Understanding Optical Slaves, Pt. 2

Editor's note: There are enough questions coming in via the comments that I am prepping a slave-related Q&A for later this week. If you have a question that has not yet been asked, please get it into the comments ASAP. Thanks.
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In part one, we talked about the differences in optical slaves, and why internal slaves were usually better solutions.

In this post, we'll look at the practical side -- how do you get the best performance out of your slaves? Read more »

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Understanding and Using Optical Slaves, Pt. 1

First off, this is a long-overdue post. It arguably could have been in Lighting 101. But this week (four-plus years later) we'll be looking at choosing and using optical slaves.

In this post, how to figure out which kind is right for you. Read more »

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Going Rogue with FlashBenders

I know what you are thinking -- this snoot looks a little familiar, perhaps?

Well, it is -- and it isn't.

Actually, better lemme explain. Read more »

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Cheap, Powerful On-Axis Fill

Here's a quick little tip for the next time you find yourself in need of a little impromptu on-axis fill and you do not have a ring light: Use a direct speedlight instead.

It's small, hand-holdable -- and very powerful. The trick is getting it off of top of the camera, and even closer to the lens. Read more »

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Lastolite Triflash Sync: Triple Threat

Multi-speedlight brackets are a great way to gang up your small flashes when you need a little extra oomph, as in when trying to overpower the sun for a portrait.

Why not just buy a monobloc, you ask? Well, for one thing, it is easy to gang up small flashes. But it is a little more difficult to hack a monobloc into key, fill and background lights. Different folks, different workflows.

There are a few options for ganging speedlights into a more powerful, single light. And they have all been pretty much the same -- until now. Read more »

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Beers With: Edward Hopper

It's been a while since we got a chance to chat with any dead artists, and Edward Hopper was actually in the news this month.

So I caught up with him last week at (appropriately) a bar in Fell's Point in Baltimore to chat about the use of light in his most famous work. Read more »

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Hermann Rorschach, White Courtesy Phone Please.

We get lot of smoke photography in the Strobist Flickr Group, but this is the first time one has come close to getting bounced for not being family-friendly.

On second thought, I don't see anything unusual about it at all.

(Nope, nothing.)

Click the pic to get to the Flickr page, where Strobist reader Shafik Saba includes a brief run-thru on how he shot this purely random smoke photo.

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Syncing Your Flash: The Recommended List

Today, I'm going just a little bit out on a limb, making the first-ever detailed recommendations from this site. And we'll be jumping right into the deep end, into the crowded and somewhat murky waters of remote syncing devices.

Recommendations for three budgets -- and why -- after the jump. Read more »

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On Assignment: Mark Edwards

A suburban community nestled between Baltimore and Washington DC, Howard County is not exactly known for its exotic location backdrops for shoots. But if you are a little creative, you can usually scrounge something up.

Such was the case for a recent HCAC shoot of classical guitarist Mark Edwards, for which we borrowed access to the courtyard of the Franciscan Friars in Ellicott City, MD. Read more »

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It's the Lighting, Stupid.

Lee and Patrick over at Fstoppers have put together a video that pretty much proves that good lighting can squeeze great results out of the most mediocre of cameras.

Their sensor of choice for the proof of concept? An iPhone 3gs.

Yep.
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(Lots more lighting BTS stuff over at Fstoppers.com)

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