Lighting

Adorama Flashpoint AutoStand Review

Gear, Lighting, Tech stuff, Thoughts

Adorama has a new series of heavy duty, lightweight light stands that they call the AutoStand. They sent me one to try out and I’ll try to give you a good sense of what it’s like so you can decide if it’s right for you. They come in seven and nine foot heights. If you’re considering the Flashpoint AutoStand, review my thoughts and learn more about it at Adorama.com here.

The first thing you’ll be looking for, if you’re in the market for a Flashpoint product, is the low price. These are affordable products and that is usually the first selling point. So, if it’s so affordable, does this light stand hold up? Is it going to break after I throw it in and out of my car fifty times for a busy year of shooting? Well, it is indeed affordable at about $80 for a nine foot light stand. That is quite tall, and it does feel pretty sturdy, too.

 

 

It’s a light stand, so it’s a pretty basic piece of kit. You just want something that is going to be nice and tall, fold down small, and not break your back or your wallet. This is a solid alloy stand with just enough size to feel substantial. It’s not going to beat a Manfrotto or comparable stand that retails for more than twice as much; however, it is the real deal. It’s all metal, it opens and closes smoothly, and the plastic wing nuts clamp down just fine. Keep in mind, it is a pretty big stand. Not heavy, just nice and large. It folds down to 40″ but it’s not a tiny little cheap travel stand, if that’s what you’re looking for.

There’s really not much else to say. It’s a good product at an affordable price. They also throw in a little bag to sweeten the deal.

 

 

Photos: Adorama (top), David Ryder (middle, bottom)

Women in Computer Science for The New York Times

Diversity, Education, Lighting, My work, photojournalism, Published work, Seattle, Still photography

Nationally, only 14% of university computer science graduates are female. The University of Washington has raised that level to about 30% and is receiving an award sponsored by Google for their efforts. Learn more by reading the story on NYT.com.

Below: Portraits of UW graduate student Sonja Khan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flashpoint 180 Monolight Review

Gear, Lighting, My work, photojournalism, Published work, Seattle, Still photography

 

The Flashpoint 180 Monolight Kit, manufactured by Adorama, is a nice lightweight and affordable monolight for on-location shooting. I tested it out on a recent portrait shoot for Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv and was pleasantly surprised. Hopefully this Flashpoint 180 Monolight review can help you decide if this is a piece of gear that will work for you.

 

Above: Henrik Rasmussen photographed for Dagens Næringsliv using the Flashpoint 180 Monolight Kit

The Flashpoint 180 Monolight Kit currently retails for about $200 at Adorama.com, including shipping. It comes with everything you need to go out and shoot right away, and is compatible with Bowens-mount accessories should you find the urge to slap on a beauty dish or some other light modifier. The kit does actually come with a small umbrella, though, which is nice. The kit comes with a small bag containing the monolight, reflector, battery with belt clip and charger, flash sync cord, umbrella, and a little grip that screws into the bottom of the monolight if you want to handhold it. The kit does not come with a standard light stand, so keep that in mind if you want to use one.

My first impression was that the kit is really easy to use. I set it up quickly and after some tests, was ready to use the light on an actual assignment.

Henrik was a great subject and the shoot was going well before I walked through a door and dropped the Flashpoint 180’s battery pack. It is made of plastic, so it is lightweight, but I was sure that it would be broken after hitting the concrete floor. I was pretty surprised to see the pack was fine, and also relieved that I could still use it for the rest of the shoot. So keep in mind, this is an affordable piece of gear, but it can actually handle some of the rough treatment that sometimes comes with using gear on-location.

After making a few portraits indoors at the offices of Marel, where Henrik is president, we went outdoors to get a different look and check out the performance of this Flashpoint 180 Monolight in the sun. Even diffused by an umbrella, the light was just fine for producing enough power to knock down the ambient light outside by about one full stop. The dial on the back of the light allows for a variation of up to five stops, too, and it was quick and easy to adjust.

All in all I’d say the Flashpoint 180 Monolight Kit is offers a great value. The one thing I’d like to see is a longer battery power cord so that it is easier to set the monolight on the ground if I’m not using it as a handheld light. It has a built-in belt clip and it seems that this light was designed to only be handheld, because the battery’s power cord is hardly long enough to reach from the ground to the top of a light stand, should I choose to use one. That said, the monolight was nice to use and I hope this Flashpoint 180 Monolight review helps you out. Thanks for reading.

Glow 71″ Grand Softbox Review

Gear, Lighting, Still photography, Tech stuff, Thoughts

Is the Glow 71″ Grand Softbox on your Christmas list? Should it be? Did you get a smaller softbox for Hanukkah and want to upgrade? Read this Grand Softbox review and learn if it’s the right product for you.

(Disclaimer: Adorama recently sent me the 71″ Grand Softbox for review.)

The Grand Softbox currently retails for about $350.

 

My right soccer boot illuminated by the Glow 71″ Grand Softbox. The light produced is beautiful and comes with very subtle, soft shadows.

 

First off, this thing is huge. I can normally test products without issue in my living room, but this was a tight squeeze! The size is great though because the light is very soft, without losing efficiency from your strobe.

 

My second impression: it’s a little tough to assemble for the first time. Granted, I didn’t look for instructions (as usual), and I ended up breaking one of the 16 metal rods because I began putting together the softbox incorrectly. Oops!

 

You’ll notice that the speedring in the center has 16 holes, which means there will be a lot of tension from all angles when every rod is inserted. This does create a strong, sturdy final product.

 

I tried to insert the rods beginning at the top and moving clockwise until they were all in. Do not do this, as it creates too much tension on one side. With a little foresight, and following the obviously labeled numbers on the speedring, you can insert the rods across from each other, instead of clockwise around the speedring, if that makes sense. The first four looked like a plus sign when they were all in, with the tension evenly distributed around the Grand Softbox. This will prevent you from breaking anything!

 

Now we are rolling and ready to shoot. You’ll notice the reinforced velcro closures, which are a nice touch for securing the end of each rod.

 

Just to add an element of scale, you can see how large this Glow 71″ Grand Softbox is compared to my Canon 5D mark II.

 

The Glow series of products by Flashpoint is proving to be a consistently reliable and quality resource for professional photographers. I had some trouble with the initial set up today, but overall, this Glow 71″ Grand Softbox Review is a positive one. I would recommend the Grand Softbox and I will continue to use it for portraits and product shoots.

The Grand Softbox can be used without the white diffuser/baffle in order to get more of a crisp look, since the light will reflect off the silver lining of the Grand Softbox. With the diffuser, the light more resembles a large soft window, which I really like.

It ships with a bag for everything to neatly fit into once folded and taken down. If you want something versatile, efficient, and large for your studio strobes, the Grand Softbox is a great choice.

 

 

A bear wearing a reindeer costume thanks you for reading this Glow 71″ Grand Softbox Review. Happy holidays.

 

Adorama Glow HexaPop Review

Gear, Lighting, Still photography

 

Adorama now makes its own photography lighting gear, and they recently sent me their Glow HexaPop 24″ softbox for review. The Adorama Glow HexaPop is similar to a standard softbox for still photography, but it’s got some nice umbrella-like features in the back so that it can collapse down quickly for transport. It retails for about $135 on Adorama with a current rebate offer. With this Adorama Glow HexaPop review I’ll tell you about some of the pros and cons in case you’re shopping for this kind of gear.

 

Pros:

  • Use with any standard flash
  • Lightweight
  • Quick setup and take down
  • Solid construction of the softbox
  • Soft, but crisp, light

Cons:

  • Although it is lightweight, only time can tell how well the plastic elements of the bracket will hold up

 

The Glow series of light modifiers includes all sorts of shapes and sizes, and this HexaPop version of their softbox is 24″. It’s a good, manageable size for shooting portraits on-the-go or doing quick head shots in tight spaces, etc. You could even wander an event like a wedding and shoot candids with this softbox in one hand and your camera in the other. I wish I had this with me on my three minute portrait shoot with Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos earlier this month! The six wires in the back of the softbox snap into place really quickly, and I could’ve set this up in no time.

Simply put, this is a nice, light softbox that will get the job done. Of course, if you want softer light, you’ll need to get something larger. They do make a range of light modifiers for still photography, built for both large studio strobes and smaller flashes. Stay tuned for a review of the Adorama Glow 71″ Grand Softbox, but the Adorama Glow HexaPop 24″ is a nice place to start for creating simple, soft light from your flash. I think it’s worth the $135 it’s going for right now on Adorama.com.