Labor Day Weekend Speedlinks

Summer is almost over, but not before one more round of white-belted speedlinks. The latest batch, inside:__________• Vivitar, the maker of the (once) ultra-dependable 285HV flash, has been sold from one conglomerate to another conglomerate. We'll have to see if that helps the manufacturing quality, hurts it, or if they kill the 285 altogether. • Robert Benson (who you may remember from his SPOY win and this awesome repeating flash volleyball shot is now blogging. Some very good commercial shooter -related stuff so far.• Rachel, over at S!TB,...

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Introducing: Lighting Q and A

UPDATE: Thanks for all of the great questions coming in! Lighting Q&A is already off to a great start.______One of the best things about the internet as compared to traditional print media is that the information flows both ways. Given that we are on the last section in Lighting 102, I wanted to make sure we had something in the wings to keep the two-way info going. So, starting next week, I am going to try to incorporate a regular Lighting Question and Answer series.Hit the jump for more details.First of all, I still recommend the Strobist...

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Lighting 102: 7.1 - Flash Zoom and Stone Soup

Remembering back to our last post in Lighting 102, we talked about panning, rotating and selective diffusion as a means of altering your photo after the flash has popped but before the shutter has closed.The fourth time-based manipulation I frequently use is zooming through the exposure. And last month we pulled that technique out of our as.. bag of...

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Nikon D90 Video, from You-Know-Who

Now I know why Chase Jarvis has been grinning like an idiot for the last few months. He had, like, five pre-production, gaffer-tape-disguised Nikon D90 cameras to play with. And he couldn't say a peep about it, until now. Looks like a great camera for PJ's who are being asked to shoot web video as an add-on. On thought: They certainly are not flapping that mirror up and down at 24FPS for the 1080p video. Which means that it might have some kind of electronic shutter. Which means that it just might be one of those magic, high native sync bodies....

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Lighting 102: 7.0 - Time-Based Variables

Way back when, we talked about the idea that you could balance your flash and ambient light levels by leaving the shutter open long enough for the ambient light to burn in.But during that "burning in" time, there are also lots of things you can do to add layers of interest to your photos. And that is exactly what we will be covering in the last unit...

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Keaton Andrew's Got Next

UPDATE: After all of the sour grapes hand wringing over the KA's post production work, he was kind enough to upload the naked version of this photo to his Flickr stream. Check out his aluminum foil slave helpers, too. (Thanks, KA.)__________The first three sentences of photographer Keaton Andrew's Flickr profile pretty much sum up his mission statement:"Hello,...

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A Little Light Fare

They say: Half the world doesn't know how the other half lives. I say: Half the world doesn't know how. The other half lives.Dinner with me is as likely as not to be a pizza bagel (pepperoni, if you rate) and a Diet Mountain Dew. But when Chase Jarvis invites you over to dinner, don't be surprised if is it catered by a hotshot chef. With professional...

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Coming in November: Annie's 'On Assignment' Book

Mix equal parts talent, ego, resources and schtick and you'll end up with A-List people shooter Annie Leibovitz. You'll remember her from the annotated Queen Elizabeth shoot video, among many other high-profile sessions.Her upcoming book, Annie Leibovitz: At Work, looks to be a behind-the-scenes study of some of her more famous shoots, including the...

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Art on the Wing: Bradford Fuller's Fly-In Studio

I am probably not the only one who has noticed Bradford Fuller's beautifully lit bird photos in the Strobist pool. His artful mix of flash and ambient against a 2-D background gives the photos a lyrical feel. And the red stamps added in post at the bottom make them seem as if they came from faraway lands.If you pull back the curtains, and you'll see...

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Learn SEO While You Help to Feed People

UPDATE: Someone unloaded a can of whup-ass on me in the comments, to which I responded and uploaded yesterday's inbound search-related metrics. So if you would like some background info, it is there. But let's keep it civil, if at all possible...__________ If you are in the Baltimore/Washington area and are interested in learning more about Search Engine Optimization, I will be speaking on SEO as it pertains to photographers at a "Photo Nights for Charity" event on 9/17. If you are a shooter who is on the web, SEO is key to increasing your online...

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Keep a Lighting File, Version 2.0

Back in Lighting 101 I wrote about the importance of keeping a lighting file. And having made the jump to the iPhone, keeping a lighting file is now way easier -- and more accessible.Hit the jump for more on this -- and two iPhone apps that are great for location shooters.Now that the 3G is out and I have (finally) taken the plunge, I will no longer...

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Time to Give Away Some PocketWizards

The votes are in, and the July winner for the PocketWizard / Strobist "Going Wireless" contest is...Ryan Allan.Congrats to Ryan who took a skateboarder shoot / lighting demo and turned it into art. Not that art is required to win, but it just stood out from the other entries and was the unanimous choice for July's winner. His was chosen from those...

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How to Break your SB-800's Little Neck Like a Chicken

UPDATE: Thanks to Eric, in the comments, for the surgery-based workaround (see comment at 11:58 a.m. on 8/13/08). And yes, I know the vid was way too drawn out. Which is why I told you where you could skip to...Peter Gregg spends two minutes and 40 seconds admonishing you not to do this. Then shows you exactly how he strong-armed his Nikon SB-800 speedlights so that they will now go 135 degrees to the left. (Clarification: When you are looking at the flash from the front.)The SB-800s of normal photographers only go 90 degrees to the left.Many...

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One-Light Real Estate Photography

While down in Florida last month, I found out that my parents' next-door neighbors (and good friends) were selling their house. I was a little bummed, as they are good folks and you hate to see them leave.But I was even more bummed when I saw the point-and-shoot specials the real estate agent had thrown up on the "for sale" page. We only had one working...

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Speedlinks, Super-Size Edition

I let the speedlinks bucket fill up a little too long since last time. But the result is that we have a whole weekend's worth of good ones, after the jump.Hope you enjoy them, and have a fun weekend._______Speedlinks, August 8, 2008• Peter Yang (See also: On Assignment: Peter Yang Shoots Admiral William Fallon) has posted photos from his recent cowboy shoot for Texas Monthly. Dude can light. Several of the photos went straight to my "Inspiration" folder on the iPhone. He has posted the photos on his website. Earlier, he gave a ballsy interview...

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Chase Jarvis Runs a Three-Minute Mile

Please fasten your seatbelts and place seat backs in the upright position. The On Assignment Bullet Train is leaving the station in 3, 2, 1...If you like your Chase slower -- and with homemade chill music -- catch his long-form photo career pep talk here. And definitely take a look at his website if you don't already have it set as your home page.NOTE: If you are watching this via email subscription, you may have to click through on the headline to view the video.-...

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Behind the Scenes with Martin Schoeller

Are you female? Can you bench press a Cooper Mini? Does the volume knob your tanning machine go to eleven? Are you a lighting geek?If you answered yes to all of those questions, this is your lucky day.From a documentary on women bodybuilders, a YouTube video of a shoot of Vicki Nixon by Martin Schoeller. Annotated video, after the jump.Read more...

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Strobe-On-A-Rope, Episode Three

Way back in the day, when old-skool lighting guru Jon Falk (Adventures in Location Lighting) talked about "strobe on a rope" he meant severing the flash tube and using it with an extension cord for extreme flexibility. When I talked about it, I meant using off-camera TTL cords, which can even be stacked if needed.When Wizwow talks about strobe on a...

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On Assignment: 50 Years

When I travel with the family, I try to strike a balance between having enough gear with me to make nice photos and not feeling like a pack mule. I frequently guess wrong on the "how much to bring" question, but it usually comes down to a tight SLR bag (with an off-camera light kit) or a Canon G9.Earlier this summer, I drove down to Florida with Susan...

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Will Shoot For Food

On Friday, one hundred people left The Baltimore Sun -- 60 from the newsroom alone. One of them was yours truly, having returned early from my one-year leave to take a buyout. There was a hard staff reduction quota in effect, and given the way the blog has gone I thought it would be best if I counted toward it when they started lopping off heads...Over the next few months I will be working hard to shape my second career as a photographer. I have shot as a staffer for newspapers for twenty years, which gives me a wonderful breadth of experience....

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