Mario Live! » People http://mario-live.com/blog The Blog Since 2008 Tue, 22 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= Nissin Di622 on Canon EOS 7D – TTL vs Manual Mode http://mario-live.com/blog/2012/03/nissin-di622-on-canon-eos-7d-ttl-vs-manual-mode/ http://mario-live.com/blog/2012/03/nissin-di622-on-canon-eos-7d-ttl-vs-manual-mode/#comments Mon, 26 Mar 2012 22:28:21 +0000 Mario http://mario-live.com/blog/2012/03/nissin-di622-on-canon-eos-7d-ttl-vs-manual-mode/

Last weekend I did a little test with the Nissin Di622 speedlite for Canon mounted on the Canon EOS 7D. My goal was to compare the result of the TTL and the Manual Mode. The latter is my preference by the way. Always.

Let’s forget about the price difference between the Nissin Di622 and for example the Canon Speedlite 580 EX for a moment. It’s a huge one, I know.

There is a reason that I took this shots on-camera. Even though The Nissin works with Canon’s ETTL system, what is known at the Nikon side as CLS (Creative Lighting System or ITTL) this doesn’t mean that there is any TTL information send by any means.

The only part of the ETTL-idea that is supported here is that you can trigger the Nissin with your pop-up flash. Just set it on commander or control mode before you do that so the light of the build-in flash will not have influence on your image.

There is a weakness here and this weakness starts with R and ends with eliability! If you are not in a closed room where the light of your commander flash can bounce from everywhere you will have a big chance that this light is weakened so much on its way to your speedlite that it will not fire at all.

This is not a situation you want to have if you are hired to do a job.

You might think that you just can take one or another radio trigger. This is a very good one and we are all in love with Pocket Wizards but don’t reckon on compatibility with your Nissin here. Forget about Cactus all together. Been there, tried that, forget it my friend.

So, the last thing we could try would be a PC-Sync cable and the case could be closed. Have fun by finding a plug for this little rocker.

Don’t get me wrong, this is not a rand about the Nissin Di622 what is overall a great flash depending on how much control you want to have or need for your work. If you just want to make some nice family or party snap shots you are probably fine, especially if you not yet into off-camera lighting (but you should).

However, always consider that you get what you pay for and you can always get a second hand brand speedlite what will do everything you need it to do.

Happy shooting!

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    ]]>     http://mario-live.com/blog/2012/03/nissin-di622-on-canon-eos-7d-ttl-vs-manual-mode/feed/ 2     The Weird Pricing Of Media Markt’s Printing Service – Part 2 http://mario-live.com/blog/2012/02/the-weird-pricing-of-media-markts-printing-servicepart-2/ http://mario-live.com/blog/2012/02/the-weird-pricing-of-media-markts-printing-servicepart-2/#comments Sat, 18 Feb 2012 22:51:24 +0000 Mario http://mario-live.com/blog/2012/02/the-weird-pricing-of-media-markts-printing-servicepart-2/

    It took Media Markt (over here in the Netherlands) 17 days to reply to the question I asked them about their kind of weird pricing system when it comes to their photo print service.

    You can read the first post on this by clicking here.

    I guess they had to think about the fact if they want to give me an answer to my question at all. You probably think that they answered my question right away.

    If so, you are mistaken.

    The only thing I got so far is a ticket number and the apology that it took so long to reply to my initial message. I’m very curious about how long it will take to receive their answer. Just as curious how they will argue.

    However, I surly will try their service to see if they are better or worse as the print service I reviewed earlier.

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      ]]>       http://mario-live.com/blog/2012/02/the-weird-pricing-of-media-markts-printing-servicepart-2/feed/ 0       RAW Edit For The Fro Week 59 http://mario-live.com/blog/2012/01/raw-edit-for-the-fro-week-59/ http://mario-live.com/blog/2012/01/raw-edit-for-the-fro-week-59/#comments Thu, 12 Jan 2012 21:43:56 +0000 Mario http://mario-live.com/blog/2012/01/raw-edit-for-the-fro-week-59/

      As this week RAW file by Jared Polin contains without a doubt a cool looking model it’s time to participate in the weekly RAW edit thing. Yes, again.

      This time I also have a little critique on the image itself.

      In fact it also involves a little tip as I said in the beginning of this video: never touch the model. Ever. At least not if it is not your partner or a very good friend.

      So, if you would have shot this image and the model would have been hired or joined the shooting on TFP-basis and you would have seen that the string of her dress was twisted, you would have attended her on this. This way the model can correct things like that herself and no awkward or uncomfortable situations occur.

      I hope you like this week RAW edit. I’m heading to do the next video. Thank you very much for watching and all your support!

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      ]]>       http://mario-live.com/blog/2012/01/raw-edit-for-the-fro-week-59/feed/ 0       The Exposure Triangle Made Easy (Hopefully) http://mario-live.com/blog/2012/01/the-exposure-triangle-made-easy-hopefully/ http://mario-live.com/blog/2012/01/the-exposure-triangle-made-easy-hopefully/#comments Mon, 09 Jan 2012 05:30:10 +0000 Mario http://mario-live.com/blog/2012/01/the-exposure-triangle-made-easy-hopefully/

      Traci told me via Google+ that she got lost when she watched my former video on Investigating the Scene before doing a shoot.

      I should have mentioned that knowledge of the exposure triangle is mandatory in order to understand the explanation in mentioned video.

      Even though there are plenty explanations of this triangle available on-line I decided to do my own in order to make the whole thing complete.

      Enjoy:

      Thank you very much for watching and all your support. I really appreciate this!

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        ]]>         http://mario-live.com/blog/2012/01/the-exposure-triangle-made-easy-hopefully/feed/ 0         Saving An Out Of Focus Image – RAW Edit For The Fro #58 http://mario-live.com/blog/2012/01/saving-an-out-of-focus-image-raw-edit-for-the-fro-58/ http://mario-live.com/blog/2012/01/saving-an-out-of-focus-image-raw-edit-for-the-fro-58/#comments Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:43:33 +0000 Mario http://mario-live.com/blog/2012/01/saving-an-out-of-focus-image-raw-edit-for-the-fro-58/

        If you shoot with an aperture of f2.8 or even shallower, you know that it can happen that your subject(s) can get out of focus by leaving the focal pane. This happens easily if you’ve set your AF to Single or One Shot instead of Continuous or AI Servo.

        Even though you can usually do with Single or One Shot AF and lock your focus when doing portraits it can get tricky in combination with a shallow depth of field like mentioned above. This is especially true when an animal is involved that can change the setting in an instance.

        A tong over a face is enough for a dog to achieve something like that.

        However, if it happens there is still a good chance to save the image. This is where today’s edit start. Let’s have a look:

        I hope you found this video useful. Thank you very much for watching.

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          ]]>           http://mario-live.com/blog/2012/01/saving-an-out-of-focus-image-raw-edit-for-the-fro-58/feed/ 0           The Different Export Formats In Manga Studio Debut And EX http://mario-live.com/blog/2012/01/the-different-export-formats-in-manga-studio-debut-and-ex/ http://mario-live.com/blog/2012/01/the-different-export-formats-in-manga-studio-debut-and-ex/#comments Mon, 02 Jan 2012 20:16:44 +0000 Mario http://mario-live.com/blog/2012/01/the-different-export-formats-in-manga-studio-debut-and-ex/

          There are many questions on the differences between the Debut and EX version of Manga Studio. In todays video I talk about the main differences when it comes to the export file formats.

          As you could see there a quite some differences and while the EX version has all the goodies on both computer systems: Mac and PC, the Debut version on the PC is more restricted than the Mac-version.

          I hope this little explanation helps you to decide for what version you want to go.

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            ]]>             http://mario-live.com/blog/2012/01/the-different-export-formats-in-manga-studio-debut-and-ex/feed/ 0             RAW Edit For The Fro Week 57 http://mario-live.com/blog/2011/12/raw-edit-for-the-fro-week-57/ http://mario-live.com/blog/2011/12/raw-edit-for-the-fro-week-57/#comments Sat, 31 Dec 2011 09:58:15 +0000 Mario http://mario-live.com/blog/2011/12/raw-edit-for-the-fro-week-57/

            As some of you told me that they like my RAW-edits I decided to participate in another one. This time it’s a challenge but this is not the reason to do this. I can’t use the prize anyway.

            This week the RAW image was taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II and I first edit it in Lightroom before I give it my finishing touch in Photoshop.

            This is probably my last post in 2011, so I wish you a Happy New Year already.

            Thanks for watching and all your generous support during the last 12 month.

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            ]]>             http://mario-live.com/blog/2011/12/raw-edit-for-the-fro-week-57/feed/ 0             How To Create Your Own Balloon Material In Manga Studio http://mario-live.com/blog/2011/10/how-to-create-your-own-balloon-material-in-manga-studio/ http://mario-live.com/blog/2011/10/how-to-create-your-own-balloon-material-in-manga-studio/#comments Sun, 23 Oct 2011 22:11:19 +0000 Mario http://mario-live.com/blog/2011/10/how-to-create-your-own-balloon-material-in-manga-studio/

            Even though Manga Studio has a lot of balloon materials there are still users out there who want to create their own. Luckily this is very easy to accomplish as you’ll see in today’s video.

            I hope this short video was helpful for you. If you want to check out more tutorials on Manga Studio please check the site on Comic Art & Tutorials to find many more.

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            ]]>             http://mario-live.com/blog/2011/10/how-to-create-your-own-balloon-material-in-manga-studio/feed/ 0             How To Fill A Vector Shape With A Simple Color In Manga Studio http://mario-live.com/blog/2011/10/how-to-fill-a-vector-shape-with-a-simple-color-in-manga-studio/ http://mario-live.com/blog/2011/10/how-to-fill-a-vector-shape-with-a-simple-color-in-manga-studio/#comments Sun, 02 Oct 2011 21:27:02 +0000 Mario http://mario-live.com/blog/2011/10/how-to-fill-a-vector-shape-with-a-simple-color-in-manga-studio/

            Gerald from Hamburg (Germany) asked me how he can fill his vector shapes with a simple color in Manga Studio. As the manual of Manga Studio can be a little overwhelming with more than 400 pages, I decided top make this little video to provide a fast answer.

            There are also some misconceptions when it comes to ruler-layers. You can have a look at my series on this by scrolling down on my comic-art-and-tutorial-page. However, I will provide another video on how to think in the right way when it comes to ruler-layers.

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              ]]>               http://mario-live.com/blog/2011/10/how-to-fill-a-vector-shape-with-a-simple-color-in-manga-studio/feed/ 0               Manga Studio Quick Tip #12 http://mario-live.com/blog/2011/09/manga-studio-quick-tip-12/ http://mario-live.com/blog/2011/09/manga-studio-quick-tip-12/#comments Thu, 08 Sep 2011 22:05:00 +0000 Mario http://mario-live.com/blog/2011/09/manga-studio-quick-tip-12/

              Let’s stare at a blank page in this quick tip and have a closer look to all this print guides in Manga Studio and what they mean.

              I hope this video made things clear and answered the questions you had in mind around the print guides.

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