Did You Know You Can Cheaply Mod Your AlienBees B400 to be a B1600?

But that doesn't necessarily mean it's a great idea. A DIY cautionary tale, inside.

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Frio v2.0

Just a quick heads-up that the frio double-locking cold shoe, which I consider to be the safest way to mount your speedlight to your swivel adapter, just got an upgrade: the female socket on the bottom (shown here) is now ¼" to 3/8" adaptable. This should make some of you Euro folks happy, as 3/8" is more of a standard there. They are shipping now.

Also, they have those little double-male posts you need if you are gonna swap out your Justin Clamp cold shoes to frios (or any other shoe.)

-30-

Chess pieces

Fourteen

Congratulations Rosa

Driller art

Ornament

On Assignment: Speedlights, Sync and Sun

It's a bit of a leap of faith, the first time you head out on an assignment with just an X100s and a couple speedlights. (Ask Zack.) And truth be told, I had a DSLR and a couple lenses with me as backup, just in case.

But I never brought them out. And with the crazy sync speeds offered by the X100s, a pair of speedlights is all you really need to do battle with late afternoon sun as it turns out.

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the fairground

The Google Reader Apocalypse is Upon Us. Here's How to Migrate.

Despite much weeping and gnashing of teeth in the online world, Google is unceremoniously killing what many consider to be the best RSS reader on the planet. If you are one of the 300,000+ readers who access Strobist through Google Reader, here are three good choices to keep the party rolling.

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Space the gallery show

Curated by Mike Mitchell at the 1988 gallery

and the the two pieces I made for the show

Vine experiment

a day at the tivoli

Disgruntled shopper

In Camera Veritas

Show of hands, who knew that the cameras we use every day are named after a room?

The latin word for room is camera, which makes sense when you realize the first objects for recording light were cameras obscura.

And in this case instead of the room being the camera, the camera is in fact the light modifier.

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How to Keep Your Old Flash from Exploding

Have a flash that's been sitting, unused, for a long time? Or did you buy a used flash with an unknown history? Turn it on the wrong way and you may be in for a bit of a surprise.

Doesn't matter if it is a speedlight, an Alien Bee mono, a Profoto pack-and-head or whatever. Keep reading for a nifty little tidbit of info that may help you avoid seeing that "magic smoke" escape from your babies.

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On Assignment: Dahlia Flute Duo

Whenever possible, I scout not only location but also time of day when planning an outdoor shoot. Especially if that shoot is in the evening.

When does the sun set? Where does the sun set? When is golden light? Where will it come from?

So in this case, the I knew the ideal pop of tree-filtered backlight would happen at about 7:22pm. And at that time we were ready and in place, waiting for the light.

Shame about the sun not showing up.

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Quick Hands-On: $100 "Polaroid" PL135 Bare-Bulb Flash

UPDATE: The Polaroid PL-135 (AKA the rebranded "Triopo TR120") has been unceremoniously pulled from the market just a week or so after it launched.



Has the venerable Sunpak 120J bare bulb flash been reincarnated? By a world-famous company, no less?

Well, no. Not exactly. It's no Sunpak 120J (doesn't have the extra stop of power) and, strictly speaking, it's not really a Polaroid flash per se. Keep reading for the bare facts (rimshot!) on the Polaroid PL-135.

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In-Depth QA: Martin Prihoda Photographs Priyanka Chopra for GQ India

Long-time readers will remember photographer Martin Prihoda, who was originally based in Vancouver before packing up and relocating to Mumbai. Or as he still often thinks of it, Bombay. (Martin, on the distinction: "You do business in Mumbai. You party in Bombay.")

His recent cover shoot of Indian actress Priyanka Chopra for GQ India represents a major departure from his previous use of color and light. So I contacted him for a QA.

My questions (and his generous answers) follow, along with more images form the shoot. To see any image bigger (and other images from the shoot not seen here) click through to his blog, Atomic Safari.

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