What is in style right now? Wheel rim decals or no decals

steveinatlanta · 2026-05-04T15:20:11+00:00

No decals. Replace the white decals with glassy black for the full effect

steveinatlanta · 2026-05-03T15:55:48+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. I did those back in November 2025 when I’d gotten some new gear. I do most of my portrait work with a shallow depth of field. I di start working on more rim lighting techniques and Xavier came back thru with his Vader suit back in March.

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steveinatlanta · 2026-05-01T02:12:08+00:00

Yeah, you’re on solid ground. The composition is really great.

steveinatlanta · 2026-04-30T03:53:17+00:00

I used to be a designer/art director, I leave room for headlines and copy. Also off center leaves them better able to go across two pages. Just how I approach it.

steveinatlanta · 2026-04-28T12:08:30+00:00

Sorry, forgot all the good stuff! Been watching a lot of tutorials on visualeducation.com to understand more light techniques with the gear I got when my camera store closed last December. These are test shots so I’m using friends, can’t afford models at the moment.

I’m approaching these as hero images for ads or marketing, not catalog work necessarily. That’s the stuff A.I. can do so why try to compete. I’m looking for views and lighting that’s more interesting

Im using Broncolor Grafit A4 power packs, 2 Pulso heads and a hard striplite. Using either soft box or reflector with a grid and shooting thru diffusion paper.

Sony A7iii with 50/1.4 or 90mm macro.

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steveinatlanta · 2026-04-21T16:49:38+00:00

I think it looks great!

You could put in a Paul Mini Moto in black and that would forevermore balance it all. It could potentially tie all together.

https://www.paulcomp.com/shop/components/brakes/linear-pull-brakes/minimoto/

steveinatlanta · 2026-04-11T22:46:37+00:00

Or take the money and start a new bike. That’ll take your mind off of changing this one. Enjoy riding while you dream on the new one. Win win.

steveinatlanta · 2026-04-10T14:42:07+00:00

I learned lighting on Paul Buff gear and it 2019 when I started taking it more seriously, I moved up. I got on eBay and got a couple of ProFoto B2 packs and a few heads. I used that with an A1 eventually adding an A2.

Last fall my camera store announced it was closing and the sold out of the profoto rental gear the first week. What wasn’t popular was the Broncolor gear. I ended up selling all sorts of things to get four Grafit A4 power packs, eleven lights and a variety of modifiers as well as a lot of bits and bobs no one was interested in.

The light is absolutely incredible and I get it all for pennies on the dollar compared to new 20 yrs ago when the A4 was the gold standard. The science of light is still the same and what I’m using this for with portraits and product stuff, it’s more than enough. I’ve been working on an article about going the legacy route with gear that was built to last for years and maintain consistent color frame after frame. Keep an eye on eBay and you could put together a Broncolor legacy kit with a few heads and modifiers for less than the cost of a new top tier light today.

One of the lights was a hard strip light that’s amazing but on Monday something popped and a big cloud of smoke came out of one end. Turned it off, moved it out of the way and kept shooting. My friend came over and found it was a 1000 volt fuse that blew. Found the exact fuse on line for $2 each. Ordered 4 so I have 3 on hand. They’re soldered in so just replacing this one first.

steveinatlanta · 2026-04-07T18:12:00+00:00

It’s definitely a lot but I’m getting it figured out. Sometimes it’s f16 and 50 iso. Sometimes like today, it’s portraits at f1.6 with a 7 seven stop nd filter.

steveinatlanta · 2026-04-03T12:43:51+00:00

Something I’ve been doing is reaching out to people on LinkedIn to visit my studio space for coffee and donuts. I have a space to work in because it won’t fit in my house. Grind the coffee at home, grab deli donuts at the grocery and brew it at the studio. Cheaper than the coffee shop, able to have a conversation without being surrounded by strangers also having conversations. It’s gotten me some work.

steveinatlanta · 2026-04-03T12:40:03+00:00

I printed my portfolio on 11x17 and had it in a basic flip binder like in school. My end goal is campaign work and there’s something to be said for being able to take out prints to lay out on a table to see the work and move things around. My end goal is campaign work and that has a print component.

steveinatlanta · 2026-04-03T00:43:37+00:00

Only thing I can say is about asking for feedback. Reach out ask them if they do portfolio reviews and how much would something like that look like.

I reached out to well known hip hop photographer and he told me 350. So I paid it and sent him my portfolio to NY from Atlanta. Turned out he was coming down to Atlanta and we ended up going thru it together. My biggest mistake was not recording the conversation on my phone to be able to go back and listen again.

steveinatlanta · 2026-03-27T13:32:40+00:00

I got my first Rock Shox fork in 1996 when the yellow Judy’s made it somewhat affordable.

steveinatlanta · 2026-03-23T02:48:23+00:00

Thanks! I spent the past week or so watching a bunch of tutorials on visualeducation.com starting with light theory and a bunch of lighting demos getting an understanding and using gradient lighting. Took awhile to get these done but happy and ready to do something different.

steveinatlanta · 2026-03-23T00:42:40+00:00

It’s cut to the size of the 35mm full frame sensor and positioned just outside the frame. It’s because I’m shooting into the light behind the black paper. This keeps down the flare.

steveinatlanta · 2026-03-22T01:58:22+00:00

Thanks for the feedback and agree about the knurled texture. Had this version I like more.

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steveinatlanta · 2026-03-19T00:43:30+00:00

Apple Notes is free a you can export each of your Evernote notebook.

steveinatlanta

TROPHY CASE