FxF Blog

Maxed Out Macbook Pro 15" Non-Unibody

2011-06-02T13:08:00.000-04:00

With my Macbook Pro's third birthday quickly approaching, (which in computer years, makes it old enough for retirement) I have finally upgraded her to the max.

Here's a rundown of what I've upgraded:
6GB RAM (4GB + 2GB modules)
OCZ 60GB SSD
&
Hitachi 500GB 7200RPM HD

Optical drive on the left, and OptiBay on the right.

I swapped out the optical drive in my laptop in lieu of a second internal drive, with this fantastic kit by MCE. I've taken apart my laptop four or five times now, but these step-by-step guides by iFixit are a great resource.

I divided my 500GB drive into two partitions. The first is a 60GB partition dedicated to Time Machine to act as my system backup. The second partition is a 440 GB storage disk, where I can store my media and larger files.

Okay, so I didn't really upgrade all that much, but it's a laptop.

I still like this old machine, for a variety of reasons (although those reasons will soon diminish once the Thunderbolt hardware starts to hit the shelves). The primary perk of my 15" Non-Unibody Macbook Pro is the extremely useful ExpressCard slot on the side. With it, I can add two eSata ports, or connect SxS cards directly into my laptop, both of which are very useful for on-set data management.

Leica Disto D210XT Review

2011-03-21T01:30:00.005-04:00

This is a slightly revised review that I wrote on Amazon for the Leica Disto D210XT Laser Rangefinder.

Leica Disto 210X in hand.

I bought the Leica Disto D210XT as a quick and easy way to measure distances for pulling focus, so this review is focused on that kind of functionality. I don't need to measure the volume of a room, or any of the advanced functions that this device offers. This isn't the cheapest laser rangefinder on the market, nor is it the most expensive. It's in the happy middle ground. The functionality is very similar to the Leica Disto D2, however the D210XT is dust and waterproof according to IP65 standards. You can literally put the unit under running water to clean it. The Disto D210XT also comes with a 3 year warranty. I chose the D210XT over the D2 and other cheaper rangefinders because in the long run, the price difference becomes minimal, and the ruggedness of the D210XT offers more peace of mind.

Carrying case is included, playing cards are not.

It's small! Actually just about the perfect size for a hand-held device. Any smaller and it would be hard to hold. It is just the right weight to feel like a solid piece of equipment, not a toy. The unit takes 2x AAA batteries. Awesome. I hate electronic gadgets that take expensive or difficult to find batteries. (I'm looking at you, Streamlight Scorpion)

I use the eneloop rechargeables, which lasted a full week of heavy use on a feature. Leica rates it at 5000 measurements per set of batteries. The "On/Measure" button has a raised dimple, which makes it easy to find. The rubber grip sticks to your hand, but the rubber also sticks in the included holster, which makes the unit slightly difficult to remove.

The Quickstart guide fits nicely in the belt holster's hidden front pocket.

Speaking of the holster... One day I thought I had lost my Disto, but it turns out the unit fell off my belt. I had no idea how this happened until I looked at the back of the holster and realized that the belt loop has a velcro release! Not the greatest design for a $200 tool. I'd rather it be a solid loop.

The screen displays the past 4 measurements, which is handy for when I need to take several measurements. I can take multiple measurements, then use the screen as a reference while I mark my focus wheel. This is a nice feature that is lacking on cheaper rangefinders.

Accurate at 7".

When you turn on the unit, the laser is automatically on. Press the On button again to take your first measurement. You can turn the illumination and beep on or off, and it will recall those settings when you cycle the power. The illuminated screen makes this device perfectly usable in the dark.

You can change from what point the device measures, either from the front or the back of the device. The default is the back of the device. But unlike beep and illumination preferences, as soon as you turn the device off, it reverts to measuring from the back.

One neat feature that I've used a few times is the Min/Max mode, achieved by holding the "On/Measure" button for two seconds. This mode gives you a real-time distance readout, and displays the minimum and maximum distances measured on the LCD.

Min and Max distances displayed on top and the current distance is on bottom.

There are a few missing features. ~~It's Imperial Units only, there isn't a way to view distances in meters. If you need meters, check out the Leica Disto DXT.~~ It does have meters! (and a few other modes too). Hold the "Historical Memory/Units" key down to cycle between 6 modes:

0.000 meters
0'0'' 1/8
0 in 1/8
0'0'' 1/16
0 in 1/16
0.00 ft

There isn't a tripod mount, which is a bummer. And the laser is nearly impossible to see if you're filming in bright sunlight. A feature that some (more expensive) rangefinders have is a viewfinder that allows you to view where the laser is pointing, even in sunlight. However, I did see a clever hack that used a compact monocular taped onto the side to offer similar functionality.

Despite a few minor shortcomings, I have found the Leica Disto D210XT to be invaluable, especially on shoots where we are moving at a blistering pace and a director who insists on shooting the rehearsal. Being able to gather multiple measurements quickly and accurately makes this gadget a fantastic companion for any camera assistant.

Manufacturer's Website

If you found this review helpful, help me out by clicking on the Amazon link below!

Rebuilding a Jacobson, The Final Steps

2011-03-04T01:47:00.012-05:00

I have become fairly efficient at building sound blimps, but I had never refurbished a Jacobson before.

There were several main factors that needed to be fixed. The first glaring problem was that the foam had deteriorated. It would crumble in my hands. So that needed to be removed and replaced. The next step was to bring the shutter release up to date. Then finally, installing some new foam.

Step 1. Remove the nasty foam...


Cleaning Supplies.

After removing all the foam, there was still some pretty nasty glue residue that you can see in the first picture. I have used lighter fluid in the past as a solvent. A combination of that, Kimwipes, a utility knife, and lots of elbow grease got rid of the leftover residue.

The original button. Shutter release only.

Not only was it a 3-pin adapter instead of the 10-pin needed for the Nikon D300, but this Jacobson was build before the days of autofocus. That means there was only one button, the shutter release, but no button for autofocus. The one button was on the back of the blimp, and we wanted to put the second release on the front. I ordered a small switch from mcmaster.com (which is a great website full of DIY goodies), and a D300 shutter release from Amazon. Really all I needed from the shutter release was the D300 pin adapter. I stripped the wires of the D300 pin adapter and soldered them to the two buttons on the Jacobson. Hold one for autofocus, and tap them both to shoot.

The new button, all wired up.

Second button installed to enable autofocus.

New foam

Finally, I bought 1/2" skinned foam with an adhesive back from McMaster-Carr. It was then a matter of cutting the new sound dampening foam. I am so happy with this foam, that I bought a bunch of it and I'm using it for my Pelican blimps as an upgrade from the stock foam that comes with the Pelican cases. It's a much denser foam, and the skin coating helps keep unwanted dirt and particles out.

So there you have it, a refurbished Jacobson. It was a fun project, but in the end, this blimp is still limited because of the old design. As you can see from the above picture, the hinge is on the front, not the back (like my Pelican Blimp), which makes it difficult to take the camera out to look at pictures, or change the camera settings. Oh well, it is still a Jacobson!

Rebuilding a Jacobson

2011-01-12T13:08:00.000-05:00

Jacobson Precision Instruments

I am in the process of rebuilding an old Jacobson sound blimp. The foam was falling apart, and it needs to be rewired to work with a new Nikon. This blimp was also built before autofocus, so I need to add a second button for autofocus. I'll post some more progress photos here soon.

Step 1. Remove foam

Two Apps That Speed Things Up

2010-09-27T21:27:00.000-04:00

These are two programs that make operating my computer faster and more convenient. And as an on-set data manager, speed is key. These apps won't increase your I/O speed, but they will decrease mouse usage, and de-clutter your screen.

Quicksilver
Quicksilver grants you access to any program or file located on your system using a single global shortcut (I like Ctrl+Space). Like Google Instant, Quicksilver will predict what you want before you finish typing. It will learn based on past commands that "Pho" means you want to open "Photoshop" and not "iPhoto," making Quicksilver faster the more you use it. Plus, with Plug-Ins, you can control iTunes, add file keywords, send email, and a whole bunch more.

Bottom Line:
Stop hunting down applications and folders with your mouse. Use Quicksilver to cut to the chase. Download it now for free.

TotalFinder is Tab-o-licious

TotalFinder
This app brings Chrome-like tabs in Finder. Tabs make dealing with lots of folders and hard drives a little less cluttered, saving screen real estate for other programs. But beyond Tabs, this app has a lot of other neat features. Like a global shortcut, sorting folders on top, and not saving those pesky .DS_STORE files on your network.

Bottom Line:
Tabs should already be a feature in OS X, but until then, this app does the trick. Try it for 14 days, then buy it for $15.

If you're using a different app to streamline your computing habits, drop it in the comments!

RMD Sync

2010-08-29T13:46:00.008-04:00

UPDATE* The latest version of R3D Data Manager has included an option to Sync RMD files from within R3D Data Manager. Nice and simple.

Let me preface this by saying this script should be used at your own risk! Test this on your own to make sure it will work for you. I'm not responsible for lost data.

Modifying an R3D file's attributes with REDCINE-X creates a small metadata file that reflects the settings you have changed. However, this file is only stored to your working folder, not to any of your backup locations.

This Automator script alleviates the tedious task of synchronizing all those RMD files to different backup locations. (It will also copy RSX files, if you are using those)

Download RMD Sync

RMD Sync in action.

RMD Sync
Here's a breakdown of what will happen when you run the program.

1. "Select the source and target folder" It's not necessary to select the .RMD folder, you can sync from the top-most folder, just make sure you select the same spot in the folder hierarchy for both the source and target. (I would recommend modifying the "Ask for Finder Items: Start at Folder" command to start at the location you regularly work from.)

2. Confirm that these are the correct folders.

3. The rsync Shell Script copies any rsx and rmd files from the source folder to the target folder. rsync is a UNIX command that uses MD4 checksums to ensure exact copies. Complete documentation for rsync can be found here.

4. A text file is generated at the target directory with results of the transfer. This file is displayed once RMD_Sync has finished.

At the moment it will only copy to one location at a time. If you have two or more backup locations, you'll have to run the script multiple times. If you make adjustments to any of the RMD files after you've run RMD_Sync, simply run the program again to sync the changes.

That's it! I hope someone else besides me finds this useful in their workflow.

Killing Time Machine

2010-08-21T10:41:00.000-04:00

The nature of on-set data management means you are constantly reformatting and mounting drives. Each time a drive is reformatted, Mac OS X Snow Leopard doesn't have a record of that drive, and thinks the it is "new." This initiates a dialog box, asking if you want to use the drive for Time Machine. Once or twice, and this is just an annoyance, but after formatting fourteen drives/day, six days a week, for five weeks.... you kind of want to build a real time machine so you can get all those wasted minutes of your life back. Seriously, those seconds add up.

Turning Time Machine OFF in the System Preferences isn't enough. This dialog box will keep popping up. In order to truly kill Time Machine you must use Terminal.

You get extra points if you open Terminal with Quicksilver.

Open Terminal, and type:
defaults write com.apple.TimeMachine DoNotOfferNewDisksForBackup -bool YES

press Enter.

Ta da! No more nagging questions from Time Machine!

via Mac OS X Hints

R3D QT Workflow

2010-08-17T08:21:00.004-04:00

Part of my on-set data management workflow includes visually scrubbing through every take. I will playback 10 seconds or so to ensure the pictures match, and the timecode was synced. I'll scrub through everything forwards, then backwards, and do it on two separate copies. I don't have a RED Rocket card, so the most effective way is to back the QT Wrappers.

It is really tedious to open 20+ quicktime files at once. And it doesn't help that the QT Wrapper files are 3 folders deep. It's like an old Street Fighter code. Right, Down Down Down Down, Cmd + O, Cmd + Tab, left, down, right, repeat that 10 times and you've opened the whole reel. This becomes rediculous when opening hundreds of these files.

I mean, just look at all these folders!

But in comes Automator. With Automator, I can open all of the clips in a target folder at once! No more fancy fingerwork necessary! You can download my script, or you can build it yourself and tailor it to fit your specific needs.

Download R3D Proxy Script

The Automator icon even looks like a boss.
I think he's holding a rocket launcher.

To start, open Automator, and created a new Application.

Step 1. “Ask for Finder Items”Start at: “DAY ##”
This I set up at the beginning of each day to direct to the day's folder.Type: Files and Folders

Step 2. "Get Folder Contents"Check the box "Repeat for each subfolder found."
This step collects all the files within the specific folder (and subfolders).

Step 3. Filter Folder Items
Self-explanatory, but this allows you create rules limiting which files we will eventually open. The first rule is: "File extension>contains>mov" This filters out the txt file checksums created by R3D Data Manager. The second rule is:"Name>contains>_P", or "Name>contains>_M" depending on whether I want to open the Proxy or Medium.

Step 4. Sort Finder ItemsSort by NAME in DESCENDING order
Before opening the files, I sort them in descending order, so that when they are all open it starts with C001, and goes up. That way I can watch everything in sequential order.

Step 5. Open Finder ItemsOpen with: Quicktime 7
I prefer opening everything in legacy Quicktime 7 because it does a better job of scrubbing through the files, and I can view the timecode.

Step 6. (outside of Automator) Drag Shortcut to Dock
This makes everything that much faster. I have two icons in my dock. One opens the _M size of my primary copy, and the second opens the _P of my Shuttle drive. This saves me one more step and streamlines things just a little bit more. When it's time to view the proxies, I just click on the dock icons to run the scripts!

The finished script.

With a RED Rocket card, you can playback the full quality R3D files using RedCine-X without blinking an eye. However, I still like the simplicity of Quicktime Player and this script. It allows me to cycle through a lot of material very quickly. RedCine-X is still *very* buggy and viewing 20 clips in RedCine-X involves a lot of precision mouse movement. RedCine-X crashes frequently, and it doesn't do a great job of saving your workspace layout.

My workflow is still in development. Maybe someone else out there is doing this in a completely different way, and they're looking at this and thinking, "what is this guy thinking?" But that's the exciting thing about this position right now. The description of the "Data Manager" isn't one that is written in stone. There isn't one specific workflow that everyone uses. I think there's a lot more work that the "data manager" can do on set to make editors jobs a lot easier. Instead of just dumping footage, we can create rich metadata that will trickle through the post-production process and act as another checkpoint of QC.

As soon as The Foundry's Storm hits, I'm sure my workflow will change drastically. Seriously, Storm looks awesome. Not to mention when the Scarlet and Epic finally hit the streets. Supposedly they will have a lot more metadata embedded already, which would be awesome. I'm having some great discussions with a few editors and other data managers, and the conversations we are having are running parallel with what Storm is promising to deliver, easy previewing/color correction of RED files, embedded metadata, etc... But until all these new toys arrive, Automator is helping speed up my workflow, and it isn't costing me a dime.

**UPDATE**
Clipfinder looks like a fantastic way to review and create metadata with r3d files. I just downloaded the free version 2.2 and it appears to be everything I've been dreaming about for the past few weeks. I've just started digging around into the settings and tools it has to offer. It has some powerful export settings as well, and version 2.5 has Rocket support. I will stick to my automator workflow for the moment, but if the editor and data manager are on the same page, Clipfinder could be a powerful tool to create metadata on-set.

Sound Blimp Shutter Release

2010-08-10T09:49:00.000-04:00

A modification I did to the shutter release that makes the blimp even quieter. The JJC shutter release is cheap, but rather noisy. You can take the shutter release apart and get rid of the plastic housing to make your Pelican blimp even more silent.

Sound Blimp Settings

2010-07-27T12:53:00.002-04:00

Whether you're using a Jacobson, or homemade Pelican, sound blimps are cumbersome. The only control you have outside the blimp is focus and shutter. You can make a few modifications to the blimp to make things easier on yourself. It is important to make sure your camera settings are ideal for this type of shooting before you lock up your camera. While it's not difficult to open the box and rotate a few dials, there are a few ways to do it less often. Here are the settings I use to make my life a little easier and ensure that I don't have to open the blimp nearly as often.

Set up a "Custom Setting Bank" and a "Shooting Menu Bank"
With the Nikon D300, you can save all the button settings under a Custom Settings Bank. This is super handy because my settings in the blimp are different than what I regularly use. Also set up a custom "Shooting menu bank." There are some settings in here that also help with shooting in a blimp. Having these banks saved makes it easy to switch between my "Regular Mode" and "Blimp Mode." So before you get started, switch to an unused bank and name it appropriately.

Custom Setting Menu
Here are the settings I have modified. (Nikon tip: Settings that are not set as their default have an asterisk next to them)
a1 - AF-C priority selection>Release - Allows you to shoot an image if it's not in focus. Personal preference, but I like that option.
a3 - Dynamic AF area>3D 51 points - Gotta love 3D!
a6 - AF Point Illumination>ON - Good to just keep this on. I like being able to see the AF point. It also helps if you're used to the comforting "beep" to tell you when you're in focus. It lights up when it's focused.
a9 - Built-in AF-assist illuminator>OFF - This will do you no good in a blimp.
c2 - Auto meter-off delay>16s - Nice to give yourself a few more seconds with the meter. Good for judging the exposure.
d1 - Beep>OFF - Why add unnecessary sound to your blimp? This is dumb, and it should be off already.
d2 - Viewfinder grid display>ON - Personal preference really, but I like the lines.
d4 - CL mode shooting speed>4fps - You don't need huge bursts when shooting in the blimp. Shoot like a trained hunter. You're not shooting the Olympics here. Or maybe you are. In which case, do what you want.
f1 - Multi selector center button>Playback mode View Histograms - Again, personal preference, but it's nice to check the exposure. Sometimes it's tough to judge the exposure in broad daylight. Sometimes this is faster than finding shade.
f7 - Reverse rotation>OFF
Change main/sub>ON
Aperture setting>ON
Menus and playback>ON
Changing the main/sub allows you to adjust the aperture or shutter with the rear thumbwheel, which is handy because the front wheel is difficult to reach when the camera is blimpified.

Shooting Menu:
Again, be sure to set up a settings "bank" to store all these settings in. Makes life easier.
File Naming - Set this up to be a 3 character nomenclature for the project you're shooting. Helps keep files sorted.
ISO Sensitivity settings - This setting makes all the difference when shooting in a blimp. It will save you from tons of missed opportunities and blurry pictures.
ISO sensitivity auto control>ON
Maximum Sensitivity>3200 ISO
Minimum shutter speed>1/125 OR at least the reciprocal of the lens' focal length.

Body Settings

Continuous Low - This lets me fire a burst if I want.

AF-C - Allows me to track people

Matrix Meter Mode - This may or may not be the best setting. But that's what I use.

Exposure Compensation - A lot of times film is shot with a lot more contrast than the D300 can handle. So depending on the scene, I'll dial in some negative exposure comp to preserve the highlights. The D300 shoots a little hot for my tastes, so I also almost always shoot with -1/3 anyway, but I've shot some scenes dialed down a full stop. It all depends on the conditions.

Dynamic AF - It's not the dumb square, it's the one with four dots and a tiny square in the middle. Coupled with AF-C, it will lock on and track objects. Super cool!

Shooting Indoors
If I'm inside, I set my shooting mode to Shutter Priority. Then I set my Auto-ISO minimum shutter speed, and my camera shutter speed to at least the reciprocal of the lens' focal length. The beauty of this combination is now your shutter speed will never drop below the minimum you set! When shooting in varying low-light conditions, this is perfect. Instead of the exposure bottoming out when the maximum aperture is reached, it will start cranking the ISO! Your images will stay sharp because your shutter speed never slows, and your images will stay bright because of Auto-ISO.

Shooting Outdoors
If I'm outside, things are different. Unless it's an overcast day, I have plenty of light to work with. For this reason, I will shoot in Aperture Priority. Keep Auto-ISO on, because it won't really hurt anything. This can cover you in case a cloud passes over unexpectedly, or you move locations quickly and don't have time (or forget!) to change your settings. Outdoors, I probably want some shallow DOF, so I'll set my aperture to the desired setting and forget about it. Outdoors I don't have to worry about a slow shutter, but in case the conditions change, it's covered by Auto-ISO.

General Shooting Tips
Set the focus point off center. It makes for more unique pictures. You should be doing this anyway. The nice thing is that with AF-C and 3D tracking, you can recompose your shot and keep the subject in focus.

Shoot Upside down if you have to. When using an off-center focus point and the subject is on the opposite side, just flip the blimp upside down to get your shot. I've done this a few times, they'll flop an action or something, and instead of having to reach into my blimp and fiddle, I can flip the box and keep shooting.

Get rid of UV Filters. When shooting on set you're around a lot of open lights. These filters just add another piece flair, and no one likes flair.

Use Prime Lenses. Low light shooting requires some speedy glass. It's not uncommon for the DP to be shooting at a T1.3! Phew! That's super speedy! You've gotta keep up, AND stop the action. (Note: T/stops are different than F/Stops.)

Stop the action. Motion picture cameras record at a shutter speed of 1/48. Filmmakers love the blur it gives. But blur doesn't look that great on a publicity still. As the stills photographer, it's part of your job to shoot what the camera is, but while stopping the action.

Use the Info button. This is kind of specific to the D300, but it applies to any camera with a top screen. Whenever I have to open the case and change a setting, I use the Info button on my D300 to view my settings on the rear LCD. That way I'm not taking the camera out of the case to see the top LCD whenever I have to change the exposure. It makes changing settings much easier.

Close one latch. I only close one latch on my blimp. One latch means I can open and close it one-handed in half the time! As far as impacting the sound reduction, I haven't noticed a change. Pelican cases have a rubber gasket around the outer edge, and so long as it's flush, the sound proofing works. When I'm shooting I'll give the blimp a slight squeeze anyway, ensuring that the blimp is sealed. If I know I don't need to open the blimp for awhile, I'll shut both, but one latch works great.

That about does it for my advice. Remember, shooting blimp-style is a whole 'nother ball game, and it will take awhile to get used to. Don't give up! I promise it gets easier.

If you have been shooting with a blimp and have some words of wisdom, leave them in the comments!

Sound Blimp Latch Mod

2010-07-24T00:09:00.000-04:00

The latches on the Pelican 1150 make an awfully loud snap when you shut the case. Usually it is nice to hear a solid snap and know that the box is closed and secure. But when it comes to a sound blimp, quieter is better. This mod takes less time than an episode of Futurama, and after you're finished, opening and closing the blimp is (almost) completely silent.

I used my trusty Dremel 300 to grind down the plastic, but you can use sandpaper, or anything else that can cut plastic. However, be careful not to file down the latch too much, you still want the latch to hold fast, just do it in a quieter manner. My method was simply trial and error, I would grind a tiny bit off, then close the latch, and repeat, until it was satisfactorily quiet.

Sound Blimp Camera Strap Mod

2010-07-16T15:38:00.000-04:00

This modification allows you to easily take the camera strap off for use with a Jacobson, or Pelican Sound Blimp.

A few thoughts on camera straps:

A few years back I decided to get one of those "Quick Release" camera straps. I got one made out of neoprene. The neoprene turned out to be a terrible idea. In the store, I thought, "Gee, this feels comfortable." But when I got it home and attached to my camera, I immediately discovered that while walking around, the neoprene strap makes the camera bounce up and down with my step. It's like a spring, and instead of my camera being glued to my body, it would swing around with a mind of it's own.

The "Quick Release" buckles tend to easily come undone. If you bump the plastic buckle against anything, *poof!* there goes your camera. And at least for me, the buckle was in the perfect spot to get bumped against a table or chair. After this happened a few times, I tossed the "too quick to release" strap away.

The snap hooks have been installed for two years now, and I haven't had a single issue with my camera falling from a hook malfunction.

Blimp 2.0

2010-07-09T16:56:00.072-04:00

Video of my Blimp 2.0

I was recently asked to build a Pelican sound blimp for the Nikon D3 camera. The client wanted me to include a window for viewing the LCD screen. I did not include this in my original design because I was afraid it would take away from the sound proofing. However, most of the sound is emitted from the front of the lens tube anyway! So I included that in this design. As you can hear, including the LCD window had no severe impact on sound dampening quality!

My cut out mockup and the newly cut LCD hole.

I built it with the Pelican 1200 case. Because I don't have a D3 to measure everything to, I had to rely on a 1:1 printed scan. It was printed on thick card stock. I cut out the viewfinder and LCD screen with an exacto knife so I could easily mark them onto the case. Even if you have a D3, I would recommend using this method to place the camera because it is easier and more accurate than holding your camera up to the case.

I used tape to outline where I needed to cut for the LCD screen. Be sure to measure thrice before you start cutting. It's especially important to make sure all your angles are at 90º and everything is squared away. This is easier said than done. I measured and remeasured and made sure every angle was exact before I started cutting. I used a Dremel 300 with the Multipurpose Cutting Guide and a metal cutting bit. With that setup, I just ate away at the edge until it was flush with the tape. Super easy, and the results look great!

I really like the Dremel 300 Kit because the "Multipurpose Cutting Guide" that comes with it makes cutting along edges super easy.

Close-up of the unfinished LCD screen edge.

The edge is almost finished.

The finished edge.

Here you can see the printed out mock-up taped down and prepared for cutting the viewfinder hole. I first drilled a hole in the center, then used my trusty Dremel to shave off the rest.

Finished Viewfinder and LCD hole.

I roughened up the plastic around both holes with some sandpaper to give the glue a better surface to hold on to.

Using the correct adhesive is important. You want to make sure that you are using a glue that will adhere to both surfaces. I used this Glass Glue that is designed to adhere to both glass and plastic. I used a single piece of glass to cover both holes, and glued around the entire edge. Make sure not to overdo the glue. If you add too much glue, you'll end up with an ugly bead of glue visible on the glass. If you want it to be water-tight, I'd recommend adding a caulk to the inside edge of the glass later.

Left is a 4" diameter circle for the lens tube.

Right is 3" x 5 3/4" for the rear LCD and viewfinder.

Reverse angle of Viewfinder and LCD with glass installed.

Back of Blimp with camera inside.

Front of Blimp. Showing the Lens Tube and Shutter Release (under the tape).

Blimp 2.0's lens tube and shutter design are almost identical to Blimp 1.0. It is able to extend with a PVC pipe attachment and fit a telephoto lens just like the original. The only difference is I was able to find black PVC pipe and matching black cap at my local Home Depot in LA. This is much more elegant than my original, where I used white pvc and spray-painted it black (which has since started flaking off). If you can't find the black versions locally, online I found black ABS pipe here, and the cap here. (I have not personally bought from this website, it's just a place that carries the parts)

New vs. Old. You can see the size difference of the Pelican 1200 v. 1150.

Packing up, and Moving Out

2010-04-26T13:32:00.001-04:00

Hey Folks,

I've moved my photo bloggage over to my new site. I've coined the new site "Frame by Frame." I thought it was neat, I hope you do too.

So get on the band wagon and come on over! Update your RSS, or Atom feed, and be sure to share with friends!

Awesome,
Kyle

A Roadside View

2009-10-22T04:36:00.002-04:00

Taken just outside of Loudenville, OH last weekend.

Stuck in the Middle

2009-10-21T01:47:00.000-04:00

Dylan, my cousin Wendy's son. That makes him my... second cousin? Yeah, I think that's right. I'm still getting used to all these babies in the family. Seems like there are quite a few of them these days. Anyway, this weekend I met up with a lot of Klinksick family in Ohio for my cousin Allison's wedding. It was a splendid wedding, and I had a great time saying hello to my family. It was the first time I had been back in Indiana since the move out to LA, and it was a shame I didn't get to see any friends while I was there. Maybe next time. The wedding was nice, and it was great to see the midwest trees catching the fire of autumn. I've got a few more pics from the trip so stay tuned!

The Observers

2009-10-19T20:23:00.002-04:00

Santa Monica Pier. Santa Monica, CA

What's Approaching

2009-09-26T23:28:00.000-04:00

Saw this storm right before entering New Mexico, and had to stop and shoot for a bit.

The Observers

2009-09-14T15:17:00.001-04:00

Taken at the top of Pike's Peak.

Underground Explorer

2009-09-13T15:50:00.000-04:00

Taken somewhere in Arizona, this was one of those roadside attractions that sounded too cool to pass up. There was a bat cave, and sinkholes, and all sorts of cool stuff made by volcanic activity from long ago. I climbed down into this cave. The temperature dropped about 10 degrees! I found another explorer down there as well. Her name was Marylin, and she was kind enough to be subject of my photograph.

Curvy Road

2009-09-10T21:27:00.001-04:00

This shot was taken somewhere in Arizona, near Marble Canyon.

Billy Bob's Texas

2009-09-09T18:15:00.000-04:00

Who is Billy Bob, and why does he own Texas?

Mountain View

2009-09-09T02:41:00.002-04:00

Bicycle on the Wall

2009-08-31T16:02:00.001-04:00

Bicycle on the Wall, originally uploaded by noiseless_penguin.

Torn Up

2009-08-28T11:29:00.002-04:00

Been shooting a lot of portraits lately. This is from a series of portraits done for a rapper named Rob from Indianapolis, IN. We were driving around a quarry and when we saw this pile of torn up pavement. I immediately loved the textures created from all the pieces of pavement and monochromatic color pallet.

Untitled Portrait 2

2009-08-21T09:32:00.002-04:00

Taken at the Delaware County Fair last month.

Reel 09

2009-08-20T09:09:00.000-04:00

Reel 09 from Kyle Peters on Vimeo.

Visual Effects & Cinematography Reel for 2009

Reel Breakdown:

3rd to Mars

The Elle Factor

Any Way

Time Lapse of Pittsburgh

Break

Misfortune

The Elle Factor

Untitled Portrait

2009-08-18T12:31:00.002-04:00

Taken at the Delaware County Fair last month.

Buildings Distorted

2009-08-17T12:54:00.002-04:00

Chicago, shot on 400 ISO film. That's right, film, not digital.

Happy Couple

2009-08-16T17:40:00.001-04:00

From photoblog

Taken at the Delaware County Fair last month.

Young to Old

2009-07-27T14:50:00.005-04:00

Shot my second race over the weekend. This was the Grand Island Marathon. It was really neat to see people coming out from all different ages.

It was all the way up in Munising, Michigan. I shot for Cris Calhoun both for this race and the Warsaw event a few weeks ago. Every shooting opportunity I have presents a new challenge, and this one was no different. We woke up at 4am and the race started @ 6am, well before the sun was fully awake, so lighting was tough at first.

Then while I was shooting in the woods I was providing a host of mosquitoes a delicious buffet, while the marathoners went running by. Even in a tough situation like that, you have to keep your cool, and ignore the stupid little buzzing things and get the shots. It doesn't matter if there are 5 mosquitoes resting on the back of your hand while you're shooting, worry about that later. Pictures first, pain later :)

Then I high-tailed it over to the beach to get a different background (and better lighting). It was there that I found an escape from the buzzing pests, and ended up getting better looking shots anyway.

We didn't have any communication between photographers, so I was making some tricky decisions about where to go next on the fly. So I learned once again that flexibility is the key.

-kp

Chugga-chugga

2009-07-22T00:55:00.002-04:00

Delaware County Fair Truck Pull.

The Lineup

2009-07-20T18:17:00.002-04:00

Portrait of a group of friends from the 4th of July. Took a 30 second exposure, with 3 sparklers, and an ipod touch to draw around our friends.

Framed

2009-07-15T23:33:00.000-04:00

Mr. Chester, the Cat

2009-07-14T13:33:00.003-04:00

I was doing senior portraits in Mill Race Park of Rachel, and she brought her kitty. I think this is the only time he actually sat down and rested.

Above the Line

2009-07-08T14:29:00.000-04:00

Paris, France. 2008.

Mesmerized by Sparks

2009-07-05T22:44:00.002-04:00

Had a fun fourth with friends.

Blending Sky and Field

2009-07-01T22:15:00.003-04:00

Similar to my other photograph, Off Kilter.

I used a wide angle lens and a long shutter speed to create this effect. It doesn't take much, the shutter speed is 1/50th of a second, but I twisted the camera really fast as the photograph was being taken. This action blends the landscape together. The focal point is created according to the twisting action. If you twist it in a slightly different way, you get an off-center focal point. If you have a camera that lets you adjust the shutter speed, try messing around with this effect! Sometimes it can create some interesting results.

A Sparkling Concoction

2009-06-30T23:49:00.003-04:00

A Photoshop conglomerate of just over 30 photos taken in sequence of my friend Justin playing with a sparkler in the parking lot. Justin said he was drawing a box, but after putting this together, I just don't see it.

I used the "Lighter Color" blending mode for each photo, and played around! Pretty crazy results!

What's this, web design?

2009-06-26T18:01:00.005-04:00

Yup, that's right. It's high time I made myself an official site where my best content can reside to aide in the job hunt. So that's what I've been doing. Putting this thing together with some huge help from a friend. I've been tossing ideas around for the past few months and have been doing a bit of research into what other people's sites include, and how they are laid out. I wanted a design that was simple, elegant, and most importantly, be able to be expanded/updated without much extra coding. With that last requirement I quickly opted out of trying to do anything in Flash. Sticking to straight html and css.

What's that quote about stealing art and stuff? Oh yes, "Good artists copy, great artists steal," Pablo Picasso. Well, I pulled what I liked most from a few of my favorite motion graphics company sites. Giving credit where it's due, here are a few sites I've swiped ideas from:
Buck
Mutant Hands
Boo Lab
Creamy Orange

For those color geeks out there, you probably noticed that I am using Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow as a color scheme. I went for this to really grab attention. Bold colors are coming back, especially in graphic design. So I'm stepping up and following suit. It's funny that I'm a video guy, who deals mostly with additive color, not subtractive, but between you and me, it makes for a nice little joke. Besides, RGB is soooo 90s. Okay, not really, but hey, whatever.

I'm pretty happy with the design so far. I still need to add a place for my resume, and figure out how exactly the photo gallery will look. But for only 2 days worth of work it's coming along swimmingly :)

-kp

4 People and Blue Bicycles

2009-06-24T12:32:00.002-04:00

This shot was taken a few months ago in front of Bracken Library at Ball State University.

Super Fuzzy Butts

2009-06-19T15:30:00.001-04:00

Going off the "super hero" theme I've been exploring lately, I found this old piece from 2007 that I took at a fair in Columbus, IN.

Drifting Specks of Summer

2009-06-17T23:35:00.001-04:00

A block away from my house by the railroad tracks in Muncie, IN.

Among the Models

2009-06-17T00:57:00.001-04:00

2007, Boston.

Flight School

2009-06-15T11:10:00.003-04:00

I guess this super hero thing is catching on. After my friends saw Shawn's flying pose, they all wanted me to make them fly too. Expect more of these homebrew super heroes! But I think we also need to throw some villians into the series.

Up, Up, and Away

2009-06-13T22:09:00.002-04:00

This was an idea I had a few days ago. With a little bit of luck & ingenuity, we were able to make Shawn fly*!

*or at least look like he is

Webbed

2009-06-11T18:49:00.000-04:00

feet. of Captain, Shawn's duck.

Cinematically Italian

2009-06-10T01:03:00.007-04:00

Haven't been able to shoot much lately for things other than the documentary, (but I've been doing a lot of time lapse lately! which I really want to show you, but because it's part of the documentary I can't show it :( So here's another from the arrrchives! I cropped it to 2.35 aspect ratio, which is a cinema standard.

Chasing

2009-06-08T22:13:00.000-04:00

Captured early morning in Venice, Italy, 2008.

Abandon

2009-06-07T18:19:00.000-04:00

Dungeness, England.

Off Kilter

2009-06-06T14:58:00.004-04:00

Taken in Barcelona, Spain, this effect was done in-camera with a slow shutter speed and twisting the camera during exposure.

Silos

2009-06-05T22:21:00.003-04:00

Part of ABB, an abandoned factory in Muncie. Shot as part of a location scout for a documentary I'm working on for IDEE.

Surveillance

2009-06-03T13:11:00.002-04:00

Barcelona, Spain.

Another Graduate!

2009-06-02T16:58:00.002-04:00

My sister Sarah graduated high school on Saturday! I'm so proud of her! She's going where I just finished, at Ball State. She's not sure what she wants to do yet, but whatever she decides, she will do great things. Congratulations sis!

Tan tan

2009-05-29T14:48:00.002-04:00

downtown Muncie, IN

All Folded Up

2009-05-27T13:42:00.002-04:00

A Ball State student walks down McKinley, prepared for the Muncie rain.

Awaiting Instruction

2009-05-26T09:03:00.001-04:00

Newlyweds Brad & Whitney Wilson getting a photograph taken after their wedding on Saturday.

Sailboat and a Family

2009-05-21T21:41:00.001-04:00

Brighton, England, April 2008.

Maniac Juggler

2009-05-18T22:19:00.001-04:00

Shawn Weyerbacher & Captain Randolph. (his duck)

Veggies Since 1906

2009-05-17T00:48:00.001-04:00

From the archives of a trip to Canada.

A Juggling Act

2009-05-16T17:17:00.001-04:00

Shawn Weyerbacher & Justin Wilk juggling some tennis balls during a break from our game of "campus golf."

I have Graduated! Uhh...Now What?

2009-05-15T23:07:00.001-04:00

I'm a Vampire!

2009-04-29T20:00:00.001-04:00

Model: Kristin Gibler
Shot for the "Getta New Facebook Profile Picture Project"

Suspend Your Excitement

2009-04-28T11:52:00.002-04:00

Overseer of Fun

2009-04-27T03:04:00.003-04:00

The Ball State end of the year carnival took place on Friday. I was hired as an event photographer by the University Programs Board.

Watch this!

2009-04-17T03:23:00.003-04:00

"Misfortune" from Kyle Peters on Vimeo.

A modern adaptation of the short story "A Misfortune" by Anton Chekhov. Filmed as part of the Cinema Entertainment Immersion class at Ball State University.

Please click HERE to watch in HD!

"Tag me"

2009-04-14T08:37:00.002-04:00

Photo of Layne Ransom as part of my "Facebook Profile Picture!" project. This piece of graffiti in downtown Muncie made for a fun back drop.

Sister on Easter

2009-04-13T10:54:00.003-04:00

Shot some more photos for my sister's senior pictures on Easter after church. She wanted to shoot by this windmill, so we got permission from the people and shot for about an hour. Really liked using my 85mm f1.8 for this stuff. Allowed me to keep close enough to give directions without yelling. I'm getting a better knack for directing people. It's tough. I'm pretty versed in the technical aspects of photography, and being able to control the lighting, but i'm still working on controlling the model. (which is an even bigger job for sure!)

This is one of my favorites from the shoot. Color correction is such a personal taste. My sister wanted the cross-processing, but I like the grit of this version more and chose to publish this instead.

Postcard Vintage

2009-04-01T11:24:00.004-04:00

Not really a photo I took, this is actually an old slide from my Grandpa Klinksick. Those are my Aunts and Uncles back in the day! I thought lemonade stands like this were just some sort of old joke, but apparently not! They actually existed!

Way back when...

2009-03-30T08:35:00.000-04:00

Obtuse

2009-03-17T12:21:00.000-04:00

Reading

2009-03-04T20:45:00.002-05:00

Portrait of Holly Craig taken in The White Rabbit, a bookstore in Muncie.

It is the first of a series of portraits I'm doing in conjunction with Facebook. If you are in the Muncie area and are interested in participating, please check out the Facebook group here.

Cat v. Dog

2009-02-26T19:00:00.000-05:00

The bark is bigger than the Bite!

Shades at Night

2009-02-24T07:59:00.001-05:00

My roommate Derek on his 22nd birthday.

Any Time

2009-02-19T13:17:00.000-05:00

From a "photo excursion" back in October. Any Time.

Something Within the Rocks

2009-02-05T17:08:00.000-05:00

From 2007 in San Diego. Shot with my Dad's little nikon point & shoot.

Just Passing By

2009-02-02T23:23:00.001-05:00

My roommate Dereck sledding behind a CRV on our snow day.

Spirits Walk By

2009-01-27T11:02:00.000-05:00

Taken in downtown Pittsburg last August.

Eating on the Run

2009-01-26T14:04:00.001-05:00

Eating on the Run from Kyle Peters on Vimeo.
My first attempt at shooting a time lapse where an individual seems to move at regular speed while time passes fast around him. It worked fairly well given the situation. It was really hard to do, especially since we were so hungry, and we had to move so slow to make the time lapse work.

A Boba Fett Christmas

2008-12-30T20:04:00.003-05:00

My coolest Christmas gift. It's a USB drive! Thanks @beckyrother!

A Life of Caring

2008-12-29T14:50:00.005-05:00

My Great Aunt, Eleanor Jahnke, passed away two weeks ago at the ripe old age of 96. She lived in St. Paul Minnesota, so I didn't know her all that well, but she was a fun lady and I will always remember her.

She worked, then volunteered at Bethesda Hospital for a total of 75 years. Now that's dedication! Earlier this year she was honored with the 2008 Eleven who Care award by a local news station.

Link to the news story

Level Above

2008-11-12T18:55:00.001-05:00

I took this photo two years ago at a July 4th parade in Ohio.

1/250, f/8, 55mm.

Landslide

2008-11-05T13:14:00.002-05:00

North Carolina. from the car.

1/60 sec @ f/22, ISO 400.

In the Shadows

2008-11-02T21:19:00.002-05:00

Somewhere in North Carolina. We stopped off the highway at a Nature Reserve. and walked through the woods for a bit.

1/320 sec @ f/5.6. ISO 400, 28mm.

Just Around the Corner

2008-10-29T19:41:00.002-04:00

Taken over fall break near the University of North Carolina's campus.

1/1600 @ f/2.2, ISO 800. 50mm.

Abandon the Street

2008-10-28T01:43:00.002-04:00

Shot in Chapel Hill, NC.
1/250 sec @ f/2.2, ISO 800. 50mm.

Beach Couple

2008-10-27T01:06:00.002-04:00

It was a blustery day on the carolina beach, but that didn't stop these two.
1/400 @ f/5.6, ISO 400. 50mm

Filmworks in the Field

2008-10-13T13:24:00.002-04:00

Doing some bounce + negative lighting at Ball State with some people from Cardinal Filmworks as part of our weekly workshop. Every Saturday we go over different techniques or skills related to production.

1/8000 @ f/2.5, ISO 400. 50mm.

Free Speech

2008-10-10T17:06:00.001-04:00

Seen on Tillotson Street in Muncie, IN. Apparently All State isn't very nice to cyclists.
1/100 @ f/5.6, ISO 100, 28mm.

Colorful Reading

2008-10-03T11:49:00.001-04:00

My roommate Andy Kmiec reading one of his short stories at Motini's.

1/60 @ f/1.8, ISO 3200. 85mm

With October Comes Rain

2008-10-02T14:54:00.001-04:00

That's the Ball State Bell tower in the background.
1/100 sec @ f/1.8, ISo 3200. 85mm

Gradient of Blue

2008-09-29T15:58:00.001-04:00

my girlfriend Becky at the famous Stonehenge last spring.
1/80 sec @ f/16, ISO 100. 16mm.

Monolithic Candles

2008-09-25T16:15:00.001-04:00

Shot at the Blueberry Festival in Plymouth, IN

Starbucks in Hand on a Crosswalk in New York

2008-09-22T20:23:00.001-04:00

1/4000 sec @ f/1.8, ISO 1600.

Neon Angles

2008-09-20T22:53:00.000-04:00

1/1000 @ f/1.8, ISO 1250. 85mm.

The Windowed Life

2008-09-17T01:47:00.003-04:00

The Millennium Hilton
New York City, October 2007.

1/20 sec @ f/2.2, 85mm. ISO 1000.

My Sound Blimp Tutorial

2008-09-16T01:26:00.038-04:00

*UPDATE: This blimp is Version 1.0. I built a new and improved version for a D3 that includes a viewfinder for the LCD screen.

I was the set photographer for My Name Is Jerry, a feature length film shot in Muncie, IN this summer. It was filmed over 3 weeks, and I wanted to be able to take pictures during takes. because sound equipment is so sensitive, a naked SLR makes too much noise while they're filming. People would kill me after I ruin a few takes.

So, I set out on my quest to silence my camera. After my first google search I found a Jacobson Sound Blimp. This would cost me $900 to purchase or $25/day to rent. I thought, no way am I paying $900 for an oversized box that makes my camera look like it was made in the 1800s and offers me no controls. But I might spend $100. I found a "DIY guide" by Dave Buzzard. However, it is kind of rough around the edges and left a lot up to the imagination. So I am writing this to go into further detail and explain how I expanded on his initial design.

I built my blimp around a Nikon D300, which is a pretty large body. Going into the project I knew I wanted to be able to switch lenses while keeping the same box. One solution to use different lenses is to build a second blimp, but I wanted to save money by using one case and changing the lens tube. I think this is how the Jacobson blimp works, so I thought it'd be neat if I could do it too.

List of Equipment:
The case is going to be the most expensive part. A case that is waterproof works best. Why you ask? Because being waterproof, it creates a vacuum. Since there is no gaps, there is nowhere for the sound wave to exit, which significantly reduces transmitted noise. I used a Pelican 1150 case, just like Buzzard. (Side Note* Tthe Pelican 1200 would be a better size for a large camera body like the D3) Be sure to get the case with foam!

I raided Home Depot's Plumbing section for the lens tube. I used a 4" diameter Female Adapter as my main lens tube. The 4" tube snugly fits both my Tokina 12-24mm and Nikon 80-200 AF-S lenses. If you are only shooting with prime lenses, you may be able to use a smaller diameter. You will also need a 4" screw-on Cap. I also picked up a second 4" female adapter and 4" Male Adapter to build the extension tube. $20

Also need a shutter release. I found one from Gadget Infinity, here. Note there are two different lengths of cable releases sold by Gadget Infinity, I opted for the short one so there wouldn't be excess cable spaghetti inside the case. $15

Instead of buying a pre-made 4" glass filter (which cost $125!), I had a custom piece of glass made by a local glass company for $15.

All that's left is some strong adhesive to hold everything together. I used some weld adhesive from Wal-Mart that said it worked great on glass, pvc, and plastics! Perfect! $5

Onto construction!

The first step is to determine the placement of your camera. Optimally, there is equal padding on all sides. No part of the camera should touch the edges of the case. If part of your camera is touching the case, sound will be transmitted. Bad. The case comes with soft foam padding that can be plucked out. I used toothpicks to make sure it was the right place before I started plucking. But afterwards I realized the camera was a bit off-center still, so I shifted it over a bit by cutting off one row from the right and moving it to the left. Once I was satisfied that my camera was sitting snugly in the correct place, it was time to cut the holes.

There are a total of 3 holes in the case, one for the lens, a second for the eyepiece, and a third for the shutter release. The placement of the lens and eyepiece hole must be precise, otherwise you won't be able to see through the lens, or put any lenses on the front. This is the part where you check thrice, cut once. If you screw this up, there's no remedy except buying another $30 case. That being said - my method of make sure I was drilling in the right place is rather barbaric. The process involves a lot of guessing and second guessing. Alignment and re-alignment.

*Side note: I decided not to make a hole for my LCD because I was afraid the large space with no padding might compromise the sound proofing. *UPDATE: NOT TRUE!

The Eyepiece

I used an old replacement eyepiece for a Nikon FE. It was nice because it had some threading, so I could screw it into the hole that I drilled and it would hold without any glue. I know most people wouldn't have a spare eyepiece from a 20 year old camera lying around, but a small piece of plexiglass will work just the same.

I placed my D300 in the foam and measured to the center of the eyepiece. Then I copied those measurements over to the lid.

After a few eyeballs gauging it from several angles, I made the incision.

When I was threading the eyepiece in, the hole was too tight and a little oblong, and I ended up cracking the glass. Oops. I used some adhesive to fill in gaps around the eyepiece. (the crack hasn't been an issue thus far.)

The Lens!

This was the trickiest hole to drill, because I don't have a large enough drill bit to drill a 4" hole (*UPDATE: But they do exist), so I had to use a dremel. Also, there was not really a surefire way of making sure I was lining it up perfectly. What I ended up doing was using the lid from a can of spray paint. This perfectly fit over my lens mount. I placed the camera inside the case with the foam around it. Then I carefully removed the foam. That allowed me to have enough room to trace around the camera body while maintaining the correct positioning. I guess I could have used a lens on the camera to do the same thing. Now you have to turn that smaller circle into the outer diameter of the PVC pipe.

Then it's just a matter of slowly dremeling away until the the PVC fits snug.

Cut a piece of plexiglass and cut it to fit the bottom. Then dremel a hole that is the inner diameter of the PVC pipe. By gluing the extra layer of plexiglass to the bottom, it creates a lip that creates more support and surface area for the pipe. Once the plexiglass glue is set, you can attach the PVC to the body. Put a bead of glue on the lip of plexiglass as well as the edge of the case. This will ensure a secure bond.

I put a layer of foam around the inside of the PVC pipe to act as a noise dampener. The foam also doubles as snug padding for my lenses.

The Shutter!

(pictured with optional extension tube used with telephoto lenses)

The shutter was purchased through gadgetinfinity.com, and only set me back $15. I dremeled one of the ridges off the outside of the Pelican case. Then I drilled a hole and used a Strain Relief piece to secure it in place. I used a piece of velcro to secure the shutter release to the outside of the body.

The Lens Tube!

This picture shows the extension tube and the front glass filter. Instead of buying a pre-made 4" glass filter (which cost $125!), I had a custom piece of glass made by a local glass company for only $15. The screw-on attachment I glued it to was a 4" cap which I dremeled a hole into. I left a 1/8" lip that the glass will rest on.

Here you can see the glass fitted into the cut-out plug. I spray-painted the entire plug black before I glued it on, but as you can see, the adhesive ate through the paint around the lip. That's okay. I shouldn't have painted that portion.

The only downside to the custom piece of glass is that there isn't an anti-reflective coating, I've had a couple images where ghosting was an issue. I put a piece of extra foam around the inside of this PVC pipe as well.

And Finally!

This video is a little test I made in my living room.

Sound Blimp Test from Kyle Peters on Vimeo.

I used this blimp for the entire shoot, and found it to work very well. It wasn't too heavy or cumbersome. And as far as performance goes, Blair Scheller, the sound mixer, told me that it was almost as quiet as the Jacobson Blimps he's worked alongside! Not bad, for 1/10th the price!

I used the blimp for over half of the shots here.

Flickr

2008-09-15T21:31:00.001-04:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Group PHOTO!

2008-09-15T21:17:00.003-04:00

Say Cheese! This is our Cardinal Filmworks student group at Ball State University. We are over fifty students strong this year, and the forecast is calling this the best year ever.

1/25 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 800 + flash camera right through an umbrella at 1/2 power.

All that hot Air

2008-09-13T18:56:00.001-04:00

1/125 sec @ f/4, ISO 100.