image by padawan Today I want to get some discussion going around ‘best shots’ - and give you a chance to show yours off. What is the best photo you’ve ever taken? If it’s hosted somewhere online (like Flickr) please share a link to it. Why do you consider it to be your best shot? Tell us about how [...]

New, and Long Overdue: Blogroll
It’s on the sidebar, about halfway down. Starting with the usual suspects, with more to come soon. Stay tuned.-30-This is a full RSS feed post from Strobist.com, the off-camera flash blog. This month’s feeds are sponsored by:

Announcing: Shoot! The Day, New York Lighting Seminar and Strobist Stone Soup
Lotta stuff in this one, but it is all tied together. You’ll especially wanna make the jump if you live near NYC. But there is also lots for the other folks, as well.________Shoot! The Day and School of StockThe PhotoShelter guys have been whipping up something really cool, and I am very happy to be involved with it. Basically, they have spent the last several months researching what, exactly, photo buyers are looking for right now. Then they have distilled this info (and much more) down into an online resource called School of Stock. If you are even remotely interested in shooting for stock (RF, RM or micro) this is fantastic stuff. There are tutorials both from the perspectives of buyers and successful shooters. I read through them all last night, and it’s really good info.Having identified under-served areas in the stock libraries (’cause, you know, that’s where the money is) and created a how-to-shoot-better-stock school, they are orchestrating a mass, one-day shooting event. It’s called Shoot! The Day, and it is happening on July 20th. In S!TD, people from around the world will be shooting in teams to create exactly the types and genres of photos that thousands of buyers are looking for. No one has ever done anything like this before on such a scale. And for those of you looking to get into shooting stock there could not be a better opportunity.Groups are forming up based in various cities around the world. All you have to do is register for the PhotoShelter Collection (free) and the Ning-powered forums (fora? - also free) where the groups are organizing. There will already be geographically-based groups signed up. If you see one form your area, join up. If not, start one.There are prizes involved for the really kickin’ groups, too. And I would suspect you guys will be well-represented.If you are local to NYC, there are some cool events happening there, too. I will be teaching, along with several other photogs. You have to apply to be selected (by portfolio) to participate in one of the free classes, which are structured around various themes. I am teaching a still life class, likely because Grover has seen my craptastic follow-focusing skilz.New York Strobist Lighting Seminar: Sat, July 19thSeeing as I will be in NYC for the S!TD, time for another lighting seminar. We’ll be at ShootDigital on Saturday July 19th. It will be a similar format as the previous seminars (although hopefully not as hot as in Dubai). Registration will open on this site at 10:00 a.m. (Eastern Time) on Sunday, June 22nd. Please do not call Shoot Digital for more info - it will all be right here. This one will probably sell out pretty quickly, so I’d be on it ASAP if you want to attend. Dress is ridiculously casual.School of Rock: Strobist Stone SoupI am almost mad at myself that I did not think of this idea sooner. I am heading up to NYC on the 17th, in advance of the seminar and S!TD. Therefore, I have one free day in NYC. (Don’t tell Missus Strobist, please…)Stone Soup is a play on the old folk tale, wherein someone comes to town and facilitates something of value happening by cobbling together something from nothing.I am looking to shoot something while in NYC on Friday, July 18th. And reading this post, I presume, are some people with some cool connections in NYC. Hmm… what could we do?Here is what I offer: A one-on-one shoot in which you assist, and we make some cool photos in an environment in which you have access. I provide the shoot, you provide the idea/access, and your contact/connection/etc., provides the subject matter.Are you a firefighter? Are you in an acting troupe? Is your roommate a mime? Or have a pet albino tiger? I dunno — you tell me. Let see what comes in, and I will choose a shoot for Friday, July 18th - time is variable. Figure a couple of hours at the most appropriate time for all involved. We get to shoot and learn, and the subject gets use of the hi-res photos for whatever means they wish, except for third party commercial use. Use it for the wall? Fine. Publicity? No prob. Website? Cool. Annual report? Yep. Give to Nike for an ad campaign? Um, have them call me on that one.Who knows - we might get something interesting. Only way to tell is to try. And I hope that this will be a model for others doing this kind of thing, ad hoc, as a way to bring photographers and subjects together. If it works, I will be doing a write-up on it and putting days aside for repeating this idea on future trips. If not, we’ll just pretend it never happened. If you have an idea to throw out, do it here. Let’s see what comes in.And please, don’t stick the stone soup suggestions in the comments of this post. Using Flickr makes it open, and gives me a way to contact you. It is fast (and free) to sign up.This is a full RSS feed post from Strobist.com, the off-camera flash blog. This month’s feeds are sponsored by:

Light We Like: Gregory Crewdson
UPDATE: Adds a second video, with lots more detail, after the jump.I find myself completely mesmerized by Gregory Crewdson’s photos. The light, the narrative, the light, the tension, the light — well, you get the idea.When you look at his photos, bear in mind that he puts his pants on one leg at a time, just like you do. Only then he spends the whole day taking over entire city blocks, directing his technical folks, manipulating casts of “figures” and, well, never actually “holding the camera,” as he notes.Gregory does not work “in a studio”. He works “on a sound stage. He has a set designer, an art director, a lighting tech and, um, a director of photography. Who is not named Gregory.But he sure does make facilitate some amazing photographs. This stuff in this video is just about the polar opposite from the low-impact, minimal gear ethic that is embraced by photographers who do not happen have access to, say, an entire town and James Cameron’s lighting truck.But the results always makes me think about how I could adapt some of his techniques to my dinky little SB’s. (Note that the video is briefly NSFW, but in an artsy way.)Second video, after the jump._____________More Crewdson photos here. (Some also NSFW.)Further reading::: Gregory Crewdson: Beneath the Roses :::: Twilight: The Photographs of Gregory Crewdson ::This is a full RSS feed post from Strobist.com, the off-camera flash blog. This month’s feeds are sponsored by:

Tip of the Day: How to Store Albums: Vertical vs. Boxes
Photo and scrapbook albums may contain photographs, ticket stubs, postcards, or other memorabilia. They range from plastic pocket pages to intricate works of scrapbook art….

Subscribe to Our Newsletter For a Chance to Win a Great Photography Book
Are you subscribed to our weekly Digital Photography School Newsletter? If so you’re in the running for our latest competition here at DPS. If not - it’s time to sign up below to put yourself in the running! About our Newsletter Towards the end of each week I sit down at my computer and sum up the week [...]

Coming Soon: New AlienBees Wireless Triggers
This snuck up on me from left field: Paul C. Buff is about to cut the cord. He is redesigning his wireless remotes with some added features, including a receiver that is battery powered. The current version has a batt-powered xmitter and an AC receiver. He’s calling it the CyberSync.Lotsa cool features, for notta lotta dough. Specs, links and another photo, after the jump._________Shown at top is the transmitter, with the receiver shown at left. At first glance, these look like a very good mid-range entry to sit between the Pocket Wizards and the Ebay remotes.They do not have the range of the industry-standard Pocket Wizards, but they only cost about a third as much for the set. And yes, they are more expensive than the Ebay remotes. But you also have to take into account the cost of ammo in the event they fail you on an important shoot and make you want to eat a gun…Highlights From the Specs Page 2.4 GHz band, with a “high degree of error security” for more reliable tripping. One year(!) battery life for the transmitter. Usable range of up to 400 feet, depending on terrain. Receiver operates on AA’s, with 200-hour battery life, which is further extended by an “auto shutoff” function. Receivers ship with the following cords: 3.5mm-to-3.5mm, 3.5mm-to-1/4″ adapter and 3.5MM to PC (which will connect it directly to an Nikon SB speedlight with a PC jack.) Best yet, the price: $59.95 for the transmitter and $69.95 for the receiver.Paul Buff has a decades-long reputation for building quality gear at very good prices. I imagine the CyberSyncs will be no exception. Transmitters and AC receivers are shipping now, with battery-powered receivers anticipated later this month.More info is available at the AlienBees website.(Thanks to the anonymous tipster in the comments!)This is a full RSS feed post from Strobist.com, the off-camera flash blog. This month’s feeds are sponsored by:

DINFOS Pt. 3 - Thinking Inside the Box
For the final DINFOS post we have flexibility artist Shelly Guy, who was brave enough to venture down into the bowels of the DINFOS photo studio for a series of photos shot by Joe McNally, the 2008 Advanced Lighting Team and myself.As you probably know by now, I generally don’t care much for shooting in a studio. Which is why we decided to do a quick change-up on our environment and stuff Shelly in a nearby locker.But that’s no problem — Shelly can get in there easily. It’s getting the light way back in there that can be a bit of a challenge…___________So, here’s the deal. We do not have a lot of time to shoot in the studio, as the building closes at 9:00 p.m. So Joe and I decided to bounce Shelly back and forth between photographers, with one person setting up with the other one shot. Shelly was a total trouper, and put up with this sort of thing way better than she should have. (Hey, she has to be flexible. She’s a contortionist.)While Joe was shooting down at the other end of the studio, I was looking for a neat place in which to pose Shelly. How can you turn down a half-sized locker?Next step is how to light it. I need to get the light all the way to the back. But the last thing I want to do is just blast a bunch of light right in from straight on — there would be no depth or shape to the photo. You need to light from of axis for shape.But I have to get in there some way, so I tried to have it both ways on my lighting direction. I decided to light it with an umbrella from camera left, and fill with a ring flash. By varying my lighting ratio between the two SB-800’s (we were totally nuking the ambient away) I could decide exactly how bright the back of the locker (and the parts of Shelly that were in shadow) would be.My other problem would be that the umbrella needed to be close to provide a nice wrap light. But that would mean that it would reflect off of the locker door on the left and create a big, distracting, umbrella-shaped hot spot.Problem two was easy to solve. We stuck the black cover on the camera left half of the umbrella. This gobo’d the umbrella from reflecting in the door (save a nice, thin sliver) and still let it light Shelly nice and close.With the gobo, there is a nice, vertical highlight that defines the texture of the locker door. If the gobo was gone, there would be a big, honker of a circular highlight there.So, specular reflection solved, we now needed to push some light into the locker. The Ray Flash ring flash adapter fit the bill perfectly, allowing light that was exactly on axis. This meant that we could not only push as much (or little) light as we wanted back there, but also create a specular highlight in the back of the locker to further brighten that area.The only thing left to decide is the ratio, really. And this is easy enough, in manual power, without needing a $300 flashmeter.But first, we needed a stand-in. Fortunately the room contained a mannequin. (Mascot? Late-night companion? Honestly, I don’t wanna know…) So naturally, we tried to shove him in there. But the dummy wouldn’t fit, so we were S.O.L.Then I hear, “I can get in there,” coming from A.L.T. member Luke Pinneo. (Yeah, right, dude, I thought.) But sure enough, he crammed himself in. No, it was not as elegant as later when Shelly did it, but still…So Luke wedges himself into the locker. (All the while, McNally is shooting glamour photos of Shelly, who has no idea what we have in mind for her…)I start without the Ray Flash — just a shoe-mount flash set at 1/64th and aimed up at the ceiling to trip the other flash optically. I bring the umbrella’d SB-800 in from camera left, set on 1/8 power. It’s set on slave mode, so the shoe flash will fire it.A couple of quick pop-n-chimps and we have dialed in the aperture that looks best for the main light. Just doing it by eyeball and histogram on the back screen. Nothing fancy.Now it is time for the fill light. I slip on the Ray Flash adapter and start out with the flash dialed down to 1/32 power. It’s real close to where we want to be, and a couple of quick power adjustments has us ready to go. Again, just turning the volume up or down until it looks best.Normally, you could also use a flash in an umbrella right behind your camera as on-axis fill. But a light that big would have given you reflection problems on the other door.I am finding I am going to the ring as fill pretty often these days, and I really like the result. I have a shot like Peter Yang’s “Fallon” portrait, with some ring in there, and it looks sweet.To be honest, I am not a very big fan of ring list as a main light. I think the photos all look the same. But as fill, it can add a neat layer to many different kinds of key lighting.So we got Shelly through our portion of the shoot quickly, and back to Joe well before we were to be kicked out. Which left a couple of us a few minutes with nothing to do in the DINFOS studio.If anyone happens to ask you how this DINFOS studio mascot ended up naked from the waist down and left in a very compromising position at a computer work station, we don’t know anything about that.___________Related: :: Shelly Guy, Flexibility Artist :::: Ray Flash ring flash adapter :::: SB-800 Slave Mode How-To :::: McNally’s Pix ::This is a full RSS feed post from Strobist.com, the off-camera flash blog. This month’s feeds are sponsored by:

Your Photo: Our Critique
Tarun Bhushan submitted this photo taken with an Olympus E-510 with an exposure of 1/100 sec at f/5.6 and an ISO of 200. While the…

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008 at 3:04 pm and is filed under Digital News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.