The Ambitious April Fool's Joke That Almost Was

©David Daniels

As I post this, we are entering into April Fools' 2012 territory. Believe nothing you read on the web today.

Personally, I love April Fool's. So much so that I would never post one every single year here on Strobist. Oh, I wanna. But I'd worry that we'd fall into that "it's expected" rut as have Google, NPR and the like.

That said, in 2010 I came this close to pulling off a duesy... Read more »

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Cold Shoe Your Monoblocs for Better Radio Performance

Here's an idea that is so simple I am surprised it did not strike me sooner.

It's one of several neat little design improvements in the new Einsteins, but it never occurred to me how cheap and easy it would be to retrofit my old AlienBees. Read more »

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A Little Grecco-To-Go for Your Tablet

Michael Grecco's Lighting and the Dramatic Portrait has been one of my favorite lighting books since it was released back in late 2006. That was far enough back to where publishers were not yet insisting on all of the e-Rights. So Grecco has done what any smart photographer would do, and has just co-released LatDP as a multi-platform eBook.

In fact, just thinking about all of the amazing photo books that were published before e-Anything makes me realize there is a huge i-Library just waiting to happen. And in a way which will see the royalties go where they rightly belong.

On top of that, we can support photogs directly (no offense, 90%-taking mega-publishers) while toting around a bucketload of inspiration on our tablets, phones, pods, etc.

In honor of the new LatDP medium, I asked Michael if he would give a little extra BTS on one of my favorite images from the book. You know, a lil sump'm sump'm just for us.

And he did… Read more »

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The 2012 GPP Shootout Video is In...

You've already seen the post mortem and final pics from this year's Gulf Photo Plus shootout. But now the official videotape version of Martin Prihoda and yours truly getting our butts kicked by Mr. Heisler is live, for your entertainment.

Oh, and hit the jump for a slideshow of student work from 2012... Read more »

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Small, Cheap and Underappreciated: Spill-Kill Reflectors

I acquired my first spill-kill reflectors by accident. There were two, included in a set of used Profoto Acutes I bought from a dentist. (One of them is pictured above, at left.)

My first thought: These things are useless. Should I throw them away or try to sell them on eBay?

But these days, I generally do not stick a studio head into an umbrella without one. Read more »

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Non-US Readers: Your New Country-Specific URL for Strobist

Canadian reader Eros Peterson tweets:

I type in http://www.strobist.com from work, and I get forwarded to http://strobist.blogspot.ca(?) Office firewall blocks says it's an XXX site!

Alas, we are still PG-rated here. But you are running into Google's new country-specific redirects, which your company's IT department is misclassifying. (Imagine that.)

For foreign readers, here's what's going on -- and an easy workaround if your corporate IT folks are blocking the site. Read more »

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It's Not a Camera, It's a Visa

Of all of the things that I have learned from McNally, I think this is the one has stuck with me the most: Cameras open doors to new experiences and friendships. Or as Joe likes to say, "It's not a camera, it's a visa."

A few years ago my camera allowed me to meet two people who would go on to become good friends. Fast forward to last Sunday, when the three of us found ourselves 8,000 miles from home, meeting new people with our cameras all over again. Read more »

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Q&A: Lighting Multiple People with Glasses

After reading the Lighting 101 post about lighting for glasses, Z9Girl asks:

"What if I were photographing an older couple for their 50th wedding anniversary and they both wear glasses? Of course there's always the natural light option, but if it has to be indoors with soft boxes or flash, what to do?"

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Shootout in the Desert, Round Three

Some advice is as good as it is self-evident: Don't whittle towards yourself. Don't pee into the wind. Don't enter into a land war in Southeast Asia.

And to that I can now add: never, ever go up against Gregory Heisler in the Gulf Photo Plus Shootout… Read more »

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Today on the Lighting Porn Channel…

…photographer Amber Gray shows us how to stop wasting so much time on retouching. All it takes is the right lighting gear.

The Broncolor setup will set you back, oh, about twenty gees by the time you are done buying the pack, head and Para reflector. But think of the time you'll save at the retouching station! Read more »

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On Assignment: Caleb Vaughn-Jones, Act Two

Two years ago I first photographed an outstanding young cellist named Caleb Vaughn-Jones. Caleb is exactly the type of person I partnered up with the Howard County Arts Council to meet, and I was very pleased when he emailed back a few months ago to commission another set of photos.

Nothing fosters creativity like collaborating with creative people. He's been doing some amazing work since 2010, and I was excited to get to work with him again. Read more »

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Canon 600EX-RT Speedlite and ST-E3-RT Transmitter: Yep, It's Radios

Photo © Syl Arena

I'm on the road with spotty 'net (and also a Nikon guy, so there's that). But Syl Arena has been playing around with the just-announced Canon flash and radio transmitter. Here's the five-word version of Syl's review:

"Canonistas, hold your heads high."

Well, then. Looks like Canon has uncorked a very sophisticated and robust flash system for discerning photographers who like their photos well-lit, if not quite in focus. (Kidding! Mostly!)

Check out Syl's evolving coverage of the new system.

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[UPDATE: Official price for the Canon 600EX-RT speedlite was set at: 1 Paul Buff 640WS Einstein + 8" hi-output reflector + 2-grid set + 64" soft silver PLM + 64" diffusion fabric.]

-30-

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