Plain and Simple Light: Athar

Athar Khan is sort of a local legend in Howard County, MD. Many people know him as "the Columbia Bike Guy." He is always out on the roads, biking. He sometimes wears wild hats, or dresses unusually, etc. Lots of people honk and wave, but few people really take the chance to learn very much about him.

I photographed him for HoCo360 last week, and the post is making the rounds locally these days. And it is a good reminder that even though Strobist tends to center around lighting, what is far more important is what you are actually seeking to accomplish with your photos. Read more »

Compared to These, Rosco Gels Taste Like Crap

Outdoor photographer John B. Crane was hiking in the Colorado back country when he found himself in need of a green gel for funky-lit shot of an ice cave.

None of the official variety was on hand. But they were not short on imagination -- or tasty snacks:

Fruit Roll-Ups and Nikon CLS

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Oh Look. Yuri is Doing a Studio Conversion, Too

Wow!

I'm building a studio, King of Microstock Yuri Arcurs is building a studio -- it's like we have this parallel mind thing going on. It's like we are doing the exact same thing at the exact same time.

But just between you and me, I think my $130 propane heater really pushes my studio over the top, compared to his new studio. Dontcha think? I mean, I wouldn't wanna say anything to him and all. But is it me or does his studio just look too, you know, chilly?

Don't you get cold just looking at it? I sure do.

The space is okay I guess. If you like that kind of thing. But I really like my compact heater. Plus, my windows have that black plastic light proofing. It is like, totally opaque.

Don't get me wrong. I am happy for him and everything. And I am sure he likes his new space, too. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

(Thanks for the tip, Debbi. Thanks a lot...)

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I Want to Love You Madly

Okay, so photographer Nick Fancher might be onto something here with this "Mad Men" themed engagement shoot. I can totally see this kind of thing making the rounds.

And besides, it's only the engagement photo. Even if Mad Men jumps the shark (if it hasn't already, with Don's surprise proposal) it's not like it's your actual wedding photos or anything.

Lighting Geekery: Note the very low flash levels (1/64th; 1/128th) being used. This brings the aperture down to where you can incorporate the ambient light mix -- very important -- into your photo without getting into crazy slow shutter speeds.

But back to the theme choice. What if Mad Men has jumped the shark? What is the forward-thinking coach potato engagement photographer looking to do as a follow-up?

I know... a Walking Dead engagement photo session.

Better yet: Spartacus. Hell, yeah.


Bonus Link

To ogle some of the lighting behind a real Mad Men still photo (no offense, Nick) check out this BTS video of Frank Ockenfels' shoot of Don Draper from last season.

(Thanks for the heads-up, Nick)

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Light Remodeling, Pt. 2

Here is the first lesson I have learned: $200 will not get you very far when prepping a garage to be a convertible studio. But it's possible, in a very no-frills way… Read more »

Found: $30 LED Modeling Light for Your AlienBees

When the Elinchrom Ranger Quadras came out a couple of years ago, one of their groundbreaking features was the inclusion of a low-drain, LED modeling lamp.

Pure genius. Especially since traditional modeling lights usually drain your batts faster than the flash itself does.

And if you are an AlienBees/Vagabond user, now you can get this same cool tech on the cheap. Read more »

Flash Bus Update and Schwag Bag Extravaganza

First, the bad news. If you live in Seattle, Portland, Chicago, NYC, DC, Boston, San Francisco or Buffalo -- those Flash Bus cities are now sold out. In fact, the whole tour is over 3/4 sold out.

So if you are looking to grab a seat at a remaining city, don't wait too long. There are several more cities on the bubble.

Second, the good news. You may have noticed we pulled in … some sponsors. And you're gonna like this part. Read more »

Light Remodeling, Pt. 1

When we moved into our house nearly two years ago, it came with something I had never had before -- a garage.

In theory, two cars are supposed to go in there. In practice, ours has remained an junk pile staging area since the move-in. We generally have one car parked inside. Which of course means that my car stays out in the rain and snow.

Such was the crazed schedule of DVD post production a few weeks ago that a weekend spent reclaiming the garage was actually starting to look good.

Besides, I wasn't just in it for the marital brownie points. I had an ulterior motive in mind. I wanted to be able to use it as a studio. Read more »

Please Pardon the Craziness

If things look a little different around the blog lately, that's only because they are. The last few months have been probably the busiest I have even been -- it's just that not all of those efforts have been pointed directly at Strobist.
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Between the production of Lighting in Layers and the concurrent prep for The Flash Bus, the past few months have been a continuous blur of long days.

There is light at the end of the tunnel. It's either sunlight, or the oncoming headlight of an as-yet unidentified train. But either way, things should sort themselves out over the next couple weeks.

The DVDs are (thankfully) out the door and at the presses. And for the moment I have to place my main efforts on making The Flash Bus content the best it can be. I do not expect to be teaching after this for a long time, so I'd like to go out on a high note. Suffice to say this will continue to affect things here for a bit.

As for the tour itself, there is something cool in the hopper planned for Strobist during my absence. And we'll be blogging from the road, of course, both here and at TFB.

Upon return, I'll be back to shooting -- locally, as much as possible -- and blogging more consistently. Until then, thanks much for your patience.

DH

A Master Class in Multi-Faceted Project Design

Too good not to repost:

A 45-minute talk by Andrew Zuckerman, perhaps the best conjurer of photographic projects in the business today. A few BTS lighting tidbits to be gleaned, but that is not the point. I just love getting a peek into this guy's mind.

Thanks much to Creative Mornings for sharing this. I'm gonna go watch it again now.
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(Via Swissmiss via WTJ?)

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Must Be Some Kinda…

Turns out I had a photo from a Wednesday night shoot pop up in Flickr Explore. And who was right next to me (at the time I checked, at least) but Strobist reader Matthew Coughlin, with this trippy homage to one of my favorite recent sophomoric movies, Hot Tub Time Machine.

It is part of a 365 project, and comes complete with a BTS. Hit the jump for a setup shot -- and a question. Read more »

Stealing Your Flash

Seth asks:

I just have one question that's always sort of nagged the back of my mind.

I get the idea of the setup in the bleachers, clamped on something like a railing. But, my concern is - what about people fiddling with (moving, adjusting) or even worse, STEALING, your stuff. I mean, I guess there's really no way to prevent that from happening right?
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Ah, but we are not totally defenseless in such situations, Seth. A brief word from the PsyOps division, inside… Read more »