Choosing Big Lights: AlienBees

The last installment of the Big Lights series is a look at AlienBees, a very popular line of studio strobes available in the US -- and recently, in Australia/NZ. But before I get into them, I will preface the post with this: Early this fall when it came time for me to pull the trigger, I was having a very difficult time deciding between the Elinchrom...

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On Assignment: Planes and Arrows

As part of a long-term project I am working on with a local school, I popped into the gym after school recently to shoot archery practice. And it brought to mind a quickie tip for lighting big spaces.A gym is a big-volume place, full of ugly light. You can't hope to light the whole thing very effectively with a few speedlights. But you can light selective...

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Giving Thanks in a Tangible Way

For those of you outside of the US, today is the day we celebrate Thanksgiving. It's a time to pause and be thankful -- and increasingly, to stuff our faces with turkey and watch some football.So we're taking the day off. This post was even written in advance. There is a new On Assignment coming tomorrow, but for today, it's turkey and football. Pay...

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Choosing Big Lights: Profoto

If you are shopping for Big Guns, you cannot help but lust after consider Profoto. Among high-end pro shooters, Profoto is near ubiquitous. And there is usually a reason for that.Several good reasons come to mind in favor of choosing Profoto, actually. And one pretty big reason not to -- inside.__________"The Light Shaping Company"Those four words...

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Is That a Hand Grenade in Your Pocket, or are You Just Happy to See Me?

In between the general remarks, bad jokes, back-biting and (unmoderated) Increase-Your-Man-Size spam in the comments today was this gem of a cautionary tale from Jim Warren.It was in reference the flash overheating post from November 11th, and definitely bears noting:__________Sez Jim:Things you definitely shouldn't do with an on camera flash: I used to use a Metz 60-series flash (needed the range) back in the old days, when I used film rather than digital. One day I wasn't thinking, and when I reloaded I left the flash turned on and laid it down...

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New Chinese TTL Remotes Surfacing for Nikon and Canon

Info is sketchy at this point. But the Strobist Flickr group is pretty much at DEFCON 1, of course. On a discussion thread, Flickr user "Cotswald," who is apparently involved with the company, says:• We WILL be selling these in Europe. I won't discuss exact prices, but will say that prices will be lower than those quoted above. (DH note: Less than...

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Living the High Life in San Miguel

Last week I was in San Miguel de Allende, which sits at over 6,000 feet of elevation in the central Mexican highlands. (Town motto: Meh, oxygen is overrated…)There for a Santa Fe Workshops lighting gig with Rosi, Beth, Françoise, Sara and two Peters, we threw ourselves into a week-long intensive on small flashes, eating well and (me) mostly being out...

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Choosing Big Lights: Elinchrom

UPDATE: As I suspected would happen, there is some really good info already developing in the comments from Elinchrom owners. If you are reading email or RSS versions, be sure to check it out. And FWIW, I expect this ongoing comment discussion will be the best part of the post.__________One of my main considerations when shopping for more watt-seconds...

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Beers With: Vermeer

With apologies to every art student and teacher, ever, today marks the second in an occasional series of chats with Old Masters.These guys were the original connoisseurs of light, and that is the framework under which we interview them -- as photographers. Turns out, they've been ripped off by photographers so many times at this point that they are...

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Hey, Your Flash is Hawt …

No, not as in the vapid, Paris Hilton sense. But rather the laws-of-thermodynamics sense.Made-for-photography gels are meant to be used near theatrical light sources. So they can handle the heat. But even still, the front lens of your flash can get very hot with repeated cycling -- especially at higher power settings.Don't believe me? Try this little...

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Mono Monday: Choosing the Right Big Lights

Normally, I try to balance lighting technique, trends, gear and a smattering of general silliness on this site. Apologies for fact that that Strobist is in somewhat of a gear-oriented spate of posts. There is a reason for that -- namely that I have gotten a little ahead of myself.A few On Assignment posts are in a holding circle because they were shot...

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Shedding Light on the Gender Gap

UPDATE: I figured there would be some comments on this one. But still, I had no idea. Kinda like turning on the comment firehose.Thanks much for all of the helpful feedback, and to those asking, I got the 94% number from multiple polls.__________I am getting ready to hop on a plane to Mexico, where I will be teaching for Santa Fe Workshops next week....

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This Finn O'Hara Shoot Probably will not Fit in the Conference Room.

[UPDATE]: Finn answered a couple of Q's from the comments. First, no Zamboni because of all of the wires. It just was not practical. Nor were other more manual methods of smoothing the ice.And those of you who suspected another concurrent shoot were dead on. Video was happening on the other side of the black drapes. So, for all of the insane production, it was actually a pretty economical allocation of resources -- all things considered.__________Holy crap. I am at a loss for words after looking at the scale of production involved in this Finn...

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Ray Flash vs. Orbis vs. AlienBees ABR800 Review, Pt. 2

Last week, we looked at the Orbis and Ray Flash, which pretty much compete head-to-head in the ring flash adapter arena.This week, we take a closer look at the AlienBees ABR800. Although it is a ringlight with a self-contained studio monobloc flash, it is priced in the neighbor of the other two units -- especially when you consider a standalone flash...

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