Welcome, USA Today Readers
If you are dropping by after reading the story in Wednesday's USA Today, we're glad to have you.Fair warning: You may at first be a little overwhelmed with some of the current lighting info on Strobist.
Don't worry, that's cool. We were all beginners at some point, too. To help make some sense of it all, read our Welcome Page to see what we are all about. Then get ready to hit the Lighting 101 section if you want to start from square one.
For the regulars, hit the "Keep Reading" link for a couple of videos from the USAT interview, one of which is a sort-of lighting demo. And kudos to USAT staff photographer H. Darr Beiser, who creatively avoided unnecessary work by making me light myself...
Videos from the USA Today Interview
They interviewed me at the local library, where I frequently go to work. I am there so often, it is kinda like the "Norm" thing, from Cheers:
When Darr went to take the photo for the paper, he had me light myself on the spot, and then video'd me while I did it:
Many thanks to both Jeff and Darr -- but next time, please use Adobe After Effects to skinny me up some, will ya?
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by David, at 11:22 PM.
51 Comments:
...the fresnel's look green.
that's funky.
oh, and awesome setup, dave! i love the super-technical platform you had to improvise!
Nice exposure for all your hard work. Congratulations! You've definitely changed the way I think about my flash.
David,
Correct me if I'm wrong, but you are shooting with a Canon body, and Nikon SB800's everywhere else?
I'm a Canon boy, and I know that the Nikon flashes do have the wireless capabilities, but are you now telling me that I could buy Nikon Flashes and use them manually on a Canon body??
(For Nikon users out there- Canon Speedlights are more expensive than SB800s, so this could be good!)
Thanks,
Nick
Dude - Love'n the hair! Seriously, GREAT job!
Nick-
That was USA Today photographer Darr Beiser's camera, but I used my lights.
Me switching to Canon DSLR's: Third sign of the Apocalypse...
i enjoyed seeing you holding a canon... you seemed uneasy.
Haha- I liked the polite understatement at the end: "There's a bunch of us over there learning how to do it." You make it sound so small- but it does feel like a pretty good community.
I also liked the ad for snoots at the end... I just giggled to myself- $22.95? The one from my cereal box was one tenth of that- and came with free cornflakes!
Hi Dave. I'm a writer, but three months ago, a photog at the Grand Rapids Press told me about this site. I was so impressed by Strobist.com that I actually bought a D30 and a starter flash, brushed up on college photo 101, and have gone through 75 percent of Strobist. It's about time you got national coverage like that. You're work is truly inspiring. Keep it up.
Great job David. You deserve all the great publicity ... and that six figure income. You've helped us all as a community. Cheers!
What I really want to know is - did you or they have to check with the folks at the library to make sure it was kosher to set up lighting and film, and who made the request.
I'm interested in that because finding locations to shoot is somewhat daunting for me.
Hi david, just a follow up question on Nick's inquiry. You used Darr's Canon but how were the SB-800 triggered? The the image you showed was on a Canon 5D LCD.
was wondering the same thing as francis
also curious, the flash hidden in the lamp was sensitive enough to still recognize the CLS (or w/e you used)?
Maybe I missed it, but people might wonder why you have a green thing on your flashes =D
Fantastic Job!
Congrats to you Mr. Hobby, for getting the attention you deserve :)
It's always fun to hear the voice of someone that you have read or followed for some time.
I had imagined he sounded like Yosemite Sam.
Dave,
Congrats, you really deserve it.
That sb800 on 5D is kinda cute.., care to share how you control the other three? I don't think the one inside the table lamp is triggered with any optical or CLS as the whole flash is completely covered.
Once again congrats, cheers..!
Those frenzels aren't green, they were gelled to color correct for the fluorescent lights in the library.
cool stuff!
thanks for sharing... & congrats for yet another milestone!
It's a real pleasure to see work of the Master in action, furthermore lighting himself!
Just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate your work and all the information you give people!
Here in Russia the movement of photographers, who can call themselves Strobists is growing every day!
I'll stop reading this site only when I am six feet under!!!
Thank you for everything!!!
Hey Dave,
Nice interview. You once did an on assignment where you were praising the guy's nonreflective glasses and you said it should be a law that everone have them. I would've though you would at least have them yourself.
They were more than probably fired by the master SB800 on top of the 5D
A great sneak view to this amazing site!
I always love to see the photographers in work, it gives lots of new ideas.
Tnx.
Congratulations David!
I've been reading this site for over a year and think it great that you've got this recognition.
Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge and time.
what's with the audio in the first video? very interesting to see a video on "strobist" would like to see more.
Ok.....Who was the guy that showed us how to put strobes into diagnostic mode, which forced me to buy a replacement 530EX on e-bay for $780?
Payback is here Hobby! LOL
Congrats on your interview.
You have been a fine teacher to all levels of photographers online because of your genuine caring.
It does come through!
Cool!
It was a rush to see a few of my pics in the first video too!
Keep seeing the light!
-Dan Johnson
I remember those first few posts on Strobist and how badly I wanted to fit the whole studio into a small bag with a little folding light stand. I can hardly imagine the hours it's taken to get from there to USA Today. But your easy on-camera (on-video?) manner is evidence that it's been a really good ride, that you're having fun and that there are greater things yet to come for Strobist. Thanks for allowing us all to take the ride with you!
Hey David, first off Congratulations on being recognized on USA today. I have never taken the time to say Thank you.. for teaching us some awesome lighting techniques and to think 'outside the box'. I never really thought about using strobes ever.. been reading your blog for 4 months now and I feel good with my camera and strobes!! Thank you very much!
Again, congratulations on the extended coverage, David - and I agree, it is nice to hear/see 'the man behind the keyboard'.
For those who are wondering about how the SB-800s were triggered... you might like to visit/revisit this page which David posted a while back. The SU-4 setting is a wonderful, wonderful thing :-)
I thought I'd noticed the blog taking on a more ad based vibe over the last year. I suppose that's a great way to make money but now I tend to be a little more leary of your endorsement of a product. anyway you could mark with an asterisk the products you're actually getting paid to promote. I think the site started out kinda grassroots but you know how money can corrupt.
Glad it's successful for you now. Thanks for all the education so far.
Best success David.
Man David, It is so nice to finally meet you. Thanks to USA Today for letting me finally hear my friend's voice.
To Harry-
FWIW, I do not accept payment to endorse anything.
congrats....you do a great service for many people...thanks for the time and effort!
David,
Please bring some copies of your new DVD set with you to Dubai.
Congrats on the article! I just got my flash off camera a couple weeks ago, and already I'm seeing the difference it makes to have more flexibility in lighting. The information you have put together here, while overwhelming at first, is a treasure trove. I'm having a great deal of fun playing with the techniques you outline on Strobist.
Congrats on the coverage - well deserved.
Since everyone is asking, lemme guess on the Canon 580EX trigging the SB800's - SU-4 hack?
I'm thrilled you're getting the recognition you deserve.
You should look into getting this website published into a book, I think it would do really well. You've put a lot of work into this.
if you're going to be on telly a lot in the future, maybe it's time to invest in non-reflective glasses, David. :p
Especially when your audience is a bunch of lightnerds. :)
Fantastic David! You've earned every bit of your fame... er, or notoriety :-)! Congrats!
--
Ken
Congratulations David.
I've learned an incredible amount of information from your site which has helped to take my photography to a very part time job, and still a love.
Also saw the article linked from Photoshelter's blog.
Keep up the great work.
Congrats on the story. So when is the stylish merch coming out? Where can I get an "I [heart] Strobist T-shirt or a baseball hat with a hotshoe on top? How about a Strobist/Diet Mountain Dew mash-up?
Nice feature. Pretty cool how they incorporated the video of you setting up the shoot and then switching places. And, hey, now I can say I've been published...err...appeared in USA Today...err..on USA Today dot com.
Very awesome, man. Keep rocking.
I have been reading your blog for a year. Fantastic and very informative as far as setups are concerned. Keep up the good work. Please please please we want some more strobist paraphernalia hats, shirts, pins, camera bags...anything and everything just as long as its strobist.
dang david you freakin rule! haha
You're driving me crazy this time HobbY!!!
Please do expound
You're shooting with the 1D and a Canon flash and you're firing off Nikon units - how? How? HOW?!?!?
I'm willing to buy into your Nikon propaganda and pick one up myself if you just tell us how!
(...or maybe that was just the 1st sign of the Apocalypse...)
Wow. I know neither you nor anybody else will read this, but just in case I'm wrong...
Great work. Your hard work has paid off tremendously! I've certainly learned a LOT from you!
For anyone who is still wondering about the use of non-Nikon strobes to fire the SB-800s, you might like to check out the post I recently published here.
On that occasion, as you will see, I was using a somewhat old and battered Metz 45 CL-4 to set off 2 SB-800s using the SU-4 hack. Worked perfectly every time.
Hope this helps :-)
Hey Bry..
To answer your questions about the audio...
The interview's VO is panned hard left for some reason. (too much Beatles?) David is panned hard right during the interview.
Both mics together are out of phase with one another so it sounds a bit thin when used together.
Eric
Awesome Dude! I can truly say I knew you "when." Congratulations Dave! what fun to open the paper and see your story, and then to see these videos...so happy for you and proud of you.
Nanine
Awesome :-)
I am a real fan of canon an I personally believe that they are leading the digital photography!
Cheers Daniel
Hi! I am a Japanese. Though I looked for English study in various ways, I commented because contents were interesting. I was able to enjoy it very much. In addition, I come to look. Please keep it for us. Thank you!
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