Strobist

There are two things you should always remember about radio remotes:

One, radio can be fickle. This is true whether you are using your time-honored PocketWizards or a brand new Chinese offering.

Two, radio waves -- and success with your remotes -- are all about the physics. So a little knowledge can go a long way toward ensuring good range and reliability.

Some basics that every lighting photographer should know, inside. Read more »

Aspen, Colorado-based photographer Tyler Stableford generally shoots action and adventure, most of it aboveground. But this shoot for Timberland PRO would send him a half-mile deep into the earth.

That far down, before adding light it is absolutely pitch black. As in, you cannot see your hand in front of your face. And the lights the miners use while extracting coal there aren't much friendlier -- low-level, and a mix of tungsten and fluorescents.

So Stableford shot the entire campaign working on the edge of the quality envelope, and lighting with only a few speedlights. Read more »

Reader Jefferson, from California in the US, asked via Twitter:

"How do you deal with glare on dark wood in background for portraits? Is this covered in Lighting 101 or 102?"

Actually, it is covered in L102, if a little obliquely. And yes, pretty much any time you light into dark wood as a background you are gonna get some blowback.

But rather than look at this as a problem, I prefer to think of it as a feature… Read more »

Photos © Ono Shouichi

By Irwin Wong --Multi-light setups, gear reviews and lighting tricks are all worthwhile food for thought. But when people are looking back at your life’s work, will you be remembered for your lighting or for what you tried to tell the world with your camera?

In a long-spanning portrait series, Tokyo-based editorial photographer Ono Shouichi has (to date) photographed two hundred Japanese centenarians. The lighting, while there, is subordinate to the message. As it should be. Read more »

There were a few misconceptions (and a LOT of questions) that popped up in the comments after I wrote about ditching the D4 for a used Phase One camera and back.

Videos, answers to Q's and some specific things that convinced me to make the jump, inside. Read more »

On the day when just about every photographer over 30 pauses to consider Kodak's filing for bankruptcy, a poignant video. The once-dominant company obviously knew it was already in trouble at this point, but still came out swinging in a refreshing appeal to the future.

Considering this was made in 2006 (and how quickly things have happened since) the video was pretty darn prescient. In the end, all of these things did happen. Just without the need for Kodak.

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I shot the original ad for the LumiQuest Soft Box III back in 2008, using a pre-production sample. I love that light mod, and use it all of the time.

So when Quest Couch asked me to shoot a second version and left the subject matter up to me, I eagerly started looking for a subject. Read more »

The best part about facing the oncoming winter in Maryland is knowing I am gonna bail for a week of 80-degree days in Dubai at Gulf Photo Plus. It's my favorite annual photo event of all, and the only teaching gig I am planning for the whole year.

Heisler's coming back. Dave Burnett is coming. Martin Prihoda, too. And of course many of the regulars will be there. On top of that, I'm especially excited to be teaching a completely different set of classes this year. Read more »

Ed. Note: For obvious reasons, do not try this at home without using extreme care. I'll say it again: do not try this at home without using extreme care. Seriously, kid. You'll put your eye out. -DH

Photos ©Ludovic Taillandier

By Sara Lando -- Paris-based photographer Ludovic Taillandier (NSFW-ish) specializes in advertising, fashion and beauty. (And occasionally, apparently, novelty electronics.) Today, a look at the making of his futuristic Tronized Beauty series. Read more »

Seldom do we get such a long-form look at the production of what is quickly becoming an iconic group of photos. The BTS video below is of Peter Hapak's assignment to cover the world-wide protester phenomenon in 2011, for the Time cover story in which they were collectively named Person of the Year.

I have watched it several times now -- as a journalist, a photographer, a lighting guy and certainly as a human.

There's a lot to learn. Read more »

Apologies for slightly off-topic post. But given my gear path to date, this is not exactly one I was gonna slip under the rug. I think every long-term photographer has an interesting and very personal journey leading to their current gear bag. Here's mine.


It was almost 30 years ago, but still remember the first day I stepped into the Nikon pro flagship line. At the time I owned a Nikkormat FTN, a 50/2 and a 200/4. And then I saw the ad in the classifieds of the Eustis News. Some guy was selling a Nikon F, with a full bag of pro lenses, for like $600. I couldn't afford it.

But my friend and fellow photographer John Ashley was also a young Nikon shooter, having gotten a job at the local Leesburg Daily Commercial right out of high school. And he was looking for some gear, too.

As luck would have it our needs were almost complimentary. So we pooled our money (mine from mowing lawns) and bought the bag together, divvying up the spoils. I forget all of the split details, but I think I walked away with a 24/2.8, a 105/2.5, a 300/4.5 -- and a Nikon F body. It was the happiest day of my life up to that point. I now owned a Nikon flagship camera and bag of lenses -- if only the 13-year-old versions.

Since then I have worked as a photojournalist with the F2, F3, F4 and F5 before switching to digital. Then it was the D1, the D2 and D3. So the decision to switch horses rather than go with the D4 was a big deal for me. Read more »

More than a few of you can kiss your productivity goodbye for the next hour. From a tech/creative conference last summer comes this long-form video of a presentation by LA-based photographer Dave Hill.

It's a straight video grab from the conference room, so there is no contrast in the images. But still, great stuff. In the full-length vid after the jump, Dave talks about bootstrapping, five-finger optical discounts at prop shops, hand drawing curly beards on dudes in Photoshop and even his very first composite portrait. Read more »

Living at the edge of the woods is like living next to a zoo. We get a nonstop stream of animal visitors, perhaps none more majestic than this eight-point white-tailed deer.

Mature bucks are notoriously very crafty and skittish. That's how you live long enough to be a mature buck. But this guy visits us regularly, and has become a little more acclimated to the sound of my shutter release.

Enough so, that I am starting to plan how I am going to light him … Read more »

The last week of the year is special, and one to be taken advantage of. I spend it balancing time between family/friends and looking back at the past year while preparing for the next one.

There are some cool things lined up for 2012 already, but today's post is about looking back. Herewith, the favorite posts of 2011: mine, and yours... Read more »

A lot of you have been tweeting or otherwise sharing the 2006 post on How to Photograph Christmas Lights (thanks!) so I thought it merited a refresh. Included are updated photos, tips on dealing with LEDs and a video that should totally make sense to your your point-and-shoot friends.

We are hunkered down and in full-bore holiday mode -- including, as seen above, a trip to cut down our tree the other evening. Strobist will be back the day after Christmas with the traditional end-of-year B.O.S. post.

Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays to all.

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When posting on my four favorite soft light mods, I included a beauty dish but lamented the necessity of a dedicated case to keep it from getting scuffed up. Dishes aren't cheap to begin with, and neither are decent cases.

Problem solved... Read more »

As Profoto and Broncolor battle for supremacy in the high-end studio flash world, things are getting all like, "Rawrrr, nice sweater. Does it come in your size?"

And just like Lexus and Infinity luxury car ads, they each want to point out their being better in some measurable way. Witness this Broncolor-produced "real-world shootout"… Read more »

I didn't see this on Damn Ugly Photography (sorry Brad) until it was picked up by the Profoto blog, in itself a Damn Good Blog. (Especially when you consider it is run by a buncha tie-wearin' corporate weenies…)

Brad Trent's "Digital Man" was created in-camera with a mix of surprisingly simple lighting, some crucial on-axis fill … and a $10,000 light mod. Definitely worth a few minutes of lost cubicle productivity on a Wednesday.

: Brad Trent's Digital Man ::

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Above: Flash Bus Busted, Phoenix, AZ

This spring, for reasons still largely unknown to the logical side of my brain, I signed on to a 42-day, 12,531 mile road trip.

It was not a decision taken lightly. On the one hand, we'd be getting up at oh-dark-thirty every morning after sleeping in a coffin-sized bunk on a moving bus. On the other hand, I'd get to hang out up-close-and-personal with one of the true legends of the photographic community. I am speaking of course of McNally's first assistant, Drew Gurian.

On April 6th, we pulled into the Pennsylvania Convention center in Philadelphia. But then we pretty much had our shit together. And the bad jokes weren't getting any better. So we figured we should film it. Read more »