Electronic Components Macro and Photography Gear

If you guys read up on my blog, you'd know last year I got myself a new tripod and ball head. The ball head I got was the Manfrotto 057 Ball Head with the RC4 Quick Release. At the time of purchase, I didn't think a few pounds was going to make a difference, but after a year, I noticed that extra 2 pounds made A LOT of difference. Not only was those extra 2 pounds very heavy on hiking trips, when I tilt my center column on my tripod, it throws off the balanced by a lot. So recently, I got myself a new Vanguard BBH-100 Tripod Head which is less than half of the weight of the Manfrotto one I got. After doing some product photography of the new tripod head, I gave it some real world testing and shot some macro photography photos of some electronic components I had lying around. I will also give you a brief first look later in this blog post.

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To view my best macro photography photos in 2014, use this link. To view my best product photography photos, use this link. To view all of my at home/backyard photos for 2014, use this link. To view all of my product photography photos, use this link.

First off is my focus stacked shot of my new Vanguard BBH-100 Tripod Head. How I achieve such a white back ground and shadow-less shot? This might sound crazy, but for the set up it was just a small light box I modified from an Amazon shipping box (using printer paper and tape). For lights, I just used 2 work lights I got at Home Depot. It is a very very cheap set up, but gets the job done and works great for small items like this. 

First impression of the Vanguard BBH-100 Tripod Head. It seems very nice, very light. However one thing I found out when shooting macro is, once I have my Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens (with my Kenko Extension Tubes), the ball head does sag a bit unless I really tighten down that locking screw. The set up should be under the 22 pounds the head says it will support, but I guess it is because the whole setup isn't really centered. If I don't have the extension tubes on, the head seems fine. I'm willing to sacrifice a bit to cut down the weight. So far, I am liking the new ball head. Will keep you guys updated as I get to use it more. 

Now some real world testing using the new tripod head. I've been building a project recently and had some electronic components laying around. Here is a BC-547 transistor up close.  

 Here is the back side of the transistor with the ID of the part. 

Now I placed some surface mount capacitors I got on my piece of paper for some shots. These are very very tiny.  

Decided to drag a dime into the composition for size comparison for you guys. A total of 16 surface mount capacitors next to a US Dime (10¢).

These are all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed viewing them. I may start my photos from China trip next time or post some photos from Pleasanton, CA, so make sure you check back! Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 Ball Head Unboxing and Overview (Video)

Here is a quick unboxing and overview of the Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 Ball Head. In the video I first unbox it, give you a 360 view, and tell you about my first impressions of the ball head. Let me just say that this head is a lot bigger than I expected, but it looks so cool so I'm going to keep it. :) Like I said in the video, the ball is about the size of a tennis ball and it is made out of 100% magnesium so it is very heavy!

Specifications from Manfrotto Website:
Lateral Tilt: -103° / +40° head tilt
Material: magnesium
Panoramic Rotation: 360 °
Plate Type: 410PL
Quick Release: yes
Load Capacity: 33.07 lbs
Weight: 47.8 oz
Working Height: 5.75 in

If you enjoy my video reviews, you can follow me on Youtube here.

Midway in Circus Circus - Lake Tahoe/Reno 2012 (Part 5)

If you live in the SF Bay Area, you probably know it never snows here. Many people like me who live in the SF Bay Area love snow. The nearest place that does get snow is in Lake Tahoe and Reno. Many of us go there in the winter to go ski and snowboard, but for me, I don't like any of that. I enjoy taking photos of snow and playing in it. :) Here are photos of Lake Tahoe and Reno I took during my trip in Christmas of 2012. I will be splitting them into several parts as I took a lot of photos there. Hope you enjoy viewing the photos.

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To see my best Lake Tahoe/Reno/Donner Lake photos from 2012, use this link. To see all of my photos from this trip, use this link.

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 

Before I get started today, I would like to tell you about a great product to add to your camera bag. First question I for you is, do you do panoramas? If you do, have your panoramas ever turn out tilted? I have an easy solution for you. In order to have a straight panorama, not only do you have to get your camera leveled out, you also have to get your tripod leveled (usually the root cause of tilted panoramas)! Most tripods only have levels for your camera but not for the legs itself, but that is easily fixed. The product I want to tell you about today is the Manfrotto 032SPL Autopole Spirit Level. This tiny level is adjustable, and fits on most tripod's center columns so you can easily level your tripod legs so you can fix the root problem with panoramas. There isn't much else to say about this, and using it is pretty self-explanatory, so if you are interested in getting your panoramas leveled and straight the time that you take it, please check out the Manfrotto 032SPL Autopole Spirit Level.

Okay, now let's get started with today's photos. :) The photos for today are some of the photos I took on the second day of my trip at night. It includes the rest of the Circus Circus performance continuing from Part 4. I hope you enjoy viewing them.

Thank you for viewing my photos. On the next blog post, I will start on the photos I took on the 3rd day of my trip. The next post will include a time-lapse I did and also a few photos from my trip to Truckee, CA to go see Donner Lake. Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

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