A busy week to say the least!

Golly!! This has been a busy week! A bunch of new gear has come in, finished up a brochure for the Texas Youth Hunting Program (TYHP) www.tyhp.org , squeezed in a photo shoot and we are starting up work at SHSU again to upgrade the studios  lighting to 100% LED instruments.

TYHP brochure. Click image to enlarge.

Click image to enlarge.

I have wholeheartedly adapted to the HDSLRs. Being a photographer and cinematographer, these are indispensable tools for me. 

One of my recent purchases is a Manfrotto 504HD head. I also found a set of 1500series Gitzo sticks on ebay. The 504HD is a great head. It feels very professional and is extremely smooth, with substantial drag and counter balance control. What can I say about the Gitzo sticks, other than they’re the best, heaviest photography sticks ever made.

This combo creates a stellar tripod that’s well built, is a stable base and is remarkably mobile.  All aspects being important for any shooter, especially with DSLRs.

Just arriving is a new Kessler Pocket Dolly. This slider is robust. I haven’t had the chance to take it out in the field yet, but I plan to shoot some city nightscapes as soon as I can. 

LOTS more to come! Punko

Zacuto Z-finder Pro 3x

I just received a Zacuto Z-finder Pro 3x for my birthday from my parents (thanks Mom & Dad).

I had some reservations about this product, because of the sticker price of $395.00. This is my third viewfinder for my DSLRs and it looks like it will be my last!

The quality is through the roof from Zacuto. The optics, the gorilla plate, the composite Zacuto uses for the viewfinder are all superb. Evan the silk screening on the lanyard is high end.

The diopter and anodized aluminum ring feels really nice and substantial, and the insurance that your viewfinder isn't going to slide, rock or pop off is great. The viewfinder as another point of stability, drastically improves handheld video.

Zacuto also gives you slue of accessories with the kit.


This viewfinder is compatible with Zacuto's EVF monitor too. This monitor is a state-of-the-art devise that Zacuto has packed all kinds of features into. With this monitor you are able to configure it to work with DSLR rigs, the RED, Sony FS100 etc., etc.

I'm able to rationalize $395.00 now. This a professional tool that works in multiple applications.
If you are a shooter, the Z-finder Pro is a must.

Another step forward with my DSLR rig

I just picked up a shoulder rig from Carry Speed priced @ $200. So far I have been really happy with the rig's quality and versatility. I also picked up a new viewfinder from carry Speed, priced @ $50.

The shoulder rig really improves the quality of shooting handheld with DSLRs. The rig is easily converted into an array of setups that are very quick and easy to go back and forth to each configuration. In seconds you are able to remove the shoulder part of the rig and have a nicely designed platform for a tripod configuration. This comes in handy for running all of your accessories and being able to mount your head plate, so that you are ready for controlled production to ENG "run and gun".

With a $200 price tag, this is hard to beat. I will end up playing around with more configurations, and will keep you updated as I progress.

The Carry Speed viewfinder for $50 is a steal compared to other competitors. The viewfinder does not have a diopter, which can be somewhat problematic for people with out 20/20 vision (doesn't seem to effect me though). The viewfinder utilizes a metal frame that adheres to your camera, with tabs and magnets in the viewfinder to attach to the frame. It works fairly well, but there is some sense of carefulness so that the viewfinder doesn't fall off. Carry Speed suggests wearing the lanyard that comes with it.

More cameras, rigs, tripods, heads and accessories to follow!

Carry Speed shoulder rig

Carry Speed shoulder rig with French Flag

Carry Speed shoulder rig with full doors

 Tripod configuration with handles for "tucked in" stability when shooting

Tripod Configuration

Carry Speed viewfinder "guerrilla" style shooting 

New iphone app for shooters!

The Artemis Director’s Viewfinder, made by: Chemical Wedding, is a relatively new iphone app. Priced at 30 bucks, this is the most expensive app I have invested in, however it’s a wonderful tool for shooting. 

In my opinion, it replaces the traditional director’s viewfinder with a much more accurate/versatile digital viewfinder.

The app comes pre-installed with an array of different cameras (film/digital), sensor sizes, aspect ratios, and lenses. Choose your favorite DSLR camera, lenses and multiple focal lengths. Select a particular focal length and toggle between fullscreen and overlay views. Use your DSLR loupe for more clarity and to keep glare off your screen, and once satisfied, save a photo with detailed information of individual shots!

Seeing that traditional viewfinders start around $300 and go up from there, 30 bucks starts to sound pretty swell, since I already have a DSLR, iphone and loupe. : )

On Location for UTMB (University of Texas Medical Branch)

Jack Updyke produced and directed scenes for UTMB’s new program highlighting the educational opportunities for residents in various specialty branches of the medical field. Myself and Dad (Craig Loper) provided shooting and lighting expertise to keep the production standards high, matching the high tech and visually attractive surroundings of UTMB’s new clinics in the Galveston/Houston area.

The show is shot in high definition video at 1080 / 30p on a Sony EX-1 camera. Several of the scenes utilized Flo-Lights new 1024 Daylight balanced LED technology to create a natural look with the window light in these new clinics.  This new LED technology truly outputs the equivalent light output of a 1000 watts of tungsten with approximately 75 real watts of power and very little heat generation.

Another piece of production equipment I would highly recommend is the Eazy Dolly. This skate dolly system, with 12’ of light weight glass smooth dolly track and high-end skate wheels on a tripod dolly, enabled us to produce shots with high production value that would have otherwise been impossible to pull off with the simplest of other dolly systems.  The system breaks down into 4’ track lengths and, after the first setup, I could lay the 12’ of track in position and have the camera mounted on the dolly and rehearsing the shot within 5 minutes. This is a perfect system for B2B communication projects that often demand small crews and quick setups, but still demand high production values. 

Friday the 13th 713 Tattoo Event

This past Friday was "Friday the 13th". The crew at 713 Tattoo hosted a solid event to get #13 incorporated tattoos for 13 bucks, with a $7 tip for good luck.

When we arrived, sprits were high and the place was packed! Working from Noon to Midnight, 713 cranked out hundreds of top notch tattoos.

If you missed it this year, there's always next!

The 21st Century Remote

Pauline and I got rid of our cable about 6 months ago now and we are loving it!
There have been a couple of tweaks here and there to find the right combination that works for us.

There are plenty of throughputs for receiving your entertainment through the internet. We started off using our Wii and Netflix.

A new world had opened up for us. Having instant queue, TV becomes 100% on demand. I watch what I want, when I want. For the nominal fee of $9 a month, I don't think twice about this investment.

It's not absolutely perfect though (but what is). Netflix is striving to have all up to date programming, however this a daunting task, therefore their programming  isn't always the latest and greatest.

HuLu is another tool in our "entertainment tool box".  Using these two to access programs/movies/documentaries that we both enjoy has become our system to receive our main TV entertainment.

For some time now, I have wanted to wire up a Mac Mini as the server to bring all of this together. This is not for everyone, I had this mac sitting around for a while and wanted to do this. I am not suggesting go out and buy a Mac Mini to save money and fix all of your TV woes. If you like playing video games, a Wii or a PS3 is most likely the way to go, since you will have a multi functioning device. Especially the PS3, gaming/BlueRay DVD/ internet TV.

The nice thing about having a computer connected to your TV is that you have no GUI (graphical  user interface) learning curve. An apple TV is certainly more economical but it lacks all of the flexibility that you have with a computer.

The computer is extremely versatile in viewing all media. We also enjoy Vimeo, YouTube, Flicker, surfing the web, playing music and array of other things that you can do on a computer that you can not do on other devises.

All and all, this system works very well for our lifestyle. Our annual savings is a little over $1,300, and we haven’t missed cable in the slightest, since we’re able to find all our favorite programming. Sometimes it is just a day later before the program is posted on the web.