One Year Closer to the Big "50" - DPChallenge Forums

Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED VR

01/29/2012 02:09:13 PM · #1

Yes, it's official...I'm one year closer to the big "50" today so I better squeeze as much life out of my 40's as I can this year. LOL.

Anyway, I got a few inexpensive items for my birthday that I've wanted to have and play around with for quite some time.

I already had a light stand and reflector, but never had an umbrella or umbrella adapter where I could mount my 580EX II and play with light for portraits or other things such as still life or product shots. Now I do. :)

I also got some Cokin flash gels so I can balance flash temp with ambient light or for creative use. So, I'm looking forward to some fun shots and playing around with it all.

Any suggestions of some good techniques, books, websites etc. on what you can do creatively with one flash with our without gels, one 32" 5 in 1 reflector and a shoot thru umbrella? Yes, I know about strobist.com etc, but looking for more ideas as well. Anything would be appreciated including links to good photos and how they were lit. Time for some fun! :)

Here is what I got...

Umbrella

Cokin Flash Gels

Umbrella/Flash Adapter

Dave

Message edited by author 2012-01-29 14:19:32.

littlemav

Nikon D90

01/29/2012 02:17:33 PM · #2

Got some suggestions on stocking your house for the big 50:
arthritis pain pills, Icy hot patches, depends, ebsome salts, lots of bandages, a note pad on the fridge so you can write as soon as you think of something you need to do or get, a lumbar support for your chair, gas-x, warm slippers (non skid only), a clapper so you don't have to trip over stuff to turn on the light when you make the 100 trips to the bathroom at night.

Well much more but I forgot to write it on my note pad attached to the fridge....

Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS

01/29/2012 02:23:52 PM · #3

Originally posted by littlemav:

LMAO! Katie you have me cracking up. Those are ALL great suggestions. LOL. Hopefully I won't need the depends anytime soon though, but the rest is starting to sound like real necessities. :)

Dave

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

01/29/2012 02:29:07 PM · #4

Hey Dave, look at it this way, at least it's still getting closer... sure beats either of the alternatives:
- It quits getting closer (!)
- It's getting farther away again (sigh)

Kelli

Canon EOS-D60

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

01/29/2012 02:33:57 PM · #5

Well, Happy Birthday Dave! Enjoy it while you can. ;D

01/29/2012 02:35:29 PM · #6

Originally posted by kirbic:

Hey Dave, look at it this way, at least it's still getting closer... sure beats either of the alternatives:
- It quits getting closer (!)
- It's getting farther away again (sigh)

Good points Fritz! LOL. Especially the first one...that would NOT be the better alternative. :)

Dave

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

01/29/2012 02:36:36 PM · #7

Originally posted by Kelli:

Well, Happy Birthday Dave! Enjoy it while you can. ;D

Why thank you Kelli. :) However, you're still a brat! LMAO!

Dave

Dr.Confuser

Nikon D800

01/29/2012 03:26:31 PM · #8

Originally posted by DCNUTTER:

Yes, it's official...I'm one year closer to the big "50" today so I better squeeze as much life out of my 40's as I can this year. LOL.

Here's a special happy birthday song for you!

Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED VR

01/29/2012 04:57:01 PM · #9

Originally posted by Dr.Confuser:

Originally posted by DCNUTTER:
Yes, it's official...I'm one year closer to the big "50" today so I better squeeze as much life out of my 40's as I can this year. LOL.

Here's a special happy birthday song for you!

Hah! Thanks Dr. :) I actually like TMBG as well. Hard to believe how fast time goes. Seems like just yesterday they formed, but it was like 30 years ago or close to it. LOL.

Dave

littlemav

Nikon D90

01/29/2012 06:16:28 PM · #10

OH oops Happy Birthday Dave

and I kinda drug your post off topic, I've got a few books but none really cover all your subjects and some are either too basic or WAYYY to advanced (at this time for me LOL) I've googled and u-tubed a lot on strobes and gels and found much better help than the books I have.

kawesttex

Apple iPhone 11 Pro

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

01/29/2012 06:38:08 PM · #11

Happy Birthday! Exiting the 40s isn't that bad, I'll let you know later this year what it's like to exit the 50s.

01/29/2012 07:00:32 PM · #12

Originally posted by littlemav:

Thanks Katie! :) I've learned a lot of great things by researching on Google and Bing as well as YouTube over the years. All great resources although I'm really annoyed with YouTube lately since they changed the layout and took the "X" away from the videos so I could delete the videos that don't interest me from my subscriptions. In fact when I watch the whole video it stays on my stream until it's pushed down the page by new videos. SOOOOOO annoying that I swore I wouldn't use YouTube until they fixed it. Well, while I don't go on there nearly as much as I used to since it's ruining the experience I still catch the important videos I want to see.

Dave

01/29/2012 07:01:52 PM · #13

Originally posted by kawesttex:

Happy Birthday! Exiting the 40s isn't that bad, I'll let you know later this year what it's like to exit the 50s.

Thanks Ken. :) I'll be eagerly awaiting your report.... :)

Dave

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED

01/29/2012 08:26:38 PM · #14

Doesn't anybody have any advice or suggestions? Where are all the lighting and strobe/flash gurus?

Dave

tanguera

Nikon D750

01/30/2012 01:33:44 AM · #15

Happy b-day!!!! Get one of those memo recorders to tell what you're leaving the room for so that when you stop in the middle of the hall and can't remember where you were going, you'll know!!

As for suggestions for your lighting set-up, you have a really nice starter kit. I suggest just playing with it so that you get a feel for what one light can do. I have yet to go on any website, anywhere, that will give me ideas. I use it the other way around: I fool around, get something I like, then look it up to see how it can get better.