Tom Bol Photo Blog

We are in the best part of winter in Colorado right now.  Daylight is increasing, temps are warming up, and conditions are great for skiing and ice climbing.  I broke out the crampons and ice tools the other day for an ice climbing shoot with a lighting twist.

We found a climb that had a ice cave created by the ice curtain in front and the cliff behind.  Why not put a light back there to project through the ice?  The Elinchrom Quadra is perfect for this task, lightweight yet powerful enough and controlled by a radio wireless system, no line of sight needed.  We used ice screws to attach the pack and keep it off the wet ice below.

I decided to choose a white balance of incandscent to make the daylight go blue, including the flash since it has a daylight balance.  After adjusting the power a few times we got a nice glow.  Now all I had to do was light the ice climber.

Out came a second Quadra, also attached to the ice using an ice screw and lightstand.  We added a full CTO gel to render this light daylight balanced, countering the incandescent white balance set in-camera.  The top image was our final shot for the day.

I often use my Quadras on ice and in the snow.  Since output is controlled at the camera by the Elinchrom Skyport, I can put the Quadras in waterproof bags in a blizzard or hang them out of sight as done here.  This works great shooting in harsh weather and nasty conditions.

Tech: Nikon D300s, 14-24mm lens, ISO 100, 1/200 at f16.  Two Elincrhom Quadra packs used for flash, trigger by a Skyport at the camera.

Share this:

Last post I looked at the Lastolite Triflash Bracket and Radio Poppers used together to create a simple 3 speedlight flash set up. As mentioned earlier, I have full control of all my SB900 functions including high speed sync when using the Radio Poppers. And they greatly increase my signal range, especially on a sunny day where optical systems can get interference.

I put this to the test on a recent ski day at Copper Mountain.  We had a bluebird day and lots of great snow.  One image I really wanted to create was shooting a skier with a sun star behind them.  Without some fill flash, the skier would be very dark.  To solve this problem I used my Triflash Bracket set up.  I can take the baskets off my ski poles, so I popped the basket off one pole and attached the Triflash Bracket to this end.  I planted the handle end into the snow and aimed the flashes where my skier would be coming through.  Perfect.

Tech:  D300s, 14-24mm F6.3, 1/2000, speedlights shot in TTL high speed sync mode using Radio Poppers and Trilfash Bracket.

Share this:

I have been busy recently, had a great shoot in Yellowstone, now back in Colorado focusing on winter sports.  I am also now blogging for the ProPhoto Coalition, check it out if you get chance.

One item I have been excited to try are Radio Poppers, a flash transmitter that takes a unique approach to wireless TTL flash. My set of the PX radio popper system arrived in the mail the other day, and off I went to try them out.

Radio poppers work by converting the infrared signal from my SU800 transmitter to a radio signal.  This signal is then sent to the receiver on the flash, converts the signal back to infrared, and the flash fires.

Why is this so exciting?  Because a radio signal doesn’t need line of sight, and can travel much further than an optical signal. Where radio poppers really shine is on sunny days.  My SU800 will often get interference from the sun resulting in inconsistent flash outputs.  Using radio poppers eliminates this problem.  The receiver comes with a plastic stand that mounts the receiver right on top of the sensor on the flash.  This works fine for one flash, but what if you want multiple flashes going off at the same time?

I decided to use some velcro and mount the receivers directly on my flash, and put three together on a Lastolite Triflash bracket. This works well once you have the receivers lined up right over the holes.

The beauty of radio poppers is you have all the functionality you have when using the SU800.  That means iTTL, High Speed Sync and multiple group capability…all with a range close to 1/3 of a mile and no sun interference.

I’ll explore other means of attaching multiple flashes using radio poppers in a future post, and look at some of the capabilities this system allows.

Share this:

Colorado is a dynamic place to live.  One day it is 60 degrees, the next day the temperature is hovering around zero.  We recently had a sub-zero spell, which always produces great ice crystals on my office window.

A big topic with optimizing images in the computer is getting the correct color balance.  Some shoots require accurate colors, other don’t.  When we shoot models, we pay attention to skin tones and strive for “close to accurate” white balance.  I’m not to concerned if there is a warm tone, say if we shot using a Cloudy white balance.  Some photographers shoot all their outdoor portraits in Cloudy white balance.  Others use a color checker card to get very accurate white balances.  There isn’t a right or wrong answer, both client and personal preferences will vary depending on who you ask.

As with other aspects of my photography (lens choice, lighting, location…), I often choose a white balance that contributes to the concept I want.  The ice crystal shot is a good example of this idea.  If I shot this image and kept my white balance at Daylight, the pale brown image above is the result. But if I change my white balance to Incandescent, daylight will turn deep blue. Going back to basic color theory, I know that blue conveys cold which helps improve the impact and concept of a sub-zero ice crystal shot.  This blue color may be a little different than what I saw, but not to far off if I shot at twilight.  And for this image I wasn’t worried about reality, only enhancing the bitter cold I felt!

Share this:

I have been on the road the last three weeks shooting an assignment, and had a chance to use a new tripod head.  If you like to shoot panoramic images, then you should take a look at the Really Right Stuff BH55 PCL head. This tripod head has a fluid rotating head on top of the standard tripod platform. There is a bubble level on top. To use the head, simply level the tripod head using the bubble, then loosen the rotating head controlled by a small screw.  Then shoot your images giving about 30 percent overlap in each shot. Remember to keep things consistent with each image; no polarizers, adjusting exposure, changing apertures…you need consistent shots to merge in Photoshop. Using the head this way does not compensate for the nodal point, but RRS has a bracket for this as well.

Creating your panos in the computer couldn’t be easier.  Just put your images in a folder, and then select this folder in CS5 using the File-Automate-Photomerge feature.  I use the ‘auto’ setting and get great results.  No third party software needed.

An added bonus using this head is panning with video.  The rotating fluid top is very smooth, and gives you an option to pan with subjects using video or even shooting stills.  The only trick is they have to be moving level and in a straight line relative to the tripod or they will go out of the frame.

Share this:

On the road right now working on an advertising assignment.  I was just in San Diego shooting some surfers and had a chance to do a quick portrait with Josh, a friend and great local surfer.

Since I was working on a tight schedule, I used one soft light using an Elinchrom Quadra and a 53″ octabank.  A great trick to mix up lighting in your images is rather than keep changing the position of the light, try shooting a full 360 around your subject with your light stationary.  This means you will be using front lighting, side lighting and back lighting depending on where you are shooting from relative to your light.  Some shots will work, others won’t, but you might be surprised at some of the results. Walking around your subject and light, both stationary, also forces you to shoot outside the box.  Staying creative and developing your style and technique comes with lots of experimentation and failure.  But the times everything does work gives you a new technique to use down the road on future shoots.

Tech: Nikon D300s, 24-70mm, 1/160 at F6.3, ISO100.  Elinchrom Quadra and 53″ Octabank used for the lighting, triggered by Elinchrom Skyports.

Share this:

In the Dominican Republic right now teaching a workshop for Photo Quest Adventures. We have been exploring Santo Domingo and the coastline, beautiful scenery and friendly people.

One new piece of software I have really been having fun with is Nik HDR Efex Pro.  Unlike other HDR software, this plugin shows you versions of how your image will look after the effect, and you still have lots of control to further adjust the look once you choose the effect.  No more guessing on sliders and amounts, just choose the category such as ‘realistic’ or ‘surreal’, then choose the effect in this category. The software will do the traditional method of merging bracketed exposures together to get detail in a high contrast scene, and it also works well with a single image for more creative looks.  The image above was a single shot processed using Efex Pro.

Share this:

I’m headed home from two weeks in New Zealand, a beautiful country with very friendly people. The south island offers much for the landscape shooter, both ocean and big mountain scenes.

We spent one afternoon photographing the rainforest near Fox Glacier. The challenge in any rainforest is the busy background that often distracts the viewer from your subject.  There are many ways to fix a busy background, from moving your camera position to using a shallow depth of field. Another option is using off camera flash and making the ambient light very dark to eliminate the background.  I found a nice plant with cluttered branches and grass behind it, so I used flash to eliminate the problem.  With my ISO set 200,  I went to manual mode in my camera and set my shutter speed to 1/100 with an aperture of f5.3.  These settings gave me a dark underexposed image and enough depth of field to get the plant sharp.  The next step was adding flash.  I used one SB900 off camera triggered by a SU800 commander.  Since the leaves were translucent, I angled my flash to backlight the plant to get a nice effect.

We took a spectacular boat ride through Milford Sound.  This coastal area has penguins, glaciated peaks and massive waterfalls to photograph.  I decided to use my 45mm tilt shift lens to photograph many of the falls.  This out of focus look adds an almost miniature look to this landscape.

Share this:

I’m headed to New Zealand tomorrow to teach a workshop with Photo Quest Adventures.  As with every big trip the challenge of packing all that photo gear becomes an issue.  If I am going on a backcountry assignment or in very remote areas, I bring more luggage to deal with packing and waterproofing my photo equipment (for a future post).  But for hotel based trips,  I have a pretty good system down.

I use two different sizes of the Lowepro Pro Rollers to pack my gear for the airplane.  If I am carrying my Elinchrom Quadras for lighting, I use the Pro Roller x200.  If I am using speedlights, then I use the x100.  Both these bags fit into overheads on normal sized jets.

For New Zealand my flight begins with a small commuter jet with tiny overheads, so I know I will have to gate check my bag.  I have gate checked my Pro Roller numerous time and never have had a problem.  The hard sides keep gear protected, more so than if I gate checked my photo backpack.  My laptop is in a separate shoulder bag, and my tripod is in my checked luggage.

Here is what I am bringing:

1 D3, 1 D300s, P7000, 14-24mm, 24-70mm, 45mm PC-E, 70-200mm, 1.4x converter, 1 SB900, 1 SU800, Singh-Ray polarizer, graduated ND, Vari-ND filters and  140 gigs of Sandisk flash cards.  This all fits in my x100 Pro Roller.  I also have a Lastolite Trigrip diffuser in my suitcase.

One great feature about the Pro Rollers is the softcase comes out of the hard shell, and carries like a backpack.  This works great cruising around towns or on easy hikes.  Since we are climbing on glaciers and on more rugged terrain, I put a Lowepro Flipside 400 backpack in my suitcase to use for hiking.  I am bringing one suitcase around 45 pounds which has my clothes plus tripod, Flipside 400 and diffuser.  To keep my suitcase weight down I wear mainly nylon clothes and lightweight synthetic jackets, similar to what I would wear on a backcountry trip.  Keeping pack weight down in the backcountry applies to keeping suitcase weight down with normal travel.

Flash cards have come way down in price in the last year, so I carry more cards than ever.  For this trip I will never reformat my cards since I think 140 gigs is plenty of space. They will be one source of my backed up images.  I will also backup images on my laptop and use a portable viewer/drive like the Epson P7000. How many places to back up images is a personal choice, but I like to have my images in at least two different places.

Off to New Zealand!

Share this:

I have never been one to carry a camera everywhere I go.  It is just to big, and I worry about someone walking off with my expensive camera (which happened this summer).  Yes, I miss some great shots.  Point and shoots haven’t interested me because the file quality and controls were limited. Not anymore, enter the  Nikon P7000.  This little camera has a fantastic 10.1MP file.  It has most of the shooting controls I use with a full size DSLR.  And best yet, you can use the SU800 and shoot flashes off camera. The P7000 fits in my pocket like a wallet, so I will have this camera with me most of the time. The image above was taken with the P7000.

Share this: