The Hoodman Hoodloupe

In my opinion, digital photography's greatest advantage is the ability to view the image immediately after the exposure is made. With a quick glance you can verify the accuracy of your exposure, and you can insure that everybody is in focus and you don't have any "blinkers". With film, you had to wait until after the film was developed and the proofs delivered. Waiting those few days was total agony, especially when you thought you managed to grab a really nice photo.

I've started making a habit of carrying, and using, a Hoodman Hoodloupe when photographing people. It is important to examine the images, especially when you've just rounded up your subjects for a group shot and know it would be nearly impossible to get them back together for an emergency re-shoot. Take the time to check your shots and dismiss the principles only after you're satisfied that everything is as good as you can make it. Also, the Hoodloupe allows you to examine the entire image under magnification rather than viewing just one small portion at a time.

If you purchase the Hoodman unit, you will find that the soft storage case will accommodate the Hoodloupe only when the eyepiece is fully retracted. But when properly focused, you'll find that it's now too long for the case. So to speed things up, I adjusted the eyepiece to properly view the LCD panel, and painted two index marks so I could quickly return the loupe to proper focus without actually looking through it. 

In The Field
I was photographing a special "Car Care For Women" presentation for the Journal. I had envisioned a shot where the participants were circled around the open hood of a car while the instructor gave his presentation. I initially thought that if I was close enough to the fender, I could get some engine details in the foreground. It didn't turn out as I had planned, and the best shot, taken from that position, is shown here.

I would have been perfectly happy with this shot, but upon closer examination, I found two shortcomings. First, there's the disembodied hand holding the flashlight in the background. And second, there isn't enough "engine" to help the story line along. I might have been content with the shot, but after close examination with the Loupe, I decided to keep shooting.

As luck would have it, the next demonstration car was already up on a lift. As the women gathered around, I positioned myself across from them and from a very low angle, and took my first shot. I immediately checked the exposure, and since I was satisfied, continued to shoot, looking for that moment when everybody looked engaged, properly exposed, and reasonably well distributed within the photo. The photo that I finally submitted is shown below.

This shot was chosen because the sponsor of the event is clearly visible in the back, and except for the floating arm behind the instructor, relatively free from distracting clutter.

While getting names for the caption and showing the final photo, the subject on the left remarked that the photo was not particularly flattering. But when I showed her the entire image, magnified with the Loupe, she agreed that it was a good photo of their host and the teacher, the two real stars of the image. The Loupe allowed her to critically view the entire image in sharp focus, something that can be difficult if she was forced to squint while trying to view the image on the LCD.

It was a fun assignment, and while there are things I wish I could have changed, my Editor was pleased with the effort. Incidentally, I cannot/do not alter the content of my images, meaning that cloning, the process where unwanted details are "painted" out, is strictly forbidden. And since this was a class in progress, I could only adjust my vantage point when attempting to conceal any distractions in the background.

Having and using the Loupe allowed me to make critical judgements before I leave the venue. This raises the bar when it comes to what I submit and what I will eventually delete.

Exposure Details: Nikon D300, Tokina 11-17mm 2.8 lens, 1/20 @ 3.5,  ISO 1600, Cloudy WB setting. An SB-800 with a Gary Fong Cloud Dome was used to light the foreground.

Specular Highlights: When these images were selected for the post, I noticed how much "nicer" the first sample was. The difference is due to two factors: the distance from the camera to the subjects and the height of the flash above the lens axis. In the first sample, the on-camera Gary Fong Cloud Dome was about 10" above the lens axis, and the taking distance was about 3 feet. There is good modeling on the instructor's face and a relatively small specular highlight (shiny spot) on his forehead. In the second shot, the distance was more than doubled, but the height of the shoe-mounted flash above the lens axis remained constant. This brought the light source closer (relatively) to the lens axis which resulted in a highlight more centered on the subject's faces. This resulted in an image that appeared washed out and more two dimensional. When working distances are this short, a SC-28 Remote TTL Cord can be effective in getting the flash further away from the axis.

On The Cheap: The Sunpak 433 D

Living life on the cheap isn't easy, but somebody has to do it.

I believe the Vivitar 283 is a worthy flash because of its very affordable price. Of course, times change, and the while the flash itself is still quite reasonably priced, one key accessory, the VP-1, has gone completely out of sight so far as price is concerned.


You see, the VP-1, when installed on a 283, allows you to vary the flash output from a full power dump to 1/32 power. This allows for repeatability of light output and faster re-cycle time when you don't need full power. But the cost of the VP-1 has passed the $40.00 mark on EBay, pricing a 283 plus a VP-1 package well north of $70.00. At this price, it makes a Vivitar 285 a more affordable option, since it already has stepped power outputs when used in the manual mode. Both of these Vivitars accept the Wein Peanut Slave for off-camera use. And both have tilting heads. Neither one will ever sit in a hotshoe,  however.  I just don't trust either one of them. Don't get me started about triggering voltages.

The Sunpak 433D
Now for a lesser known option. While following a Strobist thread, references were made to the Sunpak 433D flash. I did an EBay search and found one for $20.00 plus shipping, which I immediately bought. When it arrived, I found it pretty well worn and dedicated for use on a Canon camera. Not a problem, since I wouldn't use it on-camera anyway. But it could do some interesting things. First off, It has manual settings of full, half, quarter, eighth, and sixteenth power. The head not only tilts, but also rotates a full 180 degrees clockwise, and 150 degrees counter-clockwise.


The Black Plastic Thingie: A Do It Yourself Project 
This is not  be confused with the "Black Foamie Thing", a ridiculously simple, Do-It-Yourself light modifier invented by Neil van Niekerk, a virtuoso on-camera flash photographer.

Because of their current configurations, speedlights must be mounted far above the axis when used with umbrella stand adapters. This misalignment could, under certain circumstances, cause some problems. I wanted to make something that could eliminate that particular problem.

For my project, I selected a small sheet of 1/4" thick black plastic from the scrap bin at Tap Plastics. It was about 5" X 10", and cost me all of $.50 cents. When I got it home, I used a  band saw to cut off a 2 1/2" wide piece, the approximate width of a Nikon SB-800 speedlight. Next, I drilled three 1/4" holes along the center line. I then attached a brass spigot using an allen-head 1/4 X 20 screw. I put a small washer between the screw and the plastic to prevent cracking. I then notched the edges with a file to keep my ball-bungee from slipping. The file, incidentally, was a narrow, cylindrical file used to sharpen chain saw blades.  

Here it is, top and bottom. The two large holes in the corners are for attaching lanyards like those found on wireless speedlight triggers.

Attaching The Speedlight

In this shot you can see the Sunpak attached with a short ball bungee. If you look closely, you can see that the head of the allen head screw keeps the flash from sliding backward. A Sto-Fen Omni-Bounce dome has been attached to the head and a Calumet Wireless Trigger (receiver) attached to the hot shoe. If I needed to hang a wireless receiver, the lanyard could be attached through the large hole I drilled in the corner.

Once mounted, I discovered that the thumb screw on the umbrella stand adapter interferes with the BPT. I'll probably trim the thumb screw wings with a belt sander when I get a chance. On second thought, it would be easier to just saw off the back section of the BPT and re-drill the rear lanyard hole.

Because of the 330 degree head rotation,the Sunpak's body could be rotated to make the controls easier to see. If Nikon speedlights were being used, the sensor eye could be rotated to obtain a suitable line-of-site orientation.

This all being done, I now have a means of moving the flash closer to the umbrella axis for more even light distribution. It also makes it easier to install a Photek Softlighter, the topic of a future post.

See you in 2012!

Update: July 23, 2015: Who would have thought any posting this old would be updated? Well, here it comes. I tested a 433d "dedicated" to Canon cameras to see what the triggering voltage was. Turns out that it was 11.9 volts, too high to be considered safe for a digital Canon camera. Just thought you might like to know.