On Assignment: Lighting a Large Interior

One of the knocks on using speedlights is that they are not very powerful. In twenty years as a photojournalist, I have found that they are more than powerful enough for the vast majority of my assignments. You simply approach your lighting technique in a way that compliments your strobe's abilities.A good case in point was yesterday. I was assigned...

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Introduce your Product, Service or Website to 250,000 Photographers

Why just read Strobist when you can be part of it?Now you can introduce your company to self-motivated digital photographers all around the word in a single, low-cost step. Strobist is particularly interested in partnerships with quality companies who seek to build long-term, nonpredatory relationships with enthusiastic, growing photographers. Because that's what we do, too.Consider the stats:Over the course of a month, Strobist averages 1.5-2 million page views from over 250,000 different photographers from all over the world. (I know. Kinda freaks...

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Speedlinks, 1/30/2007

• Canon users, get ready to crack open those wallets. There is apparently a new flagship just around the corner. (Via T-O-P.)• Old, but interesting: A detailed look into Joe "22-speedlight" McNally's photography for a story on flight. (Via Rob Galbraith, with thanks to reader Hugo V.)And lastly: On this day, 42 years ago, I was born. So I am taking the day off from blogging and only working at The Sun all day. (Via my mo...

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The Lazy Man's Snoot

Well, heck. It can't get much easier than this. Strobist reader Mattie Davitt commented on the Snoots and Gobos page that a box of spaghetti makes a perfectly sized snoot for the small-head Nikon SB's such as the SB-800, -28, etc.This is kinda cool, because you can just keep a couple of these boxes in your lighting bag and let the need of a given subject...

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The Joke's On You

Moishe, who started this joke thread a while back, is reviving it with a little twist.He has suggested a little competition of sorts. What with our shared techniques, penchant for frugality, obsession with lighting, etc., there must be some humor in there somewhere.So, put on your propeller beanies (or rubber chickens) and come up with the best Strobist-related...

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POTW 1/26/07; And a Neat Technique

It's Friday, which means I'd better charge up all of my AA NiMH's for a triple dose of hoops tomorrow. Got McDaniel College - way NW of Baltimore - at 3:00p and then I have to be at American University in Washington, DC for two more basketball games, starting at 7:00p.Yikes. And The Sun does not reimburse speeding tickets, either.But Friday's also...

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Whoa. Avoid "Broadway Photo," Folks...

Apparently, they screwed over the wrong customer this time. Now Consumerist.com has gone and unloaded a big ol' can of documentary whupass on those guys. Priceless.Kinda makes you appreciate MPEX, h...

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Speedlinks, 1/25/2007

Lotsa interesting stuff dropping from the ether these days. Do you have what it takes (i.e. free time) to see them all? Make sure to look like you're working if the boss walks by...• John Harrington flipped me a neat little tutorial on shooting smoke.• Speaking of John, check out his walk-through (uh, make that run-through) of a three-minute, two location assignment on Capitol Hill. (Of course, he lit both locations, too...)• Young Icelander Thorsteinn C. did a 100-self-portraits-in-100-days thing. The guy sure can shoot for a greenhorn. Very...

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On Assignment: Book Club

Okay, the polls are closed and the votes are in. It was fun to watch you guys try to reverse engineer a photo which was lit in a very not-very-obvious way.Several of you got it pretty close. And if you didn't, no worries. First, this was not an easy photo to reverse. And second, the final look was a little nebulous and could probably have been achieved...

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2007 Northern Short Course Roster Announced

If you are going to be anywhere near Warwick Rhode Island in early March, I'd like to invite you to attend the 2007 Northern Short Course.I'll be part of a large roster of speakers, and will be doing a session each on the morning of Thursday, March 8th and the afternoon of Friday, March 9th. John Harrington also will be there, speaking about business...

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On Assignment: Book Club Pt. 1

This week I had an assignment for The Sun to illustrate a story on book clubs. I am going to write a detailed On Assignment for it later this week, but I wanted to throw the final photo out as a reverse engineering exercise first.So, to be clear, you are looking at the result and trying to backwards-engineer the lighting involved. If you wanna play,...

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Hey, You UK Types

Given that there are about 7,000 different photographers from the UK visiting the site within a typical month, I have some info that might interest you.First, there is a Flickr thread now for you guys to share info, introduce yourselves (and find out if your next door neighbor might share your affliction.)Second, UK reader Jon Leighton has put together...

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POTW - 1/19/2007

Howdy, Buckaroos!It's Friday, which means it's TGIF, which means POTW. This time, it is "Pictures of the Week." I kept trying to get it down to one, and I couldn't. Heck, I had enough trouble getting it down to two.But they are two very different photos, so choosing between them was somewhat like apples and oranges anyway.Leading off is Cicobuff's...

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On Assignment: Always Look for a Detail

I have written before about finding (and lighting) details in the Lighting 101 section before, and it bears repeating.A decent detail shot can elevate a decent shoot into a very good one. Or raise a D+ shoot up to a B- one. It can also give the designer the ability to turn a boring lede picture into a nice, graphic package.You freelancers would do...

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Herb Keppler's Hot Shoe Fetish

So, what do you really know about that little hot shoe you left behind?Probably not as much as Pop Photo's Herb Keppler. He has traced the history of the venerable flash mount from its humble beginnings on a 1913 prototype Lei...

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The Bidness End of Things

I was very happy to wake up to the overnight e-mails this morning to see that Photo Bidness Guru John Harrington has not only launched a blog on the subject, but has quietly been populating it for some time now.In the same way that I hope to expand your comfort level with light, John is going for the side of your brain that brings home the bacon.If...

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January Workshop Follow Up

I have almost recovered from Saturday's lighting seminar. I was surprised at how much five hours of talking and demos wore me out. I must be am definitely getting old.I thoroughly enjoyed meeting many of you - especially during the dinner at Bare Bones afterward. (Too bad the Ravens choked against the Colts.)We covered a lot of ground on Saturday afternoon....

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TGIF - POTW 1/12/07

Friday, at last. I'm wrapping up my assignments for the week and prepping for tomorrow's seminar. I have been so busy that I almost forgot to post this week's reader photo, which is a real stopper. I placed it in the POTW holding-bin bookmark folder the moment I saw it.It's by Wylie Maercklein, who is making his second appearance on the Picture of...

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Lest We Take Ourselves Too Seriously, Pt. 1

While crawling around the archives at The Online Photographer, I came across Mike Johnston's priceless look into how some of the world's greatest photographers might have been received on internet photo message boards.Any of these responses ring a be...

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On Assignment: Political Portrait

NOTE: As I continue to bask in the abject glory of Florida's stunning upset of Ohio State to win the NCAA football championship, Ohioan Gary Gardiner has written up an "On Assignment" about his portrait of Ohio Governor-elect Ted Strickland. Check it out for a look into Gary's thought process while making a really cool photo in just a little time with...

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Web Portfolio with Lighting Diagrams

Photographer Scott Smith has a neat website that takes the idea of the typical web portfolio and kicks it up a notch by adding lighting diagrams and how-to blurbs to many of the photos.It's well worth clicking around a little. But be warned that the boudoir section is a little NSFW-ish. Plenty of other stuff to see if the boss is around.For those of...

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Couple of Seminar Tix Available

EDITOR'S NOTE: We worked out the spare tix issue in the fairest way possible.-DHWe had a long lead time on this to allow people to snag a cheap Southwest flight if they were traveling to this Saturday's workshop. As such, a couple of the attendees' situations have changed and there are two or three tix available from individuals.If you have a ticket that you cannot use, please contact Geren Mortensen at the original paypal addy ASAP-est and he can match your vacancy up with the top person on the waiting list.The Jan 1st refund deadline was set...

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If You are Coming to the Seminar:

Addendum: If you have a copy of the Grecco book, please bring it. There are a couple of examples we are going to talk about. No need to go out and buy it just for this. But if you have a copy, please bring it.Just a couple of admin items if you are signed up for this week's workshop. It is this Saturday from 1p - 6p, and directions can be found here.1....

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I'm in it for the Money

I noticed a thread in the Flickr discussion group in which someone suggested nominating Strobist for the Bloggies. To that end, some thoughts:• If you really like the site, please just nominate it in one category. I am thinking "photo" might be most appropriate. Or possibly best photo site by a supermodel. (No, wait, that's Fred Miranda's joint.)• If you participate, you are required to nominate blogs in at least two other categories. Please be creative and find a couple that are good but have not yet gotten much notice.• "Blog Of The Year," which...

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Digital Journalist Excerpts LatDP

Strobist reader Joris van Alphen tipped us off that that Digital Journalist has a big piece on Michael Grecco's book. Better yet, they included more than a dozen photos done up with lighting diagrams and text. Definitely worth a read if you have not gotten the hard copy yet. Digital Journalist is a great site, BTW. You could spend weeks clicking around through their archives.To check out Joris' site, click on his name above.(Thanks, Jori...

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Next, They'll be Using Nitro

Not ones to settle for limited performance from the much-talked-about cheapo eBay flash remotes, some Strobist readers are souping them up. Check out this Flickr Strobist thread for a how-to on swapping power sources (AAA's good, exotic batts bad) and swapping the antenna for a reported extended range of 200 feet. (!)One thing to consider: You could...

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Weekend Surfing: Lost America

Looking for some weekend reading? Photographer and Strobist reader Troy Paiva makes the wrecked cars, abandoned trailers and decrepit aircraft skeletons of the American desert west his ghostly subjects at his website, Lost America. Using a balance of moonlight, multicolored strobe pops and light painting with a flashlight Troy evokes a surreal mood...

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TGIF - POTW: Jan 05, 2007

Whew.Nine straight workdays, with a few 12-hour-plus Ford Funeral days thrown in. Love those oh-dark-thirty security sweeps on the risers behind the Capitol. And that's on top of whatever I managed to do here. Me be mucho tired. Luckily, I have a four-day weekend in which I am catching up on some sleep, grabbing some family time and finishing up plans...

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