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www.jgreentree.co.uk
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# Posted: 13 Jun 08 19:10
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Right what is your favourite item you use in photography ? Do you buy items off the shelf or do you make your own? who scours Ebay for hours like me to catch a bargain??
In this current climate money is scarce and equipment is far too expensive, i try to find a cheap substitute or a second hand bargain. I use plain bed sheets as back drops, Builders lamps with muslin as lighting and car window heat reflectors as light boards which cost me 99 pence to buy instead of £20. Cheep conversion lens and filters off ebay and box standard tripods and bean bags.
Tell me what your favourite item is or if you have made a piece of kit yourself.
What you have found that works for you, tin foil was always a favourite
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www.jgreentree.co.uk
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# Posted: 13 Jun 08 19:13
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I found a thread that shows this by Ruden
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A.Miguel Oliveira
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# Posted: 13 Jun 08 21:56
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Hi, Jonny!
You're an unbelievable great member of woophy with so many ideas and love for photography! For that, thumb UP!!!
Regarding your thread, I'm not sure if I should reply here or at Ruden's, as you seem to suggest in your second post. Anyway, as I already revealed my choice over there, here it goes again:
My 3 first important small gadgets are:
~1. small bag of beans instead of tripod
~2. polarizer filter
~3. fill-in flash (or is it the Jobo Giga Vu Pro Evolution hard-drive to transfer my full Sandisk memory cards?...)
Hugs, friend!
Miguel
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www.jgreentree.co.uk
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# Posted: 13 Jun 08 22:58
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Cheers Miguel i thank my misses on buying our first camera as i wouldn't be so hooked on this superb subject called photography.
I like your first choice as i use a bean bag and they are superb in every way.
I trying to master portraits on a budget so any ideas on how to master them with out buying the gear please let me know.
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ray9
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# Posted: 13 Jun 08 23:23
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Hello,
At the end of the last week I visited "Le Mont St Michel" but unfortunately I forgot my mono pod and tripod at home then I wanted to make shots by night without equipment but the result is not good . However when I was back to my car I used the fixed road signs to try to make shots without moving .
Regards,
Ps: I never seen a place with so many photographers .........and some of them didn't forget their tripod ;o)
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Nivad
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# Posted: 13 Jun 08 23:59
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Well my first "extra" equipment was a UV-filter, and a suppose everyone has one for each objective he or she has. At this moment UV-filters are actually used to protect the glass of our objectives then to filter UV-light.
The bean bag is a great tip, Miguel. ever thought about it. As a hiker I do not have the luxury of being able to carry a tripod... But now I'll always take an empty bag with me. At location I can fill it up with small stones, dirt, sand... and use it to place camera on. Perhaps it is less versatile, but it is super-light and supersmall very important when packing a backpack 
Grtz
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www.jgreentree.co.uk
Member
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# Posted: 14 Jun 08 09:18
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Glad to see all your comments
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Ruden Fretsbo
Member
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# Posted: 14 Jun 08 23:30
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Hi all!
I'd like to talk about something that maybe sometimes we overlook (at least I did) The memory card. I used to have a normal SD card but recently I bought a high speed one (San Disk Extreme III) and the difference is really big when you are shoting in RAW format, specially when shooting a burst.
Another gadget that I ADORE is a flexible mini tripod. It costs almost nothing, you can have it in your pocket (it's big as a pen) and it's really useful in some unforeseen situations, more or less like a bean bag but much smaller. Only you have to consider that this mini tripods are designed for compact cameras, not DSLR. Anyway I used it with my Pentax K10 D (a heavy camera) and it worked very well with a short focal lenght, because with the zoom extended it can be dangerous. Only you have to be very careful and to open the legs very much.
Of course for a compact camera it's jus a PERFECT gadget!
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www.jgreentree.co.uk
Member
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# Posted: 14 Jun 08 23:35 - Edited by: www.jgreentree.co.uk
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If anyone wants a cheap light reflector for portrait shots then why not buy a car windscreen sun reflector they can cost between £1 to £10 which is a big saving.URL
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ray9
Member
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# Posted: 15 Jun 08 11:52
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You can use also a bag to transport frozen foods , they are sometimes made like sun reflectors , when you make portrait or close up you can also swear white closes to reflect the light but for a museum prefer the black for the reflect in the glasses .
I use also a plastic bag to protect my knee and it's always in my pocket in case of rain to protect my camera urgently.
The last gadget I made: I scotched is a little plastic pipe to a nozzle of my vacuum cleaner and as I've a knurl to set the speed then I can make the housekeeping in my equipments ;o)
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A.Miguel Oliveira
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# Posted: 16 Jun 08 02:27
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Ruden, just to say that really the Sandisk Extreme III SD card is great (the only one I use since my first change from a normal one)! BTW, does anybody changed from it to the Extreme IV and thinks it's worth for the extra money? Thanks.
Besides, I also agree that the small flexible tripod is fantastic to compacts!
Hugs
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leilani
Member
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# Posted: 16 Jun 08 05:23
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you can use a foam core board which you can get in a craft/office supply store as a reflector which costs very little. If you want something with more elasticity to bounce light off of is a white bristol board (smooth, heavy pasteboard of fine quality) about 20x30 , it can be curved to bounce the right amount of light and it has a slight shine finish which improves it reflectivity.
you can make a snoot for your external flash out of straws. Actually theres a lot of lighting equipment you can make yourself, soft boxes, ringlights etc.
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Ruud~
Member
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# Posted: 17 Jun 08 01:36 - Edited by: Ruud~
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This is my shoulder pod:
I bought it for €29 at an electronics shop. It looked useful.
It really works as a tripod replacement and is very light-weight. It reduces camera shake and helps for secure aiming, especially at longer focal lengths. This gadget will give you a two or three stops advantage.
Cullmann makes it. They say it is also good as a table pod (if you turn the legs open), but that doesn't work very well. It's too wobbly on those short legs.
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www.jgreentree.co.uk
Member
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# Posted: 20 Jun 08 11:34
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Ill looking to get one of those Ruud.
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