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 »