Tag Archive for: accessories

No more wrinkles in your backdrops

6-03-2026/in blog, News etc, Visions and technique, Webinars and instructional videos/by Frank Doorhof

One of the biggest frustrations can be easily solved

As a photographer, I love backdrops.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with seamless paper, but from an early stage, I began painting walls and using wallpaper to create more realistic or interesting backgrounds. But when you change your backdrops a lot, you need backdrop clamps. I tell you why.

Click Backdrops

A few years ago, we were introduced to Click Backdrops (a brand we now also sell), and I was immediately impressed by the quality of their backdrops. Proper shadows, high-contrast vinyl (without hot spotting), and the very nice pro fabric, which photographs as well as the famous canvas backdrops, without the known issues of wrinkles and damage over time.

Backdrops on location

But you also want to be able to shoot on location without sacrificing what you are used to in the studio.
We have several compact portable systems, and with a large car, there is no reason you cannot bring the ProFabric or vinyl backdrops.
However, for most people it would be ideal to have a backdrop you can fold up very small, and still has a nice print and size like you’re used to in the studio. In fact, we even deliver our new ProFold in backgrounds with a floor attached, and it still fits in a small bag.

The ProFold material is slightly elastic, and even when you don’t use anything, it already hangs very straight. But of course, we want it perfect, right?
And that can be done really easily and cheaply.

First, the ProFold material can be mounted in several ways.
You can use the loop on a background system, or use clamps or magnets from our vinyl backdrops.
Because the material is elastic, you can easily create a super-tight backdrop with a few background clamps.
Because video always works better, we’ve filmed a small video showing how they work.

Get them here: https://frankdoorhof.com/web/product/backgroundclips/
💰 Only €19.95 for a set of 12.

And one in Dutch

How to built 3-Dimensionality in your sets

Clicki is also a very portable backdrop (and does fit in our car exactly)

Synology BeeStation: Is this the perfect external drive setup?

23-01-2026/in blog, Reviews/by Frank Doorhof

Demand for storage is growing. Is the Synology BeeStation the perfect external drive?

As creatives, we love to create. It doesn’t matter if it’s video, photos, artpieces or the music we create.
All these files need a place to be, and very soon, you are running out of space on the main drive.
And because it’s never a good idea to store your data on the main drive. It’s easy to end up with a closet filled with USB drives. This is not only a problem when you use a system like Lightroom, but also when you want to create a proper backup strategy. This blog is about the Synology BeeStation.

Storage

As you probably know, before we started the studio, Annewiek and I ran a computer company. And there are, of course, plenty of people who don’t need a lot of storage.
If you work on some documents, surf the web, and read the paper, you probably are more than happy with the internal hard drive.

However, in today’s world, most people use smartphones and shoot loads of images and videos. The problem with digital is that if something is gone, in most cases, it’s really gone. You will be shocked at how many people have thousands of photos on their phone but don’t make backups. Meaning if they lose their phone, everything is gone.

Dataloss

If there is one thing that freaks me out, it’s dataloss. During the 20+ years in the computer company, we have experienced real dramas with people losing every single piece of family history. Simply because they saved all their photos and videos on the internal hard drive. And there is one thing very sure about hard drives.

There is a day they WILL fail; this day can be today, or tomorrow, or in 10 years.
And it will ALWAYS happen when you are not ready for it.

So if you care for your data, always make sure you create at least one backup on an external device or in the cloud, even if you never run out of space.
With smartphones, this is pretty easy; both Apple and Android have solutions that you can use for “almost free”.
But, if you want to backup a lot of data, there are several solutions on the market. Today we are taking a look at the BeeStation from Synology.

The Synology BeeStation vs NAS

You probably know the name Synology from their NAS systems.
I’ve been using Synology myself for as long as I can remember, and also in the computer company we often advised Synology due to their durability and support.

Let me start by explaining the difference between the BeeStation and a NAS.
Both the BeeStation and a NAS are connected to your network and the outside world. They are designed to be run 24/7. However, there is a large difference between the two. The BeeStation runs with one hard drive where a NAS always runs with several hard drives.

NAS for backup

With a NAS, the data is usually stored spread out over several drives. This means that if one drive fails, you don’t have to panic. Take out the drive, put in a new one, and let the NAS rebuild. Also, when you run out of space, just add a new drive (that is larger than what you replace), and your NAS will add it to the storage pool. A NAS is the perfect backup solution.

In our studio, for example, we use two 8-drive Synology NASes.
In the Synology OS, there are several options to create backups; in our case, we chose to have a mirror setup.
The system automatically starts up at a certain time. The main NAS is mirrored to the backupNAS and when it’s done, they shut down. A pretty foolproof solution as soon as it’s set up. You can even have the system email you when there is a problem.

Clean your NAS

Do make sure you check your NAS ever once in a while, make sure it is off the floor so dust is less of a problem. And make sure that you occasionally clean the NAS, also on the inside/Fans to make sure the dust doesn’t shorten the lifetime.

As you probably guessed, on a NAS, your data is pretty safe; if a drive fails, there is no problem. Howeve,r if several drives fail at the same time, or the NAS dies itself you will still have dataloss in most cases. So, also when you use a NAS, never use it as your only backup. I know it sounds expensive, but always ask yourself, “If I lose all my data, how much would it be worth to have it back?” I can almost guarantee it’s a lot more than an extra drive/NAS/cloud storage.

The Synology BeeStation

When I saw the first announcements of the BeeStation it immediately caught my attention.
In fact, I believe this is the perfect device for a lot of groups, due to its many features and super simple OS.
Let’s take a look at some of the ways you can use your BeeStation, and how we use it.

Backup from Phones and Time Machine

Annewiek and I both have iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks.
If there is one thing that Apple really nailed, it’s making backups.
For our MacBook,s we use TimeMachine which you can use with an external drive or a NAS system.
Annewiek and I have both created a TimeMachine backup on the BeeStation.
This means that as soon as we start our day, the Mac is synced with TimeMachine without having to connect an external drive. This not only reduces the chance of “forgetting” to create a backup, but it also means we have a lot more points to go back to due to the continuous backup process.

For photos made on our phones/iPads, we use the Photos app.
The app is installed on the phones and BeeStation, which means that as soon as we shoot images or video, they can be uploaded to the BeeStation.

Sharing memories or work

The Photos app is not only for backup.
In fact, in the last few years, the app has grown into a full ecosystem for photos/videos.
First of all, you can of course create your own albums or use the AI functions, which work pretty well, to be honest.
But you can also choose to share different albums with different people.
For example, when we travel, we love to keep our parents and friends updated. With the Photos app, it’s very easy to create albums where we back up everything from our phones and select the images we want to share with that group. It’s a fun way to keep the family updated.

And of course, you can also use the Photosapp for assignments, share ideas like moodboards, or use it as your portfolio.It’s a lot more powerful than most people think.

Backups on the Synology BeeStation

Besides Photos and TimeMachine, you can also use the Synology BeeStation’s own sync system to back up files or whole drives.
I’m actually using the BeeStation sync for my external 4TB SSD drive, which I have connected to my MacBookPro. If your OS doesn’t support TimeMachine the BeeStation sync is a really nice alternative; it’s been running very smoothly so far.

Each Synology BeeStation device includes one 3-year Acronis True Image Essentials license for one computer, if you want yet another backup solution.
I think we can say that Synology got you covered with backups.

But there is more

Using the Synology BeeStation in your Home Theater

We live in an age where we can experience movies in a real cinema-like experience.
So the demand for ways to watch and store our movies has also grown over the years.
You can, of course, stream your entertainment via online services like Netflix. But often we have collected loads of DVDs, BDs, and “downloads”, and because that material is often not available online, it would be great if there was a solution to browse your catalog, read about the movie, and start the movie.

Loads of people have digitized their DVDs and BDs and use PLEX to browse, access information about the movies, and start playback.
The Synology BeeStation supports PLEX integration, which makes it a great centre for your Home Theater.

Personal Cloud storage

There was a time when the term “cloud” or “cloud storage” had the same magical effect as AI today.
But with solutions like the BeeStation, having your own personal “unlimited” cloud storage is no problem anymore. With the BeeFiles app, you can always access your files, upload, and share.

Seeing the situation in the world today, I think it’s wise to use a personal cloud instead of an online cloud service for data you would normally store on OneDrive, GoogleDrive or Dropbox. BeeFiles is a great alternative that I can highly recommend.

The Operating System itself

I’m one of those nerds who can work out software and gear without needing a manual in most cases. But don’t let me fix your car. But we also know people who are the opposite, or think about our parents/grandparents, who probably also shoot a lot of images and videos on their phones.
Giving them a NAS can be problematic; the setup can be complicated, and there are often too many features and procedures to keep everything working perfectly, and if it goes wrong…. long story short… enter the Synology BeeStation.

The OS is super simple.
Setup is almost 100% automatic, and after tha,t it’s a matter of simple screens with clear instructions.
If you make a mistake, it’s really 100% your own fault. I can vouch for that because I made a mistake, because I literally overthought the system.
After turning off my brain and starting agai,n it all worked flawlessly, to prove how foolproof the setup is.

Back up your Synology BeeStation

You can use the USB connection on the back of the BeeStation to copy files from an external drive to the BeeStation for a faster backup. Especially with a lot of smaller files, a first-time backup via the USB connections saves a lot of time vs over the network.
However, I would highly recommend buying a proper external drive with the same capacity as the Synology BeeStation and using that as a backup drive for the BeeStation. This way, you have a pretty good backup strategy.

Is it all positive?

Yes, pretty much.
During my review, I’ve used the Synology BeeStation extensively and found it to be very similar in usage compared to the professional Synology NAS units I’ve been using.
Due to the simple setup procedure, I think it’s the perfect device for people who want something that is simple to set up and maintain but doesn’t really limit them in use cases.

Yes, for creators!

But also for creators that demand speed and being able to share and access their data all over the world, but also want to make sure the data the images they shoot on location are safely backupped. What I didn’t mention yet is that the Synology BeeStation is a great performer when it comes to speed. Synology really did their best here to create a device that will fit a really broad range of people from 5-105 I dare to say.

The Synology BeeStation is available in 4TB and 8TB versions.
When you use it for several TimeMachines and backups of photos I would highly recommend getting the 8TB version.

Read a Dutch interview about Synology in Shoot.be

Check this video from 2021 about the use of a Nas

In this blog I show an easy local way to backup

https://sy.to/pk2jp (one of the Synology partners)

A new product in our store Platypod

20-08-2025/in blog, News etc/by Frank Doorhof

Platypod is one of those….

Products I talk about a lot during seminars.
There are products that are designed for the photography market, and there are products that are clearly designed for photographers by photographers.

I’ve been using the Platypod system I guess from version 1 and it’s always in my bag.
Especially when I don’t want to bring a tripod it’s a great solution, but also for my music it’s great to mount a microphone. And when we travel it’s used to mount our iPhones when filming. And when you think that’s all…. nope you can also use it in the studio or on location to mount your strobes in most creative locations where a studio stand is impossible or impractical. Especially with the new hybrid strobes like our own Geekoto’s a system like the Platypod is something you cannot afford not to own 😀

Available now in our store

In the years I’ve been teaching there is one thing that I always love to do.
Review and test gear/software. Most of the times the products are ok, they do what they need to do and sometimes there is some “magic” where you keep finding new ways to use it. Where you start creating better images/videos because you are now free to mount your lights/cameras/mics wherever you want. etc.

For me from the first Platypod I got I had that feeling and through the years the line-up has grown considerably, so it’s no surprise we have added Platypod to our line up of product.
So let’s take a look at the system.

You can find the platypod system on our webshop (click here)

The system

The Platypod system is a compact, low-profile camera support solution designed for photographers and videographers who need stability without the bulk of traditional tripods. Here are some key advantages of using the Platypod system:

1. Portability and Compact Design

The Platypod system is a game-changer because of its size. It’s flat, lightweight, and can fit snugly in your camera bag, backpack, or even pocket. Perfect for travel, hiking, or any time you don’t want to lug around a full-sized tripod.

2. Stability on Unusual Surfaces

The Platypod is a sturdy tripod with adjustable spike-feet that make it super stable on any surface. It can stand on rocks, uneven ground, tabletops, or even be attached to poles and trees with included straps. It’s the perfect tripod for when tripods struggle to stay balanced or find a good foothold.

3. No Tripod Restrictions

Many places, like museums, historic sites, and cities, don’t let you use regular tripods. But the Platypod is different. It’s small and doesn’t draw attention, so you can take long-exposure or low-light photos without anyone noticing or more importantly, breaking the rules.

4. Versatility

Platypod is a versatile tripod head that can handle heavy camera gear. It’s compatible with ball heads, magic arms, and other mounting accessories, making it perfect for macro photography, video work, vlogging, and even mounting lights and microphones.

5. Cost-Effective

Compared to fancy travel tripods, the Platypod system is super affordable. It’s like having a stable shooting platform without breaking the bank or getting all tangled up.

The Platypod system is a fantastic tool for photographers who want a stable camera setup without the hassle of a bulky tripod. Whether you’re capturing stunning landscapes, cozy interiors, mesmerizing time-lapses, or epic videos, it’s your reliable companion when a full tripod isn’t an option.

We got the new smokemachines available and they are awesome

20-12-2023/in blog/by Frank Doorhof

Awesome portable smoke machines without breaking the bank

During a recent broadcast in our digital classroom I was playing with the new lensgo smoke machines.
These small smoke machines are great for product photography and via special adaptors (all in the box) the are even working great for model photography.

Normally we are using much larger smoke machines and although they are great for backgrounds they are not that good for adding subtile smoke effects or smoke in a specific place. The LensGo smokemachines are much more flexible and as you can see during the broadcast you can also add some local smoke effects like on a mirrorball for some mystical effects.

Because you can take the smokemachines with you in your photo bag and have smoke wherever you shoot I think everyone should have one…. so we decided to add them our webshop.

You can find the smokemachines and accessories on your webshop.
It will be the perfect holiday gift for a loved one (or yourself).

During the broadcast I’m showing the different accessoires, including the awesome “floating smoke”.
And of course you can see how I shot those images with Lois.