Strobies XS: Beautiful; Math Challenged?

Interfit has released some pretty cool-looking speedlight accessories and bracket system under a line called "Strobies."Name similarities aside, there is absolutely no connection of any kind between this site and the Strobies XS stuff. And from a quality of light standpoint I really dig where they're going. My concern is how well the math holds up....

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New Online Source for SB-24 Manual

Thanks to a a tip from Bob in the comments of an archive post, there is now a new source for the much-loved c. 1988 Nikon SB-24 speedlight. This is especially important if you come across a cheaper used one that has long since lost the painted-on labels on the control buttons. (More info on the flash itself here.)-...

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A Quick Technique for Edgier Group Shots

When I shot for newspapers, one of the most common visually subpar assignments was the two- or three-person group shot. Nothing against group shots per se, but the small group was usually indicative of a reporter who just couldn't say "no."The story might really be about Person "A," but the reporter gets strong-armed into this really being a "group...

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Working Around the House

[UPDATE: Results from the shoot-your-own-sales-brochure experiment -- the house received multiple offers over the asking price and sold quickly. Twice, actually, as the first buyers had some trouble putting the financing together at the last moment.Advice: If you are a decent photographer and are selling your house, most definitely help it to stand...

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How To: Use a Free Blog to Help Sell Your House

NOTE TO REGULAR READERS: This half of a two-post Thursday is very off-topic. But I thought it would be of use to those of you who, like us, are trying to sell your house in a tough market. It's a how-to on using the web to make a spiffy "For Sale" brochure on the cheap -- and how to make it work for you. If you want the lighting low-down, you can see...

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Verb of the Day: "Potatoe-Chip"

EDITOR'S NOTE: I am hard at work this week on something a little different, but it is gonna take me a coupla days to finish it up and write about it. In the meantime, I thought I would toss the following out to snack on...__________In case you were wondering whatever happened to former U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle, he is now apparently popped up...

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OT Sunday: Stepping Outside the Box of the Business of Photography

FAIR WARNING: It's one of those "lengthy manifesto" weekends...__________A few months ago, I posted on the idea of collaborating with subjects -- and sharing the photos -- as a shortcut to reinvigorating your photography. Granted, I could have worded the headline better -- a lot better. But since that post I have dived even further down that particular...

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Desert for Dessert

I'm back from GPP in Dubai, and (mostly) caught up on the work that always piles up at home when I am away. It was great meet new friends and to see many of the folks from last year again. After going hard for six days straight, our treat once again was to head out into the desert to get the chance to shoot in an environment like no other. __________As...

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One Light, One Kill...

Okay, so imagine you are Zack "OneLight" Arias (that's him above, with the cheeky grin propping up the Cosmopolitan) and you are attending your first GPP in Dubai as an instructor. You hear it falls to the new guy to take the group portrait. That "new guy" thing is a crock, of course. But I'm betting Zack doesn't know this. I did it last year in 129-degree...

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Yet Another One of Those "Nude Water Buffalo" Epic Fashion Shoot Videos

Certifiably insane UK shooter Drew Gardner, who has more imagination in his left pinky fingernail than I do in my whole body, released a full-length, behind-the-scenes DVD in the UK last month. Thanks to MPEX, it is now available as an import in the USA.If you are one of those "dream big" type of photographers (or want to see just what it takes to...

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DIY Remote Trigger Debuts

Are you too geeky for PocketWizards?Did you win your 8th grade science fair?Do you know what an "opto-isolator" is?Then you are a prime candidate for SPOT, the Strobist Project Open-source Trigger. Started quite a ways back, it has finally taken form -- along with a pretty cool case, as seen in this photo.Features, specs and link after the jump.__________Here...

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James Rubio: Backlit Night Portrait

What do you do when you have a coupla minutes to make a quick portrait -- and the bright part of your frame calls for a shutter speed of a half-second?You throw your one light into the back of the frame is what you do. At least that's what Hilo, Hawaii-based photographer James Rubio did in this cool wedding portrait.Hit the jump for a quick walk-thru...

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Three Cheers for Three Years

Woot! Strobist turns three today!Strobist's first post was written in late February of 2006, but did not go live until April 6th. That means we are hopefully out of the terrible twos, and well on our way to potty training.While the goal of the site has always been to learn about lighting (and have fun doing it) other stuff happens, too. And of the...

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