TunerImpact.com

New Cleaner Look

gemphoto — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 08:26:36 +0000

I hope you all love the new WordPress Theme Layout.

I think it looks much brighter, cleaner, and easier to read. It is also more capable of showing off bigger pictures like a typical Photo-Blog does. Please message me back and let me know what you think. The only thing I miss about the older theme is that it no longer has the header photo of Angela below. So here is a last look at it for all of you that requested it.

New Product!!

gemphoto — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:15:50 +0000

Artistic Photo Painter effects are now available!

An almost endless combination of effect and looks. *Oil paints *Chalks *Color pencils *Charcoals *Water colors *100′s of different brushes *Outlines *Art papers *Different canvas types *Etc…

Email me for more details…

HIN Boston 09 – Coverage

gemphoto — Tue, 19 May 2009 15:46:31 +0000

It is that time of the year again for Hot Import Nights – Boston! This time however, it was held at New England Dragway for the first time. Even though the weather looked dowright spooky (heavy overcast of clouds) for an outdoor event; The turnout was fantastic. The show turned out to be simply outstanding. I did not think that HIN could get any better, but somehow they did it. The only thing that dampened the show was that it got cut short because of rain that finally showed up after about 4-1/2 hours into the show. I knew it was coming, but took the chance anyway. It was so well worth it.

It was great meeting up with a ton of great people that I have worked with before. It was also great to meet a lot of new ones.

Click on any of the photos below to enjoy the coverage:

RayFlash Review

gemphoto — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 16:47:41 +0000

>Question- The lighting on these photos that you took look so 3-Dimensional. How did you do them?

These were done with one of my favorite weapons. They were shot with a portable ring flash that is mounted on my Canon 580EX. It is made by a company from the Czech Republic called RayFlash. http://www.ray-flash.com/ I saw some outstanding outdoor shots of a model and noticed there was a behind-the-scenes set of photos. I saw then name “RayFlash” on the front of it in one shot. I Googled the name and found it for sale in the USA.

I would like to give you my first experience with my RayFlash:

I just did my first photo shoot with it in my studio with the RayFlash. Honestly, am not sure why, I had this preconceived notion that I was only going to get a mild ring flash effect and a very limited range. This was clearly not what happened.

I was part way through the photo shoot, and the model had just changed into another outfit. I told her that I have a new toy that I would like to try out. So bare with me because I might have to do some adjustments to get these shots to come out right. I quickly put on the new RayFlash and I took some shots with my 580EX set to E-TTL. I was surprised when I saw that by background light fired a couple of times (inconsistently). I had a red gel filter on the background light; that is how I could tell that it had fired. I really liked the look of what I was getting with the background light. I then switched over to manual did a quick shot saw that it was too overexposed. I backed down the power to 1/4 and took a few more shots. That worked and it was triggering the back light consistently.

I decided not to keep the model waiting, so we continued with the shoot at that setting. The shots looked so good that I caught myself shooting too fast for the flash to keep up. I quickly attached my CP-E2 battery pack to the flash and kept shooting.

All I kept saying was, gorgeous, beautiful, outstanding, I love that, wow, etc… Not just because the model was doing such a great job, but at how I loved the results that I was getting. I decided to do a quick switch over back to the regular studio lighting without the RayFlash. They somehow looked boring in comparison; so I switched back and finished shooting that outfit with the RayFlash set-up.

I found out that in manual mode, for full length shots, I had to up the power to 1/2, and back it down to 1/4 for 3/4 length model shots. I’ll have to see how I can connect my wireless radio trigger for my studio lights off my pc synch, and use the RayFlash off the hot shoe for the next photo shoot. This should be simple to do with a short cable.

I always like to give feedback from my websites back to where the credit is due. The model did a fantastic job and so did my new RayFlash. I am very happy with the results. I particularly love how quickly I could pop on the RayFlash for some quick shots.

…I posted one photo at a couple of my websites last night. It is UNBELIEVABLE just how many compliments I have already received for just this one shot!!! Many are saying that it is such a great photo, and that the model looks so gorgeous and beautiful.

That was over 6 months ago. Back then it was new on the market and I payed around $300 for it. Now it is available for around $100 less. I really like to do some shots on every photo session with it. Since then, I have honed my skills with this setup. I now prefer to set my flash on E-TTL with a battery pack, and camera set on RAW. This gives me the most flexibility.

Now that the weather is finally warming up outside; I can’t wait to try it out for outdoor shoots. The quality and construction has proven to be very good, and I’ve never had any problems with it.

PASMAG featured model – Christine

gemphoto — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 05:22:52 +0000

Due to overwhelming response, I have expanded Christine’s photo set. Now there are over double the amount of photos from before! So make sure to check out them out…

Congratulations to model Christine for getting featured on Performance Auto and Sound Magazine (PASMAG.com)! That sure was a fantastic photo shoot. Here are some of the photos that were featured on the magazine plus some additional ones from that same photo session.

Name: Christine Briana Dart

Age: 20

Birthday: 12-17-87

Birthplace: Middletown, CT

Hometown: East Hampton, CT

Height: 5’6”

Weight: 129

Measurements: 34B-26-36

Ethnicity: English, German, French-Canadian, And Dutch

Occupation: Tool Designer

Ambitions: To get my own TV shows about racing or modifying cars.

Hobbies: Drag-racing, snowboarding, dancing

Type of music: Everything, especially metal

Favorite hangouts: Track

Favorite designers: Whatever is on sale

Favorite foods: Reese’s Pieces Sundae!

Favorite drink at a club: Depends on my mood. I really like IPA’s, and Red Ale’s

What are three things that you just can’t live without? Goals, friends, family

Current car: 91 Galant VR-4

Dream car: R34 Skyline

How did u get started with modeling? My break was being a Fan Focus Model for the SCCA World Challenge Series.

What’s the best place you’ve ever been to? Haven’t been to a best place yet.

What do you do in your spare time? Race & modify cars, snowboarding.

Do you own any pets? A black cat with CRAZY eyes!

Guy turn-ons? Ambition, confidence, sense of humor

Guy turn-offs? Creepiness, being too sentimental

Give me 2 words that best describe you? Ambitious, out-going

Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years? 10 years? On TV!

Website: http://www.modelmayhem.com/christineDart

[Show as slideshow]

PASMAG.com Feature Link

Wireless eBay triggers

gemphoto — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:49:07 +0000

>Question- Are eBay wireless radio flash triggers any good?

Pocket Wizards really have an excellent product that many professional photographers all around the world use. Very rugged, low interference, great range, etc… But they are pricey in my opinion. There are other similar wireless trigger systems also available at most of the big photographic equipment suppliers but they are almost all the similarly priced.

On eBay there are many different brands and several different kinds of wireless triggers. Some are very cheaply built, some are 4 channel, some are 8 channel, etc… Even Alien Bees sold a set that was very similar. These are all around 15 times cheaper than Pocket Wizards! So are they any good?

They all have battery-powered transmitters that sit on the hot shoe of the camera. There are some that have AC powered receivers. There are others that have battery-powered receivers, and there others with receivers made for triggering shoe mount flashes.

Personally I love mine. I purchased mine from eBay. They are from a company called Shanghai Jinbei Photo. I have a YS-B Digital Trigger 4 channel system with one shoe-mounted transmitter and 2 of AC powered receivers that I use for my studio lights.

I chose the AC powered receivers so that I will never have to worry about batteries. The battery on the transmitter lasts almost for ever. The battery that it uses is very small. It is the same kind of battery that is used for many car remote pogs, and many garage door openers, so they are easy to find at most electronics places like Radio Shack. Eventually I will start to see that at sync speed, a black edge will start to appear on my photos. That is when I replace the battery on the transmitter.

You will no longer trip on the long sync cord, or yank the sync cord, or have it come loose and not fire the lights, or have the cord get tangled on a fan, or a stool, etc…

The transmitters have a button on top so that you can fire your strobes. This makes it extremely easy to meter your lights because you can trigger your lights from almost anywhere. I once placed my lights up on the top of bleachers and shot a basketball game from around 80ft away with no problems.

I have used mine for over 6 years now with no problems at all. These are so cheap that if one set breaks or stops working, you can get a whole new set at minimal expense anyway.

I have heard that there are other brands of these cheap triggers that are very troublesome and not very reliable. If I had to buy a new one, I would probably just get one of the new Alien Bees CyberSync systems. I would then have that great customer service that they are notorious for. I have heard also that these are very good systems at a great price.

Coverage for Pumpin Pistons, Car Show/Wash 08

gemphoto — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 01:45:27 +0000

This is one of those great car club shows that was really ton of fun. Not just a car show, not just a car wash charity event, but a bikini car wash too. You just got to love summer time! It was well worth the 2+ hour drive up to Danvers, MA.

The biggest thing that I noticed was that everyone from the car club had such a fantastic attitude.

The models were real traffic stoppers too; literally!! There were models holding up signs to get some customers to come in for a car wash. One dude in a pickup truck coming in for a wash was so focused in on them, that he got into an accident. I don’t blame him; The models were really hot! =)

Check out the pictures by clicking on either of the photos below.

Coverage for Funkmaster Flex 08

gemphoto — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:48:55 +0000

Added Coverage of Funkmaster Flex, Hartford 2008.

The one thing about this particular show is that there are always some really outstanding cars there. They sure did not disappoint me this year; I was VERY impressed!

*Click on images below to see the gallery*

Check out my new “Portfolio” page…

gemphoto — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 15:08:48 +0000

As a photographer, I am always updating my portfolio. Many people have visited this website looking to see some of my work. For those who don’t have the luxury of having spare time; This new Portfolio page gives you a quick way to check out some of my “best of GemPhoto” shots.

Note: Some of the photos on my Portfolio page are new to this site, so make sure to check them out.

http://tunerimpact.com/portfolio/

Upcoming Feature Models Sneak Peeks

gemphoto — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 14:29:19 +0000

I know that I have not posted up all that many new blobs recently. To tell you the truth; I have been super SUPER busy shooting and processing tons and tons and TONS of photos. For that reason, I have fallen a bit way behind with posting up here regularly. I suppose this is a sign that my popularity as a photographer is growing by leaps and bounds. =)

So to try to make up for it, I am posting up these sneak peek photos of just a few of the many photo shoots that I have been working on. Stay tuned, these models and many MANY more that are still in the works will be featured here soon as soon as I can get them ready. Enjoy!