Extra Value Lighting

Neil Turner, the other guy on the planet that runs a site dedicated to teaching small-flash lighting, is giving a seminar in the UK next month.What does this have to do with a Big Mac? I'll tell you what it has to do with a Big Mac.The charge is only £15. You couldn't even buy 4 extra value meals at a Mickie D's in London for that price. (I know. I...

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Keep Tabs on Your Gels

Here's a quickie gel mounting idea from reader Rui M. Leal.Rui is using a flash-head-sized template to cut the sample gels that are available for free from Rosco. (The samples can be hard to find, tho. Always ask when you place an photo gear order somewhere.)Rather than extend them with tape and mount them with velcro or rubber bands, Rui trims them...

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Video Archive, And Send Me Your Suggestions

In an atypical fit of organized thinking, I have pulled together some of the videos which have appeared earlier on the site (and some new ones) to create a small-but-growing dropdown menu on the right sidebar.This list will continue to grow as other videos (both internal and external) are added to the site.If you have seen (or created) a video you...

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RSS Hijinks

RSS users out there may notice a string of apparently older posts popping up in your RSS readers today. I am building a little video archive (see the dropdown on the right sidebar) and I will be wedging in some backdated video posts to avoid cluttering up the front page. Please do not adjust the color. The problem is not in your s...

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Hacking Your Camera's Sync Speed, Pt 1

This weekend's shooting reminds me of the love/hate relationship I have with my job as a newspaper shooter.Hate: Working a 12-hour day, much of it in draining heat, only to have a couple of small photos run in the backwaters of the sports section.Love: Getting to watch two phenomenal pitching performances at the state softball championships. The first...

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Two Cool Tips from PopPhoto Flash

I am working on an article on how to overclock your camera's sync speed, (flash at 1/2000th, anyone?) but I have just been handed the following assignments for Saturday by The Sun:A double-header softball game and an additional single baseball game (three games all together) that are 75 miles away from each other. But at least the traffic between the...

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Bits and Pieces, 5/24/2007

• The Microsoft Future Pro Photographer Contest deadline is in one week. They are being cool on the rights, the prizes are killer (like $20,000.00 in cash and much more) and one of our readers won it last year. There's space in the Strobist Trophy Case for one more, people.Oh, and it is free to enter. College students only. (Previously discussed at...

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DIY $8 Ringlight Folds Flat in Your Bag

Photographer Tommy Huynh has what may be the coolest adaptation of a DIY ringlight I have seen yet.It is small, light, cheap and folds flat for easy portability. He has instructions on how to make it, with some neat-o example pics of the look it gives. But I still think I need a drawing, or a guts shot, or something to help me better understand how...

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How to Improve Your Cheapo Webcam's Picture Quality

We're taking a little detour today to talk lighting in a context other than still photos.Each day, untold bandwidth is being used to transmit really bad webcam image quality. Which is such a shame, really, when you consider how easy this is to fix. We're talking basic, low-end-theory off-camera lighting, folks. The same thing we talk about every day....

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Set Flash Mode to 'Automagic'

Ken Brown, who also took this awesome photo of a Mercedes 300SL using just two speedlights, has posted a YouTube video of himself shooting some spiffy cars.He uses a single SB-24 speedlight, handheld in a softbox, and walks around each classic car popping the flash in a darkened room with the camera shutter left open. Kinda hard to see what he is doing, because he is only visible during the flashes. But the payoff comes when he shows you the final photos. Amazing stuff this, especially for one small flash.(UPDATE: Ken, AKA Mooosehd2, has been answering...

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SitBonzo Strikes Again

SitBonzo, aka British newsphotographer David Berman, has posted another flash slideshow of some recent assignments. He includes some nice how-to info, along with some pretty high-end lighting diagrams (as you can plainly see.)He narrates it himself, with a dry sense of humor and that cheeky British accent of his.Thanks, David. Keep 'em coming. (If...

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Thinking Bloggers

Rats. Still sick. Gonna miss the Preakness. First time in quite a few years, too.Here I sit, in bed, bored silly. At least I can catch up on the no-physical-labor portion of my "to-do" list.Herewith, the Thinking Blogger meme.Just because one of these things comes along does not mean that I necessarily participate in it. But I thought the idea behind...

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On Assignment: Two-Speedlight Group Shot

I am spending this beautiful spring day flat on my butt, stapled to the bed and trying to kick a bug that I very much hope will not keep me from shooting the Preakness race in two days. So today's OA will be a simple one, to spare the three brain cells I apparently have left at this point.Any time I talk about group shots, I get a lot of feedback from...

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I Don't Know What to Say...

I run off to another country for a few days, and come back to you guys wearing the lampshade?Folks, I am at a loss for words. Except to point out that this is probably the first time the following phrase has ever been posted to the internet:"... One Vivitar 283 ball-bungied to my head w/ a coffee filter diffuser ..."Flew in last night and was immediately...

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Sjan: Food Photographer

If you want to know what it really takes to make it make it as a food photographer for the "Big Three," you'll need to carefully study this vid...

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Before I Leave London...

If you live near London and are considering a career in press photography, you'll want to check out this prep course being offered by the press agency, onEdition.One of the instructors will be onEdition photographer Ant Upton, shown here in a photo from the London Sunday Strobist seminar. You can find out more about the course here.As a lil' mini On...

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In Appreciation

I would like to belatedly welcome zenfolio, a very slick photo hosting site, and Pocket Phojo, who makes the software lets you edit and seamlessly transmit photos from your PDA while you keep shooting.Along with MPEX and PhotoShelter, I hope you'll give them a look. They make it possible for all of the info in this site to be totally free.Thanks, gu...

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You Wedding Shooters Just Got a New Home Page

No matter what your area of shooting, you should be looking to people in your field who are really busting some creative stuff as inspiration for your own shooting.To that end, I point the wedding shooters (heck, anybody, actually) to Matt Adcock's new wedding-themed lighting blog, FlashFlavor.com.Matt's just starting out with the blog thing, but he...

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Strobist Readers: List Your Blog

London has been great. Especially today, when I got a chance to meet quite a few of the site's British and European readers and shoot them. I had a great time at the seminar, and now I am ready to take Sunday off and sleep in.Oh, wait. There's still one more. What the heck, I'll sleep on the plane.The social component to the group is one of the best things about the joint, IMO. If you didn't make it to the pub afterwards, you missed out.Speaking of social, someone has started a Flickr thread where Strobist readers are listing URL's to their own...

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Silver Umbrellas, Flashless Flash Kits and The Wiz

MPEX now has their ducks all in a pretty row heading into Lighting 102. This is no easy task folks. And I have gotten enough of a glimpse of supply chain management to know that I could never, ever make it as a retailer.Three items:• The silver umbrellas are now in, for those of you wanting to squeeze the most efficiency out of your speedlights. They...

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Cool, Warts-and-All Photo Video

Chase Jarvis, whom you may recall from the ubercool photo laptop briefcase he designed, is at it again. Assigned to shoot a series of videos for the Hasselblad "Master" series (go on ahead witcha bad self, Chase) he compiled every shot he made into a flipbook video to show the process behind the photos.This is very cool. It is a quick way to watch the progression of how he thinks. He even has lighting test shots in there, too.Honestly, I am a little surprised that he shoots as few frames as he does. He quickly progresses to the photo he is looking...

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Bits and Pieces, 05/11/2007

So, can you tell I like the BBC? I'm walking in London about 8-10 hours a day to cram as much exercise and relaxation into three days as possible. This city is so cool. Expensive, but cool. And I am such a pathetic fanboy tourist.Dropped by the The Flash Centre to pick up some gels for the seminars and ran into long-time email bud Neil Turner, publisher...

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Gadget Infinity V2 Reviews Trickling Out

NK Guy, over at Photonotes.org has posted a review of the new version (V2) of the Gadget Infinity remotes. Their official name, BTW, is the "Cactus PT-04," which was surely decided upon after extensive market testing.(Thanks for the heads-up, N...

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Microsoft Repents; Won't Steal Your Photos

If you happened to catch the first version of the Microsoft photo contest post earlier this week (before it died a grisly death in a hail of comment fire) you saw the now infamous "Rule Number Five." This little paragraph basically demanded all rights to all entries, forever and ever, amen.It went on to to the point where I am pretty sure that Microsoft...

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On Assignment: Spring Desserts

With the Queen visiting in the US, I am enjoying a few days in London before the weekend seminars. It's not that I specifically wanted to get away from her. But there is the small matter of a restraining order dating back from my college days that requires that I stay at least 5,000 miles away from her at all times.I'd tell you more, but I think my...

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Reader Feedback Time

I am flying over to London tonight, and will be out of touch (and jet-lagged) tomorrow. So I want to take advantage of the time to solicit some reader feedback.The content for the Lighting 102 series is still very much in play. And I would like to hear some things you would like to learn about. I will certainly be taking suggestions into account when I am planning the course.Just keep them within reason. Just because you suggest "erotic self portraiture" does not mean I am gonna do it. Patrick.Give it some thought, and hit me in the comments. I...

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Flickr and You, Part 4: Case Study - John Dohrn

This is the last part of a four-part series, which begins here. In this final installment, we'll be taking a more expanded look at the possibilities for one of Strobist's readers who uses Flickr. ______________________________________Not even old enough to vote yet, John Dohrn has already built an impressive collection of striking insect photos. Clearly...

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First Look: Gadget Infinity V2 Remotes

I just received a review set of the new (V2) version of the $29.95 Gadget Infinity remotes. I've been playing around with them a little, and they seem to work pretty well. Consider them a relatively painless way to dip your toe in the world of RF remotes. They have a pretty high trigger percentage - but not 100%. Bearing in mind that they also cost...

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Jessica Alba, au Naturale

Okay, I guess this is officially magazine night here on Strobist.So I am in the checkout line this evening waiting to pony up for my Diet Mountain Dew and Baked Ruffles. I'm looking at the People Magazine 'Most Beautiful' cover story because I am way too cultured to look at the National Enquirer. Unless it is a really good issue.Drew Barrymore? Most...

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Strobist in May Issue of PDN

And not just me, either. You guys are mentioned as a group, and at least one of you is quoted.The story, by Daryl Lang (who actually grew up very near where I live, it turns out) is about Flickr. Strobist reader Ryan Brenizer is actually the lede of the story. Way cool. Anyone else in our group quoted? Give us a holla in the comments...:: PDN story:...

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