SHOOTJOEC

If you are following my blog you have probably already figured out that I am a photographer by trade, that being the case I have finally put together a page on Facebook for my fans to congregate! Do me a huge favor and head over there and like my page, www.facebook.com/ShootJoeC

While we are on the subject of beards it would be criminal not to post this amazing photo of me by my good friend and fellow Back to The Future aficionado, Douglas Sonders. I was hanging out at the studio with Doug the other day while he shot photos of a family friend for a campaign and well, everything just fell into place. You can see more information on the photo including lighting setup and post processing by checking out Doug’s blog.

Today I had the opportunity to shoot engagement photos for two of my closest friends and it was the best time I have had in a while! The photo above is me shooting a solo photo of Charlie, taken on my iPhone 4s. Since I got the 4s on release day I have become more and more impressed with the quality of the camera and I find myself using it even more than I did on my iPhone 4. Check out my instagrid page by clicking HERE, and if you have instagram please follow me over at @shootjoec which is the same as my Twitter!

I know that it is a known issue that the carriage on the indiSLIDER is pretty loose and you have to put pressure on it  to get a smooth slide, but I just finished taking it apart and here is what I have:

Sorry the drawing is so crude, I made it in paint five seconds ago because I am too lazy to do it the right way. So upon inspection I see that the screws arent long enough to actually go all the way through the plastic pieces (shown in grey) so after one or two slides the screws get loose enough that they arent attached to the plastic at all any more. That gives the plastic pieces enough movement so there is play in the carriage. So here is what I am going to do, I am going to fabricate a metal plate that goes on top of the carriage to get rid of the worthless countersunk screw holes in the top, then I am going to get a small bolt to put through the bottom of the plastic piece, and up thru the top of the carriage, then secure it down with a nut. It wont interfere with the sliding at all as long as the bolt head is small enough. Here is another shitty drawing of what I am talking about:

So I drew that last night and spent the day today putting my plan into effect. I spent about an hour total to get the whole thing set up, including making the video which is at the bottom of this post. It seems to have worked pretty well. The little plastic pieces that slide along the slider are pretty junky and one of them is drilled crooked, so I had to re-drill through the carriage and the plastic pieces, no problem!

Here is a photo of the finished product, so much more secure than the original “not long enough” screws that were included. 

After I replaced the shitty screws with a nut & bolt set up it works SO much better. Seriously, it is night and day. When watching the video you can tell a little bit that it is smoother, but it is more of a functional fix, the shots that I had to attempt five times can now be done in one try because the slider isn’t all choppy. 

Here is a quick video I put together. The majority of it was shot using my Samsung Galaxy S, aside from the last two sliding shots, which were shot on my 5d Mark II, using a 50mm f/1.4 lens.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFOJxZYVxJw

Parts Used:

Hillman Machine Screw “Combo round with Nut” 4-40x1” part #04861

Hillman Flat Washers 4mm Part # 880764

For anyone who is too lazy to get the parts themselves I will sell you a “repair kit” complete with instructions for $10 shipped to the USA. Just e-mail me Joe@ShootJoeC.com