My Visit With DigitalRev, or, What's Kai Wong Really Like?

Earlier this month I traveled to Hong Kong to be a guest on DigitalRev's Pro Tog, Cheap Camera series. (Full video and final pic edits below.)

Which meant I also got to hang out with the DR team, including Lok, Alamby, Theo—and of course show frontman/international sex symbol/Man of Mystery Kai Wong.

And you are probably wondering right now: what's Kai really like? Read more »

Read More

Kebun Teh Ciwalini

Kebun Teh Ciwalini

Perkebunan teh di Ciwidey merupakan view yang paling indah dan segar di banding perkebunan teh lain di Jawa Barat, tapi view kebun teh yang  indah kalau dilihat secara langsung, kadang susah untuk disuguhkan dalam bentuk foto, apalagi kalau diambil di siang bolong seperti ini.

Pemandangan teh ciwidey

Perkebunan teh Ciwidey pinggir jalan sebelum Situ Patenggang

Tag:[kebun teh di bandung][kebun teh rancabali][kebun teh walini][kebun teh ciwidey][pemandangan kebun teh][gambar kebun teh][foto kebun teh][kebun teh][wisata kebun teh][kebun teh bandung]

Read More

Waiting

Waiting

Perahu menunggu penumpang OTW batu cinta Situ Patenggang

Tag: [perahu pancing][jenis perahu][foto perahu][desain perahu][perahu kayu][perahu kecil][perahu mancing][perahu boat][gambar perahu layar][gambar perahu][perahu]

Read More

Fresh Tea

Fresh Tea

Hamparan perkebunan teh di sekitar wisata Situ Patenggang Ciwidey adalah view yang sangat luar biasa, hijau dan segar sungguh permadani semesta yang bikin kita sangat betah memandangnya.

Pucuk daun teh, perkebunan teh di atas danau Situ Patenggang

Tag:[jenis teh di indonesia][gambar daun teh][daun teh hijau][daun teh]

Read More

The Last Boat

The Last Boat

Perahu di Patenggang, masih foto perahu di danau Situ Patenggang

Read More

Danau Utara Situ Patenggang

Danau Utara Situ Patenggang

Situ Patenggang sebelah utara, ini danau sebelah utara Situ Patenggang, sebenarnya masih bagian danau utama Situ Patengggang, karena debit airnya surut jadi terpisah.

Tag:[situ][wisata danau][wallpaper danau][danau indah][air danau][jenis danau][ekosistem danau][danau terindah][gambar pemandangan danau][foto danau][pemandangan danau][danau indonesia][gambar danau][danau][danau di indonesia]

Read More

2012 Year-End Post-a-Palooza

It's always a good idea to look back before heading forward. So as is tradition, we end 2012 with a rundown of your favorites (and mine) from the past year.

As is not tradition, and because of a special circumstance, this likely will not the last post of the year. Pics, posts and an explanation, below. Read more »

Read More

Perahu Bersandar

Perahu Bersandar 

Perahu bersandar di atas jernihnya air Situ Patenggang yang mulai surut

Read More

Jendela Villa Bougenville

Jendela Villa Bougenviile

Jendela sebuah villa di Bandung

Tag:[desain pintu jendela][design jendela][bentuk jendela rumah][bentuk jendela][kaca jendela][gambar kusen jendela][kusen jendela minimalis][pintu jendela][gambar jendela][jendela alam][jenis jendela][gambar jendela rumah][desain jendela rumah][desain jendela][kusen jendela][jendela]

Read More

Belalang Yang Malang

Belalang Yang Malang

Belalang hijau lagi nongkrong di depan rumah

Tag:[macam-macam belalang][anatomi belalang][gambar belalang][foto belalang][struktur tubuh belalang][jenis-jenis belalang][habitat belalang][klasifikasi belalang hijau][belalang hijau][belalang daun][klasifikasi belalang][belalang]

Read More

Ulat Behind The Scene

Ulat Behind The Scene

Ulat hijau di balik daun berusaha kabur dari kamera

Ternyata itu bukan tanduk ulat, tapi ekornya

Tag:[ulat lucu][ulat keket][ulat hijau][foto ulat][gambar ulat][hama ulat][ulat makro]

Read More

Situ Patenggang Yang Lengang

Situ Patenggang Yang Lengang

Situ patenggang ciwidey, sepi kalau bukan hari libur

Cuma ada sepasang kekasih yang cintanya bersemi di Patenggang

Tag:[tempat wisata bandung barat][lokasi wisata di jawa barat][villa situ patenggang][obyek wisata alam][objek wisata di bandung selatan][kawasan wisata bandung][objek wisata bandung selatan][tempat wisata alam bandung][foto situ patenggang][situ patenggang ciwidey bandung indonesia][tempat wisata di bandung selatan][gambar situ patenggang][wisata alam di bandung][tempat wisata alam di bandung][wisata situ patenggang bandung][situ patenggang ciwidey bandung][objek wisata bandung][danau situ patenggang bandung][wisata situ patenggang][wisata bandung selatan][wisata di bandung][obyek wisata di bandung][obyek wisata bandung selatan][batu cinta situ patenggang][lokasi situ patenggang][setu patenggang][dongeng situ patenggang][situ patenggang ciwidey][alamat situ patenggang][sejarah situ patenggang][legenda situ patenggang][cerita situ patenggang][danau situ patenggang][situ patenggang bandung][situ patenggang]

Read More

Don't Miss: Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters

©Gregory Crewdson

I posted about filmmaker Ben Shapiro's documentary, Brief Encounters, when it was first released. I have finally gotten a chance to see it and wanted to make sure as many of you as possible did, too.

For those of you not familiar with photographer Gregory Crewdson's work, he meticulously creates his photographs on an epic scale. For instance, that photo above is completely staged—and lit. As in, they lit the whole freakin' street scene.

Below, the film's trailer, an extended clip, and how to catch this worthwhile documentary in its cross-country, limited-release tour.

Read more »

Read More

AurumLight: Mixing Flash and Modeling Lights

One of my New Year's resolutions is to learn to be more creative and adventurous with mixing color and light. UK-based photographer Jarek Wieczorkiewicz's photograph of Jay Jessop does just that—using daylight flash, gelled flash and tungsten modeling lamps.

I love this kind of thing, and would like to evolve my lighting to the point to where I can have the confidence to almost never use just white light. Below, a full BTS video on how Jarek lit this image. Read more »

Read More

Jay P. Morgan on Feathering Grids

Using a KESSLER slider and a TAMRON lens and a DYNALITE flash and some NIK software, human Nascar* Jay P. Morgan will now give you some pretty darn good advice on grid spots.

But the real gem here is the feathering, which will almost always make your light more interesting.
__________

* I kid, Jay. Props to you. And also to LENS PRO TO GO. And GLIDECAM. And PHOTOFLEX. And VANGUARD. And AAZDEN. And ROSCO. And TRIPLE SCOOP MUSIC. And PHOTOGRAPHY TALK.

(Seriously, someone make this guy a jacket. This needs to happen.)

-30-

Read More

On Assignment: Light That Isn't There

I'm as guilty as the next guy when it comes to over-the-top lighting. And why not? It's fun, it's cool and it can amp up an otherwise boring scene.

But that kinda stuff is not always necessarily the best choice. Often the best light is light that doesn't call attention to itself, but rather allows your camera to see a scene the way your eye would normally see it.

Take this biz portrait for example, which looks pretty natural but in fact is lit by three different sources. Read more »

Read More

New Book, Doc from Joey L are Both Pretty Awesome

I was just planning to write about Joey's new book today, when he and Cale Glendening up and dropped a free, high-def 43-minute documentary onto Vimeo. Both are inside.

Long story short, cancel any remaining cubicle productivity for the afternoon. Your work can wait. Read more »

Read More

Call Me Crazy: LS Lens Adapter Tube Concept

See this? This is an 80mm lens from my old Hasselblad film camera. It was built 50 years ago. The leaf shutter is built into the lens. It syncs at 1/500th of a second.

My current 80/2.8LS is a PhaseOne leaf-shutter lens. It syncs at 1/1600th. And it would be very possible—perhaps even simple—to manufacture an inexpensive tube to marry a PhaseOne LS lens to a Nikon or Canon DSLR.

Why, and how, inside. Read more »

Read More

Rock 'n Roll: Jaleel King

Anything worth accomplishing is going to include hurdles and barriers to overcome. You can treat them as the reasons you can't do something, or you can simply refuse to acknowledge that the barriers exist and plow through them.

This is Jaleel King, and this is how he rolls. Read more »

Read More

Brilliant DIY Underwater Strobe Triggering Rig

Oh, this is just genius.

JP Danko of blurMEDIA photography has created a captive, optical syncing system for his Pelican-encased SB-800s using cheap, off the shelf TOSLink fiber-optic cabling.

More vids, pics, etc at DIYPhotography.net.

-30-

Read More

Q&A: "Why Does This Look Bad?"

That's what reader Arjen P van de Merwe asks, from Malawi in southeast Africa.

My first thought: Arjen, you are being too hard on yourself. A lot of people would have been quite happy with that photo. It's easy to forget how far you have come—and how fast—with respect to lighting, etc.

You definitely made some good calls, and there are some additional opportunities you could taken advantage of if you wanted to. Let's talk about both, as many of your fellow readers have something to learn from each. Read more »

Read More

Why is This Pepper Smoking?

Because it's about to blow up.

Today, a glance into the explosive still life photography of Adam Voorhes. Read more »

Read More

Cyber Monday: Strobist DVD sets on Sale for $49.99 each

UPDATE: The Cyber Monday special for Lighting in Layers and Lighting Seminar ended at midnight EST. The Flash Bus Video deal is still live until DVD stock is gone. Thank you!

You snooze, you lose: All Strobist DVDs are on sale today for $49.99. (Depending on the version you choose, that's from 50% to 68% off!)

Deets inside. Read more »

Read More

Ambush Street Studio

Cool street shooting video from French photographer Philippe Echaroux of his pop-up location studio and an array of impromptu subjects.

You pretty much need an entourage to do this, but I love the idea of a background-on-a-stick. Totally gonna steal that one, Philippe...
(Via ISO 1200)

Read More

Turkey Prep

Today is Thanksgiving in the US, a day in which we pause to give thanks and then watch football. And turkey, we eat lots of turkey, too. (Except for the vegetarians, who have to eat "tofurkey," adding yet another thing for us omnivores to be thankful for.)

So on that note, thank you very much for being a reader of this site. Without you, this whole 2,300-post journey would be … awkward.

Today's Thanksgiving Day post is off-topic in that it has nothing to do with flash and everything to do turkeys. And with being a thinking photographer.

More specifically, being a photographer who thinks like a turkey. Read more »

Read More

On Assignment: M4. Like the Carbine, But With More Power

About this time last Friday I was in head-scratching mode, trying to figure out my light. Here was the challenge:

Teeny-tiny stage. Twenty three insane performers. No room to change shooting positions. Complex, low-level and fast-changing ambient.

I had been looking forward to it for weeks. Because I was getting to photograph MarchFourth, my absolute favorite band in the world. Lighting, pics and video, inside… Read more »

Read More

Winter Reads: Winters Reads

What's better than a new book from Dan Winters? Try two new books from Dan Winters.

Both are gorgeous; both are limited press runs. So if you delayed getting your copy of his Periodicals book before it went out of print, don't miss out this time.

Short version: Last Launch is a love letter to the recently closed space shuttle program; Dan Winters's America is like having a one-man exhibition on your coffee table.

More, and pics, inside. Read more »

Read More

Mike Kelley's Leap of Faith

It's a truism that creative growth is nonlinear.

Which is to say that, while we (hopefully) do improve steadily over time, meaningful growth happens in fits and starts. You have an experience of some sort, and after you come out of it you realize you will never be the same photographer again.

Now, while you certainly can wait for someone to hand you that experience on a platter, doing so is putting the ball in someone else's hands. Which is fine if you are both patient and lucky.

Or, you can do what architectural photographer Mike Kelley did, and decide to make it happen on your own. Read more »

Read More

Self-Taught via Self-Portrait: How to Turn the Lens on Yourself

Editor's Note: Need a willing victim for photos? Today, Sara Lando wraps up her series on portraiture, with an idea-filled look at how to turn the lens on the most available subject there is: yourself.

Also, be sure to check out the link to Sara's latest project at the end of the post. Read more »

Read More

Winter Reads: Painting with Light

Batting second in our lineup of fireside books is Eric Curry's wonderfully comprehensive Painting with Light.

If you have ever wanted to get into light painting but did not know where to start, Curry will take you gently by the hand and lead you into the world of creating beautifully complex pictures like the ones below…
Read more »

Read More

Halloween Today, Super-Cheap Fog Machines Tomorrow

Just a quick reminder that tomorrow your local pop-up Halloween stores will be deep-discounting seasonal fog machines and bottles o' fog juice. Which are, of course, lots of fun for all kinds of photos...

-30-

Read More

Friday Night Lights Follow-Up: Don't Try This at Home. Or Away.

Remember last month's post on lens-axis fill flashing high school football? I promised to get back with you after experimenting with lighting a game with off-camera flash—way off-camera.

I spent a decent amount of time figuring out how to approach it: what flash, what beam throw, light position, dealing with the coaches, remotes, fill light, ambient balance, yada yada.
Here's what happened. Read more »

Read More

Q&A: Server Room—With Speedlights?

In the comments of last week's server room portrait, reader MeruWarrior (along with several others) asks:

I love the blow-by-blow account. Could this be achieved with just hotshoe flashes?

Short answer: Yes, sort of. But you're gonna have to be willing to "go with the flow" a little with regard to the ambient room light...Read more »

Read More

Annie-Tated Video: Leibovitz Shoots Rihanna for Vogue

Oh hey, it's time for another fully annotated Annie Leibovitz BTS video—this time featuring the lovely and talented Rihanna, shot for Vogue.

Hit the jump and follow the bouncing ball to see what we can learn with a little close examination. Annotations follow, below… Read more »

Read More

On Assignment: Gone in 86 Seconds

Two of my favorite admonitions from The Princess Bride are: "Never enter into a land war in southeast Asia," and, "Never go up against a Sicilian when death is on the line."

To that I can now add, "Never try to schedule a bunch of CEOs for photo shoots in August."

Because that's exactly what I was doing this past August. Which, in turn, led to this portrait being done in a grand total of 86 seconds. Read more »

Read More

Dave Honl's BTS is Just What Your Monday Morning Needs

Why can't Nikon's BTS product videos be more like this? (Just sayin'.)

-30-

Read More

Winter Reads: Secrets of Great Portrait Photography

UPDATE: Brian Smith gave a *90-minute* talk on the book at B&H Photo in NYC. It's excellent and I have embedded the video at the bottom of the post. -DH

Looking for a good book to curl up with this winter? You're in luck. There is a stream of great choices hitting Amazon this season. I'll be highlighting a few of them as we head into the holidays.

Because, you know, you gotta put something reasonable on your wish list, right? It can't all be $30,000 Hasselblad/Ferrari limited edition cameras.

This week: Secrets of Great Portrait Photography, by Brian Smith.

Short version: Don't let the generic-sounding title put you off. This book is dynamite—chock full of valuable info and experience. Read more »

Read More

Freezing Water on the Cheap: Einstein Answers Broncolor

Remember that Broncolor-sponsored "shootout" video a little ways back, in which the high-end pack-and-heads systems competed to freeze water droplets in a concept shot?

A few of you were like, "Yeah, cool, but couldn't you also do that with an Einstein?"

Yeah, turns out you could. And who better to prove that than Jarek Wieczorkiewicz, who specializes in conceptual sculpted-liquid portraiture. His results, along with a (slightly NSFW-ish) vid, inside. Read more »

Read More

BTS: Jonathan Snyder's So-Cool-It-Must-Be-Fake Night Portrait

When this photo popped up on Gizmodo last week, several of the site's readers could not quite process how the image could have been made. I tweeted at the time that I hoped the guy who shot it was one of our old DINFOS lighting students.

As it turns out, Strobist reader and USAF SSgt. Jonathan Snyder attended the "one extra" Flash Bus day McNally and I did for the Defense Information School in 2011 at Fort Meade in Maryland.

Milphogs are taught to improvise in the field as a matter of course. And turns out, this image was made with neither a tripod nor a speedlight… Read more »

Read More

On Assignment: Shooting what You Can't See

As photographers we are always looking for tangible, photographable things to include as visual cues. But often we are called upon to make a photo that revolves around something invisible, or even intangible.

I tend to view those assignments not as limiting, but rather as assignments in which the physical limits have been removed. That's the case with this shot of Paul Capriolo, CEO of Social Growth Technologies. Read more »

Read More

Watch This: Jay P. Morgan's Corporate Portrait Primer

Commercial photographer Jay P. Morgan's The Slanted Lens videos (which you may remember from this insane portrait) are consistently good stuff.

Today, he dials it back a notch or three to give a great walk-thru on corporate portraiture. Solid basic info, plus some tips that you may well not have known. Trust me, the flag-for-light-shirts thing alone will save you much needless Photoshopping…

-30-

Read More

Should You Consider an IR Remote?

Most people sync with a cord, radio or some version of a proprietary system—i.e., CLS or E-TTL. But infrared (IR) remotes are another, if much less used, option.

They are compact, cheap and wireless so there's a lot to like. But they also have some weaknesses. Today we'll be taking a look at whether an IR remote may be a good choice for you. Read more »

Read More

R.J. Kern, With the Assist from Rembrandt

If you're going to steal from someone, you should have the class to steal from the very best. Which is why photographers so often return to Rembrandt when it comes to nicking someone's light.

Such was the case with Denver wedding photographer R.J. Kern, who we join today for a quick BTS of the portrait above… Read more »

Read More

Sync-hole Opens at Photokina

See that little hole? That's a ⅛" (3.5mm) sync on the just-announced Mitros flash from Phottix. It's starting to happen, people… Read more »

Read More

On Being Photographed

Sara Lando is back with two follow-up posts from her earlier series on photographing people. Today: What it's like being on the other end of the lens.

Photo © Charlie Chipman

By Sara Lando -- When I was living in Los Angeles working on my graphic novel project, I received an e-mail from some guy wanting to take my picture.

On a daily basis, I’d rather be covered in spiders while raccoons gnaw at my feet (just like everybody else), but Los Angeles based photographer Charlie Chipman really seemed a nice person. And after googling his work and making sure he actually wasn’t some GWC with a portfolio full of naked girls biting a finger, I agreed to meet him over cake. I like cake. Read more »

Read More

Nikon D600: Think Twice Before You Jump

UPDATE 9/25/12: Upon testing, the D600 appears to have a pretty sweet sensor -- if the issues noted below are not a concern for you.
__________

Nikon has just officially announced their long-awaited entry-level full-frame body. Full spec reports are everywhere, as Nikon seeds lots of sites with advance info and embargoes them until the hour of release. So I won't duplicate that content here.

But for lighting photographers, the camera has two issues that are of concern. One is minor and (sadly at this point) expected.

But the other is major and quite unexpected. Read more »

Read More

Friday Night Lights

Happily, I am shooting high school football again this fall. Meaning I have come full circle from where I started nearly thirty years ago, except this time I am not shooting on deadline for a newspaper.

Which means I am free to shoot some of the facets I normally would have had to pass up, and to experiment with different ways of using flash. This past weekend, that meant a single speedlight, an OCF cord and a grid spot… Read more »

Read More

Well That was Fast.

Too cheap to consider the Bounce-Wall, even before they announced the price? (UPDATE: They have since announced the price.)

A mere four days later, there is already a page up on how to roll your own version… Read more »

Read More

Bounce-Wall: The Genius/Insanity Line Goes Commercial

There is a fine line between genius and insanity, and it's a line the DIY readership of this site has proudly straddled at times.

But this time, the genius/insanity line is being straddled by a commercial product. Lemme 'splain… Read more »

Read More