Home for the Holidays

I am very thankful to not be traveling this Christmas season. And as in years past, I won't be posting between now and the new year, either. What I do hope to be doing is spending as much time as possible with family and friends.

In the meantime, hit the jump for our annual attempt at a Year in Review. And this year we have a little twist… Read more »

Rosco Plusgreen: The Magic Sunset Filter

Druids may get all festive around Winter Solstice, but you can bet your typical cubicle worker is equally pissed off. That's because most of them arrive at work barely after sunrise, and don't leave until after dark.

For that same reason, it is also when architectural photographers are most willing to go out and freeze their nu brave the cold weather to make skyline shots. At least in the northern hemisphere.

Buildings with their lights all aglow at mix light are much prettier than they are at mix during other seasons. In June (at 39 degrees north, where Baltimore is) you'd have to wait until 9:30pm to get this shot. And the buildings are mostly empty and dark by then.

Mix light is wonderfully unpredictable when it comes to the color of the ambient. And on top of that variable, here's a little tip courtesy the architectural photographers: When you shoot dusk skylines, try a few with your camera set to the FL white balance as in the example above. (Click the pic for a bigger version.)

Why?

Because it does two things. First, it cleans up the indoor fluorescent lights in your photos, taking out a lot of the grody green cast. And second, it adds about 30CC of magenta to whatever your post-sunset ambient light is doing. Even though I shoot in raw, I always shoot it in daylight, tungsten and FL balance just to get a feel for which one I might like the best while still on the scene.

Okay fine, Building Boy. What's all this this got to do with lighting?

A lot, actually ... Read more »

Drew Gardner's Brown Bag Video Series

Long-time readers of this site are already familiar with London-based commercial and advertising photographer Drew Gardner. Many of you will be happy to know that he has just released a commercial series of walk-thru videos of over a dozen of his more notable shoots, broken into McDonald's lunch-priced segments.

I have always enjoyed Drew's lighting, but even more so his creativity and imagination when approaching a shoot. And frequently, that ability to source a location or bootstrap say, an elephant or water buffalo as a prop for a shoot is more key to making the magic happen than knowing where to put your soft box.

I have had a chance to view most of them, and the takeaway for me has been that there is generally one unexpected or unusual thing you have to figure out to make a shot come together. For me, that is a big lesson -- because I am usually about the light.

But Drew seems to have a talent for hitting the curve ball that comes at you from left field. And I would give a lot of lighting skill away to be able to do that so seemingly effortlessly. I learn something from the guy every time we talk.

Drew kindly made one of the tutorials free, and I have embedded it above. (Blip.tv is ad-rolling it, but you can click them away.) You see the other photos selected for video tutorials here.

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First Grope: Nikon SB-700

When Nikon first announced their new SB-700 speedlight three months ago, I went down the feature list and immediately took notice of one thing: The lack of a PC jack.

But I recently had a chance to talk to some folks from Nikon. And they're all like, Dave, you're putting the em-PHA-sis on the wrong syl-LA-ble. It's an evolution of the SB-600, not the SB-800. (And to be fair, they've got the SB-900 for that.)

Okay, fine. Maybe it is not the most PC flash out there. But given that, what's under the hood?

First impressions after a hands-on day, inside. Read more »

A Pop in Page Views

Congrats to Strobist reader Edward Horsford for making the front page of the internet. Yahoo chose his photo of a water balloon (without the balloon part) as a lede image for their curated gallery of high-speed captures.

Cool tidbit: More than a third of the images in the collection were by Strobist readers.

It was the first time I have seen Yahoo leveraging Flickr content to create a main-page gallery. If this is to become a regular thing, I would expect we'll see more Strobist Flickr group members getting this kind of insane exposure. I did a quick check while this was up on the Yahoo front, and Edward's Flickr page for this photo was getting about 3,000 views a minute.

I'll bet he sure was surprised when he saw it, if he did. You can see exactly how Edward lit the photo (with two Nikon SB's) here.

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Profoto: The Light Shaping Retina Searing Company

Remember the guy who zapped words into German tourists' photos with his DIY flash projector gun?

Suffice to say when you swap out the speedlight for 4800 watt-seconds worth of Profoto Pro-7B, things can get a little more interesting.

(Tip via Joel)

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On Assignment: Brian England

I shot a job last month for a story on the downstream impact of the new Jobs Bill (as in small business, not Steve.) Local auto shop owner Brian England, above, was one of the voices in the story.

It's your basic talking head. And just about anything would suffice for this kind of story in the local biz publication. So I always see these kinds of job as a perfect time to try on a new lighting style for size. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by experimenting -- as long as you cover yourself in case it doesn't work. Read more »

Greetings, Newbs

Are you just stumbling in after learning about us in the New York Times gift guide for photographers? If so, thanks for dropping by. You'll probably want to start here.

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In Which a Commenter Gets His Soapbox

Today, a peek inside the sausage factory that is this blog.

Every blogger has to deal with this question at some point: What do you do with commenters who attempt to use your site as a large platform on which to go after a third party?

To my view, it is the equivalent of a guest who has had too much to drink standing up in your living room and uncorking loudly on another guest within full earshot of everyone else. And clearly, it reflects more on the commenter than the target of his or her rant.

Normally, this sort of remark falls well outside of the comment guidelines, which have evolved to the point where they effectively screen out this kind of stuff.

And really, I do try to err on the side of publication. I do not want to censor peoples' views. But neither do I want to cede the comments section to the lowest common denominator. And that's the lens through which I normally view comment moderation.

But today, a comment of such ironic merit that I am elevating it to the status of a post. Fully annotated, of course. Read more »

Hangin' Eight, with Dave Black

Editor's note: You're gonna wanna watch this one in 720p, full-screen. So do yourself a favor and res-up now, to let it start loading in while you read.
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What do you get when you slap together 8 SB-900's, an SU-800, one RadioPopper transmitter, two receivers, two FourSquares and two sets of Michael Bass fiber optic bundles?

Well, you get $5,000.00 lighter in the wallet, for one thing.

But you also get a (32) AA-battery-powered monoblock with a 2-second recycle that can reach out and touch someone -- in TTL and/or via high-speed sync -- at very great distances.

And today, sports photographer Dave Black is gonna use it to make some rad surfing shots.

(Oh, and you'll also need $4800 for a Nikon D3s and another $5800 for the Nikon 200-400, too. Just saying.)

Hit the jump for another vid using a similar setup on motocross riders and a link to more speedlight insanity from Mr. Black.
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So, here is the 8-cylinder speedlight engine being used on motorcyclists at distance in full daylight conditions. Pretty impressive. And before you start whining about the cost (or logic, vs. real monos) for many this would be an ideal, lightweight solution.

Dave is a big TTL/FP sync user. So for him this makes more sense than a case of big lights which would limit his sync speed to 1/250th of a second.

You can see lots more from his excellent lighting website, Workshop at the Ranch.

It's DIY Thursday

Fancy yourself a bit of a … modder?

Well, we gots not one but two DIY tips today, courtesy intrepid readers. Hit the jump to learn both how to add a nipple (not my term, mind you) to your SB-800 and how to make a very cool speedlight-to-AlienBees adapter. Read more »

Matthew Jordan Smith Gives Tyra a Ring

We normally think of ring flash as having that signature, wrap-around shadow on the background. Or, increasingly, as a fill light. But it takes on a completely different look if you use it as a key and take everything else away -- background and any reflected light.

(Oh, and it helps if your subject is Tyra Banks, too.)

Matthew Jordan Smith explains in the first of an upcoming BTS series for Profoto. And not to just bang the Profoto drum here, either. We are always looking for the other educational BTS vids that the other flash manufacturers should be creating. Ahem.
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More Profoto BTS:

Gregory Heisler shoots: Springsteen | Giuliani | Jeter
Annie Leibovitz: Pro-8 and Machine-Gun Annie

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Moshe and Eddie Brakha: Standardizing Creativity

When most photographers hit "a certain age," they might be tempted to revert to the mean -- to play it a little safer, creatively speaking. Not so Moshe Brakha, who has never been one for safe lighting.

These days, his collaboration with his son Eddie combines experience and relative youth in a photographic one-two punch. For the Brakhas, stale is not an option. And to combat it, they are setting aside regular downtime reserved solely for stretching themselves. Read more »

A Thanksgiving Weekend Class for the Strobist Flickr Group

While you were busy digesting turkey and watching football this weekend, you may have missed Brad Trent* (at left, photo by Kazuhito Sakuma) dropping into the Strobist Flickr group to answer lighting Q's about controlling contrast. Definitely worth a read.

As mentioned before, Brad not only includes lighting setup shots in his portfolio, but blogs about his shoots frequently at Damn Ugly Photography.

That's worth a read, too.
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*I ran into Brad in person at PhotoPlus Expo in NYC last month. Funny thing, that amped-up Brad Trent Light^® seemed to follow him around wherever he went. Kinda like the Mona Lisa appearing to stare directly at you no matter where you stand…

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Giving Thanks, Giving Back

It's Thanksgiving Day here in the US. Which means that in addition to trotting out the traditional Strobist before-and-after turkey shot (courtesy the tryptophan-laced Paul Morton) we pause to think about giving thanks and helping others.

This year, a quick look at how some local photographers in Howard County, MD are using their cameras to give back to their community. And not to put the idea in your head, but it was a really fun day -- and something anyone reading this blog could do, too. Read more »

… Or, a Soft Box Will Work, Too

After reading Sunday's post on improvisational ring lights, Haristobald Photography shot me a link to this BTS video.

Camera on axis with a soft box, and everything on an overhead boom gets him a different perspective for these calendar shots of a local track club -- with very cool results. More info and final pics are on his dual-language blog post.

If he sounds familiar, it is because he was one of the winners in the PocketWizard/Strobist video competition a ways back. If you are a new reader (since November '08) you'll want to check those out.

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Substituting an Umbrella for a Ring Light

Just a quick-hit post today on when and how to use your umbrella as a faux ring light -- and when it may be even better than the real thing.

Save some bucks, and/or get a completely different look, inside. Read more »

Subject For a Day

Photo ©Mark Heayn

I had the tables turned on me a few weeks ago when Baltimore photographer Mark Heayn shot my family. It was for a marketing campaign for the company that converted our house to solar energy.

As much as we tend to dislike it, staring down the barrel of a camera occasionally is a very good perspective swap for a photographer. I learned some stuff watching Mark shoot -- and even discovered a cool new (old) piece of gear. Read more »

Your Gratuitous Pool Boy Awaits

Yes, I know that 94% of the people who read this site are male. But that does not mean I am not looking out for the other six percent. Or, [6%+(94%/10)-(6%/10)] if you want to get really mathematical about it.

To that end I offer this BTS video of a Harper's Bazaar shoot by Melissa Rodwell, whom I met last March in Dubai. There's actually some lighting stuff wedged in, so you can call it educational.

Melissa gets a little more into the overpowering-the-sun stuff and shows all of the final images in her blog post. But the blog itself is mostly about the vagaries of fashion photography, a world that is obviously completely foreign to me.

At least until my 17 pairs of cargo shorts come into style.

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On Assignment: Frickin' Lasers

Update: I answered several reader questions in the comments. Click the [more>>] link below (or here) for full post, comments and Q/A.
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Being both a photo geek and a garden-variety tech geek, I love it when my two worlds collide. Shooting people who roll with cutting-edge tech is one of my very favorite things to do.

I photographed Shirley Collier, CEO of Optemax, for the Maryland Entrepreneur Quarterly. Her company is beyond cool as far as the tech goes. They specialize in setting up laser-based data networks in just about any location. Local/terrestrial is no problem. But neither is air-to-ground -- as in using a laser to send data to and from a moving aircraft. And they can move that data at the rate of one terabit (about 9 DVDs worth) per second.

When emailing back and forth with Shirley for ideas, she suggested she could bring a laser pointer. Ten seconds of Googling told me that was a big no-no for the CMOS chip in my D3. But it did give me an idea… Read more »

Mola Dishes Out Lighting Tips

Turns out Mola, the funky-looking beauty dish manufacturer, actually has a pretty cool blog. Lots of neat examples and more than a few lighting diagrams. All featuring Mola beauty dishes, natch.

I saw it this week when they profiled Brad "My Lighting Volume Knob Goes to Eleven" Trent, who is a frequent user of the ridged reflectors. Definitely worth a look.

:: Mola Softlights Blog ::
:: Damn Ugly Photography (Brad Trent) ::

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Readers Shoot Back: Your Background Stand Hacks

Lots of cool upstreams in the comments of Monday's Hack your Background Stand post. Given that many people read the site via RSS, I thought some of the better ideas merited a quick recap -- inside. Read more »

Love Never Fails

When you're driven by love then there's no room for failures for LOVE never fails.

1 Cor. 13:8

Bro-tiful

"There is no one more BEAUTIFUL than the one who is broken."

- Watchman Nee

Hack Your Background Stand

Normally used for seamless paper, background stand systems can pretty useful items for other stuff, too. Especially when you consider how little they cost.

Four more ideas on how to use your background supports, inside. Read more »

Invite your Friend: What could happen?

Invite your Friend to the Church: What could happen?

Terrified by Katharine McPhee ft Zachary Levi Lyrics

"Terrified" by Katharine McPhee featuring Zachary Levi (of the Chuck Series).

I wrote something about Zachary Levi, you might want to check it out here: Must Watch: Chuck Bartowski

TERRIFIED Lyrics

You by the light is the greatest find

In a world full wrong you're the thing that's right

Finally made it through the lonely to the other side

You said it again, my heart's in motion

Every word feels like a shooting star

I'm at the edge of my emotions

Watching the shadows burning in the dark

And I'm in love and I'm terrified

For the first time in the last time in my only life

This could be good, it's already better than last

And love is worse than knowing you're holding back

I could be all that you needed if you let me try

You said it again my hearts in motion

Every word feels like a shooting start

I'm at the edge of my emotions

Watching the shadows burning in the dark

And I'm in love and I'm terrified

For the first time in the last time in my only

I only said it 'cause I mean it, I only mean 'cause it's true

So don't you doubt what I've been dreaming

'Cause it fills me up and holds me close whenever I'm without you

You said it again my hearts in motion

Every word feels like a shooting star

Watching the shadows burning in the dark

And I'm in love and I'm terrified

For the first time in the last time in my only life

Stereo Sweetener for a 1/8" Sync Mod

A Strobist reader who cryptically goes by "bleeblubleeblah" last year posted may what well be the nicest walk-thru to date of hacking a Nikon SB-600 speedlight to get a remote 1/8" sync jack.

And as sweet as that looks, someone has hacked the idea to make it significantly better.

How to improve your 1/8" DIY jacks, inside. Read more »

On Assignment: HoCoPoLitSo

Sometimes you happen upon beautiful window light for a portrait, and there is no sense even unpacking a speedlight -- just frame, and snap away.

Alas, this portrait of Ellen Kennedy was not one of those times.

I photographed Ellen, founder of the Howard County Poetry and Literature Society, in her home office for the Columbia Archives last week. The window light was beautiful, but not in a way that would translate well in my camera.

So I decided to recreate that light with a lower, camera-friendly contrast range using a pair of SB-800s. Read more »

Chris Crisman Finds Inspiration at Home

Paging through a recent issue of Fast Company, I came across a Chris Crisman photo similar to the one above. I loved the light, and got in touch with him to talk about it.

As it turns out, the light wasn't even the interesting part. Read more »

And Now, Your Lighting Case Pr0n

I am a big fan the ThinkTank Logistics Manager case. If you think Airport International Security on steroids, you won't be far off.

It can swallow up a ton of lighting gear, too. Four Profoto Acute packs and 4 heads is no problem. And because it is about the size of a Tokyo apartment, you can configure it just about any way you want. Which is the point of this spot-on video and the many config pictures on the product page.

And then there's that music. Chicka-chicka wow-wow…

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Venn Diagram of Muslims and Christians

When I was going over the blogs I have subscribed to, I cam across this post that really struck me. He created a Venn Diagram c/o Google on how "related" Muslims, Christians, Jews and Buddhists are. Venn Diagram by the way is a diagram that shows all hypothetically possible logical relations between a finite collection of sets (aggregation of things). Here's what he has found out (Source: A God-Sized Puzzle)

After seeing this, I didn't just see how common Muslims and Christians are just like what the author has seen.

After seeing this, I actually have come to a realization how the world see Christians and made me ask: Is this really how we're living as "Christians"?

Aren't we supposed to be the Light and Salt of this world: THE source of Hope, Happiness and Faith?

Why are people seeing us as hateful, mean, narrow minded, judgemental and annoying? Well maybe that's what we're letting them see.

Think about it and Do something!

Where Even PocketWizard Dare Not Tread

And now, your Moment of Zen.

Many thanks to Strobist reader Chano Reus for the heads-up on a Spanish-language blog post detailing the light-painting … of an entire city.

No fewer than fifty photographers in the Asociación Fotográfica de Toledo participated in the making of this complex and highly choreographed image of Toledo, Spain.

NOTE: The post now has English and Spanish versions embedded within the copy. Thanks for that!

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LumiQuest Softbox-III Gets a Big Brother

Shown at left is one of my most used light mods, the LumiQuest SoftBox-III. It has just been supersized from 8x9" to 10x14" and released as the LumiQuest SoftBox LTp. (Not to worry -- you can still get the SB III, too. Otherwise I would not be posting this until I had stocked up on SB-IIIs…)

So yeah, bigger -- sure. But why 10x14 inches?

There's actually a pretty good reason for that. Read more »

On Assignment: Standing Behind Their Work

Ever see a thriller movie where someone (usually Matt Damon) is talking to the bad CIA guys while they sit in their office even as Damon has them zeroed in from across the street?

That'll soon be implausible if Dianna and Wayne Wilhelm any say about it. They are building (and retrofitting) government buildings with normal-looking, 1/2" glass that will stop a metal jacketed 9mm round at point blank range. And within two months, glass of that same thickness will be stopping rounds from high-powered rifles. Really cool stuff.

I was assigned to shoot the Wilhelms for a BizMo cover, and thought I would take advantage of the fact that this new laminated ballistic glass is also optically decent. So I shot them through a piece of glass that already had stopped five 9mm rounds in an earlier demonstration. Read more »

Are You Local to Baltimore or Washington, DC?

SECOND UPDATE: Results are here.
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UPDATE:

1:49pm -- Boy, THAT was fast. There were a ton of people who wrote in to join up for the shoot day on November 2nd. I am going through the list now, prioritizing toward people who are local and most available. I will write back to everyone who left an email address (whether in or not) by the end of the day. But we already have more than will be practical to use, so please, no more volunteers needed.

Many thanks,
DH
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Tired of the hyper-polarized election season? How would you like to spend Tuesday, November 2nd doing something worthwhile -- and nonpolitical -- with your camera?

Don't get me wrong -- I am gonna vote. But I thought it would be cool to spend the rest of Election Day doing something real with my camera to benefit a very worthy local organization. It is gonna be in a beautiful outdoor setting, and I think it will be a lot of fun.

If you might be interested in helping, keep reading. Read more »

Are You Just Dying to Get Into a New Studio?

UPDATE: The original I.P.S. site has since been taken down because they were "overwhelmed by orders and had to take the site down." (Natch.) Oh, and there were also a "few issues with the site that needed repair," too.

To their credit, they at least ran the new version through a spell check.
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I swear, I could not make this stuff up. The "Important" page on the new Inflatable Photo Studio (yes, I said Inflatable Photo Studio) includes the following among its several warnings:

"It is not recommended that you smoke, cook or have any open flames in the studio. Also lights can become very hot and melt the studio. Do not rest lighting or position it against the sides. Curling irons, hair driers (sic) irons, and steamers can also melt the plastic causing rapid deflation or possible fire."

But wait, there's more!

For instance, in the event of a "rapid deflation," not to worry! You have at least four minutes to get out alive -- if you remember to crawl and "keep your arms up at an angle in front of you." (Um, okay!)

(Hat tip: Andy)

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Shoot the Bloggers: David Tejada

While in Denver late this summer I got to hang out with David Tejada, a corporate photographer from the area and frequent blogger/teacher. (Dave needs no introduction for long-time readers of this site.)

So I couldn't pass up shooting him -- and using his own cool DIY beauty dish to do so. Read more »

On Assignment: Newspaper Man

Sometimes I miss working at a newspaper.

And when I say "I miss," I mean that I miss it in the rose-colored glasses sense. Because some of the most fun I have had in the last 20+ years has been while shooting for small, community newspapers. So a few months ago I started stringing for a local business monthly as a way to keep touch with what I used to enjoy so much.

It was in that capacity that I was assigned to shoot a full-page portrait of Stan "The Fan" Charles, pictured above. Stan was to be the cover for the Maryland Entrepreneur Quarterly section. Which is pretty impressive, considering his entrepreneur chops are being earned running a successful newspaper in 2010. Read more »

Rosco will Help You Correct for Those Screwy Fluorescents

Time was, things were simpler and fluorescent lights only required a 30CC magenta filter in front of your film-based camera lens to bring them into line. Green your flash and you were done. Then the hippies took over and now we have CFLs pretty much everywhere. And they are not all the same color, either.

Today, Joel Svendsen (who is not a professional actor but merely an ordinary person much like yourself) will walk you through how to correct for the various types of fluorescent lights.

It is geared towards video but you can translate pretty easily. The big difference is that video folks frequently work with tungsten lights. Or as they apparently call it, a package.

But thanks to Joel I shall henceforth think of warm CFLs, for instance, as sort of a weird combo of tungsten and fluorescent, both of which need to be fixed.

Joel, BTW, is the man at Rosco behind the Strobist Collection gel pack -- which also saved the gel sample program from certain death. And that means that he drinks for free in Baltimore, whenever he visits.

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By Your Side | Tenth Avenue North Video, Lyrics

By Your Side Lyrics

Why are you striving these days
Why are you trying to earn grace
Why are you crying
Let me lift up your face
Just don't turn away

Why are you looking for love
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough
To where will you go child
Tell me where will you run
To where will you run

And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Look at these hands and my side
They swallowed the grave on that night
When I drank the world's sin
So I could carry you in
And give you life
I want to give you life

(Chorus 2x)

Cause I, I love you
I want you to know
That I, I love you
I'll never let you go

(Chorus 2x)

Lazarus' Second Funeral by Joshua Harris

This is the second time i posted a "drawing" by Joshua Harris himself. The last time I posted about Jesus Calls Peter (check it here). I am just truly blown away with his creativity and sense of humor that I can't stop myself from sharing this second one.

Source: http://www.joshharris.com/2010/10/lazarus_second_funeral.php

Available Light. As in, Every. Available. Light.

UPDATE: In addition to abs, this one also has legs. It has made the rounds to Jezebel(!), Billboard and Blair's blog, too. I am heading out to get some ab spray now.
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Do you live in Phoenix? Were your lights flickering for a while a few weeks back?

That could have been Blair Bunting's cover shoot for Billboard Magazine. He used 7 Profoto packs, 14 light sources and just under 20 Kilowatt-seconds of power every time the shutter tripped. For a 3/4-length portrait.

Oh, and the subject was naked. So I am sticking it behind the "read more" jump. Read more »

Finn O'Hara's Time Lapse Rises From the Dead

Last November, we ran a cool time-lapse BTS from photographer Finn O'Hara of a huge-scale Toronto Maple Leafs shoot. It was up for a few hours, then had to be pulled over some confusion over who owned the rights to the video.

It was replaced with a watered-down, neutered version which didn't get anyone's panties in a bunch -- or show much of anything.

But the campaign has run its course and the original video is okay to run now. If you missed it, you can see it updated on the original post. It's a neat look into what goes into a 35-NHL player cattle call.

(Answer: Probably more than you think.)

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How to: Track Ambient Automatically While Using Manual Flash

Here's a cool tip that some of you might not know about. If you are using manual flash (for consistency) you can still work in a quasi-auto mode in an environment where the ambient light level may be moving around on you.

It works great for using manual flash against fast-dropping light after sunset, for instance. And you can control the flash and ambient very easily from your camera. Read more »

A Special Note for Multilingual Readers

UPDATE: Okay, it is not perfect. Not even close. But it is helping enough people so that I decided to leave it in. Use at your own risk, and I hope it helps!

-DH
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I have added a machine-driven Google translate module to the site, in the drop-down menus on the right. Alas, I have no way of judging how good it is, and it obviously will not be great. And my heavy use of colloquial English will not help matters.

Question is, is it serviceable or is it so bad as to be laughable? I would note that you can improve any translation by holding your mouse over it for a couple of seconds.

I will decide after one week, based on your comments below. It is an all-or-none thing -- we can't cherry pick the languages. But please help me decide by giving it a try and leaving a comment. It can be as simple as the language tested, and a rating from 1 (awful) to 10 (wonderful).

If you are one of the people who are reading this in email or RSS, please click through to the main site and give it a whirl.

Thank you!

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On Assignment: Radio Silence

Last Friday I went out just before sunset to set up and shoot a lit photo of the Wilkins-Rogers flour mill in Ellicott City, MD. It's a behemoth of a building (at least by our local industrial standards) and I was shooting a exterior for their new website.

My plan was to sculpt the building on the rear 45's with flash. And to balance everything (flash, ambient dusk and interior lighting) for a cool, mixed image. At least that was the plan going in.

Instead, this post is about what happens when things head south quickly. Read more »

JoeyL is on Ovation TV Tonight

UPDATE: The doc has aired, and Joey has posted a ton of pictures and background info on his blog. Neat stuff, and definitely worth a look.
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Just a quick heads-up to make sure to catch JoeyL's documentary tonight at 10pm on Ovation TV. I saw an early version, and it is definitely worth your time.

It's easy to want to poke fun at someone who is so successful at such a young age. And between you and me I try to every chance I get. But if you watch this thing tonight I think you will come away with a good impression of who he really is and what is motivating him to do such amazing stuff.

If you do not get Ovation TV, he has arranged for a DVD pressing and will have them available via his blog. No idea on pricing, etc. (And w/Joey, you really never know...)

But if you have access to Ovation TV, don't miss it. I am very much looking forward to it tonight.

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Meet the New Neighbors

The area where I live has been overrun by Halyomorpha halys, AKA stink bugs. They are invasive (from Asia) have no predators in this region and are … everywhere. They even became an issue in coaching Ben's soccer game last sunday.

"If one lands on you and you have the ball or are closely defending someone, just let it crawl around on you. It won't hurt you. You can flick it off when the ball is in another part of the field…"

They are a little over 1/2" long, and mobile. I photographed one for a local photo project earlier this week, using a very simple light diffuser / bug restraint device that works well for anything very small -- moving or not. Read more »

David E. Jackson's Creepy Circus Salon Shoot

So, if you were looking to shoot a campaign for a local hair salon you'd probably be running down some questions in your mind as you worked up your concept. Here are two of the questions Wisconsin-based photographer David E. Jackson asked:


1. Can it be dark and creepy? Yes.

2. Can it involve knives? Yes.

(His answer: "Hells, yes. Sign me up!")
__________

This whole campaign is 5% budget and 95% bootstrapped inspiration, which makes it especially cool. And David details both the shoot and the entire creative process involved in two lengthy blog posts.

Check out the results/BTS post first, then go back for the comprehensive creative process post, which includes diagrams, a 10-minute video discussion, etc.

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At Photokina? Tweet us Your Best Lighting Finds.

Photokina is celebrating its 20th anniversary, so this year is kinda big. If you are there, please enjoy a bier along with my jealousy.

And if you run across something cool in the lighting dept., shoot me a link/Twitpic/etc., on Twitter and I will do my best to retweet the good stuff out to everyone else.

One thing right off the bat: California Sunbounce is giving away a 200ws Lumedyne Deluxe Signature Series flash system at Photokina. This is like the M-1 Abrams of high-end, rugged battery-powered flash. They go for about $2,400.00 US.

So when you stop by CSB's booth (Hall 9, B008) to look at their new toys, make sure to drop a biz card (or just your contact info) and enter to win.

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Frio Cold Shoe: Locked and Loaded

From the Department of Better Mousetraps, here’s something pretty cool coming down the pike — A screwless, dual-lock cold shoe.

It may look a little different -- because it is. Details inside. Read more »

Do It Anyway

Do It Anyway

By Roy Lessin

Others may not notice your efforts or give you recognition for something you've done. The credit may even go to someone else.

Do it anyway, as unto Me,

for I am pleased by your service and will honor your obedience.

There may be times when a job you've done will be rejected. Something you have prepared may be canceled or delayed.

Do it anyway, as unto Me,

for I see all things and will bless the work of your hands.

You may do your very best, and yet fail. You may sacrifice time and money to help someone and receive no word of thanks.

Do it anyway, as unto Me,

for I am your reward and will repay you.

There may be times when you go out of your way to include others and later have them ignore you. You may be loyal on your job, and yet someone else is promoted ahead of you.

Do it anyway, as unto Me,

for I will not fail you or make you be ashamed.

You may forgive others, only to have them hurt you again. You may reach out in kindness, only to have someone use you.

Do it anyway, as unto Me,

for I know your heart and will comfort you.

You may speak the truth but be considered wrong by others. You may do something with good intentions and be completely misunderstood.

Do it anyway, as unto Me,

for I understand and will not disappoint you.

There may be times when keeping your word means giving up something you want to do. There may be times when commitment means sacrificing personal pleasure.

Do it anyway, as unto Me,

for I am your Friend, and will bless you with My Presence.

--Roy Lessin

Posted on Saturday, October 07, 2006 in Faith, Quotes

=) AWESOME!

Small Flashes for Big Job

Well, this is just neat.

What would you do if someone called to ask you to shoot your President's official portrait on a few days' notice?

(I'd try to figure out which one of my buds was trying to pwn me, is what I'd do…)

But that's exactly what happened to Strobist reader Karel Donk, who lives in the small South American country of Suriname. So Karel grabbed his speedlights Strobist gel kit and got to work.

Afterwards, he posted about it on his blog -- including BTS pics and lighting diagram.

What a cool thing to happen. Congrats, Karel.

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For Our Own Good

John 16:7 (New King James Version)

7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.

Genesis 3:17 (New King James Version)

17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:

“ Cursed is the ground for your sake;

In toil you shall eat of it

All the days of your life.

Romans 8:28 (New King James Version)

28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Whatever the circumstance, 

God's will for you will always be for your own GOOD!

Nikon SB-700 Speedlight Misses it By This Much

Nikon just announced a new speedlight designed to complement the flagship SB-900. The Nikon SB-700 Speedlight will cost $329.95, and includes some mouth-watering features.

But they have excluded a key feature. Any guesses?

Deets, the PR and a new camera, too. After the jump. Read more »

Lighting in the Dark: Summer Reading

It's still technically summertime in Maryland. But the temps are down, the humidity has eased and -- best of all -- the mosquitos are history. This is prime evening porch time for Emily, my nocturnal bookworm.

I walked out to visit, and to my eye the scene looked great. Unfortunately, it would look like crap in the camera. The tonal range would be far too much for the chip to handle.

But lighting is about controlling that contrast range. And when there is just a tiny bit of ambient, you need an even tinier bit of flash to fix it. Read more »

That You May Lack Nothing

In the first epistle of Paul to Thessalonians:

But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; 

and indeed you do so toward all the brethren...

But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more; 

that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, 

to mind your own business, and 

to work with your own hands, as we commanded you,  

that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, 

and that you may lack nothing.

1 Thessalonians 4: 9-12 

AWESOME! =)

There Will Be A Day | Jeremy Camp

There Will Be A Day | Jeremy Camp

I try to hold on to this world with everything I have

But I feel the weight of what it brings, and the hurt that tries to grab

The many trials that seem to never end, His word declares this truth,

that we will enter in this rest with wonders anew

But I hold on to this hope and the promise that He brings

That there will be a place with no more suffering

There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, and no more fears

There will be a day when the burdens of this place, will be no more, we’ll see Jesus face to face

But until that day, we’ll hold on to you always

I know the journey seems so long

You feel your walking on your own

But there has never been a step

Where you’ve walked out all alone

Troubled soul don’t lose your heart

Cause joy and peace he brings

And the beauty that’s in store

Outweighs the hurt of life’s sting

I can’t wait until that day where the very one I’ve lived for always will wipe away the sorrow that I’ve faced

To touch the scars that rescued me from a life of shame and misery this is why this is why I sing….

There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, and no more fears

There will be a day when the burdens of this place, will be no more, we’ll see Jesus face to face

There will be a day,  

He’ll wipe away the stains, 

He’ll wipe away the tears, 

He’ll wipe away the tears…..

There will be a day. 

Soon...Soon... Let's just hold on.

Dan Winters: New Website; F/stop Interview

Travis Smith, Dan Winters' first assistant, emailed me last week to say that the website had been completely revamped. Where there were about 100 photos there are now around 500. Suffice to say this is probably more interesting than whatever you would have been working on in your cubicle for the next few minutes.

It gets better. Winters also gave a very good interview on The F/stop, in case you want a little more in-depth inspiration.

(Remember to look like you are working.)

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Westcott Does Us a Solid

Kelly Mondora started out with FJ Westcott as a temp in data entry 12 years ago. Now she's VP of the entire photography industry division.

Why? Because of stuff like what you see above.

Our go-to umbrella, the Westcott Double-Fold, is now crush-proof on the business end of the telescoping staff. A little backstory, a DIY workaround and a cool coupon code, inside. Read more »

X-Factor's Liam Payne: Try Again!

Liam Payne's X Factor Audition

Here's a story of a boy who didn't get discouraged and didn't get up even when somebody told him "NO. You're not ready yet."

Back in 2008, Liam auditioned for X-Factor and made it as far as Simon's house in Barbados. However Simon thought he wasn't ready for the competition and asked him to come back after 2 years.

He could have been discouraged and just gave it all up. But he didn't. He actually tried again. And the Video above just shows "It was all worth it!". He even got a standing ovation from Simon himself.

In life, people may tell us we won't make it or we will never be successful or we're not ready for it! But let's not allow these things (statements) to define us. No one can stop us if we go ahead and try again! No one can stop us if we don't believe these statements and reach for our dreams.

SO go for it! Try again!

On Assignment: Armed with Preconceptions

Planning ahead is a good thing, and I always try to pre-think a job before I head out. It gives me ideas to fall back on if nothing jumps out at me at the location.

But you can pre-plan things too far. So much that they blind you to better ideas and leave you banging your head against the front windshield even as you drive away from the assignment.

That's exactly what happened to me last week when I was assigned to shoot one of the coolest pieces of tech I have ever seen. Read more »

Must Watch: Chuck Bartowski

For the past few weeks now, I have been addicted watching Chuck a series about a guy who's so intelligent that he can become a Human computer able to store all TOP secret and confidential files of NSA and CIA combined. It has humor, action and love story which makes it very entertaining. I sometimes imagine myself to be like Chuck Bartowski. lol!

Anyway last night while reading Wikipedia (the only non business website we're allowed to go to inside the office) I found out he's a Christian and here's what he has to say:

"Zachary Levi was raised Christian. During an interview with Relevant Magazine, he said, "My job on my set, I believe, is to first just love people and gain that trust with people where they know that I really do love them and care about their well-being, so that when they are running into problems, they will hopefully, at some point, come to me and ask me, 'What is your peace all about? What is your comfort all about? Where do you get your love? Where do you get your talents?' And I can turn to them and say without blinking, 'Jesus Christ'"."

Now, I just don't want to be like Chuck anymore. I want to be like Zachary Levi WHO makes it a goal to use his talents, his job and his life to proclaim *without blinking* who the source is: JESUS Christ!

Awesome.