Attitude

Attitude, originally uploaded by Andres Kütt.

Miisu shows her tougher side. Will be away for almost two weeks in Europe so this blog will be dormant for a while. Hopefully will get some good pictures, though.

Objects in my life: L'aquille du Midi

L'aquille du Midi, originally uploaded by Andres Kütt.

A carabine from Mont Blanc I visited years ago. Was just hanging around attached to my camera bag but has been acting as a key chain for the last couple of years.

Under The Blanket

Under The Blanked, originally uploaded by Andres Kütt.

Objects of my life: Victorinox

Victorinox, originally uploaded by Andres Kütt.

This is a first post of something I hope develops into a sort of series. I guess we are more or less defined by countless, often small, objects that surround us. People who carry three different hand-held devices wherever they go and people who can appreciate a good sharp ax. People who swear by Leatherman and those who go the MacGyver way.

I'm one of the latter. This particular piece has been with me about 6 years. My colleagues gave me one for a birthday. I thought I had lost it so my wife gave me a new one which is pictured here. As you can see, it has been in heavy (ab)use showing wear and tear but I wouldn't be surprised it would serve my grandchildren.

The most difficult task I have undertaken with one of those was to assemble a IKEA computer table out of a pile of 50 odd pieces (this included hammering some nails) and it was the most handy when I broke a pedal basket 10 minutes before a MTB marathon and fixed it using an empty Red Bull can.

You truly can call this the mans best friend.

Teddy II

Teddy II, originally uploaded by Andres Kütt.

In addition to the fancy backdrop set and table featured in the previous shot, I have now created a light dent out of a cardboard box and several sheets of tracing and drawing paper. Thank you, Strobist! (http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/07/how-to-diy-10-macro-photo-studio.html). I won't post a photo here of my setup as it looks exactly like the original. The only hints I have are that they don't package TVs in huge boxes any more but they do package light shades in those. And, two layers of tracing paper (one on the inside and the other on the out) is better than one.

DIY Studio

I have been reading DIY Photography for a while and, having played around with indoor photography before with unsatisfactory results, decided to build a rig myself.

So what do you need:

1. two paintbrush handles of the telescope kind (~150.-)
2. four toilet pumps of the primitive kind so the handles can come off (~100.-)
3. one broomstick of the modern aluminum kind (~40.-)
4. the cheapest possible piano chair (390.-)
5. one 500w building projector (270.-)
6. one small desk lamp (~150.-) + bulb (~70.-)
   
7. two clamps from the supermarket (35.-)
8. Tesa Cable Managers (~50.-)
9. Backdrop from the arts stroe (~20.-)
10. A wooden plate from a DYI store (~200)

The total is 1475 estonians which amounts to roughly USD 140 nowadays. There's nothing very complicated about this build, it was pretty much copied from various posts on the DYI photography. One thing to note is that the Tesa Cable Managers are much more versatile than clamps to fasten the horizontal tube as the telescope handles are pretty thick. They are very easy to fasten, come off without a trace and are rock solid. The other thing I figured was the piano chair would make an excellent adjustable macro table once the original seat was replaced with a large wooden plate. Works a treat. Here is how this thing looks:
I'm yet to figure out the right white balance for this setup. The Custom WB feature of my 10D seems to be way off, probably because the temperatures from the two light sources are different. Without further due, here's a picture I took with the setup, will be adding more (hopefully):