Even though the wait was long, but with the discount I get from Manfrotto, which for this order was close to 50% off retail, was worth it.  The light stands are great, super heavy duty, 12′ tall and air cushioned, and  another feature I like is that they snap together for easy transport.

The old stands that we’ve been using for the last couple of years don’t compare at all to the new ones.  You can see the difference between them in size in the next picture.

I can’t wait to start using them on the family shoot we booked for this weekend.  Now if only the light stand bag I ordered had come too.

Bow Wow Photography

Also this week I received in the mail the business cards I ordered, and they look great.

Strobist Info

Nikon D300s and Nikkor 50mm f1.4
1/160   : f/3.5  : ISO200
Key – SB-900 1/8 power with umbrella at camera right.
Fill – SB-900 1/32 power with umbrella at camera left.
Backdrop light – SB-600 1/32 power with blue gel.
All triggered with CyberSyncs

Lighting Setup

Then three days ago we found some bulldog puppies in a rescue in New Jersey, but by the time we tried to fill out the application the shelter had already received a great amount of applications for the bulldog puppies and they were not taking more.

So we kept looking and two days ago Voula found a few blue nose pitbulls (American Bullies) which got our attention.  Voula contacted the breeder and we liked everything he had to say about the puppies, the puppies came with all shots, registered and the pedigree of the puppies. So we set up an appointment for the next day to go meet the pups.
Yesterday we were a little nervous but at the same time excited about seeing the pups, we went to the breeder’s house and saw and played with the five puppies he had left from 16 he got from two litters, explained to us everything related to the puppies to us, he showed us the registration papers, the pedigrees which seemed pretty good to us, and they all looked really nice and healthy.  Of the five puppies we decided to go with the one that was a little more lay back and submissive, and that was Beauty Girl 1.

After we paid and the breeder sign her papers releasing her to us, we went to the pet store and bought food, toys, collar and matching leash, took her home and took a couple of pictures while we walked her in our neighborhood for the first time.

I went to Rio at the Washingtonian Center in Gaithersburg and took some pictures from the parking lot.  The image quality of both lenses is pretty good, for the $80 I spent on both of them, but I think the 75mm is a little sharper.

Sample images

DIY 75 mm T/S lens

DIY 50mm T/S lens

Last Sunday I looked at Jan Christian’s blog post on how he made his T/S lens, and I thought that I could make it, so I started looking for the necessary parts.  First I needed a lens, something cheap cause I didn’t want to spend too much money on something I didn’t know it would work, so I went to KEH and found the same medium format lens Jan Christian used for his T/S lens, a 75 mm Bronica Zenza, cheap and good quality (images 1A and 1B), I paid $30 for it, the condition on the lens was listed as BGN, “Bargain”, but the lens could had been rated something higher, because this lens looks great.

I also started looking for the other parts needed for the project:

• Shock boot, the ones used on the suspension on 4×4 trucks, $5. (image 2A)
• M42 macro Extension tube, $7 for a set of 3 and I used the middle sized one. (image 2B)
• M42 to Nikon adapter, $9. (image 2C), make sure you DON’T buy the one that says it allows infinity focus, I explain later in the post the problems I ran into with the adapter.

I found everything on Ebay, ordered on Monday, and received everything by Thursday.

So brought everything home with me and started working on putting it together.  First I had to remove the focusing ring, so I went ahead and removed the six screws holding the back plate (image 3A), then removing the four screws, two on each side, marked on image 2B, I also cut the wires marked by the orange arrow on image 3B .

Next step, I removed the two metal parts marked on image 4A, they keep the focusing ring from unscrewing out of the lens.  After removing those two parts, all I had to do was unscrew the focusing ring.  Now the lens is ready (image4B).

Next I cut the shock boot to the length shown (image 5A), then I mounted the M42 extension tube to the M42 to Nikon adapter and inserted them into the shock boot (image 5B)

Then I put the other end of the shock boot over the end of the lens, and secured both ends with zip ties (images 6A and 6B).

But when I tried the lens in the camera I was having two problems, one was having problems reaching infinity focus, so the solution for that was cutting one section off of the shock boot.

The other problem I had, as I mentioned earlier, was with the M42 to Nikon adapter, the one I ordered protruded too much into the camera and was touching the contacts causing them to short and that caused the mirror to lock in the up position every time I pressed the shutter.  Another thing was that the M42 to Nikon Adapter came with a piece of glass on it.   So, first I removed the glass, second I placed the adapter in the CNC at work; for people who don’t know, I work for an electronics manufacturer and I run their machine shop, a little advantage when it comes to making parts for my DIY projects.  So after locking the adapter in place I cut the part that was protruding too much into the body and causing it short (images 7A and 7B)

So, after I finished fixing the shock boot and the adapter, put everything back together and here is what it looks like (images 8A and 8B).

And here it is mounted on the camera (Images 9A and 9B).

The lens looks great and the image quality, for what I’ve seen so far, is much a lot better than a lens baby and all for only $50 and a little bit of my time.  The only thing is that this lens it’s a little too long for most situations, so I bought on eBay a 50mm Bronica Zenza lens for $21. It should be here by the end of the week, and since I still have left over parts, the shock boot and two more M42 extension tubes, so the only thing I have to order is the M42 to Nikon adapter.  So the price for this second lens will be $29.

Photos taken with this lens coming soon.

UPDATE

October 7, 2010

I received the 50mm lens and the new M42 to Nikon adapter (image 10A and 10B)

This adapter is better, no problems with the adapter touching the contacts as the one I ordered first.  As for the lens, I removed the focusing ring, made the bellows with the leftover shock boot, and put everything together just as I did with the first one.

This weekend I will go out and test the new lens and post the pictures taken with both lenses.

I’m very upset because of the work I put into it, but just a couple of days ago I started working on another beauty dish, this time it will be 23″, I already made the brackets, it’s a lot lighter, 1/3 of the weight of this one that just broke.  I will post it as soon as I finish it.

All photos taken with Nikon D300s and 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 VR.

Kaia and Brandon are a very fun and easy going couple.  We had a great time shooting their wedding, from the getting ready part, all the way to the end of the reception.

Here are some of my photos from the wedding.

I went a little later than last time, I got there right before 2 o’clock, and at the time someone had pulled the fire alarm and everybody was evacuating the center.  We waited outside for a little more than an hour until the fire department gave the all clear, and since I didn’t buy my ticket in advance I didn’t make inside until almost 4pm.   I took lost of photos while there, I completely forgot to go to the Artist Alley and the Gumpla display, that was something I really wanted to see, also I didn’t make it to the vendors on time, I wanted to buy this really good Japanese cookies.  But I still had a good time watching and photographing all the cosplayers.

Here I have some of my favorites that I took at Otakon, enjoy.

12345►