This has nothing to do with photography, I just think it's funny .... and true at the same time.

Posted by Allen Rockwell at 01:11 PM | Permalink

I've always wanted a roof rack for my truck that could double as a photography platform (especially for shooting at airshows). I've been shopping around for one for a while and i discovered two things, a good one costs about $1000 and if I bought one I'd have to do some serious modifications to it to suite my needs.

So... Monday I ran out and bought a bunch of metal tube and some hardware and started welding. About $150.00 and about 10 hours of hard labor later and I have exactly what I wanted.

The ladder in the back folds up and out of the way or can be removed with two quick release pins. There are 6 locations in the floor of the platform with threaded fittings where I can screw in a eye bolt for lashing down a tripod. The platform is carpeted and reasonable comfortable.

Posted by Allen Rockwell at 07:35 PM | Permalink

Rumors are circulating about Apple releasing a tablet computer in the near future. With the success of the iPhone and the iPod Touch, why not a "MacBook Touch".

Imagine a tablet in the 13" range loaded with all your photos. You could take it to a client and flip through your photos using fingers and "coverflow" right on the screen.

Continue reading "A boy can dream, can't he?" »

Posted by Allen Rockwell at 03:49 PM | Permalink

I rarely enter photo contests but I found this one for photos of the area where I live.

Do me a HUGE favor and follow this link and vote for some of my photos please.

www.capturemydesert.com/people/AllenRockwell

I'd love to win this contest and have some of my photos included in the book that will be published after the contest is over.

Thanks a lot.

Posted by Allen Rockwell at 08:52 PM | Permalink

My trusty 30D is on eBay.

cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150165591640

This camera has served me well .. I would not lie to my podcast pals, it's a good camera with lots of life still left in it.

Good luck bidding.

Posted by Allen Rockwell at 01:27 PM | Permalink

The new EOS 40D is coming ... and it looks like it does everything.

Click image to see a larger version

I know ... I'm a little late for Aprils Fools Day, but I still think it's funny.

Posted by Allen Rockwell at 06:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I just got great news.

My dealer called me to tell me that he just got off the phone with his sales rep at Canon ... she told him that my 1D Mark III has shipped to him.

Now it's just a race to see if the camera hits his store before I leave on vacation Friday morning.

Posted by Allen Rockwell at 05:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The last audio podcast I released was on May 9th ... I did not do one last week as I was catching up on other responsibilites.

So tomorrow I'll get back on track and release an episode, and I'll try to stay on track.

Posted by Allen Rockwell at 07:16 PM | Permalink

Available this June...

The Apple iPhone

Technorati Tags: iPhone, Apple,Allen Rockwell,

Posted by Allen Rockwell at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I just got a 30" Cinema Display ... What can I say?, this thing is awesome. If you can afford one you have to get one of these. In two days my new MacPro arrives and I'll be able to plug in the 30" and the 23" ... that will be sweet!

Technorati Tags: Digital Photography, Allen Rockwell, Apple

Posted by Allen Rockwell at 07:32 PM | Permalink

A few days ago I built something for my shop that I think will come in very handy for photographing small objects. I got the idea from looking at photo tents (or photo domes) on the B&H; photo site. And I know I could have just bought a photo tent but I like to make things, so I did.

This crazy thing is made out of white acrylic (plexiglass) that is semi trasparent. The two vertical sides are straight but the floor and back piece are the same piece of material and it's bent at a 6" radius at the back so there is no obvious corner or seam at the back.

As you can see from the photo (click it to see a bigger version) the box is lit from both sides and there is also a ling in the back that you cannot really see that lights up the back the bottom. and there is a softbox at the font pointing in at the object being photographed.

I still need to do more experiments with different lighting schemes, but the first test photo does show that it works. The idea is that the white actylic difuses the light to the point that the object is lit from almost every angle possible. Also the fact that the bottom and back are lit there are virtaully no shadows at all. This is still an experiment, but so far I'm pretty happy with it.

Posted by Allen Rockwell at 06:24 PM | Permalink

Click on the box

Posted by Allen Rockwell at 10:57 PM | Permalink