JCBulatao Photography.

The People of DIYphotography.net have a couple of offerings for us folks with limited budgets that help improve our photography. Aside from reader inputs and actual DIY stuff, they've been selling a DIY Ring Flash which you assemble yourself, and a dual flash bracket. I've purchased the former, as you've seen in previous posts, and I've successfully used it at several events with a pseudo-gorilla-pod from CDRKING as a makeshift handle. While that works, sometimes it needs a bit of re-adjusting, and the legs don't hug the flash as tightly as I'd like it to. So a couple of nights before going out clubbing with my cousin, I decided to create a make shift handle out of PVC. I don't have a detailed step-by-step because I was mostly winging it. Just cutting to test. Photos from my phone next.  seen as mounted on a tripod  it's basically 2 T joints, a couple of lengths of pipe, and an elbow. The first T joint has a hole drilled / melted thr...

The notice came in the mail this morning! When I noticed it, my mind went blank. Forget that I have work in an hour. I went straight to the post office on the wave to pick up the parcel, with backpack in tow for transport. The size of the package surprised me ( that's what she said ) though. The stiff flat box, marked "DO NOT BEND" was maybe 2 A3s side by side. Plus I didn't have to pay the regular tax that Philpost usually charges me for may online shopping orders. Sweet! Rode home as quick and carefully as I could to avoid bending the box or damaging it in transit. Opened it up, took a couple of photos for posterity, and left it lying on the bed for me to put together once I got home. Once home, I set to work (after dinner of course) and followed the instructions step by step, lest i mess something up. I wasn't as clean as I thought I'd be though, but what the heck. :) Here it is all put together. Took some time out to decide how to mou...

I was walking around the mall today after work (forgetting to do what I needed to, which was do actual shopping VS window shopping) when I happened across the Olympus promo booth in the 5th level of SM Annex. It seems like the newest in the E series of camera bodies has recently been launched. It's chunky, it's solid, and let me tell you, it's what I want! True, I said the same about the E3 way back when (about 2 years ago), but when technology moves forward, your tech-lust must move along with it. I've only just read the preview at dpreview.com, and while the E-5 isn't leaps and bounds different than its predecessor, like the E-3 was with the E-1, it's a sensible enough upgrade. Key differences include a newer sensor (12.3MP vs. 10MP), a wider flip and swivel rear LCD, SD card storage instead of the harder to find XD, and movie mode (720p 30fps). You could say they took the advancements and changes that they made in the lower end models and applied it ...

It's arrived! It's here! I ordered a YN-560 from Tay Hua trading corporation the other day. Used their order form, paid through the bank in the morning, then they shipped it same day. It arrived Friday afternoon. Some back-story for the interested: I've fiddled with Yong Nuo flashes before, though mostly with YN-462 (which is a fully manual guess-what-intensity-I'm-on kind of flash) which I either bought for my friends, or for myself which I eventually sold to friends and/or relatives.While the YN-462 basically satisfies a person's need for off-camera lighting, it's lack of zooming capability, and the guesswork nature of its intensity input leaves much to be desired. I personally think it gives you bang for the buck though. Having sold all of my YN-462s, and being stuck with a burnt out Sunpak and a vivitar with a broken shoe, lighting-wise I was left with my FL-36R. A flash is a flash is a flash mind you, but I'd rather that I keep the TTL-capable ...

Well, this update is actually a couple of weeks old but might as well share it (as I have via plurk and facebook anyway). :) I went and got myself a strobist umbrella set. Splurged on some upgrades and options as well. 1.) 6 foot stand --> 9 foot stand 2.) 36 inch shoot through umbrella --> 43 inches 3.) Swivel umbrella bracket. + PT-04 remote trigger set (had to get the PT-04 set as the other model didn't trigger my current flash for some reason). I actually bought a couple of blowers as well while I was there (cheap at 150). I'm loving it (or at least the fact that I own it hehe). Unfortunately for me, there were some considerations that I didn't, well, consider. :) The strobist kit picked a 6 foot stand for a reason: portability. The 9 foot stand is anything but. It gives a lot of height though, and I'm sure that I'll be needing it eventually (like for Christmas family photos and what not). All purchases made from TayHua trading corp . For this ...

I f money was no object, barring the option of buying multiple bodies, the Olympus loyalist in me would no doubt splurge on their 4-years-in-the-making, recently announced professional DSLR E-3 system. A nnounced October of 2007, the E-3 shows just how much evolution Olympus' professional system can achieve. A marked improvement (heck, after 4 years, it had better be!) over their initial effort, the E-1, the Olympus E-3 possesses a new sensor. The E-3 carries a 4/3 high speed Live MOS sensor compared to the E-1's old 5MP CCD, making this pro kit the first to have Live-view function. This becomes particularly useful and handy when shooting via the fully articulated LCd display, which opens up and swivels around like those displays found in earlier Canon G point and shoot systems. With certain lenses, the E-3 is claimed to have the fastest autofocus available today, making full use of its all new 11 point auto focus system. It also sports a new and improved viewfinder, giving 100...

L et me introduce to you my other Olympus baby: the Olympus C-5000 Zoom . W hile this wasn't exactly my first digital camera (I owned a small Aiptek 1.3 megapixel pencam with manual focus and no preview lcd) , this was the first of two digital cameras that I owned that offered me versatility. It wasn't exactly the newest model when I got it, but what sold me to it was the fact that it had a hot shoe, meaning I was going to be able to use the flash I had gotten for a birthday present several years before, as well as other flash heads I might use in the future... that and the fact that they were selling it with the underwater dive casing at a huge discounted price (from 11k down to 2k plus) made it a steal. I 've covered many Beacon school assemblies and events with this camera. It takes decent pictures at an approximately 5 megapixel resolution. It also came with a remote control, so it means no need to put it on a timer, press and run away to pose. But the fact that I could...

E ver since I went digital, I have found it fortunate that I have been able to work with cameras that gave me some measure of adaptability and manual control. The first was our Canon Powershot G3 (may it rest in pieces). My Olympus C5000 Zoom took its place, allowing me to take my photography underwater with its dive casing (a post dedicated to this baby soon). T echnolust and a desire to take better pictures with better hardware led me to my current camera... S ay hello to my current workhorse: the Olympus C8080 Wide Zoom . T his 8-megapixel prosumer wonder provides me with practically everything I feel I need to capture the moment. Aside having a somewhat professional look and feel, the C8080 allows me to extend my capabilities with the use of an external flash via hot-shoe, and a choice between two storage media in the form of Compact Flash and XD memory card. Easy access buttons around the barrel of the lens make adjusting like WB, picture size and flash intensity easy. For a detai...