[Ken Lee]

You Tube

You Tube

Nightaxians 11 - Non-Photography Gear for Photography (Youtube Podcast)


Your camera bag probably has a few items that help make your life a little easier but wasn't necessarily made for photography. We've got a few of those things too.

In this episode, the guys share some items for their shoots that my surprise you!

What do you have in your bag that makes your life easier? Let us know in the comments!

---

Last edited by Ken Lee; 02-25-2023 at 07:37 PM.

[Oakland Rob]

Nice video; thanks.

I have some little clip on reflective tags; hunters use them to mark paths they can follow with lights set at their lowest settings. I hang them on say a remote flash or something so I can find without using my flashlight on bright. Search for "reflective trail markers" at your favorite source. There are also reflective tacks, but not as useful...although somebody probably has done a creative night shot with them.

[Ken Lee]

Nice video; thanks.

I have some little clip on reflective tags; hunters use them to mark paths they can follow with lights set at their lowest settings. I hang them on say a remote flash or something so I can find without using my flashlight on bright. Search for "reflective trail markers" at your favorite source. There are also reflective tacks, but not as useful...although somebody probably has done a creative night shot with them.

That's a great idea. I am using reflective tape on some of my stuff, but maybe the clip-on is not as messy. I also have glow-in-the-dark tape on my tripod.

Glad you liked the video!

[yucatanPentax]

Fun video and informative as usual.

I want to thank you for featuring my first car (not the actual one) at 1:23-1:27. A 1951 (early) Ford Custom Sedan. Dad bought it for $50(well, sounds cheap, but gas was $0.28. It was already 3-4 colors from so many body panels replaced with junkyard parts. I earned enough money to get it painted blue and got stopped by the highway patrol after my jr high buddies and I drove 20 miles to see a movie. He didn't think the car would pass inspection, but I'd already repaired all the turn signals and brake lights. Those were the days.

Not long after, I bought a Praktica L (fully manual everything) and began "serious" photography.

Attached Images

 

[ProfessorBuzz]

What's with the monkey, Ken?
Gotta add:
Fun-tak or UHU patafix - great for sticking things in the right place; also a great way to get rid of a specular highlight on something shiny - a dot will cover the offending spot.

Apple AirTag in the bag or case... just in case you forget something at the site... or lost luggage ... or it walks away on its own.

[Bob 256]

Another tip for finding things in the dark is to use the tag of your choice marked with some fluorescent paint (nice big swatch), again, your choice of color, but orange or yellow work good. Carry a UV flashlight with you (like one used to harden UV cement), and if you need to find your item, it will fluoresce brightly when you hit it with the flashlight. You can even color code items with different colors of fluorescent paint (Glo-in-the-dark paint will fluoresce also). Just observe safety precautions and don't stare into the flashlight.

[robgski]

Military fluorescent tape is a great way to mark gear, I stick it on hard surfaces or wrap it around fabric handles, etc. The glow is pretty dull, but if your night vision is good, it will be easy to spot out of a dark area.
Red lens headlamp or flashlight, the miniature key fob types often have a low light settting. They often come in handy for light painting, too

[Ken Lee]

Fun video and informative as usual.

I want to thank you for featuring my first car (not the actual one) at 1:23-1:27. A 1951 (early) Ford Custom Sedan. Dad bought it for $50(well, sounds cheap, but gas was $0.28. It was already 3-4 colors from so many body panels replaced with junkyard parts. I earned enough money to get it painted blue and got stopped by the highway patrol after my jr high buddies and I drove 20 miles to see a movie. He didn't think the car would pass inspection, but I'd already repaired all the turn signals and brake lights. Those were the days.

Not long after, I bought a Praktica L (fully manual everything) and began "serious" photography.

Great story! Thanks for sharing a photo of the car as well. Did you like the Leica that you got? What got you into more "serious" photography?

---------- Post added 02-27-23 at 08:31 PM ----------

What's with the monkey, Ken?
Gotta add:
Fun-tak or UHU patafix - great for sticking things in the right place; also a great way to get rid of a specular highlight on something shiny - a dot will cover the offending spot.

Apple AirTag in the bag or case... just in case you forget something at the site... or lost luggage ... or it walks away on its own.

Haha! That is George the Monkey. He goes along with a lot of the Nightaxians car trips, usually doing the navigating. In some of the earlier episodes, you might see him hanging out in the back.

Not familiar with Fun-tak or UHU patafix. Will have to look those up, thanks!

Two of us use Apple AirTags with some of our gear. I even have one attached to my ProtoMachines, and amazingly, it hasn't irritated me so far.

---------- Post added 02-27-23 at 08:33 PM ----------

Another tip for finding things in the dark is to use the tag of your choice marked with some fluorescent paint (nice big swatch), again, your choice of color, but orange or yellow work good. Carry a UV flashlight with you (like one used to harden UV cement), and if you need to find your item, it will fluoresce brightly when you hit it with the flashlight. You can even color code items with different colors of fluorescent paint (Glo-in-the-dark paint will fluoresce also). Just observe safety precautions and don't stare into the flashlight.

That's brilliant. I haven't gotten that organized yet. I have red and white reflective tape and glow-in-the-dark reflective tape, and that's about as far as I've gotten. I ilke the glow-in-the-dark tape because I can see that when I am light painting, and it helps me to NOT shine the light directly into the lens. Some people use small blinking red LED lights, but the glow-in-the-dark tape seems to work for me!

---------- Post added 02-27-23 at 08:34 PM ----------

Military fluorescent tape is a great way to mark gear, I stick it on hard surfaces or wrap it around fabric handles, etc. The glow is pretty dull, but if your night vision is good, it will be easy to spot out of a dark area.
Red lens headlamp or flashlight, the miniature key fob types often have a low light settting. They often come in handy for light painting, too

Awesome. I am not familiar with military fluorescent tape, but I think the glow-in-the-dark tape so far is working pretty well. Obviously, it's not fool-proof because it has to be "excited" at some point to glow, and if you don't do that, well....

But that's handy because it minimizes my chances of shining the light directly into the lens when I am light painting and walking through a scene.

[Bob 256]

You can also get glo-in-the-dark spray and acrylic paint which allows you to make custom markings on things to distinguish one from another in the dark.

[yucatanPentax]

Great story! Thanks for sharing a photo of the car as well. Did you like the Leica that you got? What got you into more "serious" photography?

I'm not sure why that Praktica was on a Leica page. I just grabbed a photo to show the boxy looking camera. It was an M42. I said it was 100% manual, which wasn't quite right. It could operate "auto" M42 lenses, meaning you could focus wide open then the lens would stop down where it was set. So, a tiny bit of mechanical assist.

I think I had some version of a Kodak Instamatic at the time. For some reason, Instamatic X-15 sounds right?

I read a lot and liked the idea of developing my own photos. Mailing in film for developing typically took a couple weeks to get the results back, plus it seemed expensive to a kid.

I decided I'd also need refillable film, which meant 35mm canisters. So, the Praktica was the first step in acquiring things towards that end. They were about the cheapest you could get that was an SLR, which the photography magazines said was "best."

Our small town grocery store had a tiny rack of film at the butcher counter, because the owner liked to talk photography with people. It was the only place to buy film then. Not even the drug store had film. It was a 100% drugs pharmacy, well, with a soda fountain. So, that was the start. Afternoon visits with Malcolm at the meat counter.

[Ken Lee]

You can also get glo-in-the-dark spray and acrylic paint which allows you to make custom markings on things to distinguish one from another in the dark.

Oh yeah, I guess you could do that! For now, I've been able to distinguish things in the dark, mostly because there's just not that many of my things floating around. Good thing since I'd start forgetting and then I'd definitely have to do what you are suggesting!!

---------- Post added 03-01-23 at 11:48 PM ----------

I'm not sure why that Praktica was on a Leica page. I just grabbed a photo to show the boxy looking camera. It was an M42. I said it was 100% manual, which wasn't quite right. It could operate "auto" M42 lenses, meaning you could focus wide open then the lens would stop down where it was set. So, a tiny bit of mechanical assist.

I think I had some version of a Kodak Instamatic at the time. For some reason, Instamatic X-15 sounds right?

I read a lot and liked the idea of developing my own photos. Mailing in film for developing typically took a couple weeks to get the results back, plus it seemed expensive to a kid.

I decided I'd also need refillable film, which meant 35mm canisters. So, the Praktica was the first step in acquiring things towards that end. They were about the cheapest you could get that was an SLR, which the photography magazines said was "best."

Our small town grocery store had a tiny rack of film at the butcher counter, because the owner liked to talk photography with people. It was the only place to buy film then. Not even the drug store had film. It was a 100% drugs pharmacy, well, with a soda fountain. So, that was the start. Afternoon visits with Malcolm at the meat counter.

Cool. I used to send away for film when I was photographing with a Nikon N70 most of the time unless a drug store had it. But I usually photographed with Fuji Velvia Realia or Tri-X, and you couldn't always get that.

By the way, we got together - as much as you can do that when you live in three different time zones - tonight to record some new Nightaxians YouTube podcasts. We did three episodes in one evening, and as usual, they were a ton of fun. And like the other ones, they're very spontaneous. We just start talking. I think these were particularly spontaneous, though, especially with our discussion of AI-generated art, which was Mike's idea.

Also, Nightaxians Episode 12 should be out tomorrow!