Nikon Digital Learning Center on Balancing Flash and Ambient

Dave Black, who does some cool things with Nikon speedlights, has an article up on the Nikon Digital Learning Center that is worth a read. He details three situations, combining flash and ambient. Which, coincidentally, is exactly what we'll be working on starting this week in Lighting 102. So eyes front, you folks sleeping in the back. Dave takes...

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Speedlinks - 9/1/07

This weekend, I'll be donating blood to several thousand mosquitoes as we go camping in the Catoctins for Labor Day weekend. So comment moderation may be a little slow until I regain consciousness.Hopefully, you'll be cruising the speedlinks in a nice, bloodsucker-free environment. With no bears, either.• Andrew over at Meejahor.com has a neat...

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Introducing Connected Flow

If you are a Mac user check out our newest site sponsor, Connected Flow. They make inexpensive plug-ins for easily batch exporting photos between platforms such as iPhoto, Aperture and Flickr. And if you plug in the code, "STROBIST1," you get 10% off. Welcome aboard, guys!-...

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DIY Darwin Award

All good Strobists go to heaven. Some, perhaps, sooner than others.If you happen to have an unneeded engineer's lamp and maybe some extra life expectancy lying around, you may wish to consider this DIY slaved desk-lamp flash.With it's sexy, open, all-metal design, you're sure to shock your friends and neighbors with your lighting prowess. Yessiree,...

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Chase Jarvis Behind the Scenes

So, what's it really like to go out on a shoot with Chase Jarvis? Oh, just the usual: Throwing stuff at his models, driving around without seatbelts, fun with dead animal parts and tracking the elusive, uh, "weeping willow." Sort of.That said, this one showed me more about the guy's lighting technique than any of the others. I like the car-to-car Lumy thing.-...

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SB-24: Monster Garage Edition

I had a chance to talk to Vadim V. during a lunch break at one of the Seattle seminars. And he showed me his way-cool, bare-bulb-modified SB-24 flash. As if I wasn't drooling enough waiting for lunch already.He has thrown a photo of it up on Flickr, and you are gonna drool too when you start thinking about what you could do with this. (An early mentor...

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Sunday, Sept 9th, Mystery Event in Columbia, MD

UPDATE: The Sept. 9th event has been filled. If you created a comment and submitted it before the comments function closed for this post, your comment has been received. Emails with relevant info went out on Friday afternoon. -...

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Chips, Glass and Light: Assembling an Inexpensive Camera Bag

As a newspaper photojournalist, my gear considerations were based on reliability, speed (both motor and lens) durability and image quality. My bodies were top of the line. My glass was fast, heavy, prime and expensive. I had both a daily working bag and a pool room full of specialized gear.For the first time in twenty years, I have been buying a bag...

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Free Download: Simply Well Lit with Joe McNally

I was hanging out in Penn Camera (my local photo store/pro shop) last week when I came across a very cool promotional brochure put out by the folks at Bogen Imaging. It's a 24-page, oversized, heavy stock Elinchrom brochure wrapped around a photo shoot by Joe McNally.I am a big fan of Joe McNally. If he did a video on how to make toast, I would probably...

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It's That Time of Year: Football Preview Shots

Mark Cornelison, a shooter for the Lexington Herald (in Kentucky in the US) has posted a video on shooting football preview portraits. Good stuff. Reminds me of my former Patuxent Publishing colleague Fran Gardler's work. (He occasionally shoots with the Speed Graphic, too.)I love the multi-angle, hard light look. And as a bonus, you can totally do this with speedlights as there are no light softeners to eat up your watt-seconds.:: More Work by Cornelison :::: Francis Gardler's Spring 2006 Athletes ::(Thanks for the heads-up in the comments, J...

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Lighting 102: Specular Background Assignment | Discussion

Results from two weeks ago, in which you were asked to shoot a portrait using an umbrella to both light your subject and create a specular highlight on the background, as in this example.From the final edits, it is clear that this was a bit of a polarizing experience. You either got it or you didn't. It was either a natural extension of the experiments...

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Florida Strobists, Throwin' Down

Well, peoples, the bar has been set pretty high right out of the blocks. The Florida Strobist meet-up, organized by Nick Haskins, apparently shot a little video.I know that there are several other meet-ups in the works. And I am sure you guys will have fun and stuff. But the Florida contingent is totally owning right now. Maybe the West Coast leftie-creative types will represent with something to top this. But I wouldn't bet on it.(Via NicholausHaskins.co...

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Interest/Venue Check: Paris Seminar

I will be in Paris with my family for the last week in October. If I can find a suitable venue, we could definitely do a full-day seminar on Saturday, Oct. 27th. I have someone in Paris helping me look, but I am very open to your ideas for a venue.Eiffel Tower photo by Strobist reader Electroic Alchemist.(Specifics after the jump.) 1. Needs to be big...

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Reader Question: Karate Kids

Reader Joseph S. will be photographing kids sparring against each other in this room at a karate studio. He posted a question on the Flickr threads looking for advice from other readers on how to design the lighting.I want to think through this one out loud and walk through what I would do and why. But first, take a moment to think how you might approach...

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Starting Today, Full RSS Feeds

A little change of pace from the normal Sunday flashbacks for a small announcement.Following last Saturday night's seminar in Seattle, I enjoyed a great after-hours discussion with a group of the site's readers about a wide range of topics. These sessions are always my favorite part of the seminars. Other than the big dance number at the end of each day's session, of course.(Shhhh, don't give it away for the new folks.)One of the topics that came up was partial vs full RSS feeds (I am currently set at partial) and we talked about the plusses and...

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Speedlinks, Me Thinks, 8/25/07

Tell you a little secret: I love collecting these things all week. And many thanks to those of you who drop nifty little ideas in the comments, too.This week's blue plate specials include lenscaps, music, seam carving, microstock, rasterbation and the ultimate camera toss.• Print out your pix larger than life with Rasterbator.• Computers can now stretch...

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Readers Shoot Back: Konstantin Sutyagin

Born and trained as a product designer in Russia, photographer Konstantin Sutyagin moved to Los Angeles in 1999. There, he has worked as a graphic designer and, most recently, as a photographer. He submits his work to no fewer than seven different microstock companies. I have mixed emotions about microstock, but to ignore it as a business model is...

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Annie does (Red)

UPDATE: Thanks to a tipster in the comments, I added a great video of some of the shoots at the bottom of the post. Bono, dude, you are an art director!I belatedly caught the July issue of Vanity Fair in the waiting room at the dentist yesterday. The theme of the issue was the (red) campaign, which seeks to benefit people in Africa by donating a portion...

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Flashers Spotted in Florida Park

Seminar? Who needs a seminar? You Florida guys rock.I had a great time in Seattle last weekend, but I am still sorry to have missed the Florida Strobist meet-up. They gathered in a park south of Orlando, and it looks as if they had a great time. It was the brainchild of Florida photographer Nick Haskins, who wrote about it afterwards in his blog.What...

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Lightning in a Backpack

Not a speedlight, but creating speedlight portability for a 1,000 watt-second strobe is some cool thinking. Check out the Sportsshooter article that details this clever assistant-portable flash idea.What I am thinking: Using a Vagabond battery with an Alien Bee (like the cool ring light, for instance) could be a reasonably priced alternative if you...

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A Visually Engaging Presentation

Editor's note: Strobist is about off-camera lighting with small flashes. But it also embraces visual creativity of all kinds. And this is that, in spades. This video has absolutely nothing to do with off-camera flash. If you don't like the occasional diversion, feel free to skip it. But I loved it.Okay, I guess it is wedding proposal week on Strobist. First Matt and Sol, and now this.Strobist reader (we do like to claim our stars) George Aye proposed last weekend to Sara Cantor, his girlfriend of three years. The time-lapse video he created with...

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Four and a Half More Days to Procrastinate

Just a reminder that the Umbrella Specular Portrait assignment is due on August 26th. There has been a lot of discussion on the Flickr thread about this one. It's not as easy as it looks. If it helps, you'll probably have your lens scrunched right up into the edge of your umbrella when you have the angles correct.Taking no chances is reader John M.,...

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Knight Light

A few days ago a question popped up in the Strobist Flickr threads from reader Bruce Elliott, who was planning to photograph a man in a suit of armor. (The shot is to be used for publicity for a mountain climbing expedition for charity.)The actual suit of armor is pictured here. Luckily, Bruce got a chance to see it (and snap a shot) early to help...

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Adcock Double Books Wedding wih Hurricane

They say a little rain on your wedding day is good luck. But a hurricane? Eh, not so much.Matt Adcock, who writes the killer wedding photography/lighting blog, Flash Flavor, shot and ran as the entire wedding party high-tailed it out of the direct path of Hurricane Dean.Everybody's fine (the couple actually found another place and got hitched) and...

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Sleepless in Seattle

Man, am I whupped. But what a great weekend.Highlights: Both seminars, the after-hours conversations, meeting lots of new friends, the white-knuckled ride in Chase Jarvis' 911. (And noting the fridge full of Red Bull at his office.)Lowlights: The simultaneous alarm clock/cell phone alarm/wake-up call to ensure that I could drag butt out of bed early...

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Sunday Flashbacks, 8/19/2007

From August, 2006:• Learn how to build Dean Collins' original "Tinker Tubes" light panels. • (Who was Dean Collins, you ask?)• Classic Dean Collins lighting technique from one of his proteg...

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Saturday Speedlinks, 8/18/2007

We have two cool speedlinks on tap today. I'll be away from the computer all day, brainwashing Seattlites (is that a word?) in person. So please be patient on the comment moderation.• Strobist Reader Duncan Babbage has tested the crap out of the Gadget Infinity remotes. His finding: Performance varies widely, depending on the synching channel chosen....

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Grab This While You Can: PhotoShelter "Town Hall" Series

PhotoShelter has just announced a series of "Photography 2.0" town hall meetings. These look to be a very interesting -- and free -- way to spend an afternoon learning about the industry and the whole 2.0 web marketing thing for photographers.Lotsa high-horsepower speakers from all sides -- photogs, buyers, software types, etc. There is also a round-table discussion, which will almost certainly happen at a rectangular table. Social hour aferwards, too.There is a list posted of September dates in various US cities. If you want to snag a seat, I...

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Yo, Two Tickets - Front Row

Just a quick heads-up that Seattle Sunday attendee Jerry Jackson had to change plans and has two seats available. First come, first served. Contact him directly he...

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Friday Night Seattle Mixer

Just a quick reminder that I'll be in the bar/lobby area of the Hilton Seattle Airport tonight (Friday) if you'd like to drop by and chat in advance of this weekend's seminars. I am planning to be there between 8p and 9p. I'll also see if I can talk Chase Jarvis into stopping by when I see him later this afterno...

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Pocket Wizards: Not Just for Flashes

YouTube filmmaker (and occasional still photographer) Chase Jarvis is at it again, this time showing his technique for remote cams that follow the action.If you have already dropped the coin for Pocket Wizards, you may as well go the full monty and get a camera trigger cord and a Bogen Magic Arm. This will allow you to stick your camera in some really cool places, as Chase's video shows.More info, including still pix and a list of the related gear he uses, he...

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CLS/Macro Box Video

The folks over at The Imaging Resource have a neat little video tutorial that features a guy showing how he uses Nikon CLS lighting (and a commercial version of our own DIY Macro Studio) to quickly shoot objects at a consumer electronics trade show.The lighting stuff is kind of specific to the Nikon CLS system. But what really surprised me is the way...

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What, Nothing on the Bottom?

I am at a loss for words. Freud comes to mind, tho.(Thanks to Bunnymonster for the laug...

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Headed to Seattle: Open Mic Day

I am in the air all day living on teeny tiny bags of peanuts, headed to the Seattle seminars this weekend. Which means that your pithy comments will languish unmoderated all day long, as the captain just hates it when I screw up the plane's nav system with my cellphone internet connection.If you are coming to either of the seminars, I will see you...

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Night, Science and Magic

What is This Man Doing?We last spoke of Florida-based photographer John Moran in September of last year in a post one how he used a little gear and a lot of brains to shoot a beautifully lit photo of the Comet Hale Bopp.John was a mentor of mine while I was in school at the University of Florida, and he has since left the PJ biz to photograph the natural...

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