Announcing: All-New Lighting 101

By the time you read this I'll be on vacation with the family. We're taking a road trip north into New England and Canada, where none of us have ever been before. (The above is in Maine, on the way to Prospect Harbor on Saturday night.)

That doesn't mean Strobist is closed. In fact today we're announcing a completely updated Lighting 101, among other things…
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First off, please excuse any slow comment moderation this week as we'll frequently be out of both cell and wifi. I'll probably get the shakes from withdrawal between access points. I know the kids will.



After a quick stop in Boston, it is on to the Acadia/Schoodic region in Maine. (A summer squall moving into Bar Harbor is seen here.) From there we drive to Moosehead Lake, before finally heading up to Quebec City. And yeah, we're gettin' some poutine. Finally, a straight shot back home.

But about those site updates…


Lighting 101 Relaunch

Written in 2006 under the heavy influence of the flu, Lighting 101 was long overdue for a refresh. So I have been working on under the radar for a few months now. So if you have just read it very recently, you might not notice the big changes from the previous version.

(Photo by Strobist reader Sam Simon)

The update includes some gorgeous photos from Strobist readers, added diagrams, many completely recast posts and some current gear suggestions for beginners. After 7+ years, it was painful to look at it before. Things have changed quickly, and it had become so dated. (The PocketWizards were still blue.)

There are even some special discount codes embedded for longtime Strobist gear favorites. Please give the updated Lighting 101 a look, and please spread the word (link is for a pithy tweet) if you think it would be helpful to other photographers. Many thanks.


+1 For More Like This

You may have noticed recently that there are now Google "+1" buttons on the archive pages (i.e., the click-throughs, not the pre-jump on the home page) of each post. If you have a Google account, this is an easy way for you to keep track of favorite pages on the web or to share them.

But for our purposes, and since Google +1's are damn-near impossible to game, I am henceforth using them as a voting mechanism. It will be a real-time way for me to see which of the site's posts are your favorites and/or preferred subject areas.

So, if you like it, +1 it. I'll see it and most definitely take those numbers into account when deciding what to write about in future posts.


Major On Assignment Thread Update

The other major pillar of Strobist's educational archive is of course the On Assignment series. I have just threaded an additional 40 or so OA posts to the main archive page, bringing to almost 150 the number of link-threaded On Assignment posts.

They are chained together so you can eat them like peanuts if you like. Just click on any one from this huge list and go from there.
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And we are on vacation. Seems like I just I blinked and Ben (a preschooler when the site launched) is two months away from being a teenager. And don't even get me started on "little" Em, who will be a sophomore in high school later this month. (What kind of bat works best for persistent sophomore boys, wood or aluminum?)

Not many opportunities left for summer trips. So thanks much for your patience as we enjoy a few lazy summer days as a family.

-DH