Makoto Shinkai’s 空の記憶

I recently went and bought a Chinese artbook from a Comics Connection outlet, newly opened in City Square Mall in Serangoon. CC is currently having a promotion on their artbooks: 30% off all artbooks in all outlets.

Sora no Kioku (Chinese), S$23.70

It’s all in Chinese, which is good for me, since I can actually understand what’s being written in the book now. It’s good reference for drawing landscapes, and teaches several techniques the master himself uses in his work.

Photography on the Cheap, no. 1

This series is different from my Photography on Cheap Lighting series, and is mostly dealing with ways to simulate camera accessories without buying the incredibly expensive real deals.

Today I’ll be elaborating on the wired remote.

As everyone knows, the Canon EOS series has a wired remote that costs a bomb to get. It’s really expensive for just a bit of wire and plastic. Here’s a (cheap looking) alternative that cost me S$2.60.

First, you need a 3.5mm stereo jack (male on both ends) and a 3.5-2.5mm converter.

3.5mm double-male stereo jack, 3.5-2.5mm converter (S$2.60)

I only bought the 3.5-2.5mm converter, as I already had the double-male sitting in one of my drawers. You also need a short length of wire; any wire will do, as long as the contacts are exposed. If you need to get the 3.5mm, Daiso sells them for S$2 apiece.

At the side of your DSLR (only the EOS 1000D up to EOS 50D, the higher ones have different jacks) plug in the 2.5mm converter and the 3.5mm wire.

Now, this isn’t a pretty solution like all the DIY remotes out there, but for sheer laziness and speed, this will get the job done.

Take the short length of wire and touch one end to the base of the jack. The middle portion of the jack connected to the base will autofocus, and the base to the top will activate the shutter.

Remote shutter release

I fitted the loose end of my 3.5mm jack with a 6.3mm converter (I also had this lying around) for easier release and holding. The larger jack allows an easier release.

The picture above was taken with the “remote”.

While this is a very (very) efficient temporary solution, it is always a better idea to build your own DIY remote, as standing in the middle of somewhere with a jack and a wire pressed across it is a sure way to earn you disdainful glances from others in the know. Doing a BULB release with this is also rather boring.

Photography on Cheap Lighting, No. 1

Previously I posted on some materials I needed to get to set up a small portable studio that I could use for figure photography, etc. I recently tested it out with some materials lying around my house. Below is the setup I came up with:

Lighting Setup

As can be seen, my lighting is still woefully inadequate. The light used is a modified IKEA no-frills ceiling lamp holder, outfitted with a three-pin plug for wall socket use. It was intended as a lightbox table alternative, and is still used as such, but it is a very versatile piece of equipment. The bulb is a Philips 27W energy-saving bulb. The black tube is just a normal cardboard tube, covered on the inside with rolled-up white paper. It used to hold two SCANIA glasses, but after the tube lost its use I took it in the event it might see use someday.

The tripod is a telescope holder, taken from a small telescope my uncle gave to me. They used to sell them in Carrefour many years ago for around S$50.

The table you see holding the actual setup is the lightbox table in question: A S$22 bedside table from IKEA, which comes with a sturdy glass top.

The simulated reflector is a semi-translucent box cover from IKEA as well. They don’t seem to sell it anymore, but the closest would be the SNALIS box lid.

SNALIS lid, 60x40cm, S$3.00

Here is a shot taken with the setup:

Hatsune Miku, single light source, reflector

As you can tell, the light is still woefully inadequate. However, it does provide some rather nice pictures:

Lamborghini Diablo VT, by Bburago, same lighting setup

It gives a very mysterious feel when the light is arranged correctly. Single light setups are best used with a black background, because the lack of lighting can be used to greater effect.

All pictures taken with a Canon EOS 450D with a Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens.

Setting Up a Mini Home Studio

I’ve been going around doing some research into lighting recently, seeing as how I’ve bought an EOS 450D and as of yet have not done any proper photoshoots with them. I came across Happy Soda’s blogpost on cheap lighting in a small-scale studio, and that spurred me to go and do some proper research on the cost of the material that goes into this studio setting.

The Tertial N worklamp from Ikea, S$14.90 without the lightbulbs.

The Tertial N worklamp is a cheap light, which is pretty much a steal for something with as much versatility as it does. The top will probably get really hot, but that isn’t much of a problem where I’m coming from.

For the lights, it is most probable that two bulbs will have to be bought: a relatively high-power 6000k lamp to simulate daylight, and another 6000k lamp at half that power. This will provide a very efficient dual-light setup, which is adequate for most settings.

A snoot, diffuser or barn-door can be easily constructed from spare materials, e.g. cardboard boxes or black card, which I can easily find lying around the art studio in school. For the diffuser, I am intending to scrounge a leftover copy paper box from the local school photocopying shop, the lid of which is coincidentally just the right size to build a diffuser that does not take up too much space and stands up on its own.

Another option that Happy Soda brought up is the DIODER multi-use lighting system, which is a small light that functions rather well as a spot when accompanied with a snoot.

DIODER multi-use lighting, S$79.99

These lights burn cool (they use LEDs), which is very good for prolonged studio sessions where the normal worklamps could get very hot. The effects that these produce on a black background is also rather interesting: I would like to do more exploration on it.

Besides figure photography (I intend to borrow some figurines, they’re not new but I’ll post on them once I take some pictures) I believe this setup will be very efficient in, say, food photography. Carrying worklamps around may not be the easiest of things but I do have more confidence in a prop-light setting than a strobist setup.

However, I still need a strobe: For this, I am intending to purchase another Nissin Di622 to replace the one I had lost.

Nissin Di622 flashgun - S$127 up to S$250

The Di622 has the same flash power and rotation capabilities of the Canon Speedlite 580EX, but without all the bells and whistles that come with the latter. A very down-to-earth flash.

I also intend to purchase a wireless transmitter and reciever for the flash – an extra S$70. A filter system on top of that would be adding another S$78.

Of course, all these are for later. For now, I’ll be making a trip down to Ikea.