Finally got a new toy in today.  I had ordered this 86″ Paul C. Buff Parabolic Light Modification System (PLM System) what seems like a couple months ago.  They had been on back order forever but it finally showed up today via the brown santa clause (aka UPS).  Thanks to my friend Steve for that phrase. Whenever I get a new light modifier in I take some test shots to see the quality of light.  This is by far the largest modifier I have in my arsenal to date.  The intent was to get a hugh softbox to give the feeling of window light in a studio setup.  The PLM isn’t very deep either so it works well in limited space setups.  Plus to boot it’s actually quite affordable at only around a hundred bucks for the reflector and diffusion material. Wouldn’t want to use this outside as it would act like a hugh sail and fly away like our Colorado balloon boy.

This first image shows how the light fills the room.  As you can see it fills the room with a nice soft quality of light which I really dig.

This next image was shot to see the hot spots of the reflector.  It appears like a ring light in the reflector which again I personally like.  The two lines on the diffusion material are seams.

Finally, some images with a model.  Please note that the model isn’t necessary that good looking but he was hard up for some work.  I really like the ring light type of catch light in the eyes.

Overall, the PLM is great.  The only downside I’ve seen so far is putting on the diffusion material.  As you get one side hooked up the other side slides off.  I ended up using some binder clips to hold the diffusion material onto the reflector till I got all edges hooked.

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Mark Mortensen
Lakewood Colorado portrait and event photographer.
www.MarkMortensen.com

Elk Mountain Wyoming, originally uploaded by mark.mortensen.

This past weekend I was driving back from Idaho Falls, ID and while traversing Wyoming on I-80 the light was just right when I came across Elk Mountain.

Technical Ramblings: This is a pano of 8 hand-held images merged in Photoshop. In my eye, the sky looked just like this, however, on the sensor is was a bit less impressive. So the pixels were punished to make them look how I remembered the scene.

Be sure to check out the image LARGE

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Mark Mortensen
Lakewood Colorado portrait and event photographer.
www.MarkMortensen.com

Uploaded by mark.mortensen on 17 Feb 10, 6.02PM MST.

Photoshop is such a main stay in my business I don’t know what I would do without it.  This is a great interview with John Knoll, one of the co-developers of Photoshop.  More info of the history of Photoshop here.

–
Mark Mortensen
Lakewood Colorado portrait and event photographer.
www.MarkMortensen.com

Remember Alice?, originally uploaded by mark.mortensen.

Do you remember Alice? She made it to Explore and stayed. More is coming soon.

–
Mark Mortensen
Lakewood Colorado portrait and event photographer.
www.MarkMortensen.com

Uploaded by mark.mortensen on 3 Feb 10, 9.32PM MST.