Thanks Stan!

Thanking "Stan" actually means I'm thanking Stanley Tools. You might not think Stanley Tools manufacturers photography gear. In fact, Stanley Tools might not think they manufacture photo gear. But they do. They make a really effective wind machine... you know, a fan!

Stanley's fan (pictured above) is a great piece of gear for blowing hair and clothing and whatever else you want to blow. Here are, in my opinion, some of its best qualities:

1. It has three speeds which allow for a gentle flow of air to something a bit more turbulent.

2. The wind it produces is fairly focused.

3. It has an easy-grip handle.

4. It rotates on a central axis and can be easily adjusted in the pitch axis. (Pitch, amongst many definitions, is an aeronautical term: It refers to the angle or degree an airplane's nose is pointing up or down. An aircraft's pitch is also called its angle of attack.)

5. It's lightweight and generates less complaints from assistants whose arms always seem to be tiring.

6. Parts of this fan are bright yellow in color so there's less chance of tripping over it in the dimness of a studio when only the modeling lights are producing ambient light.

7. Best of all, it's cheap. Like $40 cheap.

Sure, you can spend a lot of money on something that is specifically manufactured by a photo-gear or grip company for use in a studio. And when I say "a lot of money," I'm talking about a few hundred bucks or more. Or, you can spend $40 at somewhere like Wal-Mart (where I bought my Stanley fan) and buy some other gear with the money you've saved.

Here's Sammi (below) whose hair is being blown by a Stanley tool.



If you really want control while adjusting the power of the fan's air-flow, get yourself a Variac. Variacs are great additions to any studio. IMO, any self-respecting studio shouldn't be without one or more Variacs.

Variacs enable you to adjust the output of the A/C. No, not the "Air Conditioning." (Thermostats adjust your air conditioning.) I'm talking about electricity. I'm no electronics engineer but, in my limited understanding of these things, the difference between a Variac and a "dimmer" is dimmers use resistance to dim things and Variacs actually change the output of the alternating current which makes them really stellar and more effective for use with things like, well, things like Stanley Tool's wind machines. And, yes, you can also dim lights with a Variac if you're shooting with hotlights. A note of caution: Variacs can also increase the current past what your electric service provides. This means you can blow out lamps and bulbs if you're not careful and you crank your Variac up past 100%.

For those of you who mostly come here for the pretty girl pictures, here's some gratuitous eye-candy I recently shot. The model is Daphne. If eye-candy were real candy, Daphne would be a BIG BAR!