Category Archives: Gear

Single light: Chinatown Beauty Dish with a Canon 580EX Mk I. © 2011 Dan Smith. All rights reserved.

Chinatown Special

The image above was created with $20 $40 worth of mixing bowl, pizza pan, machine screws (plus a  flash bracket from an inexpensive $20 softbox) and spray paint, all sourced from Amazon and Home Depot. Building my own Chinatown beauty dish, following the instructions provided by Todd Owyoung, probably saved me between $90 and $250.

The only realy fault I can find with the… Continue reading

2: :rage: © 2011 Dan Smith. All rights reserved.

No More ‘Mr. Nice Guy’

It’s been 16 days since my problematic EL-Skyport wireless flash sync transmitter and 2 receivers were signed for by someone at Manfrotto named “Hugo,” and exactly two weeks since I last heard from anyone at Manfrotto. Repeated phone messages and emails have gone unreturned. Frankly, I’ve reached the end of my patience and goodwill.
A ‘Service Repair Supervisor’ had raised my hopes by personally
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Back Camera © 2011 Dan Smith. All rights reserved.

Obviously, a Major Malfunction (Updated)

Two years ago, I made a commitment. I chose a rarely trodden path. It was a bold choice that flew in the face of convention. And I’ll freely admit: my motives were purely financial.

I chose the Erlichrom Skyport line over the ubiquitous PocketWizard.

Yes, I decided to buck the groupthimk when it came to deciding on a remote flash trigger system. And for two years, I was… Continue reading