That black foamie thing ...

So I've always wondered what's the deal with that black foamie thingy, and how different is it really from just flash pointing up.

Being a real newb as far as flash is concerned, I spent some time figuring out how to setup the Nissin di466 (Micro Four Thirds mount) to pair with my X100s. I was finally able to make them work by:

(a) Setting up my X100s to fire the flash as a "master";
(b) Setting up my Nissin to the S2 mode;
(c) holding the Nissin in front of me where it can "receive" the fire flashed by the X100s.

As far as the black foamie thingy -- I bought a $0.99 8x11 piece of black foam in an arts and crafts store, and cut a roughly 4x6 piece and attached it to the flash head pointing up. When I fired the flash with the foam attachment, it is facing me as the Nissin does not have a swiveling head.

The results speak for themselves! (Images are all OOC, ISO 200, f/2.8)

Did I tell you about …

my new gear?  

I got myself a Panasonic G3 a few weeks ago. I know, I’ve grown up with Olympus. I have always preferred Olympus (and at this point, I still do), but the G3’s viewfinder + swivel screen + faster AF is worth the jump. I am still in the getting-to-know-you stage, and there haven’t been much chances really to go out there and shoot. Two jobs, two kids, a wife , a new house – life can really get to you!

Anyway, I brought it one day when the kids and I went to the playground. Since the RAW files were not yet recognized by LR then, I took the images as JPGs. Not being familiar with Panasonic colors, I thought starting out with Natural settings was the way to go. However, I made some Lightroom adjustments afterwards, and here are a few initial pics I took with the new toy. Lenses used include the kit lens, Oly 17mm and Panny 20mm.

(I do have a big problem with the image above. Part of the hair turned blue! Must be because it’s JPEG – maybe a JPEG artefact? I hope it is, and once I take a similar shot in RAW, I hope it will disappear!)

 

 

You can see a few more on my flickr page.

No pixel-peeper here, but I really like the images I am getting. I might stick with JPG for a while, and use RAW (not that LR update is available) only on tricky lighting situations. I love the swivel screen, so much so that I don’t use the EVF as much (which, ironically, was my primary reason to get the G3).

I haven’t used two bodies at the same time – I am thinking that might raise some eyebrows among my family and friends – but I think I will, one of these days. Panny 20mm on the G3, the Oly 45mm 9which I have yet to buy) on the E-PL1. And I’ll be in gear heaven.

New toy!

No, not the pre-ordered G3 (I wish!), but discovered something new to do with Photoshop. This might take a lot of my time in the next few days.