by successfulbob | photography, photography gear, photography lighting resources, salute to business
I’ve been a little off in my posts between travel for speaking, holidays and general ‘taking a little break’ kind of mood. It’s time to saddle up and get it rockin’ again. And today’s post was one I had to share as I think good customer service is the one of the most important things you can do for your business. Here’s an example and a salute to a stalwart in the industry.
Paul C Buff lights have been in my quiver of tools ever since I first started. Quality, consistency and great customer service has made me a fan. Before the end of the year I was looking a a tax bill that could be lowered by a ‘179’ purchase where I would get to use the money in my business rather that giving it to Uncle Sam. I am a great believer in paying taxes, it’s what keeps this being one of the greatest countries in the world. BUt, the rules are there for a reason and should be taken advantage of.
So with some money I had to invest I decided to beef up my lighting kit. I ordered some modifiers like strip and octagon boxes and a couple Einsteins. Very happy to say the least…
Now here’s where the service comes in… I got out the Einstein lights and after working with them for a little bit I realized that they were way more than I needed electronically speaking. I didn’t want or need all the extra controls. I emailed and asked if I could swap them out for a similar powered but less ‘busy’ flash unit more like my other units. Here was their response…
Hey Bob,
No problem! We do not do exchanges but you can return anything during the 60 day guarantee for a refund and then order the X3200 units at your convenience. You do not need any RMA# and we do not charge a restocking fee. All you need to do is box up the flash units with a note that includes your name and contact info and something stating you would like to return for a refund. Once we receive it we will apply the refund to the card the original purchase was made on. This is usually done within 2-3 business days of us receiving the return and we will email you a receipt for the refund once it is done.
Please send return to:
Paul C. Buff, Inc
ATTN Returns
2725 Bransford Ave
Nashville, TN 37204
Please let me know if you have anymore questions or need anything else in the meantime.
Have a great day,
Kimberly
Paul C. Buff, Inc
Alienbees, White-Lightning, Einstein
Be sure and check out our NEW products:
Vagabond™ Lithium Extreme Check out our must-see VLX™ comparison video at https://www.youtube.com/user/paulcbuff
Foldable Giant Stripbox
The OMNI™ 18-inch Reflector
…..and if you’re looking for some technical help visit our tech forum here http://www.paulcbuff-techforum.com
I salute their superior customer service!
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | photography gear
I really like the build of Think Tank bags. Strong. Work well. And comfortable.
Think Tank Photo just announced that its new Perception backpacks for Mirrorless systems are now available. The Perception series comes in two colors, black and taupe, and three sizes. The smallest size, The Perception Tablet™, accommodates a Mirrorless system and an iPad Mini. The largest size, the Perception Pro™, holds a 15″ laptop and a 10″ tablet, plus one Mirrorless body or small DSLR with a small to medium zoom attached (lens hood reversed). Plus, the largest size fits four to five more lenses or a large GoPro® kit.
Perception Backpack series.
In addition, Think Tank is offering holiday specials on two of its most innovative products. You will save 30% on its My 2nd Brain “mobile office” bags for Apple laptops and iPads and 20% on its Suburban Disguise full-featured shoulder bag specifically designed to accommodate standard-size DSLR systems.
Remember that when you order using our link, you will receive free gear with these and all orders of $50 or more. And, as always, you receive free FedEx Ground shipping.
by successfulbob | architectural photography, commercial photography, Lumix GH4, Lumix Lounge, photography, photography gear, photography lighting resources
Had a full day shoot for the Phoenix Airport Hilton. They are going through an $8M renovation with a complete redo of all the rooms and an update on all the common areas in the hotel. They have asked me to photograph the changes. This is the second shoot and we are planning another two day shoot once the lobby and and a few other areas of renovation are completed.
Here are a few from the shoot…
Arizona King room photo at Hilton Phoenix Airport Hotel
Double Queen Room
Junior Suite Room
Images were captured with the Lumix GH4 using multiple exposures to capture the full range of tones from the deepest shadows to the view outside the windows. A handy tool is the on-board WIFI which allowed me to control the camera from the Panasonic App. Not touching the camera makes layering the multiple exposures more accurate because even when your camera is locked down on a tripod any touch of the camera can cause the images to not be in perfect registration.
When photographing for Hilton properties they have guidelines that include no curtains being closed in the room photos. I use a variety of techniques adding some light to the original capture and blending the various exposures using masks in Adobe Photoshop. For those who haven’t already made the upgrade to Photoshop CC 2014 here is a link to $9.99 per month Photoshop and Lightroom)
Sometimes you just want to add a little kick off light to a small area to bring out some detail and the small Fiilex P100 LED light comes in handy. It has the ability to adjust color temperature which is important in mixed lighting situations when working in rooms with natural light coming through the windows and the light from the light fixtures. (order fiilex light here)
Here’s a tip to save you some time in post production. Replace lights in lamps and ceiling fixtures with 15 watt bulbs. This will allow the lamps to read as lit but not give you blown out areas in your captures. It makes a huge difference in the amount of time in post.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | Lumix GH4, Lumix Lounge, people photography, photography, photography education, photography gear
“Turn your face toward me please.”
I was talking to my friend Silvio from the back seat of the car. I had just noticed the rim light that was skimming one side of his face. I was shooting into the shadow side of his face AKA ‘short light’ which will tend to have more drama and slim down a person’s features. Here is what I saw…
Portrait grab of Silvio in a car.
It’s a great exercise to constantly be looking for lighting patterns in everyday lighting situations. Once you learn to recognize them it becomes A – easier to put people in the proper place when lighting in the field and B – to replicate the light in the studio because you have become more familiar with it.
In this particular case the lens I was using also had the added benefit of very shallow depth of field. Which allowed the background to fall off quickly. This was the LEICA DG NOCTICRON 42.5/F1.2 on the Lumix GH4. 1/400 sec; f/1.4; ISO 800 Aperture Priority
A – Rim light that highlights the edge of the face
B – Shadow side of the face is the larger side meaning this is a short light portrait
C – Bit of a kicker light adds interest and more form
D – Focus fall off AKA Bokeh. Even though the ‘background’ is pretty close it goes quite soft
By the way Silvio is a portrait photographer based in Scottsdale, Arizona you can check out his work here at Silvio Portrait Design.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | Lumix GH4, Lumix Lounge, people photography, photography, photography education, photography gear
Had the pleasure of working with Benji Santana who works at Snap Fitness in Sedona and Cottonwood as a trainer. He’s looking to pick up a bit of modeling work and asked me to shoot a some images. Looks like the camera likes him…
Benji is pretty well cut. Those abs look strong. That chain weighs about 30 pounds…
Benji fills out clothing pretty well too.
I used the Lumix GH4 for capture with the 35-100mm 2.8 lens. Shooting more toward the telephoto end of the lens compresses the scene and features. For the body builder images I took a lower angle to give Benji a more powerful feel as in the photo he is looking down at the viewer of the image. For the clothing shot I wanted a more friendly feel so moved the camera up so we were looking at eye level with the viewer. Bodybuilder lighting was with Paul C Buff Ultra Zap with a shoot through umbrella placed high to camera right just out of the frame to accentuate the abs but still give some slightly soft shadow edge transitions. A 4×6 silver reflector was added camera left to add some fill to the shadows. An unmodified second light was placed camera left and slightly behind to open up the shadows and give some separation from the background and add some interest.
Here is a ZED card I designed for the shoot as self-assignment and as an add-on possible sale…
Model Zed card design.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | fine art photography, graphic design, Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge, macro, photography education, photography gear
The flower garden at the B&B at which I’m staying has some beautiful blooms… So I’m playing and experimenting with the Lumix GX7, 35-100mm f2.8 and and Vello extension tubes.
Rose petals close-up with extension tubes. Opening up the shadows and lowering the highlights with the GX7’s in camera curves setting.
I always enjoy details revealed when photographing flora with back lighting.
Have you played lately??
Yours in Creative Photography, bob
