5th-Place SPOY Winner, Via Peoples' Choice Vote

Congratulations to Ryan Taylor, for his stunning night shot of a wake boarder. Ryan used another person (out of the frame, at camera left) being pulled in an inner tube, to position a Nikon SB-800 in a protective bag. The result was a dramatically lit photo which would have been impossible to duplicate with on-camera lighting.This is just the type...

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SPOY 5th Place: You Be The Judge

The very cool 3rd-place "Ants at the Trough" photo, by Peter Steeper, showed a 2007 date in the Flickr system, but was in fact taken in 2003. This being the 2007 Strobist Photos of the Year, Peter and I mutually agreed to remove it from consideration after the fact.Given that the contest was for photos taken in 2007, we both felt it the fairest course...

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Strobist Photos of the Year, 2007 -- 2nd Place Winner

Three down, two to go.For each of the previous winners, we have given comments as to why they were chosen. We'll do that after the jump, but for the final two I also want to post some of the comments of the other Flickr users left when they first came across the 2nd-place photo on its Flickr page:"Wow. Amazing. Is this real?""Superb!!! How did you...

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Reader Question: Why Do Rim Lights Blow Out?

Reader Till Hamburg asks the above question in the Strobist Flickr Pool, and posts a series of photos just to prove his point. First of all, a little explanation of what Till means by these numbers. Then, an explanation and how to make that angle-dependent strength thing work for you.The series of photos at left have two lights which concern us. (Looks...

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Peter Steeper: Eating at the Trough

UPDATE: There was a mixup in the date on our third-place winner, with Flickr having the photo as a 2007 shot, when it fact it was shot four years ago and dropped into Flickr in 2007. While still an amazing photo, the "Ants" photo was removed from the competition by mutual agreement between the photographer and myself. Thus, 5th goes to 4th, 4th goes...

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Dave X. Tejada: Head Shots, and Pimping Your Chimping

How do you get to never be without access to your prized Golden Girls DVD collection while on the road, and write it off on your taxes at the same time? If you are David X. Tejada, you make up some lame story about how clients would rather chimp themselves on a seven-inch screen instead of the 2.5" back-of-the-camera version.Being Dave, he sneaks in a little lighting info, too. That big feathered soft box / reflector combo is makin' some bacon for him. And I love how well the small seamless rolls fit into cubicle land. You can shoot Dilbert and...

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Strobist Photos of the Year, 2007 -- 3rd Place Winner

One down, four to go. And like yesterday's photo, the SPOY 2007 fourth-place winner also understood the power of not letting the light upstage the rest of the image. See the 3rd-place winner and judges' comments after the jump._________________________3rd Place: Dionaea - Hosford, FL"Dionaea - Hosford, FL" was photographed by reader Forbes Conrad)...

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Strobist Photos of the Year, 2007 -- 4th Place Winner

The year is almost gone. In fact, there are exactly five days left in 2007. Which means it is time to announce the SPOY winners. But before we get to the 5th-place winner, a little housekeeping is in order.First of all, a few thoughts on the process of choosing ten winners. Amazingly not a single one of you attempted to find out how cheaply I could...

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Christmas Game Plan: Results

Just for kicks, I took a few moments to set up a couple of SB-800's according to the Christmas game plan I outlined on Sunday. This is a technique I use a lot for family events (birthdays, Christmas, etc.) when I know where things are going to happen and I just want to light a room.This is a good, low-pressure, no-risk way to experiment and practice....

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'Twas The Light Before Christmas

UPDATE: Also after the jump: A Christmas Day game plan.___________________It's Christmas Eve, and whether you celebrate Christmas or some other holiday in your household, the last week of the year is a very special time. The entire staff here at Strobist International Headquarters will be spending Christmas Eve and Christmas with our families. So there...

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Registration Opens for Jan. 19th San Francisco-Area Lighting Seminar

UPDATE: The San Francisco-area lighting seminar for Jan. 19, 2008 is sold out. Info and class details follow after the jump. Discussion thread link is here. __________________________Two things to note right off the bat:1. I realize this is a little ways south of San Francisco proper. But this trip coincides with a visit to the nearby headquarters of a very large, unnamed internet-based company. I am scheduled tightly both before and after this seminar, which will preclude the normal Saturday-Sunday combo. So, Saturday it is.2. Annoyingly, PayPal...

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Guide Number: Your Free Flash Meter

Pop quiz: What f/stop will your flash give you through an umbrella at ISO 100 on 1/4 power at ten feet? Not sure? Read on...Guide numbers are basic, core, old-school flash photography knowledge. And I can all but hear the old-timers rolling their eyes and saying, "Gee, Dave, whaddya gonna tell us about next, bounce flash?"But we have gotten so far...

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Jan. 19th, 2008 San Francisco Seminar Registration Opens Saturday

Registration for the Jan. 19th, 2008 San Francisco area small-flash lighting workshop will open Saturday morning, Dec. 22nd, at 8:00 a.m. Pacific time. Sorry to bump it up into the holidays, but there were details that had to be nailed down before I could open it up.Broad strokes, it is basically the same as the other seminars. You can get a good idea...

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Got a Few Dozen Flashes Sitting Around? No?

I love bootstrap lighting ideas. Darien Chin, of of those crowd-sourcy, peer-to-peer Seattle photogs, made a very creative shot of his car with just a few speedlights. It could have been even cooler, but Darien only had three good sets of AA batts. Click the pic to see how he did it. (Bonus points for use of duct tape as a clamp...)-...

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Annie and Elizabeth, Minute-by-Minute

I have seen a couple versions of video from Annie Leibovitz's Queen Elizabeth shoot. But this is the full segment, and has lots of interesting tidbits. I watched it several times and learned a lot. Hit the jump for the full, annotated version and links.______________1:19 -- Annie scouts rooms, making notes with a camera. This is common practice with pros, not so common with amateurs. I always try to have at least a point and shoot with me for this reason. (FWIW, I also talk ideas into the video recorder built into the camera.)2:04 -- Please note...

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Easy Nikon SB-600 Sync Jack Mod

For most people, the biggest difference between the Nikon SB-800 and SB-600 speedlights is the presence (or lack) of a Pocket Wizard-friendly sync jack. Remember the genius/insanity guy from a couple weeks ago? Well, here's another idea from him that is all genius without that pesky "insanity" part. It's also cheap and easy. Aki K. has taken the little...

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How To Balance Flash with Moving Continuous Light Sources

Ever see those photos that pop up in the Flickr pool that combine strobe and moving lights? Putting light sources in motion -- or capturing lights that move on their own - is fun. But balancing them with strobe means solving for two variables.For some shooters that can get a little complicated, but it doesn't need to be. More after the jump.___________________The...

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SPOY Prize #5: An AlienBees ABR800 Ring Flash

I am happy to announce that the final prize in the Strobist Pictures of the Year is an AlienBees ABR800 Ring Flash. And at 320 watt-seconds of power (with continuous power variability over a 5-f/stop range) it'll do just about anything you need a ring flash to do. Priced at $399.95, it is no suprise that it is going through the photo community like...

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That Does It. I'm Moving to Seattle.

Seattle is now officially the Center of the Universe for crowd-sourced, peer-to-peer lighting education. They are having classes. They have adopted an A-list pro shooter. And now they have invaded a parking garage (great idea) for their latest in a seres of regular meetups. It's like grunge music in the early 90's, except with speedlights.No kidding, if I were 25 years old and wanted to learn to shoot better, I'd move there in a heartbeat. In fact, I am ready to go there now. And while I am thinking about it, how did you snag a garage? Just show...

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SPOY Prize #4: A Pair of Pocket Wizard Plus II's

You could hardly ask for a more appropriate prize for our bunch than (2) Pocket Wizard Plus II's. Today's booty is courtesy the MAC Group, also known as the Mamiya America Corporation. Never heard of MAC Group? You have probably heard of some of their companies: Pocket Wizard, Sekonic, Tenba, Profoto and Toyo-View (just to name a few) are among the...

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Bert Stephani's Light Stand Box Strip Light

My 7-year-old's favorite playthings are the boxes that used to contain expensive toys. Belgian photographer Bert Stephani apparently thinks the same way. For the record, I have nothing against store-bought strip lights. It's just that if I have a limited supply of money, I'd rather use it to buy the things I cannot make. And I can make a strip light...

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The SPOY Prize Strip Tease Continues

When I first heard that the folks at Elinchrom were interested in sponsoring our contest, visions of Maryam Abdullina, the stunning Kazakh model in the Joe McNally / Elinchrom lighting brochure, danced into my head. But alas, modeling sessions with Ms. Abdullina are not Elinchrom's to contribute. To find out what Elinchrom did contribute to the Strobist...

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Who Are You and What Do You Want From Me?

Over the next few days, I will be doing a little research to help me better guage the makeup of the site's readership and learn what I can do to make this blog better. I will be doing this through a series of simple, one-question polls. They will be located at the bottom of the sidebar on the right.Who you are -- and what you think -- matters very much to me, and I very much appreciate your participation. So please feel free to leave relevant comments under this post, too.I will be sharing info gleaned both from your responses and from site metrics...

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Take Chances With Your Lighting

Florida nature photographer John Moran, whom we previously have featured several times, gets up close and personal with a wild alligator in the latest in his ongoing Florida nature series.John has long been a mentor and compass point of mine. I have always admired the lengths to which he was willing to go to make a striking photo. As for protective...

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Everybody Into the Pool

Lotsa cool pix falling into the Strobist Flickr Pool in advance of the SPOY judging. Yet another prize will be announced later today -- and we still have two more to go after that. Remember, you can't win if you don't play.-...

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SPOY 2007 Prize #2: (2) Nikon SB-800 Speedlights

I have said it before, and I will say it again: The Nikon SB-800 Speedlight is, IMO, the best small flash available today. Or ever, for that matter.Consider the capabilities: 1. Full Nikon CLS compatibility, either as a commander unit or a remote. If you shoot with any recent Nikon dSLR for which the pop-up flash acts as a CLS commander, a pair of...

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