Dan Winters / WIRED Behind the Scenes

Apologies for the double-tap on WIRED, but Andrew Hetherington over at WTJ just dropped in a behind-the-scenes piece on maybe the coolest set of photos I have seen all year.It's Dan Winters, shooting Brad Pitt for the current WIRED in a "New Rules" issue that is wrapped in the theme of Inglourious Basterds. It's a great walk-thru of just what all is...

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We Were Ring Flash When Ring Flash Wasn't Cool

I nearly spit Diet Mountain Dew all over my keyboard tonight when WIRED.com, who purports to write for reasonably normal people, uncorked a review of four different ring flashes.What is the world coming to? Have we gotten... mainstream?I certainly hope not.I spoke to Jonathan Snyder, who shoots for WIRED.com and did the review. And he said since they...

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And Who Says Heathrow isn't Efficient?

(RSS and email viewers may have to click on the title to see the embedded video.)Have you seen that giant "glad to see ya again" poster up at Heathrow Airport in London?So, what kind of lighting goes into something like that -- Profotos? Broncolors? How about a few speedlights.Nick Turpin's snooted Nikon SB-800 street photography caught the eye of an ad agency in London who wanted to replicate the same look in a controlled, studio environment. Only problem is Nick's fill light is normally the sun. But it turns out with a budget like that, you can...

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Ox Eye Daisey

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Boot Camp II: Assignment #3

For assignment number three in Boot Camp 2, your job will be to use light to create an interesting architectural interior shot.And if you are as creative as this entry in a previous Boot Camp, you won't even have to completely make the bed. Details, inside. __________I expect that this one will bring a lot of entries. The introverts don't have to talk...

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November 8-15: Workshop in San Miguel De Allende, Mexico

I will be teaching a five-day lighting class for the Santa Fe Workshops this fall in the colonial-era town of San Miguel De Allende in Mexico. I am totally psyched on the location, and very much looking forward to going. It'll be my last extended workshop of the year, so c'mon down if you are up for a five-day intensive in a beautiful destination.Our...

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Indian Paint Brush

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Madcap Falls

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No Name Waterfall

This waterfall has no name, simply because it doesn't exist. It's not on any of the charts that I have or the USGS folks have. I was told that I may be the first person to photograph it and I may be the first person to see it, according to the USGS people at Mt. Rainier, but I doubt ...

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Charity as Catalyst

When you can use your photography and enthusiasm as a force for good, it's a win-win-win: Strobist reader Jeremy Sale details how he used a local fund-raising event as a vehicle to practice his lighting skills, while providing cool portraits and raising money for a good cause.More info, pix, a vid and what he learned, here.-...

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Inspired by Natural Light

Ever wonder how some people make those interesting, seemingly natural-light photos, but their photos have a quality edge that others don't? In many cases, the photos are lit specifically to mimic the existing, natural light -- albeit in a very controlled way. In a blog post, Seattle photog John Keatley walks through his process of working with natural...

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On Assignment: Playwright

I photographed actor and playwright Cameron McNary as part of my Howard County Arts Council project. Unable to scrounge a decent location, we ended up in the basement -- which meant shooting under 7 1/2-foot ceilings.That's always a challenge, as it severely limits lighting angles from overhead. But if you can lower the subject -- as in a seated portrait...

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WIRED Video: Street Portraiture

It has nothing to do with flash, actually. In fact, it is all available light (in shade) and shot on taped-up white seamless. In this configuration, the open sun area behind you is almost like a huge, on-axis soft box.But this isn't about the lighting. It is a good primer on overcoming your shyness of photographing others -- and how to interact with them in a quick, fluid environment. Something I suspect many people reading this site will appreciate.FYI, the photographer is Clay Enos, and you can see more of his work here. And on top of that, he...

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Boot Camp II, Assignment 2: Results

First of all, regarding choosing food for an assignment subject while I am trying to lose weight: Bad idea.Be that as it may, a smorgasbord of finalists -- and one winner -- inside.__________Over. Eight. Hundred. Entries.This time around, I streamlined the process to make things a little easier. First I threw out all of the vegetarian crap just to...

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Robert Benson CEO Shoot

This is the kind of thing I would love to see much more of -- nice walk-thru POV videos from portrait assignments.Photographers are visual people. And you can learn an awful lot, very quickly when other photographers are generous enough to have their assistants shoot these kinds of vignettes. It's only a couple of minutes long. Take a look and think about what you get out of it. My thoughts after the jump.__________It's nice to see the lighting, which in this case is a quick, simple two-light setup that could be done just about anywhere. But the...

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Brent Humphreys' Hairpin Studio

Andrew Hetherington over at What the Jackanory has a great behind-the-scenes write-up on photographer Brent Humphreys and his Tour de France project. Humphreys put a boatload of effort into creating some great work for the series, including this multiple portrait grid of time trial riders.He don't need no stinkin' studio. He just scouted his location...

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Mind that Oven Timer

Don't forget, if you are participating in the the second assignment from Bootcamp II, your photo is due by the end of Saturday, July 11th, local time. That's today.Hit the jump for a quick preview of some of the stuff that is already coming in: Suffice to say, it is going to take me a few days to whittle this stuff down to finalists and a winner. Plus, I am sure there is going to be a little extra snacking involved ...

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Creative Light Launches with Class

Creative Light has just debuted a full line of moderately priced lighting modifiers. Never heard of Creative Light? That's because they just launched the company, too.They are a subsidiary of Profoto um, based in Sweden, so you have a pretty good idea the gear is probably not gonna suck. But that's not what makes this launch cool. What I am excited...

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Your Press Conference, My Studio

Is this the best photo of a Ferrari you have ever seen?No, it's not. But bear in mind that it was lit off-the-cuff at a presser with some quick thinking, two SB-600s and one very expensive light stand.__________Taking a cue from Kenny Brown's awesome gullwing shot a ways back, Strobist reader Mark Shannon (gently) put a Nikon SB-600 in each of the...

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New, Extended Dave Hill BTS Videos

UPDATE: After a small outage earlier today, Dave Hill's website is back on track...__________Nashville-to-L.A. alt-shooter Dave Hill has done a major refresh on his website, with lotsa new pics and a half dozen behind-the-scenes videos -- some of which are nice and long.Hit the jump for two BTS's and links to the photographer whose post-processing...

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Boot Camp II: Assignment #2

UPDATE(S): Added picture link to the haggis. Think twice before clicking. Also, for those of you who follow Strobist on Twitter, I will be dropping in more food photography resources there.__________The second Boot Camp II assignment will be easier than the headshot assignment, logistically. But calorically speaking, it will be far more dangerous.And...

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How Niche is the Web? This Niche:

[UPDATE: The site has clearly started to catch on, with A-listers among those dropping in their tests. Excellent!]__________A new site dedicated to photo assistants' uploaded lighting tests. Not sure whether to roll my eyes, or RSS it. (Who am I kidding -- I'm gonna RSS it. I love this kind of stuff.)Via APE.-...

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