You Guys are Lookin' Smart...

A quick glance at the "Looksmart" entries thus far confirms that you early bird folks are really raising the bar on this assignment.It almost makes me wonder what the procrastinators have in store for us!Ah, but remember: The deadline, she so relentlessly approaches. August 4th, 11:59 local time. Tick. Tick. Ti...

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Strobe on a Rope

I used to think that there was special light that only came out when other, better shooters needed to make a picture.I knew, of course, that they added light when working on controllable situations. But these guys even had great looking photos in "run-and-gun" settings, where you could not hope to have a light stand set up because it would get knocked...

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By Request: Strobist Button

Someone asked about a button on the Flickr discussion group, so I thought I would whip one out. (That's it on the left.)Please feel free to place this wherever you wish. And muchas gracias for helping people find the site.The destination URL is, of course: http://www.strobist.blogspot.comThe image SOURCE is: http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3792/2480/1600/button.jpgThe...

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Tips From The Top Floor Interview

Just got a note from Matt A., telling me that Tips From The Top Floor has posted the interview that was recorded with me earlier this week.I am downloading it now. While I am waiting, (it's 22 megs) I thought I would throw up the links. The main site link is above. Or you can go to the archive page, or directly to the mp3.Either way, I hope you will...

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Bits and Pieces, July 27th

Just a few notes to keep you up-to-date with the goings on at Strobist's International Headquarters.New Podcast Coming This one was with the very personable (and probably very sleepy) Chris Marquardt, of Tips Fron The Top Floor podcast. Marquardt's shows are really quite good. If you have not heard them, he's worth listening to. Because of the 6-hour time difference (he lives in Germany) the only time when our schedules intersected for the week was at midnight for him. That was very gracious of him. So if he sounds sleepy, you'll know why. (I have...

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So, What are You Reading?

Being summer (for you northern hemisphere readers, anyway) I always like to know what I should be reading while getting my future skin cancer at the beach. I've showed you mine -- I have my favorites listed on the Strobist Bookshelf. But I would love to know what photo books you all consider your favorites.Herewith, I am offering anyone the opportunity to make their case in a mini-review for a favorite photo book, DVD, or any other media.How-to, monolith, photo textbook, DVD -- whatever. Anything in the photo genre in general is fair game. Books...

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On Assignment: Pool Portrait

A few days ago, I had an assignment to shoot a professional triathlete at a local pool. It was a quick, bottom-of-the-page sports assignment. But the photos were a good illustration of how to use location to control bad sunlight, and then build the good light back up with flash. So here it is.We were doing a story on her because she will be competing...

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Dang, We Look Good...

Thanks to a tip from Carl Hutzler in the comments section, we now have a cool way of looking at all of the bootcamp pix easily. Go here and type in a tag (like "strobistbootcamp") and you will see all of the pix in thumbnail and slideshow format.Even cooler is that it gives you related tags that you can also jump to with one click.Thanks, Ca...

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Gone Fishin' For the Weekend

OK, maybe not fishing. But we'll be swimming in a roof-top pool, if that's close enough. I'll be in Philadelphia with the family for a much-needed weekend of R&R. There will be no off-camera flash photography involved.Philly skyline photo by Strobist reader (and Travel Photographer Emeritus) Bob Kri...

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Who will be the 1,000th Flickr Strobist Member?

EDIT: We have a winner!Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Bryan Peabody, Flickr Strobist's 1,000th member. But first, a little about Bryan.Bryan lives in Louisville, where he apparently enjoys baseball, airplanes and growing stuff, among other things.He has a cute new nephew, and he gets absolutely rave reviews from his wife (or very serious girlfriend - not sure):""Bryan is the sweetest, kindest young man you'll ever meet, which is why I've already claimed him as my own. He is thoughtful and creative, intelligent and sincere."You don't see many...

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If You Have a Moment...

This is not something I am in the habit of doing. But I happened to visit Strobist reader Dolores Neilson's website after clicking on a link in her comment. Her site - and her work - is absolutely beautiful.If you have a moment, check it out. You'll have to figure out how to work the buttons on her camera, thou...

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Boot Camp Assignment Number Three: Look Smart

At the beginning of this series, I told you that we would start out easy and quickly get to the more challenging stuff. So get ready to turn it up a notch.In the first two assignments, you were given a fairly tight set of subject matter restrictions and lighting styles. The idea was to keep the field of play pretty small and allow you to get comfortable...

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Thanks

Thanks for all of the kind notes of support on the Flickr thread, via e-mail and in the comments section. I am taking many of the suggestions to heart, although maybe not so much the ones that would add a lot of work right now...I'm not going anywhere, and I am looking forward to continuing to add new stuff. Just at a more sustainable pace.Coming up, I'll be posting the third Boot Camp assignment. Also, I shot a job today that'll make a good "On Assignment." It'll go up as soon as it runs.And the seminar details will be posted as soon as they are...

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Strobist's Next Phase

Note: The following letter is mainly for the benefit of those of you who have been with me for a while now, as those people who just drift through occasionally will probably not notice the difference.I first came up with the idea (and the name) for Strobist in February of this year, after being invited by a colleague to give the same lighting talk for the umpteenth time to a fresh group of college students in Baltimore.Instead, I decided to put it all down in writing once and for all. That way I would not have to repeat myself, and I could save...

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Background Assignment: Discussion

Looking at the background photos posted and tagged to Flickr, two things struck me. First, we lost some of you, numbers-wise. This was, after all, a more complex photo assignment. But the ones who did participate clearly put more effort and planning into the final product than on the first assignment. And the results show that, for many, it was worth...

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Found: Nikon SB-24 Manual PDF

Kudos to Strobist reader Marc Lacoste, who has tracked down a .pdf version of the Nikon SB-24 speedlight. It is posted online for easy download, here.Great reading, if you are wondering what all of those rubber "mystery buttons" do on the back of your flash, now that the symbols have long since worn off...Great find, Ma...

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Tick, tick, tick...

Just a quick reminder for those of you who are Boot Camp participants to get those background assignments in and tagged before midnight local time.I'll be pulling them up tomorrow while I stay inside and away from a 100-degree heatwave in the Mideast Atlantic region. I have already noticed some really nice stuff from some of you. And I am very much looking forward to seeing the group effo...

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A Great Face for Radio...

First of all, no, that's not me. The above guys are Bill Crawford and Ed Hidden, of StudioLighting.net. They were kind enough to have me on their podcast (which was taped a couple of weeks ago) and it has just been posted.At 36 minutes long, my wife would note that it is about 34 minutes longer than I am able to talk intelligently about anything. So...

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Friday Night at the Movies

If you have not been hanging out on the Flickr Strobist discussion board, you might have missed a nice find by a regular Strobist reader.He points out ZugaPhoto.TV, which has dozens of photo-themed how-to and demonstration-type videos to peruse if you are so inclined. There are other subject areas, too. But just click on "photography"on the mid-left...

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Pretty, Shiny Things

I previously mentioned that I was in the studio the other day, shooting wheat beer. The light painting idea was a bust, and I had to bail to plan "B."Even though I was using the bigger flashes for this job, I wanted to use this opportunity to show you a new lighting technique. You can also use this as a chance to exercise your "reverse engineering"...

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Web Video on Portrait Lighting Techniques

The folks at Sports Shooter have put up another cool video from their Sports Shooter Academy (2) this last April. The subject is portrait lighting, and the presenters focus on the more powerful flash equipment. But the ideas are applicable for the most part.A warning to you dial-up users out there: At 25 megs, it's a frog choker. But if you get a chance, give Portrait Lighting at the Sports Shooter Academy 2 a lo...

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How To: DIY $10 Macro Photo Studio

Today we are going to learn how to build a DIY light tent for product photography, for next to zero cost. Even saying it costs "$10" is a bit of a stretch, because you can probably build this mostly for free. The ten dollars assumes you cannot scrounge a cardboard box and some white tissue paper you have saved in the gift-wrap supplies box. You can...

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Get 'em While You Can: $8 Gear Cases at WalMart

You wanna know what is most likely to kill your photo gear? Your trunk. Rattling around back there (you know, the way you drive) is pretty much tantamount to living in a rock tombler.A poster on the Strobist Discussion Group on Flickr found something which is too good a deal not to bring up to the main board: $8 gear hard cases on the clearance shelf...

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Interest Check: Strobist Podcasts

Having participated in exactly three podcast interviews in my whole life, I am now toying with the idea of doing it myself.Many of the Lighting 101 topics in particular could use some fleshing out, and having the extra info would be useful to some of those readers who are not completely grasping the concepts.That said, I would like to know what you guys think. Worth the effort? Would it be useful?Here's what I have:• Close to zero experience• Sound editing software• A microphone• A face made for radioHere's what I need:• Some feedback as to what...

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Background Assignment Entries Arriving; Bits and Pieces

I see some of you are already putting up your second assignment, including this effort by Righteye.(Click on the photo to pull up the tagged background entries so far.)You still have plenty of time, mind you. But I do occasionally check on you guys.Meanwhile, back in my neck of the woods, I hit the studio today with dreams of a cool, light-painted...

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External Sync Mod for Canon Flash

Michael Bass is offering a neat little mod for you Canon 580 EX speedlight owners. He will add a miniphone jack to the flash for $59.95 plus shipping. For that price, you also get fast turnaround and a cable (shown in the photo) to connect the flash to a Pocket Wizard.This thing works both ways - tied to a receiver to fire the flash, or with the flash...

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Varsity Flash Presentation

No, not strobe, but Macromedia Flash. (You'll need it to see the stuff.)My paper put up a slide show of some of the Varsity covers (and inside shots) and it looks pretty neat. You'll recognize some of the pictures from having appeared here earlier.I dunno how long they will leave it up, so give it a look. Almost all of these were done with just one...

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On Assignment: 5-Minute Test Shot

As I was heading home from work the other day, I was getting into the elevator at work as my boss and a features photo editor were getting out."I am down to one project," I mentioned to them. "You got anything?"(I like having a few things going at once, in different stages of development. So I am not shy about asking what may be available to stick...

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Boot Camp Assignment #2: Background Check

Okay, so you've got a headshot under your belt. It's a good start, and I hope it has provided the kick in the pants many of you needed to get up and actually start doing some of this stuff. The vast majority of you did quite well on the first assignment. And I think most of the misses can be attributed to aiming too high, as far as complexity of the...

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