Put a ring on it

After dragging my feet on getting new equipment, I am finally going to bite the bullet and replace some of my aging gear. For those of you that have had the pleasure of seeing some of my gear, you'll breathe a sigh of relief, as there will be no more light-stands with missing pins, lopsided umbrellas, etc.

Additionally, I will be purchasing some new additions, one of them being an Orbis Ring Flash adapter. This is basically an adapter that goes over my existing speed-lights, to create a similar effect of a full on ring flash (minus some of the power of course), but in a much more compact and mobile package (i'm all about being mobile)

Once I have a few photo sessions under my belt with this new toy, I will post up the results, so stay tuned.

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Strobist

Often times I am asked what type of equipment I use, not just my camera gear but my studio gear, specifically when it comes to lighting.

Now most people would expect me to say I use some high-end monolights with an array of light modifiers, and don't get me wrong, I do use monolights occasionally and for a while I used them exclusively.  However, through the years i've noticed that I really enjoy using my off-camera strobes for studio work, in my case, these currently consist of SB-800s and SB-600s which are all very capable strobes in their own right.

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Why do I do this?  There are a few reasons which I will quickly outline below:

iPad = iPod for giants?

Today Apple announced their much speculated tablet dubbed the iPad.  I'll admit it looks very sleek and it seems to be going down the same path as the iPod and iPhone in terms of interface, which I consider to be a good thing (I both an iPhone and MacBook), however therein lies the issue, is this going to be just an oversized iPod?

It has many of the same features as an iPod Touch, such as wifi, and will even feature a 3G option (additional cost).  It also shares many of the same applications as the iPhone/iPod (in fact you can use your existing iPhone/iPod apps).  There are some iPad specific apps which do look promising, and may just make this a useful device to own (in between your laptop and iPhone, which is what Apple intends), such as the iWork programs, making it a possible option for light business use.

Thoughts?  Oversized iPod/iPhone or a genius hybrid to use in conjunction with your current laptop and iPod/iPhone?  Only time will tell...

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New site...New camera

I am just about done with this new website and as an early birthday present to myself (FYI my birthday is March 31st, just saying...) I bought a newer updated camera body to use, the D300s.  I am still debating whether or not I should keep the D200 I have, as it may be nice to have a backup since it still works quite well.

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As for the new website, it will have a heavy focus on being in a blog format, allowing me to talk about recent projects, and just anything I feel like sharing.  There will also be the usual portfolio/galleries, which will feature my recent work.