Archive for the ‘remote’ Category

UCI World MTB Championships….

Friday, September 18th, 2009

I spent the first weekend of September at Mount Stromlo, Canberra, covering the UCI World Mountain Bike Championships. I drove down with Murray on the Thursday afternoon to get the Accreditations, then we shot Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Last year at the World Cup we are both sick with various ailments, but this time we were good to go. Some great results. As usual, I overcomplicated things, while Murray kept it simple and clean.

I used flash for most of the weekend using the PocketWizard ETTL flash system. My aim was to shoot backlit and to fill the subjects with flash. It worked ok, but even using 2 x 580EX flashes I lacked some punch against the sun. I was pushing it a little however, trying to shoot 1/1600th in high speed sync at f5.6. Generally I just pumped the flashes to full power and went from there.

Here’s the video of the weekend….it’s a bit big, so please be patient while it loads….

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I did try something interesting and that was to use a fish eye with the flash on the hot-shoe (at full power), but the flash head was zoomed to 50mm. This gave a tight center of light in the frame and as long as I kept the rider in that spot as they flew past, It looked great. With the fisheye you can use f5 and due to the lenses great hyperfocalqualities, everything was sharp.

Click HEREto see our results.

Don’t knock the 28-300….

Monday, August 17th, 2009

I shot the 2009 Go Natural Multisport yesterday, and for it’s versitility, I used my 28-300. On a day where I had to move quite a bit and carry a variety of set-ups, the 28-300 really excelled.

Image Courtesy of Canon.com.au

Image Courtesy of Canon.com.au


I needed to be able to shoot cyclist, Kayakers, and Runners with the smallest set up possible. This lens, and a fish eye, are all I used all day. Some people have been quite harsh on this lens for not being as sharp as others (70-200), but for it’s range and size it does a really great job, and I can’t fault the results. Would I use it for a studio magazine cover…..not likely, but I’m not shooting for that. I’m outdoors lugging my fat arse backpack up hills.

Even with a hot-shot or wireless flash the lens performed admirably. I’ll definitely use this lens again when shooting adventure races.

Manly Dam Remote Flash and Video Tests

Sunday, August 2nd, 2009

Today’s goals were to test some mountain bike set-ups and remote flash set-ups. I am hoping to put in a good display at the MTB world champs in September with both stills and video snippets.

VIDEO TESTS
The main test here was sound. I am using the JCV 3CCD HD camcorder because of its compact size, but the on board sound is none too crash hot. I’ve made a lead that goes from the 3.5mm stereo jack to 2 x XLR connectors. These are attached to RODE M3 9Volt Powered Microphones. I wanted external sound and to exaggerate the stereo affect by spacing the mics well apart.
The first example is with runners….



Then MTB’ers….the set-up is at the end of this one.

FLASH TESTS
I’ve still got quite a bit of work to do on this, but getting there. My main problem is the lighting and location. Full sun is not too good, full shade or heavily backlit are good, but you need to get a location of the course that has these conditions, and a descent spot.
The Dual flash is working well. Shot most of today at 1/1000 sec and f5.6. The PocketWizards work really well with the high speed sync. Hypersync is ok from 1/400 – 1/800, but over that it’s not all that good.


Heres a video of the last setup I tried….

Beam Cross Trigger – 9 Volt Longevity Test…

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009

Some time ago I changed my beam cross trigger to 9 Volt to make batteries easier to get. However, I had no idea how long the system would work on such a small battery. The 12 Volt system would run for days, but it’s not so easy to get 12 V batteries when you travel.

The test in the video was to see how many switches you would get from a 9 Volt battery. I had tested “static” life at 5 1/2 hours, but I didn’t know if triggering would have a bearing on the battery life…….seems not. Check the Video.

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I am guessing over 500,000 triggers will do fine. I hope to give the trigger a run at an event this weekend. We’ll see how it goes in the field.

Playing with fire…..

Saturday, April 25th, 2009

Yet another of the shots I’ve always wanted to do. A little cliche, but hey. It’s a part of my little elements project, this is, of course, fire.

This video will give you an idea of the setup used. Not all the secrets are here, like how to light the match, but that’s for you to work out!!

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