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Our megamid setup on night 2 was very compfy; Brad and I slept in the Megamid while Robin and Kevin slept in his tent. We all cooked in the 'mid, which was very, very comfortable sitting along the bench on the left-hand side.
Addendum (November, 2008): After many more trips with the Megamid, this setup can be used with no bivy sacks or tarp floor for a very light system. The way we set it up is as follows:
First, make a flat area about 11 feet (a little bigger than each side of the 'mid) square, then dig down (cutting rough blocks w/ your shovel if possible) a couple feed in a ~9 foot square. Level the edges. Dig a trench down one wall (wherever you'll have the entrance); you can use this for a compfy cooking area later. Then, put the megamid down and use skis/poles/tree branches to secure the corners and midpoints. Go inside and set up your pole (we use two skiis with the skins still on facing heel-to-toe with two bike toe straps around them).
Adjust the length to get the tent secure, then put blocks back over the edges of the megamid to keep the wind out. Clean up the inside by digging it out as much as possible and potentially undermine the walls a little. You can sleep two on one side of the pole and one on the other.
We sleep in this with just thermarests on the ground and a winter bag (I use one rated to -14C). We pile our backpacks in the doorway, cook in a shelf in the outside wall opposite the trench which makes breakfast a lot easier, especially if it's stormy.
(Update Feb 2011): This gets a decent number of searches ending here; for a couple more modern shots of our megamid setup, look at these pics:
www.flickr.com/photos/mike-warren/464155013/
www.flickr.com/photos/mike-warren/462929911/
Step 4: If arch, chuppa, or pergola is not as stable as it needs to be, secure joints by screwing the joints together.
Strobistinfo:
Left: LP120-1/16-28mm-inflatable softbox,
Back (towards camera) HVL-F58AM-1/32-105mm-cardboard gobo's
This is the setup shot for the bread shot I took a while ago. For a while I thought I had accidentally deleted this as the memory card was empty, but luckily I had imported this to computer, just not to the folder I normally use...
From this angle you can see a bit of the turquoise reflection I was able to get rid of in the final image. For the tip on how to see where the reflections are coming, check out my blog post, there's more about this setup and the process in general.
Strobist info:
5400HS-105mm-1/16-4.5cm straw grid
Remote in my lefthand, the strawberry in my righthand.
Strobistinfo:
Right-low: 5400HS-1/2-105mm-9cm straw grid
Left-high: LP160-1/4-24mm-1/1+1/2 CTB gel through a piece of foam
The blue background is doing NOTHING for the photo, was still hanging there from another shoot.
Second setup with this tilted glass.
The white card backdrop now has a sheet of blue Fun Foam placed in the centre, so only the edges of the white are illuminated. The white can just about be seen behind the lights, the area behind the glass is filled with the blue.
The lights are also changed. Well thats not strictly true, it's the same lights, a pair of 20W CFL lamps, but they are inserted into upright Pringles tube reflectors, which give a much larger area of light than the snoots used with the white background..
Also, a pair of black cards are placed on each side, to prevent direct light fom spilling onto the glass, it is all coming back from the background, which stops nasty reflections on the glass.
If I was going to do this again, I think I would place the flash lower and direct the light up more. This would have given a cool shadow on the headboard/wall and ceiling. I also forgot my shutter speed at 1/90 sec because I was doing some stuff before (and I wanted some ambient light effect), however, the flash was very effective in freezing motion.
Resulting pic here.
Strobist:
1 - SB-80DX camera left (1/8 power?)
Triggered by on camera flash (1/128 power)
I have been researching flash triggers and had settled on Pocket Wizards when I saw an article on radiopoppers. Now I'm not sure what to buy. To make a long story longer, I rarely use my Nikon CLS system (because my DX80 strobe can't) and I tend to be a "manual" mode guy when it comes to using a flash -- I like my flash to do what I tell it to do. Anyway over at radiopopper they are talking about TTL and iTLL and all I hear is bla, bla, bla, so I figured I should do some research. Anyway, I found this great blog... Nikon CLS Practical Guide by Russell MacDonald. I started with "Nikon Flash - Two Separate Metering Systems". You might like to check it out.
Setup shot for the profile shot. Notes should explain everything.
Blog: www.photosmudger.com/
Here's a "behind the scenes" look at how I took the rainbow water refraction shot flic.kr/p/8y9Dhg.
OK, this is my setup... Poor you might think... Well makes me think a lot on what to do to try to keep up with the newbie strobist out there firing Vivitars, Nikons and Canon...
I´ll get there in a couple of months, hopefully.
My little mac setup, just need a midi keyboard to finish it up. Wish I could go for a somewhat minimalistic look but those gay victorian wall frames kill it. -_-
Setup for the Pink orchid shot. For the final shot I've put a black glass below the orchid, the rest did not change.
Overview of the portable unit for flying insects photography, right side.
How to take insects in flight see:
Forgive the lack of quality in this shot. The Kodak DC240 was actually a good camera when I bought it for my second eldest daughter a few years back. (Yeah, kids had a digital before I did!) Few dints, knocks, scrapes, flash not working, buttons missing from the back - but it still takes pictures. Rescued it from the bin after she threw it out!!!!!
Anyway, just to show the setup I used for the Lupin shot.
what works for my MBP 15” - rides in a gyms pac neoprene sleeve (right) inside a small Osprey Stratos 18 backpack (center) which also carries blinky lights (two yellow on front shoulder straps, Timbuk2 cases on straps for iPhone & digicam, belt pockets for keys, lenses, etc.) also shows carbon strut “frame” that keeps it off back, cool in summer, warm in winter - inside backpack alongside MBP is ToPeak road pump - on left is right hand Ortlieb Bike-Packer Plus waterproof pannier with tools in bottom, clothes, raingear, food, lock, etc. - this goes on right side of rack (left carried inside when might be needed, bungees for extras at the ready)
5d mark II with 100mm 2.8 macro at f 3.5, exposure 1/0'5sec to catch the christmas light tree. One 580ex set to manual mode,1/8 power and one hensel head at minimum power, with small softbox
This is a setup shot for my image: Three Wishes:
www.flickr.com/photos/igods/8238852737/in/set-72157630050...
Target shot photographed with my Nikon D600 and 105mm macro lens. Setup shot done with my Nikon D90 and rented Rokinon 14mm ultrawide manual focus lens.
It was a pretty complex lighting setup, and I even included my [failed] smoke capturing rig. I lit 3 incense sticks, then covered them with the funnel and topped the funnel with an inverted beer bottle to catpure the smoke. I got bupkis.
I eventually broke down and placed an incense cone behind the bottle, but didn't get near the smoke I was hoping for.
Lit with: Nikon SB-700 off camera flash to camera left, shooting horizontally with a snoot. Opposite angle, to camera right, was my mini maglite held in place with my plamp (getting so much use out of that thing). My ring light was my third light (suspended above the subject by a closed cabinet door), pointed straight down on the bottle mouth. I used a white card to reflect some of the SB-700's light back onto the right side of the bottle.
Target specs: Nikon D600, Nikon 105mm, f/3, ISO 400, 1/320 second fast sync flash.
Setup specs: Nikon D90, Rokinon 14mm, estimated f/11, ISO 200, 10 seconds, ambient light.
Setup shot for the portrait of Rachel. Also shown is Rachel's mate Amy who came along for moral support, and did a fine job of hair and make-up as well.
As always, the notes will answer your queries.