Snooty, Yet Warm

David Honl has just started shipping a gold-interior version of his popular 8" speed snoot, dubbed the Honl Zebra 8. When the light passes through the snoot, it bounces around and picks up the warm color -- similar to using a warming gel on your key light.

Which makes it great for for lighting human beings, especially those from Great Britain.

It's a store-bought homage to an old trick I first picked up from my friend Chris Usher. He used to scrounge manilla folders when shooting biz portraits in an office. Just roll 'em up and make a warm snoot with a rubber band.The effect is similar, albeit less efficient.

Oh, and thanks to users having hacked the original use of the snoots, they now do double duty as bounce reflectors when attached in the manner shown in the photo up top.
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:: Product Page ::

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Put a Li'l Boom in Your Pocket: The Matthews Scissors-Clip

I had a few people ask about how I mounted the SB-800 in the ceiling for the John McIntyre photo last week. I used a Matthews Scissor-Clip, a sweet little light stand / cable clamp made just for suspended ceilings.

Hit the jump for more info and pics. Read more »

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Two-Light Portrait: Climber's Hands

One of the more common questions I get asked is, "How many flashes should I have?"

Obvious answer: As many as possible -- but that's just me.

But the majority of what I shoot is done with two lights, so that is what I usually recommend for people starting out. And I really enjoy finding ways to exploit two light sources (plus ambient) in as many ways as possible.

Keep reading for a quick walk-thru at this shot of a rock climber's hands. Read more »

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Out Standing In Their Field

A little Monday morning fun, courtesy the London Strobist Meetup Group. If you are in London and looking for some interesting folks to shoot with, give them a shout and find out when their next meetup will be.

One of countless homages to the original photo by Joe Rosenthal, I still love this one. Honestly, sometimes it amazes me what this website has spawned. And of course, click the pic if you want lighting info for the flashes you can't see in the frame.
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Couple of quick notes on the original, which was of course a bit more serious:

First, Rosenthal's photo, Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, was the most published photo in the world until it was eclipsed in a single day by Bruce Weaver's shot of the Challenger explosion.

Second, my wife's grandfather was standing at the base of Mt. Suribachi when the flag was raised. He's no longer with us, but he always held me spellbound with his remembrances of that and many other of his experiences.

(Photo by David Woof.)

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Way Cool, Ultra-Light Stand Hack

UPDATE: Peter has updated the pole light stands for use with BIIIG MODS.
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Are you weight- and space-conscious with your gear when you travel? Do you typically shoot indoor, with small lights?

Hit the jump for a very ingenious DIY solution from Swedish photographer Peter Karlsson. Read more »

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Non-US Reader? Consider GPP.

In America, we are lucky enough to have a near-continual smorgasbord of photo workshops and seminars from which to choose. Unfortunately, this is not always the case for those of you who live elsewhere.

If you are reading this from Europe, the Middle East, the Subcontinent or even the Far East, make the jump to see several reasons to strongly consider making a trip to Dubai this March.

If there is no way in heck you would ever jump on a plane to the Middle East, probably best to skip the jump and avoid the temptation. Read more »

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Shoot the Bloggers: John E. McIntyre

One of the best things about spending 20 years in newspapers is getting to work with people like copy editor John E. McIntyre. He worked at The Sun for 23 years, including 14 years as head of the copy desk.

John was the last line of defense against errors -- or outright stupidity -- getting into print. And that line of defense was well-fortified.

It was not at all unusual to get a midnight call from the copy desk, beginning with, " We have a little question about something in your caption..."

And more often than not, it was your sleepy butt they were saving. Read more »

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Strobist is Now Powered by Light, too

On a kinda-related note, as of late last week Strobist's HQ began running on solar power. We only had enough roof space to offset about half of the juice we were suckin'. But it's a start.

If you are on the fence about solar, take a look at some of the incentives that are being thrown around. We got a 30% federal tax credit, a Maryland state rebate, a county property tax rebate and are selling the renewable energy credits.

All in all, that knocked nearly 70% off of the bill. It made the numbers a no-brainer. (We used Greenspring Energy, if you want more info.)

We went with a solar water heater, too. So most any time Strobist finds itself in hot water, it will be because of light. Fitting, I think.
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EDITOR'S NOTE: If you are getting ready to launch into some kind of political manifesto in the comments about how incentives to go green are BS, please don't bother.

(Sun-catching photo by Strobist reader Wirehead.)

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Kevin Cooley's Scrounged Light

Redux Pictures has begun dropping in some of the individual photographer promo videos that have been in the works for the last few months.

These are great viewing, on several levels. First, props to Redux for taking the initiative to brand its individual photographers so effectively. For a boutique agency, they sure are making sophisticated use of the web. The video series is the latest iteration of a spot-on social media presence.

Second, why doesn't every photographer have a promo video like this? It says so much more about a photographer than does a slideshow on a portfolio page.

Lastly, Kevin Cooley surprised me with several ways of using/exploiting light in the video above. To great end, too.

Redux is doling the videos out one at a time on their excellent blog, but you could blow a good hour viewing them in advance on their Vimeo page. Just sayin'.

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Twenty Questions

Some people have all of the answers. Today, none of those -- just questions.

What follows are some of the things I run down in my mind when I am deciding what to shoot, why to shoot it, how to shoot it, etc.

This is the more general version of the very specific post on pre-planning earlier. If that was a specific game plan, this is more of a general playbook.

Not saying that these are the same questions you would ask. But maybe there is something in this list that you might not be considering. Read more »

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Know Your Sync

Pop quiz: What is your camera's maximum sync speed?

Much like the interstate highway at 3:00am, in some situations your max sync speed is not so much a law as a suggestion.

And by the same token, sometimes your instruction manual can lie: Your camera may not be able to truly hit its advertised sync speed at all. Read more »

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OCF Mags at Imaging USA

Headed to Nashville this weekend?

Don't forget to drop by the ExpoImaging and/or Zenfolio booths. They have some of the last remaining easy-to-get OCF magnets. No code words needed this time -- but it is first come, first served.

The others are all distributed (either already placed or awaiting orders) at sleeper cells around the world.

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New NiZn Batteries Offer Lightning Fast Recycle

As you know, 1.2v NiMH rechargeable batteries recycle most flashes faster than do 1.5v standard alkaline batts. This is because the NiMH's excel at delivering current, which is usually the bottleneck in the flash's recycle rate.

But what if you could combine the fast current delivery of an NiMH with a voltage that is even higher than an alkaline?

You'd have a turbo battery disguised as a AA, is what you'd have.

Sounds great, huh? Well, there is one small caveat … Read more »

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Lighting 101: Now in Hungarian

Thanks to the concerted efforts of Fisher, Fülöp Péter András, Gyurkó M. Dávid, Halmai Péter, Kiss Géza, Mészáros Tibor, Radványi Tibor and Ziegler Gábor, Lighting 101 is now available in PDF form in Hungarian.

Please feel free to link, host or distribute this PDF if you wish.

Nagyon köszönöm, Tibor!

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New Year, New Index

After a few nights of burning some serious midnight oil, the Strobist Index is now live. You can reach it via the link at the bottom of every post. Hopefully, this will make some of the info buried in the archives of the site a little more accessible.

One Strobist resolution down for the site, two to go. More tk.

Happy New Year's everyone. Very much looking forward to 2010, with some cool plans in store.

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