16 items I can't live without

[Buddy Thomason]

The subject line is a little misleading since there are probably many more items that I find useful than just the 16 shown. None the less, as an inveterate experimenter it seems I never use the same set-up twice. So, every now and then I snap a pic of whatever set-up I'm using and post it along with a resulting image. These are useful in soliciting feedback from other photographers as well as sharing with those who are learning. Comments welcomed, and please feel free to share your own set-ups and companion pics. There is no 'best' or 'correct' set-up - only those that work or don't work for the intended purpose.



Although this image has a different background, it was made with the above set-up. (The light colored background was not a good match for this particular knife, a rare William Scagel crown stag folder and one of only two currently known to exist. I included the Rose of Sharon pods and seeds in the image as a nod to the fact that Scagel was also an av## and accomplished self-taught botanist.)



* It seems like a good time to once again acknowledge the terrific help and encouragement I've received over the past few years from this forum's moderators, Jim Cooper and Terrill Hoffman - and also the many thoughtful participants in these discussions, some regular and others occasional posters. This is a great place to learn!

[Barbara Turner]

Very nice Buddy. Can you tell me where you picked up the articulating arm clamps, something like that would come in very handy. I knew I should of been born with a couple of extra arms. My setup is like a house of #####, one wrong move and everything comes tumbling down (foam boards, reflectors, etc.). Thanks for sharing another version of a setup you are using.

[Buddy Thomason]

Barbara - Manfrotto (Italy) - Google to find their website. You have to pick out the indiv##ual parts to create the type and size arm(s) with the features you want - very much the 'custom' approach and I should probably add "not cheap." Even so, I couldn't find anything out there that resembled this as an 'off the shelf' unit. I borrowed the ##ea from Eric Eggly/PointSeven Studios... It was the 'house of #####' problem that finally drove me to spring for these.

[seamus]

Buddy,
It's always fun to see how and where other people do their thing. As a knifemaker I'm very much drawn to other makers shops. As a very novice photographer it's great to see what set-ups might help me along. The articulating mirror clamps were interesting but the thing that caught my eye was one leg of the tripod resting off-set on the table. Simple, but somehow it hadn't yet occurred to me to deal with the camera balancing issues! Great photo of the Scagel, of course.
Jim Harrison

[Buddy Thomason]

Thanks, Jim. You make a great point about the tripod and it took forever for that little obvious trick to finally dawn on me. What makes it work is having a tripod that will allow you to fold the legs out all the way, even flat if necessary. My first tripod wouldn't do that so I had to get a new one. The other thing that's hard to see in the photo is the little sack of weights draped around the top of the pod, just under the ball head. Normally I would hang it from the hook you can see a the bottom of the extension tube but in this case it interfered with the clamp and surface just below. That sack of weights (5 lbs) helps to stabilize the pod and further prevent motion blurring. I also have a 10 lb sack for counterbalancing the arm support for the #1 softbox. Before that I used a can of paint!