire them without the Vivitar proprietary jack.

This has been the number one reason why I can't trust my 285's 100%. Once I read the article, the light bulb went off to change their design from a female 3.5mm (1/8")mono jack to a male 3.5mm (1/8")mono jack. This would make it so the flash would fire 100% of the time when connected to my PocketWizard receiver.

I decided to make a video of what I did so everyone out in webland can see what all it takes and how easy it is.

**** I am not liable for any damage you do to your flash, camera or gear. By following these directions you take full responsibility.****

"A Night Out" with some friends....

---UPDATE uploaded video finally -----(Thanks Efrain for helping me shoot this.)



Back on June 28th, I went out and met a group of fun amazing people. It was the 2nd monthly free Illuminate Workshops Night Photo shoot. We all met around 8:30pm at the Denver Skatepark. When I showed up it looked like Britany Spears was there. Photographers, tripods, and flashes going off, made the scene look and feel like the paparazzi were there. Bikers, Skaters and Rollerblades all stopped me and asked "what's going on?". After a brief explanation and a plug for the Efrain's school, it was back to shooting a meeting new people. Sheba from Picture Your World Photography was there and we had a good couple laughs.



We then traveled around did some overpass shots. I was frightened I was going to drop my camera gear off the bridge and prematurely end my photography career. Instead I dropped the battery cover to my shutter remote. After some panic and self discussion like "at least it wasn't the camera" I continued shooting until the big guy stopped by to check on me. Efrain (Illuminate Workshops head honcho)is a great man, and watched my camera and gear while I ran off the bridge, through the trees, past the sleeping bum and almost into traffic to find the battery cover. All the while Efrain standing overhead shining his flashlight around for me.



Once my wild rampage was over and everyone was gathered we continued on into the night shooting Denver's Millennium Bridge and all along the waterfront. It's absolutely amazing how time flies by when your making 30 sec to a 1 minute exposures.



If hanging out with a bunch of fun loving photographers in the dark, or you want some new friends, maybe a night out on the town, well sign up for Illuminate Workshops newsletter to get the 411 on the next event. I'll be posting the shots I took as soon as I get them out of photoshop.