Thanks to Mike Buckley

[rpcrowe]

I am getting on in years. We celebrated my 77th Birthday on June Second with (What else?) a "dog party" in which we had about twenty dogs making use of my own "private dog park" (our fenced-in acre yard)...

Anyway, Mike's recent post regarding "tabletop photography" stirred my interest in that venue as something that I can enjoy without a lot of physical exertion. We no longer have our motor home and my boat has long been sold years ago, so I have a wonderfully large garage space that I can use for a studio for both portraits and for tabletop work...

The nice thing about this is that I can basically leave my gear set up; so I don't have to set it up for every shoot and then break it down...

I revisited a very neat YouTube video on focus stacking which I am going to try.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JC3ZmfUnA_E

I have an older 17-inch notebook computer which has not been used in a long while. I am going to set this up as my studio computer.

http://cpn.canon-europe.com/content/...eos_utility.do

I also have a VERY OLD Davis and Sanford tripod which could support the weight of a Volkswagen Bug and which weighs almost as much as a VW. I am panning to rig up a platform for this tripod to hold the notebook computer, along with a set of wheels so I can roll it around very easily. Which will be handy since I will be working with a wired USB connection...

The garage will also be a great place to collect and store things for my tabletop shooting, such as rocks, logs and of course, the table itself.

I can also set up the garage as a portrait studio.

Over the years, I have collected enough equipment to set up the Tabletop and Portrait studios without having to switch lights and stands from one area to another....

Of course, I will still go out on photo shoots. I have been eating really conservatively in 2017 and have lost 30 pounds. This makes my doctor very happy and I seem to have a lot more energy.

I will also still shoot our rescue dogs in my home. I know that I will not be able to convince my wife to walk out to the large garage to help me shoot...

[xpatUSA]

I am getting on in years. We celebrated my 77th Birthday on June Second . . <>

Happy Birthday, young man.

My 77th was on Feb 21, hence "young".

[Mike Buckley]

It's very clear that I'm being given a LOT more credit than I deserve! Congratulations on your 77th birthday and your change of lifestyle that has made you more healthy and with more energy. It's probably a good thing that you won't be able to convince your wife to go to the garage, as when she sees all your photo equipment in one place, she might suddenly realize all the money you've spent over the decades. (As someone I used to be in touch with always said, when he dies he hopes his wife doesn't sell the equipment for the price he told her that he paid for it.) Most important, thanks for the YouTube video, as I am getting closer and closer to getting into focus stacking.

[mknittle]

Well Happy birthday Richard.

[rpcrowe]

It's probably a good thing that you won't be able to convince your wife to go to the garage, as when she sees all your photo equipment in one place, she might suddenly realize all the money you've spent over the decades.

GOD FORGIVE!

However, since I have become our "official" rescue dog photographer, my wife no longer worries all that much about the equipment that I buy. Especially since I often try to sell older equipment to fund or partially fund new stuff. Selling my 300mm f/4L IS and 400mm f/5.6L pretty well funded my 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS lens One good thing about Canon "L" glass is that when you but an "L" lens used at a decent price, there is usually no difficulty in unloading it later at about the same price...

I am going to use my new (used) 100mm f/2.8 Canon Macro lens and the Yongnuo ring flash to shoot individual pictures of a litter of newborn puppies. Not the best outfit for that use, you say Sure it is, "Honey, this is just what I bought that new lens and flash for. Works great doesn't it?"

By the way, I had been looking for that Forrest Tanaka YouTube video on focus stacking with a tethered Canon camera for a long while and finally found it at the opportune time...

Since I expect to tether my 5D Mark-ii camera (with which I plan to shoot most of the tabletop setups - as well as portraits) with a USB cable; I just purchased a 25-foot USB Extension so I will have some more freedom of movement.

I have been reading about shooting tethered on YouTube and there is a Canon site which recommended using a desktop computer if you have the space, and of course the computer. I still have the Gateway desktop computer that I replaced with a Dell, last year; so I plan on using that computer. I have a sturdy roll-around table that will be ideal to set it on. The 25-foot extension cord will allow me some freedom of movement when I am shooting.

The Gateway computer has Adobe Photoshop CS6 installed and working on it...

I have a 400 WS studio strobe and a Medium Chimera Softbox, that I can now leave set up. That "medium" softbox is 36 inches x 48 inches (91.44 cm x 121.92 cm) and REALLY produces some soft light over a pretty wide area. I bought the strobe (Sunpak Studio) and Chimera Softbox for one hundred U.S. Dollars on Craigslist but, due to the size of this unit, I have not left it set up...

[rtbaum]

Next thing you know......you will be buying your wife bouquets just so you shoot a carnation......

[rpcrowe]

Next thing you know......you will be buying your wife bouquets just so you shoot a carnation......

I have thought seriously abut doing just that