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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

And, They're Surprisingly Affordable

Kidding!

You could not even afford the mortgage for one of these Briese parabolic light focusing reflectors!

But they are fun to look at, and you can get most a small amount of the way there for under $100 with a Paul Buff PLM! If they ever get back in stock!

Gratuitous use of one more exclamation mark!

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The Most Powerful Light In Your Bag

Last year I photographed Michael Stebbins for Rep Stage, which is how I got to know him for the Glass Menagerie photos.

The Smith Theater, where I shot him, is big and dark. In fact, I had shot someone else there about twenty years earlier for a magazine assignment -- and the Smith Theater had kicked my butt.

I brought every light I had (many, many watt-seconds worth) but I still did not have what I really needed -- the understanding required to work in a big, dark setting.

I even had with me the exact of piece of gear I needed. It was just that I just didn't know how to use it. Read more »

Light Fare: The "Jarvie Window"

Here's a new use for your ring flash.

Salt Lake City-based photographer Scott Jarvie made a unique set of portraits using a Ray Flash ring flash adapter and an 8mm fisheye lens.

Gimmicky? Perhaps. Fun and creative? Yup.

Cue the flood of imitators on Flickr in 3, 2, 1…

(Thanks much to Ben for the tip via the comments section.)

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Something Fun While You Do Your Brackets

For those of you not in the US, please excuse us while our collective attention turns toward "March Madness," AKA the always exciting, single-elimination NCAA college basketball championship tournament. Our productivity plummets to zero as we spend our workday filling out our brackets and trying to pick the winner in the office pool.

What does this have to do with lighting, you ask? Nothing, except for this:

I think it is safe to say that, with the airing of the above commercial, Buffalo Wild Wings has just become the Official Chicken Wing of Strobist.com. You gotta love the Frankenflash thing they made as a prop, too.

Good luck to everyone with their tourney picks. My Florida Gators drew BYU for their first game, which does not look promising. But then, we're just happy to be here this year.

And make my Buffalo Wild WIngs extra hot, please.

(Thanks to Steve for the tip.)

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Worth a Sub: Michael Grecco's New YouTube Channel

Celebrity / Nekkid People photographer Michael Grecco has created a YouTube page to display his many excellent behind-the-scenes videos.

Some of you may not know that he started out as a photojournalist, and began pushing the lighting envelope way back in the very beginning of his career.

The Will Farrell shoot (c. Blades of Glory) embedded above is a great example of why I always enjoy Grecco's time-lapse BTS vids. There's a lot to learn in a minute and change. Not only is he showing you the whole set build, shoot and tear, but there are several cool lighting info nuggets to be had.

Hit the jump for a some of the things you can learn from this video, a second vid and links to more.
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Q&A: How to Use Your Nikon SB-900 in Optical Slave Mode

As most of you know, the discontinued Nikon SB-800 speedlight has an awesome -- yet, oddly undocumented -- built-in slave. But given the questions I have gotten recently, many people who own the newer SB-900s are not aware that their flash has the same capability.

A walk-thru on how to access and use the built-in slave in your Nikon SB-900 speedlight, and how to get better results from any slave outdoors, inside. Read more »

Speedlights at Twenty Paces

UPDATE: We got video now, at the bottom of the post.
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DUBAI, UAE, MARCH 08, 2010 -- Wrapping up in Dubai and getting ready to head over to Muscat in Oman for some much-anticipated R&R.

Those of you who follow Strobist on Twitter knew that Saturday was a big day for me. After teaching at Gulf Photo Plus all week, Saturday night was the big shootout against Zack "OneLight" Arias and Joey "Not That Guy from Blossom" Lawrence.

My shootout results, and what it's like to walk into the belly of hell, inside. Read more »

QOTD: Do You Co-op Gear?

I am gonna turn it around to you guys with a question today: Is anyone participating in a formal (or informal) gear co-op program?

It seems like a logical choice as a compromise for gear you cannot rationalize owning.

Obviously, renting is an option for those who live in NYC or LA (and, increasingly, secondary markets). But it seems to me that the idea could easily be applicable to lighting gear. For instance, a group of weekend enthusiasts or a camera club could pool money for a monobloc kit.

There have always been informal arrangements between photogs in a given local area for spotting each other little-used gear. It's a lifesaver -- especially on assignments that require extra equipment. And some photographers even rent the stuff to other shooters, the cost of which is usually passed onto the client.

Personally, I have been jonesing for a Phase One back on a medium format body. But I cannot rationalize the cost.

Okay, let me rephrase that. I cannot rationalize the cost to my wife. I can rationalize anything to myself.

At The Sun, we had a pool of gear that was available to be used when needed by the staffers. Just seems to me that there must be civilian versions of this. And I'll bet someone reading this site has done it.

Hit us in the comments.

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Five Things Music Can Teach Us About Lighting

In 1986 I walked into the photo department at The Gainesville (FL) Sun for the first time. I was 21, and it was like walking into heaven.

Several well-respected photogs worked there. There was pool glass available for borrowing. There were huge photos on the wall. And there was a nice stereo with a pair of high-end (to me) speakers on top of the bookshelf.

Looking back, I think they were Bose 301's. But I was impressed back then.

They said that they paid for the stereo by pooling the money they received for transmitting AP specials and enterprise art over the wire. It was the first time the connection between music and photography ever hit me.

Ever since, I have made an effort to install some sort of music into the photo departments where I worked -- stereo in the darkroom at Patuxent, amplified speakers in the studio at The Sun and now, multi-source music on demand in The Cave.

Music and photography share a lot of concepts. And even more specific, there is actually a lot of crossover between music and light. Read more »

Travel, Light

UPDATE: Corrects backpack, adds links to backpack and duffel.
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I have logged a lot of air miles over the last few years, and am getting ready to pile on a few more en route to Dubai this week.

On of the biggest advantages of being speedlight-based is being able to avoid the excess-baggage mafia. Given that I usually travel with computer, camera gear, lighting gear (including stands, etc.) in addition to the typical clothing stuff, I thought I would do a quick post on what and how I pack. Read more »

Tent Pole Light Stands: More Details

Due to popular demand, Swedish photographer Peter Karlsson has created a more explanatory video on his tent pole light stand. They run about 1 lb. each, and pack very small and flat. They can be a good option for traveling interior/portrait shooters.

Got questions? Peter is answering them in the comments section of his blog post. Oh, and take a moment to look at his portfolio, too. It is all speedlight-driven.

Of his diminutive lights, Peter says, "clients sometimes look a little puzzled about their tinyness," but hey, it gets the job done.

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Shoot the Bloggers: Gus Sentementes

Local tech blogger Gus Sentementes popped down to The Cave for a headshot recently. And that was a good excuse to play with some atypical (for me, anyway) light.

Keep reading for some thoughts on working with differently shaped faces -- and taking the final display size into account, too. Read more »

MPEX Now Outsourcing Business Decisions...

Here's an idea that Moishe has been kicking around with me for the last couple of weeks: Midwest is letting readers vote on which items will go on sale the following week.

So far, everything is small flash/lighting related and they plan to rotate it each Monday. This week, the Lumiquest SB-III has jumped out to an early lead.

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It's Time for the PC Jack to Die.

As a lighting photographer, I have long been grateful for the fact that Nikon has included an external Prontor/Compur (PC) jack on most of their speedlights. But while I love the synching ability, I hate the connector.

Nothing against Nikon -- they are among the good guys when it comes to synching flashes. Fact is, I also hate the PC jack on the camera itself.

There is simply no reason to continue the use of a proprietary connection for such a simple circuit. There is a better way, which will not only save photographers -- and manufacturers -- money but add a valuable capability to hybrid still/video DSLRs. Read more »

After the Light: High-Pass Post Production

Let's get one thing straight first: I am no Photoshop wizard. I learned at the paper to use it sparingly, and my goal is always to do most of my work in-camera.

But a lot of people have asked about some of my post techniques, so I wanted to share one of my favorites. It's quick, easy and adds a cool, controllable look to your photos. And it mixes especially well with photos that have been lit. Read more »

Finnishing Touches

UPDATE: Sweet! Click thru to the full post w/comments, where Anssi Saviluoto has detailed how he shot the video with a POINT AND SHOOT and did the post production for the cool effects. Awesome -- thanks, Anssi!
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Meetups are lots of fun, and one of the best ways to meet other local Strobist readers and lighting enthusiasts. Get that many creative people into a room, and a video is likely to happen, too.

A boy and his guns, cool (legal) music and some bad-ass post make the video embeded above stand out from the pack. It's from the Lappeenranta (Finland) Strobist Meetup Group.

Heck, I'm ready to pack my bags and head to Finland for the next one -- if only because they probably have less snow than we do right now. Looks like they are having lots of fun, and I am seriously digging that post work.

Oh, and the soundtrack could hardly be more appropriate: "Plastic & Flashing Lights," by the band, Professor Kliq. You can download it here.
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Want to find -- or start -- a local meetup? Hit the drop-down menu on the sidebar for more info. (RSS/email readers will have to click thru to the main site for drop-down menus.)

Q&A: Why Not Speedlights?

Garrett Hamilton asks the following question in the comments of the On Assignment Trip Jennings post:
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"I'm still a 'small guy' in terms of my lighting gear bag, and just was wondering how this would have turned out with smaller strobes. Do you think you could have gotten the same results?

Because, honestly, some of my work is just like this. And I'm trying to decide when enough is enough for my small SB's."

Garrett, hit the jump for some specific-to-this-shoot thoughts on small lights vs big. Read more »

The Snow Must Go On

SECOND UPDATE: Due to many snow cancellations, the show has been extended until March 14th.
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FIRST UPDATE: Yet another 4-8" forecast for Sunday-Monday. I give up. Uncle.
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For those of you who were planning on joining me for the Wednesday night showing of The Glass Menagerie (for which I did the projection photos,) the show has been canceled. Kinda bummed, but whaddya gonna do?

If you are local, the reason is quite obvious: We received 33" of snow over the weekend. A second shot of up to 20" up to 30" is falling as we speak. Yeesh.

Above is the view from my front door the first evening after the snow stopped. Well, the first half of it, anyway. After that first historic dump, we are referring to the next 20" as a dusting.

(More pix here.)

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On Assignment: Trip Jennings

A couple of months ago I got to photograph adventure kayaker Trip Jennings for Canoe & Kayak Magazine.

Given we were fresh out of 80-foot waterfalls for him to navigate in Howard County, we instead chose the shore of relatively somnambulistic Centennial Lake at sunset… Read more »

Behind the Scenes on Sunshine

American Cinematographer has a wonderful piece online about both the theory and the execution of the lighting in Sunshine. It's a SciFi movie, about the death of the sun and a mission to jumpstart it with a nuclear bomb.

There's a lot of technical stuff, which I of course love. But the most interesting thing to me was psychological. They added impact to the eventual sun close-ups by starving the set of any warm colors whatsoever during the earlier sequences.

There was a lot of green screen, obviously. As such, they had to create dynamic light proxies for the sun, so the actors could react to it. Think about it -- a swirling, dynamic sun would create moving light which would be visible on the people in the frame. I loved their solution.

Way cool stuff. Well, figuratively, anyway.

Story link:

:: American Cinematographer: Let There Be Light ::
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Thanks to Levy Carneiro for the tip via Twitter.

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On Assignment: The Glass Menagerie

Since 1983, when I started stringing assignments for the Leesburg (FL) Commercial, I have always gravitated toward community journalism. I just find it intimate and rewarding to work within a tight geographic area and get to know the people who live all around you.

In the 27 years since, I have obviously gotten the chance to shoot in many interesting and exotic places in the years that followed. But I always gravitate back towards shooting locally -- especially where self-directed photographic projects are concerned.

Last year, I photographed Michael Stebbins, who is the creative and artistic director for The Rep Stage, a local theatrical company. The Rep is very highly thought of in our neck of the woods, and they produce an interesting and high-quality mix of plays every season.

After the shoot, I told him to keep me in mind should anything interesting ever come along, and that I would love to contribute. Last fall, he called me back with an opportunity that at once both piqued my interest and scared the crap out of me: To shoot the images that would be projected up on stage during a production of Tennessee Williams' American classic, The Glass Menagerie. Read more »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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.)

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 »

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 »

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 »

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!

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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