New: Pixel Rook Radio Trigger Review / Test

First thing first people thanks again to UK Highland Photography for sending me out the New Pixel Rook Radio Trigger System in order for me to do a review / test on it.  However, it must be noted that I have actually not had as much time as I would of liked to have with regards to reviewing the Pixel Rook.

Any way on with it as usual with all Pixel products all the cables that you do require / need do come along with the new Rook Radio Flash Trigger.  One of the first things that I did notice about the new Rook is that it allows TTL Pass Through even when the unit is switched off, this is in contrast to it's bigger brother the "Bishop" which requires you to have the unit switched on at all times to allow TTL Pass through.   Moving on another thing that I noticed about the Rook is that it does not have a Serial Number imprinted onto it's bodies, so if you were unlucky enough to have one stolen then you would have a pretty hard time trying to prove that you had it in the first place i.e. for insurance purposes (unless of course you kept your receipt).

The Rook feels small and solid when it is in your hands and it does look very similar to Calumet Photographics own Pro Series 4 Radio Flash Trigger.  The Rook runs on AAA batteries which to me is a very good thing as this will prevent / stop you nicking the AA batteries from your Radio Triggers in order to use them with your speedlites or is this a bad thing?

Moving on the 'Receiver' of the Rook System has a slider on it's front which allows you to set the desired groups you wish to fire.  However, from my experience with this slider then it is very easy to "Push The Slider Past" the group you may want.  So here is a working example, I want to work with group "A" so I push the slider to Group "A" but instead I end up on "Group C", again people this is how sensitive this slider is on the Rook system, but I reckon after you have done 3 to 4 shoots with the Rook then the slider will become second nature to you with regards to choosing a group.

As with all my reviews I won't be going that technical about the product, so this means I won't be listing the entire specifications of this product that Pixel Ltd does claim.  Instead I'm going to be carrying out a few "Practical Tests" on the Rook System in order to see if the Rook System can keep up with the demands that may be required from it, from that of a serious Photographer.  So lets have a look now at how the Rook Flash Trigger performed on Test One:  Inside The Phone Box.

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First Test:  Inside The Telephone Box

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I place the Rook System into the telephone box and place a SB600 on top of it.  I kindly ask a friend if he can pretend to make a phone call whilst I test this new bit of kit.  He agrees so I walk back to a distance where I can use a focal length of 70mm.  I press the shutter,  it's a clear pass from the Rook System.  So now I walk back to a distance where I can use a 135mm zoom, press the shutter, again it's a clear pass from the Rook System, so now I walk back even further so I can use a 300mm zoom, press the shutter, it's clear from the final image that a 300mm zoom is no problems at all for the Rook.

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Second Test:  Inside The Car

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Ok the same kind of test as above but this time the Rook System is placed inside a car.  At 70mm it was a clear Pass for the Rook, then @ 220mm it was again another clear Pass for the Rook, and lastly at the 300mm zoom range it was yet again another clear Pass for the Rook.  So as you can all see from the test / images then people, the Pixel Rook is indeed a nice little bit of kit for any Photographer to have in his / her bag.

 My Conclusion....

The Pixel Rook maybe a low end version of a Radio Trigger, but that does not stop it from offering serious photographers access to a very serious tool which is required for off camera flash work.  The Rook Trigger is very reliable and if the truth be known then the only miss fires that did happen during my tests was due to my own error and not to the Rooks..... another working example....... I thought the Rook had miss fired, that was in fact not the case, instead it was me that was the one at error due to the fact that I had forgot to "Turn On" the Rooks "Transmitter" prior to pressing the shutter button.

So if you are in the market and are considering buying the New Pixel Rook then I can safely say that you won't be disappointed with your investment.  Pixel products are products that have now won my trust with regards to working with them (why else would I of invested hundreds of pounds of my own monies into the Bishops Radio Trigger System?).  So again if your considering buying the Rook..... then my advice is to go right ahead as it's a step in the right direction for you.

Gaz

www.strober.co.uk

Just Business, Business, Business.....

I hooked up with Ashley today and shot some more Business Man images for my own personal project.  This shoot turned out to be one of those shoots where there was a shot to be had around every single corner.  As a matter of fact we did not even move that much around the City.  Not only that but another thing that I'm very proud of is Ashley himself as Ashley is a new Model / Fresh Face to this Industry.  Not only that but Ashley & my-self got to meet some very nice / hot looking girls too in the City.  Every single one of these girls would make Super Hot Models.  So girls if you do get to read this blog then remember if you want free images and would like to work with me... then please do get in touch.   Any way going to keep this one short and sweet so hope you all like the images.

Gaz

www.strober.co.uk

New Pixel Rook Radio Trigger: Arrived Today.....

 

Knock, knock, knock, I open up the door and it's the UPS man he hands me two parcels and inside one of those parcels was the new Pixel Rook Radio Trigger which Uk Highland Photography has sent me to test drive and review.

So people keep watching this blog.... as the review will be coming soon.

Gaz

http://www.strober.co.uk/

Late Entry:  For The Review Click Here

Is it safe to buy from Hong Kong / China ?



 Answer:  Yes & NO

Yes = for small items / purchases (Perhaps Items Under £20)

Let me explain, I started buying from Hong Kong about 3 months ago.  Basically I needed a pouch / case to protect one of my beloved SB600's.  I done a search on ebay and the only pouch / case that I could find that catered to my needs was the one that was from the seller "Fotocola" in Hong Kong. 

After much considering I thought to my self sod it, it's only £6.75 that I'll lose if the worst comes to the worse.    So I did, I purchased it and paid for it via Pay Pal.

Two weeks later a white padded envelope is dropped through my letter box, I open it up and there I seen inside was a this 'quality' pouch / case for my SB600.  As a matter of fact I was that impressed with the case / pouch that it was not so long after that I did order another one and then another one after that.  Yes, the wait for buying stuff from Hong Kong can take up to 4 weeks which is a long time.  But if you are not bothered with the wait and would like to save a few pound or two in the process, then buying straight from Hong Kong is the right thing for you.

Since buying my pouches / cases, I have also now bought other little things from China such as an umbrella adaptor, star burst filters, cpl filters etc...  as a matter of fact at time of waiting this blog, then I'm still waiting for my latest purchase of my 'battery tester', which I imagine will be with me in the next week or two.

The quality of the products that I have bought from Hong Kong have been of high standards, this means that the quality of the products I have received from Hong Kong have been just as good if not better than the quality of products that I would / could buy here in the UK.  Which is why I continue to date buying more and more products from China.

But................ this is the NO part.......................

No =  For expensive items / purchases (Perhaps Items Over £20)

Now if you thinking about buying that brand new DSLR from China then I would strongly advise you to think again.  I'm not exactly sure as to how it all works, but what I do know is that expensive items from China does attract such things as "Import Tax", "Shipping Charge", "VAT", "Handling Fee" etc...

I have a friend who has in the past bought a compact camera from Hong Kong for £80 on Ebay, then a few weeks later he got a phone call from "HM Revenue & Customs" asking him to pay an extra £40 charge before they would release and deliver the compact camera to his home address.

So there you go people, if you are not bothered about losing anything up to the value of £20 then I'd say yes go ahead and shop from Hong Kong.  But do remember it's at your own risk, I my-self have not had one bad experience to date from buying anything from Hong Kong, yes again it's a long wait but it does gets here in the end.

To finish with if you want to spend any thing over £20 on Ebay.  Then I would strongly advise you NOT to buy from Hong Kong and instead buy from with in the EU.  That way you do NOT get hit with any extra hidden charges.

Hope this helps?

Regards

Gaz
www.strober.co.uk

It's Business as usual in Manchester City.......

This guy was brilliant to work with.... for real he just kept on putting a smile on face.  The reason being was because of his ability to act as that BIG successful Business Man / City Slicker.

One minute sees him being all serious, he tucks his shirt in, followed by straighting his tie, followed by flicking that bit of dirt of his shoulder.  Next minute sees that he has got that BIG broad smile on his face as if to say that he is the most successful Entrepreneur in the City of Manchester.

I'm sure that you will all agree with me when I do say that that this young man has got talent.  As a matter of fact I think that if this man was to take up a role in Sales i.e. become a Sales Man then I for one think that he has a very high chance of becoming the most successful Entrepreneur in the City of Manchester.  Because there is one thing that I did learn from this guy and that is that in his images he can sell ice to an Eskimo and water to a well, not forgetting fire to fire.

Hope you enjoy the shots.......

Gaz
www.strober.co.uk

 

 

Photomatix Pro 3

I've been sitting here looking at some of the photographic software that I have got installed on my computer.  There is one of them that I'm not really on that often, which is a pretty darn shame due to the fact that this software does help the Photographer to produce some fantastic if not mind blowing looking images.  The software is called Photomatix Pro 3 and it is a HDR photography programme.  For those of you new to this, then the HDR stands for "High Dynamic Range", it is basically a combination of the same 'subject' which has been photographed with different exposures which is then blended together in Photomatix Pro 3 in order for it to produce the final "HDR Image".

Now not only will you have to take different exposures of your subject but you will also have to shoot in RAW mode too.  Most Photographers I know shoot about 6 - 7 RAW shots and then use these shots in software like Photomatix Pro to produce their final HDR images.  However, some Photographers on the other hand shoot up to 15 + for their HDR images. 

Again I've not been on Photomatix Pro that much...  however when I have been on it, then to be honest with you it is at times like a 'hit & miss' thing with me with regards to making images with it.  This means that the final images don't always turn out the way that I'd expected them to turn out.  But to be fair I have not really sat down and soaked up all the tools that Photomatix does offer you.  Yes, this means that I have just simply been 'tinkering' around in there in the hope to produce a fantastic / mind blowing image.  Here is a clear example of what I mean, if you look at the "Yellow Flag" image shown below, then this is a classic example of that image not turning out as I had expected it to turn out on Photomatix.  What went wrong.....?   I do not know?  But no matter how much I 'tinkered' with it, then it just would not look right / the way that I wanted it to look / be.

But is that Photomatix's fault or is it mine?  Hmmm.... Good question.....  But again this is photography that we are talking about.  One minute we think that we know everything that there is to know about photography & then the next minute we find our-self's being as dumb as that day when we first picked up the camera and called our self's photographers in the first place.

I mean come on admit it, you are now an advanced / serious photographer who has got a 10 year + experience under your belt. But still to this day you get "confused" / "dumbfounded" when the unexpected does happen e.g. your flash don't go off when you press that shutter button etc....  which then sees you say something to your subject like "mmmm just bear with me one second please "..... etc.... etc...

For me I'm going to play around on Photomatix allot more this summer to see if I can get a grasp of it for once and for all if not master it?  For again it's a great bit of software and it really is a shame that I don't use it that often.

Perhaps one of the best features on Photomatix is it's "Pseudo HDR" feature.  It allows you to make a "Pretend HDR" image from just one RAW file.  So if you ever wondered how those Wedding Photographers take those dramatic HDR shots of the Bride & Groom & their guests.  Then now you know that they use such software as Photomatix with it's "Pretend HDR" aka "Pseudo HDR" feature".

What Photomatix does is that it makes two more copies of your RAW file that you have opened and it 'over exposes' one of those copies and 'under exposes' the other copy.  Photomatix then combines all these three files together in order to produce your final Pseudo HDR image.

When I get the time, I will see if I can take some sample shots and run them through Photomatix my-self and turn them into Pseudo HDR images.  Then upload them on to this blog posting as a late entry.  More to follow soon........


Gaz

Playing With Filters

They just arrived the other day in the post, after a pretty long time for them to arrive in the post from Hong Kong.  Any way I got a mixture of these filters, I got Neutral Density, Star Burst & Circular Polarizer filters.  Yep, all this screw on filter business is pretty new to me.  But from doing a few quick tests with them, then I do see how these filters are going to help the Photographer in the field. 

The image above was taken at night with the Star Burst Filter & the image below was taking in the day with the ND8 filter.  Even though this has been a very quick play with the filters, there is one thing that I can say, that being that in the not so distant future these new filters of mine are going to help me make some awesome images. 

Really looking forward now to working with them on assignment.

Gaz
www.strober.co.uk

English Defence League (Manchester City)

Ok in my previous blog, you seen that I had spent the day in Manchester City shooting my two Models, one being a Female the other being a Male. 

Now early on in that day my two Models and my-self were drinking a Coffee at the NERO's Coffee Shop in Manchester's Piccadilly Gardens.

I was enjoying my Coffee whilst I watched all the people going about their daily business in the Gardens.  But it was then that it all started to come back to me.  Yes people, I was seeing these "mental images".

These "mental images" were of that day when the English Defence League came to the City.  Yep people, I'm talking about that day when the entire of Piccadilly Gardens was shut off to members of the Public.  And thanks to that Greater Manchester Police Officer, I found my-self being caught up right in the middle of this "Stand Off" between the English Defence League and the Greater Manchester Police.

To close with, of course my two Models could not see / understand these "mental images" it was that I was trying to explain to them with regards to the Gardens.  But hey if they ever do read this blog, then now they know the "mental images" it was that I was trying to explain to the both of them that I was seeing that day  :) . 

Gaz
www.strober.co.uk

Hot In The City

Ok I attended a Group Shoot today (it was one which I did arrange my-self). Any way to cut a long story short.... Only 2 Models did turn up and so did only 2 Photographers turn up (NB: I was 1 of those 2 Photographers that did turn up).

Any way moving on, this group shoot did not last for that long...  to be honest with you it all felt like it was just one hour and then it was all over :(

But the birght side is, is that I took full advantage of that time that I did have and made my two Models look like that Billy Idol tune "Hot In The City" ;)

Hope you enjoy der pics

Gaz
http://www.strober.co.uk/

PS:  Barry & Zara the both of you are two crackig Models... thanks for a good day :)