Irvine Portrait - Irvine Photography

A colleague asked about finding some flexible clamp solution for doing macros, since even small gusts of wind move the plant beyond the intended plane (when DOF is a big deal it is key to a good flower macro.)

 So, I recommended he read this article>

Soil anchor and “plamp” for macrophotography

Introduction
In my search for useful parts for my macro flash bracket project, I also came across some plastic clamps which reminded me of what Wimberley uses for their Plamp® and McClamp uses for their Clamp® and Stick®.  Both are basically just clamps on a gooseneck, used to fasten plants (or whatever you are photographing), reflectors, or whatever you need to stay put while you are working. These products do all use the flexible Loc-line® water hose which I used for my flash bracket.  The anchor is very simple to make and if you have the parts anyway it takes you no more than 30-60 minutes depending on how fancy you want it to be.

Full story: http://www.thufa.net/jo/misc/m_anchor.htm

Also you could go to Wimberly’s http://www.tripodhead.com/products/plamp-main.cfm and get one for $36

I’ve decided to maintain a post about online photography courses; in this day and age it’s great to be able to learn more while you are comfortably able to do so, especially for those that are free of work-related bother in the evenings

http://www.betterphoto.com/home.asp << a good pay site, with some good topics
http://www.webphotoschool.com << great for beginners, and new classes added regularly