News: Midwest Photo Exchange to Partner With Strobist.com

Strobist.com is very pleased to announce a brand new partnership with Midwest Photo Exchange (MPEX), the Columbus, Ohio photo retailer.

What does this mean for you guys? Lots, actually.

First of all, MPEX has come through for us again and again when other retailers were not able to stock items such as the double-fold umbrellas and compact, 5-section stands. Why? Because MPEX is big enough to make it happen and small enough to care about a rag-tag, far-flung group of small-flash enthusiasts like us.

When everyone else was out of stock, Moishe Appelbaum, (who runs MPEX - that's him above) was able to work magic worthy of Max Klinger from M.A.S.H. to keep the hard-to-find goodies in stock.

In the last few months, he has been quietly scouring the globe to find the cool little pieces of gear that let us do things for a fraction of the price (and weight) of the Big Studio Light donkeys out there. Moishe has made it his business to learn about the gear we need and collect it under one roof.

MPEX's website may not have the sophistication of the big New York shops, but he offers what they can't - personal service and a commitment to building long-term, personal relationships with photographers. Clicking on the MPEX ads will automatically land you onto an MPEX search that shows several pages of Strobist-related gear.

Wanna know how to make your flash adapt to take a PC cord? email 'em and ask. (Be sure to add their e-mail address to your address book, so their answer will not be diverted to your spam folder.)

As for pricing, Moishe works very hard to match the largest NYC photo houses, but with a couple of bonuses. First, the service is more akin to your neighborhood photo hangout. And second, MPEX is very reasonable on shipping - especially to the international folks when compared to the NYC international shipping rates.

I have listened hard to the international readers who are not able to find many of the items that we frequently discuss on the site, and so has MPEX. The further you live from the center of the photo universe, the more you are gonna appreciate these guys.

A few months ago I had a wonderful phone conversation with an AP shooter from Columbus that gave me a full description of Midwest Photo Exchange's Columbus store. It's exactly the kind of place I spent countless hours hanging out in when I was a greenhorn. It smells like a photo store. It has bargain bins. It has wooden floors worn by the countless shufflings photographers' feet over the years.

Says the local shooter:

It's the kind of place where you walk in and they know your name. You ask for something and they say, "You know where that is - get a ladder and grab it off the shelf."

These guys know photo. Their mission is to build strong, lifelong relationships with photogs while they are sill in school.

Which is exactly what they want to do with us.

No, there's not a ton of money to be made with $20 double-fold umbrellas. But many of you guys are getting to be good shooters. Really good, actually. There are many current and future pro's among you, and MPEX would love a chance to earn your business. And, besides, not everyone lives within shouting distance of a great, person-to-person photo store.

Well, now you do.

These guys are straight shooters. They are fair. They are reasonable, And we matter to them. More than we matter to anyone else, I dare say.

If you value the information you get from the site, all I ask is that you give them the opportunity to earn your business.

You support them, they support me and I support you. Simple as that.

You get a great photo resource and they keep Strobist free for every serial flasher on the planet.

Questions? Comments? Rants?

Read what others are saying and/or talk about it here.


Main Site: Midwest Photo Exchange
Strobist at MPEX: Click Here
Via E-mail: E-mail MPEX
Phone: (614) 261-1264