Gregory Heisler Whiteboards Bruce Springsteen

Welp, your Monday just got a little better.

Seriously, what would you rather do, catch up on your weekend emails or watch Gregory Heisler walk you through his iconic Time cover of Bruce Springsteen? Exactly. Your work can wait.

Heisler is one of my all-time favorite lighting photographers. I would watch him make toast.

But wait, there's more: A three-part video series of him talking about his broader approach to portraiture, inside. Read more »

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Paul Buff to Raise, Lower Prices

With the new cancer-curing Einstein monoblocs now confirmed to be shipping next week, Paul Buff has addressed a growing question: Why in the world would anyone want to buy regular old White Lightnings now?

They wouldn't, is the obvious answer. So Buff is dropping prices on White Lightning flashes -- and raising prices on the Einstein.

The price increases aren't in place yet, but they are coming. So if you'd rather pay $439.95 than $499.95 for an Einstein, you'd better get crackin'.

And if you are gonna sell your White Lightnings to fund Einstein purchases, I'd get on that, too -- before eBay finds out about the price drop. (No word on exactly how much the WL prices will be dropping.)

New Einstein pricing will not affect current Einstein pre-orders, which are estimated to be at approximately 4 gazillion. And Paul said he'd also give a 30-day notice before implementing the new, market-balancing prices.

:: Einstein Product Page ::
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Source: Fred Miranda forums, via Lighting Rumors

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It's April 1st …

UPDATE: Okay, I think they got the idea.

They pretty quickly retreated to voicemail, and then were beseiged by messages of yet more barking -- and even some panting.

Long story short -- they have promised to never, ever spam this site again. I'll believe it when I see it, of course. And yes, I have other things in mind if they start up again. Fun things.

Many thanks, folks. Apparently, your bark is worse than their bite. I am gonna pull the number now, but leave up the post.
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[ORIGINAL POST]

If you have a moment -- and a phone -- please continue reading for a way you can help me pull off a little April Fool's fun.

Okay, maybe it's equal parts fun and revenge. But still … Read more »

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Dan in Real Life

One of the great and terrible things about being a newspaper photographer is the idea that you never know what your day is going to bring.

Sometimes it brings access to cool and interesting people. Sometimes a call from an editor can send you straight into f/64 mode, as far as the pucker factor is concerned. Sometimes it is both.

That's exactly what happened to Austin American-Statesman photographer Jay Janner last year while out on an assignment. He got a call that another shoot had been added to his day -- to go photograph a local photographer named Dan Winters.

Yeah, that Dan Winters... Read more »

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Bert Goes All Hollywood on Us

Regular readers of this site are long familiar with Belgian photographer Bert Stephani. His easy-going manner and slightly warped sense of humor always make for fun learning in his behind-the-scenes shoot videos.

For the last several months, Bert (along with partner Peter Van Impe) have been working pretty much nonstop to produce a new lighting tutorial, "Motivational Light."

Hit the jump for a trailer, links and impressions after 3.5 hours of non-stop Bert. Read more »

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Got a New Compact or Hybrid-Size Camera? Check That Sync Speed.

Adolfo tweeted to me that he found that his Panasonic LX3 syncs at up to 1/2000th of a second, and it reminded me to remind you that you should always check for this sort of thing. Frequently, the capability is undocumented.

This is a similar deal to the way high sync works on the Canon compact cameras, and the same rules apply for sync speed vs. actual flash pulse duration.

I got to play around with this camera's newer big brother, a 4/3 Lumix GF1, in Dubai, and was very impressed with both the handling and the image quality. I wasn't able to check, but would be curious to know if the 4/3 bodies hi-sync, too. Nope. Shame, too.

If you have found that your new compact (or micro 4/3, etc.) camera can sync up high with external flashes, please hit us in the comments. Always good to know which models do that kind of thing.

UPDATE: Edit fixes incorrect label of LX3 as a micro 4/3. Thanks!

UPDATE2: So far, nothing but bad news in the comments on the 4/3 bodies...

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A Great Face for Radio

Mohamed Somji and the folks at Gulf Photo Plus have made good on their threat and posted their video of the live shootout between Zack Arias, JoeyL and yours truly.

Two things learned.

First: "Never get involved in a land war in Asia." (But only slightly less well- known is this: "Never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line!")

And second, "Never wear a black shirt into a dark auditorium when you are being interviewed with just one hard light."

The video, and links, inside. Read more »

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