Keep It Simple Stupid! I’ve said that a lot to folks and quite often, to myself so when I discover that I’ve shot myself in the foot by not following this, well it’s normally not pretty! I needed to get some product shots done, I was behind and I like to do them when I first get gear while it still looks new. It’s a personal thing, but I like to make my product shots shine and look better than the last time I took them. Like in the past, I pulled out the Profoto B10s, and 3′ Octa. Then, as I was unzipping the Think Tank roller that holds my B10 kit, I thought I might need more light as I was going to photograph a bigger product and would like more DoF. So I went to the gear locker and pulled out the B1 kit Think Tank roller.

The B10 set up is normally a 3 light affair. I set up the main light first, dial it in and then add the fill light dialing it in and then the background light. It normally takes some time and when I change subjects, I often has to retune the light positions. It works but I’m never 100% satisfied with the results. And too often, I have to do tweaking in post to get something I will hang my hat on. Well, I set up the B1 with the 5′ Octa and took my first click and when the image popped on the LCD, well let’s just say Sharon ran into the studio thinking something really bad had happened. My exclamation was because I realized my being lazy and using the smaller lights all these years was making more work for me, not less. The B1 and 5′ Octa did all the lighting, bam! Talk about KISS. And there was nothing to do in post but file images.

The answer was right in front of me for over ten years in my quest to a clean, simple lighting system for my product shots and it never clicked. I know all to well the power of a giant light compared to a small subject. The wrap around effect is so easy to use, limit where need be while sucking up all the rest of that luscious light. The moral? There’s now a big message on my desk that I cannot miss. KISS! While looking for solutions in photography, KISS not only works, often saves time and money. I’m just glad it didn’t take another ten years to find this simple solution.

I had left the Z 9 / Z400f4.5 w/Z1.4x next to the door after coming in from photographing the hummers. I had just sat down at my desk when a text came from Sharon, “BIG Buck by my swing!!” We have a couple of spikes, a 2×2 and that’s the normal buck squad that tours through The Ranch. We’ve had a big Mulie come through twice so that’s what I thought I was going to see. I leaped from my desk, grabbed the rig and walked out slowly. I nearly kissed that buck as it was walking past the does and fawns strolling down the back 9. My “bursting” out didn’t seem to upset, it kept walking down to where you see it in the photo then stopped, and looked at the rest of the herd munching away on our grass. The Z 9 was singing away with that gorgeous light on that clean velvet. The buck then turned around and walked back up the herd. At this point, he’s smoking me, I have an eye, ear and partial antler filling the viewfinder its so close! It was a great moment! And that Z400f4.5, wowzers, it is just phenomenal! It is just as sharp as the 180-400VR & 800f5.6AFS making it the perfect addition to the kit. And for working the critters at The Ranch, the perfect fit!

Perfect timing, the new ProGrade Dual-Slot SDXC/microSDXC Mobile Reader arrived just a week before the new Nikon Z 30! The ProGrade Dual-Slot SDXC/microSDXC Mobile Reader or PGM0.5 is a dual slot reader for SDXC and microSDXC UHS-II memory cards delivering blistering speeds in an incredibly small package. Data transfer speed of up to 5Gb/s (625MB/s) through a USB-C port supported by Android™, iPad Air®, iPad Pro®, etc. Besides the really small size (goes perfectly with the small Z 30) is the twist using it. You can flip the reader around because it’s a USB-c so when ingesting a SD as you see above, you can see the indicator light. Turn it over and insert it into the USB-C slot for the microSDXC and there is another indicator light. It’s those simple design elements that tells you, there’s a lot in this little package!