DIY Flash Clamp

So I want to make a knock off "Nasty Clamp". It looks very simple to assemble, if I can find the parts. It's made with Loc-Line flexible hosing attached to a very sturdy clamp (where can I find one of these clamps??) with a 1/4 inch attachment at the end.



Or maybe one of these:

Strobist

More photography blogging, this one based around strobist blogs and websites. The term strobist generally refers to using shoe-mount flashes, which were designed to be used on-camera, from off the camera, sometimes using more than one.

Here's a post from the original Strobist, David Hobby, who has popularized the concept. He has a lot of great info, and this post describes how to construct your own DIY $10 Macro Photo Studio, so you can take cool pics like this:

Photography Blogs

Sometimes while following internet breadcrumbs I stumble across websites that are truly a cut above, or have some other outstanding element. Then, later, when I want to revisit them I have NO IDEA where they are or how I got there in the first place. This blog entry is for photography sites like that. They all have something to offer that I would like to come back to view again.

Mark Eric is a fantastic photographer who seems to specialize in wedding photography. Great examples of shots here, as well as some equipment reviews such as the Cheetah stands which he uses.

Here's a photographer who seems to be local to me, J. Perez Imagery. Nice examples of his work, including wedding and portraiture.

Check THIS out! It's a pet photographer!! Amazing shots of our furry friends from the Shine Pet Photos blog (she also has a Flickr stream). Enjoy :)

Photoshop Tutorial of the Day: Background Blur

Here are 3 tutorials of varying levels of difficulty and sophistication for adding blur to the background of an image.

The original image (from the author's blog - not mine):


After applying blur to the background: