Pass the Kool-Aid, Please...
Just saw the Feb. 2009 issue of Practical Photography for the first time. It is produced in the UK but has just made it to my local Border's. They did a cover and 14 pages (!) on off-camera speedlight shooting. The mag featured lots of shots with diagrams, gear choices, photos by Strobist readers, a few by yours truly and some way cool
They even called every last one of you a fanatic, yes they did. The nerve. Just because a few people wear long, white robes at meetups, makes us some kinda cult?
(No worries if the pudding tastes a little funny -- we got a comet to catch, people...)
On US newsstands now, and worth a flip-thru.
-30-
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Posted at 6:24 PM.
34 Comments:
(No worries if the pudding tastes a little funny -- we got a comet to catch, people...)
What! no Cool Aid?
Nice, real subtle. :-)
Been getting it here in South Africa for a long time. Generally I find it a bit basic. Good to see they've caught on to off-camera strobing.
These guys of Practical Photography are big fans of Strobist. In most of their issues they publish strobist inspired images or talk about off camera flash. Which is very cool because almost all Dutch photography magazines in Belgium or Holland don't even mention the existence of off camera flash (except big heavy expensive strobes).
I'm a very big fan of this high quality magazine. You get lots of bang for buck too.
Very good issue of PP, between this site and that issue is how i somewhat tried to start in off camera lighting, you both made it so so easy to do and i thank you both for the help!
I bought a right away ! It was released in the Netherlands couple weeks ago :)
I bought it out of curiosity.
After 5 minutes I remembered why I haven't bought an issue in about 5 years.
Still, cool that strobism is getting out there.
Sounds good, thanks for the info.
I'll definitely look out for the magazine.
Like Danie Nel says its normally a bit basic.
Pass the Kool-Aid, Please...
Kool-Aid is some sort of American powdered drink.
Can someone explain its hidden meaning for those of us outside the US?
I've heard it used several times but have no idea??
Thanks
Jason
(British)
On the other hand, there are some of us who wouldn't know about the Strobist website without reading that issue... :-)
The UK version is already gone from the shelves with the March 09 edition on sale.
I've contacted the mag re getting back orders so if anyone's interested I'll let you know ;o)
Glyn
A rather infamous cult leader off'd his entire group of followers with poisoned Kool-Aid many years ago, that's where the reference comes in. Don't worry though, most of the younger generations of Americans don't get it either.
Dave, make my Nike's size 11 please!
(I'll let someone else explain that one!)
fotobyte, in the US, Kool-Aid references usually hint at the Jim Jones tragedy which occured just over 30 years ago. Jim Jones was a cult leader who convinced most of his followers to drink kool - aid laced with cyanide. I think somewhere around 900 people died there.
Oftentimes, it refers more to the groupthink/blind obedience associated with fanaticism.
Sorry to get off topic!
Thank you, Mr. Hobby, for all you do for us. I've learned so much from this site, and sometimes from other posters here, too.
Keep up the good work, and pass the Kool - Aid, please!
While Kool-Aid has cemented itself as the drink of choice in that particular figure of speech, it was a knockoff brand called "Flavor Aid" that was actually used by the Jim Jones cult.
The other reference was to the "Heaven's Gate" cult, which offed themselves with poison-ladened Jello Brand Pudding en route to their ascension to an alien space ship cleverly hidden behind the Hale-Bopp comet.
(Hale-Bopp On Assignment piece is here.)
Those guys famously submitted to voluntary castration before the Big Event, too.
So if any talk of elective surgery starts to pop up around here, it might be a good time to head over to Photo.net, instead....
Good on ya for the references in the article. Nice to see the "simpler" approach can get press too.
"fanatics", they said.. I've seen a link to Strobist with a warning "be aware, there are technomaniacs"
Andy
Sounds interesting I will have to pick up a copy.
Google/BloggerMust bring this up.
You do not make any mention of if any of you were paid for the use of your photos. As a freelancer and someone who has worked 20 years in commercial photography, I am rather sensitive to the using of photos "for exposure" and/or "the thrill of being published".
This is not a new criticism of either the topic or the idea of working for free, but ALL of the people involved in the production of this magazine are paid, the layout people, the writers, the press that prints it on the purchased paper, to the truck companies that deliver it to the newstand.....so I hope you, the creators of these images, were paid, and paid the going rate for editorial usage...
cheers
DBabcock
It's mountain biking in the magazine, Hobby, not BMX! :-p
DBabcock-
I have had well over 20,000 of my photos published at this point (back of the envelope math) so I suppose I am more immune than most from the "thrill of being published". Not that I do not enjoy seeing my photos in print, tho.
Given that, it is also hard to agree with such a black-and-white, "either / or" approach to the two sides of your argument.
For instance, in my own case I can say without a doubt that the exposure for this site in a mag with the target demo and size of PP will most definitely be of more value than being paid straight editorial rates for the use of five smallish photos. Not even close, actually.
Not to say that I am siding with predatory publications who use that "we'll make you famous" line on young photogs as a mater of course, because I am not. But I would say that you have to look at each instance on a case-by-case basis and make a decision based on all factors involved -- and not just from a boilerplate, knee-jerk approach.
And not that I give photos away as a matter of course, either. Just this week, I had a national defense-related company who wanted to use one of my helicopter photos in a series of full-page magazine and trade show ads.
We negotiated on price, with my offer being consistent with usage fees suggested by FotoQuote for the ad and trade show run. They kept trying to talk the price down based on their perception of the value of stock photography -- even though they had already spent significant money creating the ads. (Of course, the thermal imaging cameras they wanted to use my photo to help sell cost $15k each...)
I walked away, certainly leaving real money on the table. But I was not going to bend my principles to the rationalization of "something being better than nothing."
The guy was playing the whole car dealership psychology, too. He let me know that "his manager freaked out" at my offer, and he was working hard to "get me some money."
Puh-Lease. Buh-bye.
Usage payment would have been the only thing of value that they could have offered in the transaction. So I was negotiating based on money, and they were not willing to spend enough of it.
My point being, it is not a black and white argument and my choice is to be willing to take value into account, no matter what the form.
-D
might be worth mentioning that in the UK the March issue is now out so you can't get this one anymore. Funnily enough Digital Photographer Magazine is running a piece this month on off camera flash!
I was really excited to read the article, as Davids website has been a big influence on me and many of us in the UK, and even more excited to read about the UK regional strobist groups. But I've had trouble tracking them down on the net. So please, make your URLs available!
this magazine is a joke
you wont learn a thing
to be honest i was thinking
the photos in it where pretty
lame, but its more for people
looking to start out in the
strobist world
It depends on what region you are in. We are in the Midlands and were the group featured in the mag :D.
I suggest a look on flickr for your regional group, or ask on the uk strobist flickr group.
http://midlandstrobists.wordpress.com/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/midlandstrobists/
There's an article about the Midland Strobists group in PP magazine, but they miss spelled the link to the flickr group missing off an 's'. So we created another flickr group for the misspelling to forward people to the right flickr group. I'm aware of the following UK based Strobist flickr groups:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/midlandstrobists/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/812704@N24/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/ukstrobists/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/ukweststrobist/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/kent-strobists/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/londonmeet/
plus us Midland Strobists have our own blog which contains details of all of our group shoots at http://midlandstrobists.wordpress.com
Hope that helps you shuck
Thanks for mentioning PP on here!
All our contributors and photographers are certainly paid the going rate. I don't know where the suspicion is coming from but we ALWAYS seek permission and go through the proper channels before publishing any photographs.
As photographers ourselves, we all appreciate the time, effort and personal value invested in each and every picture.
Again, thanks for the mention!
Wow, I was walking by the newspaper store that sells foreign magazines the other day and decided to by this issue. I never saw the magazine before and was very pleased to find an interview with David.
Additionally, if anyone is interested in getting a back issue of PP, you can email bauer@dhlglobalmail.co.uk quoting PP February issue.
New to photography in the UK, bought the mag and loved the way to light, bought a couple of strobes and logged onto strobist.com, great site, have been doing lighting 102, FANTASTIC really think that article was a big inspiration to me and hopefully get alot of people in Europe onto your site. Will defently pass on the word.
Tony
Happy flasher UK
Great! It is really good.
But I think that the blog is better than a magazine.All on line, fully searchable... Free content.
I'm glad you mentioned the magazine. I had never heard of them until I was contacted through my flickr account by one of the editors about using one of my photos.
One photo was published on the cover of the November 2008 issue and another inside. They paid a very reasonable rates and the issue was very good.
If anyone is interested, here is the photo.
East of Scotland Strobists:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/es_strobists/
http://edinburghstrobists.org/
Practical Photography February 2009 is sold out in most locations in the USA.
But I just noticed there is one for sale on ebay at less than the magazine store price.
Bob
I was contacted by the magazine to use one of my shots in the article. I was flattered to have my shot noticed in the UK Strobist Flickr pool - first time in print and all that... I can confirm that as Ben from the mag says, permission was sought, (but payment wasn't offered incidentally) In this instance I was pleased, but I can see both sides of the argument...
Thanks for the group links guys! I will keep an eye out for a meet I can make near me (Cambridge)
Do pick up this issue at any cost! It is that interesting. I am in the USA and probably bought the last copy. Try the auction sites or back issue dealers. Well worth it!
John
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