Hi! I'm Erik.

Using IR Filter on Pop-up Flash to Trigger External Flash

Invisible flash

I have an external flash gun that I often use when shooting. Using it on the camera is alright, but when you start using it off camera, things really start to get interesting. To trigger the flash remotely, I simply use the built-in pop-up flash of the camera. Problem is, this often causes some unwanted light or shadows from the pop-up flash itself. The solution? An infrared filter. Hold it (or tape it?) in front of the built-in flash and it will filter out almost all visible light, but still trigger the external flash. Works great. Continue reading for some sample shots.

My experience with the Olympus TG-310

GoPro-wannabe on a budget

I really like my 600D. It's responsive and delivers great quality pictures. But the lack of any shock- or weatherproofing plus the relatively high cost of it makes you think twice before bringing it in harm's way to get that special shot. I picked up the Olympus TG-310 a few months ago, and blogged that I would write a short review on it. About time. ;)

Hong Kong and Vietnam Trip

Just came back from a trip to Hong Kong. After spending a good week in the city with all its attractions, and also heading over to Macau, we continued to Vietnam for a few days of relaxation. They certainly have beautiful beaches, but the traffic takes some time getting used to with its 20 million or so motorbikes.

Anyway, images are more fun than words, so head over to the the image gallery for more.

Shiny Icon Maker - More New Features

More bling bling

Creating custom icons for your website using the Shiny Icon Maker just got easier than ever. New stuff includes rotation, scaling, glow, drop shadow, optional shiny effect, optional background... did I get everything? A lot to play around with anyway. Tested in Chrome, Firefox and IE9. Oh, and it's now using Knockout JS so the code shines as well. See for yourself: Try out the even more shiny Shiny Icon Maker.

Installing Android 2.3 Gingerbread on SonyEricsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro

If it ain't broke, tweak it

I have had the SonyEricsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro for about two years, and its age is really starting to show. One weakness is the fact that it's still stuck with Android 2.1 (Eclair) with no update in sight. But before ponying up for a new phone, I wanted to see if there was any way to remedy this. And luckily, there is! This may be old news to some, but the nice people over at CyanogenMod have found ways to install custom Android firmwares, often including newer versions than your manufacturer offers. Read on for a short how-to on how to root and flash your phone with such a firmware.

Making light visible in the air

Some cooking skills required

I wanted to make a picture on the theme "private", and experimented with light coming through a keyhole. I started by placing a fairly strong lamp on the other side of the hole. Unfortunately, the effect was not very dramatic since the light travelling through the hole was not visible in the air - this usually only happens if the air is dusty or foggy. I was considering opening the vacuum cleaner bag to fill the air with dust, but tried a cleaner method: Steam! I simply boiled a pot of water and put it under the keyhole. The light shining through the steam became visible and made for a much better shot.

Shooting burgers

You want lies with that?

We all know that when at fast food restaurants, what you see is not what you get. I recently saw a YouTube video from McDonald's on how they make their burgers look so great (and not flat) on the photos. You can actually achieve a lot but simply pushing the contents of the burger (lettuce, gherkin slices) closer to the edge to make it visible to the camera. The image shows my (mixed) results. Clearly, making a "stock" burger perfect requires a bit more than that.

Too busy with real life

And I thought the Interwebs was my real life

Getting married is serious business! It kept me busy the last few months, a reason why I haven't added any new content for a while. But the Big Day was super successful and a lot of fun. Big thanks to all who helped, and all guests who shared the day with us!

Our friendly photographer shares a few of the pictures on his site, be sure to take a look.

New Toy: Olympus Tough TG-310

No cameras were harmed during the making of this video

Since my Ricoh died, it has been exclusively DSLR for me. Image quality is great, but carrying 1kg+ of plastic and glass around gets tiresome. The Olympus Tough TG-310 looked like an attractive alternative: sized like a regular compact, priced nicely, and with the benefit of being shock resistant and waterproof. I will write a short review of it soon. Until then, check out this little underwater video. Update: Review is up.

Frankfurt Luminale 2012

Short but sweet

Frankfurt Luminale is an event based around light that takes place every two years. I went there and brought my Canon 600D to capture some of the atmosphere and to see how its video mode fared under low-light conditions. It cannot compete with a 5D, but the results came out quite well. Check out the short Youtube video.