How We Got Here: Analog Photoshop

There is nothing about flash in this post, except for "pre-flashing," and that is not what you think.

Every time I adjust the exposure slider in a raw converter or tweak the tonal curve into a subtle S-shape, I think back to how we used to do some pretty insane stuff—very improbably—with film, little tweaks of light and a witches-brew of chemistry.

If you are under 40, most of this is gonna be brand new. If you are older than that and used to shoot night sports for a newspaper, see how your experience matches up... Read more »

Q&A: Will My Old Flash Fry My New Remotes?

Reader Samora Chapman asks:

I'm new to all this and I dug up my dad's Vivitar 285HV. I just got some Phottix radio triggers. Is it okay to connect them to the old Vivitar? Im scared of frying them!

Ah, the trusty old Vivitar 285. The older ones are great flashes, but with one potentially fatal flaw. You don't want to go sticking that flash on just any camera or remote… Read more »

Someone's Listening: Pre-Drilled, Strapped Compact Light Stands

Many photographers who use a compact stand as the basis for an on-the-go lighting kit like to drill and strap their stands. This is something I have done since back before the early Lighting 101 days. I keep two strapped stands, as more than that on a job and you would probably case them anyway.

LumoPro, who makes the sturdy-but-compact LP605 compact stand, now also offers a pre-drilled and strapped variant. The LP605s will set you back an extra $5.

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How To: Easily Fine Tune Your Flash Right From the Camera

Strobist reader (and relative lighting newb) Ron Ibarra of New York City asks, via Twitter:

"I can't control the flash through the PC cord. Am I doing something wrong?"

Nope, Ron, you are not. A PC cord is what we call a "dumb sync," meaning it only triggers the flash but does not otherwise control it. And if you are a smart photographer, all you really need is a dumb sync.

That's because you can control everything right from the camera itself. And today's follow-the-bouncing-ball post will show you the super-easy way to do just that.

Read more »

Coming Soon: Inexpensive Cactus Laser Triggers?

Well, this is interesting. Georgia-based photographer Brian Hursey has been testing an advance set of laser "trip-triggers" to be released by Cactus.

These are the types of triggers designed not for syncing but for motion-stopping photography. I.e., when something passes through the laser it trips the flash. They have a variable delay mechanism, and being from Cactus should be reasonably cheap. (Update: $89.95.)

For more info, see Brian's tests, or the Strobist Flickr Group discussion.


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Greg Heisler BTS Series: Yasser Arafat

For part two of his four-part BTS series for Profoto, photographer Gregory Heisler walks us through his Time cover of former PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat.

I really enjoyed this video. Not so much for the lighting tidbits, as it is a pretty straightforward photo in that regard. But rather because it exactly captures the vibe of photographers sitting around a table swapping stories. The interesting stuff is rarely about f/stops and shutter speeds, etc. It's more about what has to happen before you are in a position to make the photo at all. So, enjoy.

Oh, and Heisler has a book coming out, too. Read more »

Will Your Flash Last Forever?

Probably not. But seriously, how long should you expect it to last?

That totally depends on how you are using it. Read more »

On Assignment: Cheap Portable Studio, Pt. 2

Picking up where we left off last week in our impromptu living room studio, let's swap the lighting around to make a different style of photo which is designed to fulfill a different purpose.

The first photo was more in-house—think PR. It's the kind of photo you would get if the subject were more in control of both the process and the edit. The photo above is more of a third-person perspective, skewed toward objectivity and with a goal of being more interesting.

So let's keep our same white-papered alcove and swap up the lighting a bit. Read more »