Wednesday, May 31, 2006

OK, Let's Give It a Whirl

You guys seem pretty unanimous, for a group that does not yet know what they have gotten themselves into, (heh, heh.)I will plan out a group of, say, half a dozen assignments. Expect the first one in a couple of weeks, as more than a few of you have recently ordered some new gear and may just be getting used to it.I used to do something like this back when I taught at a local college, and it always amazed me to see what students came up with within the constraints of the assignments. The restrictions will definitely help you focus your efforts....

Floating an Idea: Lighting School

The Lighting 101 lessons are all up, and many of you are doing some cool stuff. With the large number of people posting to Strobist's Flickr group, I am toying with the idea of creating a more structured lighting program that involves reader participation.How would you guys feel about a monthly, technique-specific assignment? For many people, this is the kind of thing that provides enough of a kick in the pants to go out and do something. And the fact that you would all be trying out a similar technique at the same time would allow you to compare...

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Bits and Pieces: Everything But the Kitchen Synch

There have been a lot of questions about synch cord odds 'n ends via e-mail, and in various comments sections. But it's core info and I wanted to bring it up to a main post.• For those of you making the jump to Pocket Wizards, remember that you will need to connect the receiver to your flash unit. If you have a Nikon SB flash with a PC jack on the...

Monday, May 29, 2006

Adding (and Synching) a Second Strobe

In addition to being cheap, both the Starving Student Off-Camera Light Kit and the (included) Pro Synch Cord were designed to be expandable.You start lighting things enough, and you'll get the itch to add a second light to your gear bag.Getting the second light/stand/umbrella/etc. is easy enough. You just crack the wallet, take the hit, and go. And...

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Wear Something Flashy

At the suggestion of several readers (I have learned that you guys sure aren't shy about making suggestions) I have created a CafePress shop for Strobist. For those who do not know about CafePress, it is a cool made-to-order shop on the web that has grown into a bit of a phenomenon. You can put artwork on darn near anything there. For photographers,...

When Are You Gonna Learn?

WARNING: This is an somewhat off-topic, Sunday afternoon stream-of-consciousness rant.About 15 years ago, I was reading one of the early photo message boards on AOL. Photographers - just like everyone else - were just starting to come together and share information in ways that had previously been impractical, if not impossible.It was a fantastic experience. The cacophony quickly grew to include everyone from young photographers (such as myself at the time) to some of the best shooters in the business. I would pore through the posts every day,...

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Christmas in May

Happy, happy, joy, joy!I just walked in to the office after a day's shooting and found that Santa Clause, (AKA Baltimore Sun equipment guru Jeffrey Bill) left two, (count 'em, two) Nikon SB-800 speedlights in my mailbox. Don't get me wrong - I am still into the SB-24/26/etc. vintage Nikon flash thing. But I have heard so much about what these little...

Friday, May 26, 2006

Photo DIY Heaven

Strobist's Starving Student Off-Camera Light Kit (the name alone is sufficient explanation as to why I do not work on Madison Avenue) popped up, well, everywhere last week. But no reference was more gratifying than on the Make: blog. For those who have not seen it yet, "Make:" is the coolest DIY mag going. I luv it, luv it, luv it.In seeing where the SSO-CLK popped up, I found this page full of DIY projects. Way geek, way cool. The Home Depot-sourced (I get orange just thinking about it) bike steadicam bracket rocks. Which, of course, is exactly...

It's Easy to be PC.

This will be old news to many, but I get so many questions as to "how, exactly to hook an off-camera strobe up to my XXXX-model digital camera" that I am gonna post it anyway.The Nikon AS-15 PC adapter will turn any hot shoe into a working PC jack. It's $20, and this is one of those cases where it pays not to get the $10 off-brand model, because this...

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Strobist Hits Puberty

One of the best things about being a photojournalist is that you get to do a lot of fun stuff and call it work. Of all of the experiences I have had on the job, none was more consistently rewarding than teaching others the same way generous people had taught me.FYI, I used to teach photography at a local college. But I gave it up to free up more "daddy time" when my daughter was born. She'll turn eight next month.A couple of months, a made-up name and 114 posts ago, I started Strobist as a way to cure my jones for teaching without being tied to...

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Lacrosse Head Shot: v2.0

A couple of weeks ago, I built the macro strip lights to solve a problem with a small product shot. But I was also thinking that they might come in handy in other situations.This week's cover shoot featured a lacrosse player in a helmet, and the strip lights were just the ticket to get some light up in there in a controllable way.Additionally, this...

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

DIY: Digital EOS Holga

OK, so maybe this isn't really a strobe thing at first glance. But looking it the photos from this hybrid Digital EOS/Holga got me to thinking how great this could look with some hard flash thrown in there mixing with the ambient. The plastic lens distorts and softens hard light into something ethereal and beautiful. So I am sticking it up on the blog...

Monday, May 22, 2006

The Great Flash and Glass Garage Sale

All around the world, photographers who used to shoot film have put away their fancy SLRs and zoom lenses and rediscovered the joy of photography with sleek little digital point-and-shoots that fit in their shirt pockets.The image quality of many of these pocket cameras rivals that of pro digital SLR cameras from as little as a year ago. So people...

Paging Doc Edgerton. White Courtesy Phone, Please...

Sorry, this isn't the Glass 'n Flash Garage Sale post that I promised. I am traveling this evening for an early morning assignment, so I'll do that tonight from my hotel room. This is just a little quickie for those who might be interested in playing with their flashes as a motion-stopping toy. It was flipped to me by a Flickr user (Thanks, Amery!)"Make...

A Rational Approach to Buying Gear

Twenty something years ago, when I was just breaking into the field, things were so different.Thirty-five millimeter film was the format. And as now, most all PJ's used Nikon or Canon. Sure, some went with Leica range-finders if their style (and wallets) permitted. But for the most part you got married to the Nikon F (or Canon FD) lens mount and your...

Saturday, May 20, 2006

Strobist's Flickr Group: Really Kickin'

OK, folks. I appreciate very much your posting your own flash pictures in the Strobist Flickr Group. But I very much do not appreciate your posting pictures which show up the stuff I am putting up. Makes me look bad.Kidding, of course. Really nice stuff. Keep it coming. And if you haven't been there, check out the group's work here.And as soon as I finish up with my Preakness shooting, I'd like to pull a couple of them up to post as "On Assignments" here on the main site...

Bits and Pieces - May 20

Hey, folks. My head is spinning from a series of 12-hour shooting days, and I still have one more to go. Off today to shoot the Preakness (a big horse race, if you are from out of the US.) It's the second leg of the Triple Crown and I am glad the third leg is not my responsibility to cover.Coming in the next few days when I come up for air is the first installment of a series on designing a "long-term gear plan." Bags so so expensive to put together these days, so you want to get the most bang for the buck.Also, I shot a cool Varsity cover using...

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Round Up: The "Starving Student" Off-Camera Light Kit

Update: The prices - especially on the flashes - have risen, and I am working on alternatives and re-sourcing to bring things back to a more reasonable price. There is progress being made, so stay tuned.The SSO-CLK (for lack of a more poetic term) is designed to give you the most bang for your buck - with a nod toward extreme portability. It will work...

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Straddling the Line Between Genius and Insanity:

Oh, yeah. I laughed, too.But I'll give Juergen Specht this much: I'll bet he has no problem getting a smile out of his subjects.And when his off-camera-lit shooting session is threatened by rain, well, who's laughing then, huh? Huh??:: A Photographer's Quest for Perfect Light...

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

DIY Macro Strip Lights

UPDATE: Here are these macro strip lights in action, used on a sports section cover shoot.__________I am batting around an idea for a pretty cool illustration. It's a macro shot, and it involves some fairly tricky lighting. I could give you more detail, but then I'd have to kill you.Since I haven't shot (much less had published in the paper) the illustration,...

Monday, May 15, 2006

Dean Collins "Best of Finelight" Coming to DVD

I cannot put it any more crystal clear than this: Buy this DVD set.You want to learn about light? This guy will teach you. His name is (was, sadly) Dean Collins, and he was one of my biggest influences early in my lighting days.The subject is high-end lighting from the 80's and '90's. And truth be told, he is about as anti-Strobist as you can get,...

For a Few Dollars More: The Nikon SB-26

Anyone who has been reading Strobist for a while knows that I think the Nikon SB-24 is the best bet for the starving student's entré into the world of off-camera manual flash. With an external PC connection and full manual control over a 5-stop range, it has what you need without your paying for what you don't.But for someone with a little flexibility...

Right Back Atcha

I have gone through the Reader Links page and moved the (commented) URL's up to live links on the main post.Some of Strobist's readers are doing some cool stuff, and you should check these sites out. And don't forget to add your info and URL in the comments section so I can migrate the links up to the main page next time around.Click here to open the Reader Links page in a new window.And, speaking of reader contributions, the Flickr Strobist Group is kicking some major buttocks, as Forrest Gump would say. We are one serial flasher away from having...

Saturday, May 13, 2006

Joe McNally Lighting Seminars at NPPA Convention

On June 23-25, Joe McNally will lead workshops on location lighting at the National Press Photographers Association's convention in Tampa, FL. Joe is one of the best lighting seminar guys going. He moves fast and gives out a lot of good info. (He's the guy who did the "Speed of Light" DVD.)His seminars are highly recommended, as is joining the NPPA if you are a PJ ty...

Friday, May 12, 2006

Bogen 3373's Back in Stock

Finally!For the bazillion-or-so readers who have e-mailed me saying that those sweet little Bogen 6' Retractable 5-Section Light Stands were darn-near impossible to find, they seem to be back in stock. And in black, no less. (Although the photo shows chrome, the 3373 is black.)It's about time. I've been itching to pick up a third one for myse...

On Assignment: Dealing With a Difficult Subject

(Photo by Ben Hobby)You do enough assignments and soon enough you'll have to photograph someone who is (a) picky, (b) knows exactly how they think their photo should be shot, and (c) is not exactly giving you very much raw material to work with, if you know what I mean.Such was the case for a young-but-enthusiastic Ben Hobby, 5, when I asked him to...

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Break Out the Popcorn...

Sportsshooter.com, (a great site if you are into the sports photo thing) has video online from a lighting seminar held a couple of years back. It's in 8 segments, and is not very dial-up friendly. But if you have the bandwidth, it is worth a look.Link: 5-Minute Light.EDIT: I'd be curious to know if there was enough info within the short time of the videos to be useful to any of you. Please comment if you have any info in that regard. ...

Tuesday, May 9, 2006

On Assignment: Women's Lacrosse Cover

Last week, when I wrote about the idea of keeping a lighting notebook, I mentioned that I was playing with the idea of creating a triangular, wrap-around style of light on the cheap.The story ran, so now I am able to expand on the process and results.This Varsity cover is on a high school lacrosse player whose family had immigrated (under duress) from...

Maybe I Should Just Take Up Plumbing

Last night, on a tip from a Strobist reader (thanks, Mark) I drove down to Washington, D.C. to hear one of my long-time photo idols speak. In the process I met a lot of great new people from the D.C. chapter of ASMP.I have heard Gregory Heisler before, and knew he would be great. But I still wasn't prepared for the three hours of stunning portraiture he threw up there, peppered with non-stop anecdotes and stories that had us all laughing out loud more times than I could count.On the one hand, it was so inspirational. On the other, it makes me wonder...

MAHA 2700mAh NiMH Batts: What Have You Heard?

I am hearing that these are very good rechargeable batteries. Any of you guys have experience with them?2700mAh is very high capacity for a AA NiMH battery, so they could be a very good choice for strobes.Please let us know via the comments section of your experiences with them.Here is a source to get them, if you are interested. They also have a great...

Monday, May 8, 2006

Nikon "Speed of Light" DVD Demo

If you haven't heard about this, it is basically Joe McNally (a really good shooter) using a handful of SB-800's and -600's in Gee-Whiz TTL mode to do a lot of stuff most people would need big lights for.I had been going back and forth on whether or not to buy it. I probably will.There's a Quicktime preview of the DVD here.You can get it (in stock)...

You Showed Me Yours, So..

Of all sports, daytime baseball may be the most difficult to light using a small flash.Typically, in a little league stadium environment, I... Nah! I'm just kidding.No one, not even a sicko like me, lights day baseball. (Although Walter Iooss, Jr. lit the endzone of a Superbowl, once.) I am just posting this to let you know that I have been going through...

Check Out Flickr Strobist, Folks!

This is too cool. There are 43 of you guys signed up already, with neat photos popping up left and right. This "world web thing" might not be just a fad, after all.If you haven't checked out the new Strobist Group on Flickr.com, you can do it here.Please join up and show us your stu...

Sunday, May 7, 2006

Nikon SB-800 Heaven

If you are a Nikon SB-800 owner, let me first congratulate you on your apparent disposable income level.Now that we have that out of the way, you may be interested in this link:SB-800 Resources (Thanks, Doug)Also, if you are bored out of your gourd, here's a quick news flash: You can play with an "interactive" iTTL Flash demo, which is on the Nikon...

OK, Folks, Strobist Flickr is Live

First of all, mucho thanks to 'Captoe,' who set us up with a group (and educated me as to how to use it.)This is a place to stick you cool flash experiments - successes and interesting failures. There's only one rule: The photos have to be "work safe." Which is to say that they won't get anyone who is browsing at their desk (when they should be working) canned for looking at your stuff.In other words, while I am sure your main squeeze's (fill in body part here) looks great in your cool new light, this ain't the place.That said, throw up whatever...

Saturday, May 6, 2006

Pocket Wizard Layaway Plan

I'll bet that headline got your attention.It's a cheap teaser, but based in truth.A Pocket Wizard set uses connector jacks that are like a set of earbuds, but in mono instead of stereo. They are called 1/8" mono plugs.If you wanted to build a synch cord that would allow an easy transition to PW's, you could use a cheap audio cord as the middle part. This would mean that the connector-end PC cords that you bought for your 1/8"-audio-jack-based, pigtail synch cord would fit your PW's when you were ready to step up to $330 of wireless synching bliss....

That Synching Feeling

Do you know what your camera's real synch speed is?As you probably know, when you stick a TTL-compatible flash up on your camera's hot shoe, the two talk to each other and the camera limits your shutter speed to your highest full synch speed. Usually, this is 1/250th.Well, the camera does not talk to a PW transmitter (or a garden-variety synch cord) so it does not know to limit the shutter speed. I was shooting at an assignment today using a strobe off camera and a Pocket Wizard as a trigger. What I found (with a little popping and chimping) was...

Flickr, It Is...

There seems to be a good consensus for Flickr. Captoe has already set up a group called Strobist here, prompting my crack team of copyright lawyers to fire up the fleet of black helicopters and head his way. Actually, Captoe, if you want to handle the invite approvals and e-mail me with an easy instruction set telling people how to post the photos,...

Friday, May 5, 2006

Help Me, Rhonda.

Alright, folks. I am hoping the Collective Strobist Reader Brain Trust can yield an idea or two.The goal: To set up a publicly available place for you guys to stick your lighting triumphs and interesting failures so we can all see them.The venue: Not here. (Because it would drown me with work, cause me to neglect Mrs. Strobist and probably land me in divorce court.)I don't use any of the online photo community sites, so I don't know squat. But I want readers to be able to submit photos to some sort of "Strobist account" somewhere, with the abilty...

On Assignment: Use a Second Light to Create Tension

Back in the 1980's, I did a lot of freelance for a really visual, cutting-edge publication called "American Banker - Bond Buyer."Now, if you were to detect a note of sarcasm on the visual quality of AB-BB in my voice, you just might be right. But the assignments were quick and dirty, they paid pretty well and those folks sure knew how to turn a photography...

Page 1 of 60112345Next

Share

Twitter Delicious Facebook Digg Stumbleupon Favorites More