Here's a quick slideshow of some of the water drop photography already showing up in the Strobist pool since Friday's tutorial post.(NOTE: If you are reading via RSS or email, you may need to click on the post's title to view the photos.)-...
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
How to Photograph Water Drops with One Speedlight
Ever notice those cool water photos that drop into the Strobist Flickr Pool?Water droplet photography is very easy to get started with, and you can get as complex as you want. There are three tricks to making beautiful, time-scultped water pictures with a single small flash: Light placement, timing and flash duration. More, plus two videos, inside.__________Water...
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
UPDATE: Latest on the PW Flex/Minis
UPDATE: For those specifically looking to discuss the Flex and Mini -- especially Canon interference issues and workarounds -- the best place I have found is on the PW Flickr Group.__________For those of you interested the new PW Mini TT1 and Flex TT5 units, some updates on the Canon range issues -- and new features -- inside.__________Signal vs. NoiseFirst...
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Variations on a Two-Light Theme, Pt. 2
Last in this series we looked at Riaz, lit entirely by flash against a darkish wooden wall. At left is Brett, who was lit right where he sat in a classroom chair in an unfinished commercial building with a primed drywall background.This time around: High-axis key light with just enough strobe on the background to separate it from black. More inside.__________Start...
Drop and Give Me Twenty
For the last six months this site has been long on spoon-fed information and short on homework. The result: A bunch of soft, pasty, newcomers who have drifted in since the last time we did any real work around the place. You newbs have been coddled long enough. So, coming in June ... Boot Camp IIAre you worthless and weak? Do you cry for your mama every time you need to balance a couple of flashes with the ambient? Are you still using TTL bounce flash?We are here to save you from yourself. This summer, you'll have the opportunity to get off your...
Thursday, May 21, 2009
MetalHead Makes Your Home Depot Boom More Functional, Less Embarrassing
This is is a MetalHead. At least, that's what I am calling it. I first saw one while teaching in Paso Robles earlier this month, and it is a pretty neat idea.It is made of solid, turned aluminum (or aluminiumium, for you syllable-happy UK'ers.) It converts the threaded end of a standard painter's pole -- of which there are many inexpensive and varied...
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
What it Takes to Light a Car
I get a lot of upstream questions about lighting cars, and to be honest I am frequently at a loss what to say.To shoot a car effectively, you generally need huge soft boxes (or silks), many watt-seconds of light and a large, dedicated space. Take this photo, for instance, uploaded into the Strobist pool by Bryan Cook. It was lit by about $30,000.00...
Monday, May 18, 2009
Eat Your Heart Out, "Ray Flash"
For a moment, light is taking a back seat to creativity. Strobist reader Cohophoto whipped this DIY Steampunk Ray Gun up out of parts from old radios and cameras.The closer you look at this thing, the better it looks, too. It's just so off-the-scale cool, I don't care how he lit it. But you can see the lighting setup shot (and a link to the set of...
Sunday, May 17, 2009
On Off Assignment: Blown Shoot
Last Wednesday, I had a shoot fall through at the last minute because of a miscommunication with the subject. He was one place and we are at another, gear unpacked and two assistants at the waiting.No shoot. Just wasn't gonna work with our various time constraints. We'll re-sked. But rather than pack it up and go home, we decided to make some use of...
WTJ Gets a Sneak at Dan Winters' New Book
Very psyched to see this. I did not even know a book had been in the works.I love Dan Winters' work. Especially his lighting, of course, but I love the whole package. There is an inspiration folder on my laptop which includes the work of a selection of photographers I really admire. He's in there, of course. But Winters is one of only four photographers whose work is with me (via iPhone) all of the time.Many thanks to Andrew Hetherington at WTJ for the full flip-thru. (If you are reading this via RSS or email, you may have to click through on the...
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Moshe Brakha's "Dirty Light"
Photo ©Moshe BrakhaPhotographer Moshe Brakha has come a long way since the late 70's, when he hit the Hollywood scene like a runaway train. But he would feel right at home in a parking garage Strobist meetup. Even with such high-horsepower subjects (and photos) he was all about small, battery-powered strobes and hot lights. As of this week, he has...
Kirk Tuck on the Minimalist Studio
Kirk's latest book landed on my doorstep just before I headed out to Dubai, and I only now have gotten a chance to read it. Reader's Digest version: If you liked his first book, you'll probably be very comfortable with his latest effort. And if some of this lighting stuff on this site leaves your head spinning, this may be the book for you.More, inside.__________Minimalist...
Two of My Favorites, Together
Today one of my favorite portrait photographers, Ben Baker, was profiled on Feature Shoot, one of my must-read photo sites.FWIW, Ben looks nothing like the peanut butter cup above, but it fit the theme. It was from a junk food series shot for The Sun back in 2007.-...
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Variations on a Two-Light Theme, Pt. 1
People always ask me how many flashes they should have. That's an easy one -- however many you can afford, plus one or two. See? Easy.But a good, basic kit is two speedlights -- plus the assorted doohickeys needed to make them work well. And after all, if you have just one flash and it goes down you are merely an available light photographer. (Not...
Speedlinks: May 11, 2009
It's been a loooong while since the last speedlinks. And since those tidbits never stop coming in, this edition is of the Xtra Large ilk. Among today's offerings: LOTR, ice cave shooting, burning stuff with light, studio strobes in the rain, a road trip, Erika Larson, and more. Inside. __________• Are you an LOTR fan? (Hint: If you have to ask what LOTR stands for, you aren't.) There is a new fan-produced movie coming out and Strobist reader Alex Beckett shot some of the stills. (Orcs and speedlights!) Oh, and you can see the trailer and learn...
Congrats to Dave Honl
Most of you guys like to ape great shooters. That's Dave Honl, left, shooting a great ape. I wanted to take a minute to raise a glass to Dave, who has just taken his in-house light mods business to a whole new level -- thanks in large part to support from this community...We Knew Him WhenLess than two years ago, Dave Honl started making his now-famous...
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Universal Translator Ushers in New Age of Cheap, Off-Camera Harmony
This little nubby little thing may not look like much, but it is an off-camera solution for just about any speedlight that includes manual settings. It'll give a sync jack to a camera, too.It's cheap, small and will almost pay for itself the first time you buy a sync cord. Full deets, inside.__________Smaller than a golf ball and clocking in at $18.99...
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Sadly, This Still Doesn't Quite Get You to McNally Territory
Sometimes you need a little extra power when there is nary a monobloc in sight. For one quick solution, follow the bouncing ball bungee as Paul Morton and Darren Stevenson show you how to mount three SB-800's into a softbox. This is 3x better than the cheater, which will mount suspend a single SB in a speedring with the CLS window showing, a la the Strobies XS setup.But remember, three strobes only buys you a stop and a half more power. The first additional flash doubles your power, which adds one more stop. The second one goes halfway to doubling...
Saturday, May 2, 2009
This Stuff Ain't Rocket Science
Pictured above are the students in last week's five-day lighting class in Paso Robles, CA. Teaching one of these extended classes was a first for me. And while I was expecting a fun, intense week, what was more interesting was watching the students to see how they learned.That was an eye-opener, to say the least. We had a wide range of ages, personalities...
