Wednesday, November 30, 2011

New Nikon SB-910 Speedlight Offers Advanced Flash Technology and Intelligent Features

PPC News Staff | 11/30- 09:21 AM

Replacing the SB-900, the 910 gains the simpler graphic user interface (GUI) of the less powerful SB-700.

Today, Nikon Inc. announced the addition of a new flagship speedlight, the powerful and capable SB-910 speedlight. Building on the versatility of Nikon’s Creative Lighting System (CLS), the SB-910 incorporates an enhanced intuitive operating system and graphic user interface (GUI). The SB-910 speedlight comes equipped with a wide zoom range covering the most popular focal lengths as well as FX/DX-format identification that optimizes zoom settings based on the camera body. This new speedlight also provides more efficient battery usage as well as an enhanced Thermal Cut-Out function.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Phottix’ New Odin Off-Camera E-TTL Wireless Trigger

Matt Brandon | 10/16- 05:01 PM

Off-Camera Flash Made Easy By Phottix

Let me set the record straight right here; I am not a strobist. Ninety five percent of the time I shoot with available light, the other five percent I shoot with my flash set to rear curtain sync (It’s fun. You should try it!) I really don’t like the ugly flat light that on-camera flashes give a subject. Off-camera lighting is wonderful, but until recently with a Canon you only got E-TTL metering by using the short irritating OC-E3 cable.

Wednesday, September 07, 2011

Cinematic White Balance Solutions

Sara Frances | 09/07- 01:41 PM

Use cinematic techniques to get mood-rich color and tone in camera.

I’ve been using Kelvin as my preferred WB control for many years, along with White Balance Shift and Picture Style Preset combinations. As a Fusion mixed media HDSLR photographer and videographer I’m naturally using the Canon 5D Mark II, but the principles are equally valid, just different methods, for Karl and his Sony EX3 or FS100.

Monday, July 25, 2011

A lite lesson in Light

Matt Brandon | 07/25- 12:01 AM

Light: The Good, The Bad and The Right

Light is used to create a mood. There is no bad light. Just the wrong light.

Light is a funny thing. To be more precise, the photographers perception of light is a funny thing. I’ve noticed recently, many photographers look on light in terms that are very black and white (pun not intended). By that, I mean they describe light in terms of “good” or “bad” light.  OK… I’ll admit that I’ve also found myself describing light in these terms. But, that’s doing light a disservice. Because light is neither good, nor bad it just is. A photographer’s job or maybe better still, a photographers responsibility is to learn what light is appropriate for a given subject. What light is needed to fulfill the vision he or she has for the photograph they are making.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Use gels on your flash for special effects.

Tom Bol | 05/11- 05:35 AM

Adding gels to your flash and changing white balance creates unique images.

I like to follow this principle.  “The more skills you have, the better your chances for success.”  I used to use this principle as a climbing instructor when teaching students rope systems.  Inevitably on some climb something wouldn’t go right, maybe a simple thing like getting a rope stuck.  The more rescue and climbing systems you knew, the better your chances of having a solution to fix the problem.
The same is true for photographers.  Every photographer has a story about a ‘photo shoot gone bad.’  Strobes don’t fire, talent doesn’t show up, permits aren’t in order.  What separates one photographer from another is how they deal with these situations.  Clients like photographers who have solutions, not problems.  Knowing more technical skills behind the camera also helps.  And one of my favorite things to do is add gels to flash to spice things up.

Friday, April 29, 2011

Creative Use of High Speed Sync

Tom Bol | 04/29- 10:11 AM

Use high speed sync to add mood to your shot.

When most people think of high speed sync, they think fast shutter speeds and freezing the action.  True, shooting at 1/8000 with flash is going to freeze the action no matter what the main light source is illuminating the subject.  But what about other uses of high speed sync and flash.  Until the release of the Pocket Wizard Flex system and Hypersync (see my last post), I was often frustrated shooting in bright sun.  I needed an aperture of F16 to get the right exposure at 1/200, my fastest sync speed using my Elinchrom Rangers.  What if I wanted to use a wide open aperture like F2.8 to get soft focus and blur out the background?  The answer is use high speed sync for selective focus shots in bright, sunny conditions.  Maybe high speed sync should be called ‘soft focus sync.’

Monday, April 25, 2011

Approaches to Light Painting

Chris Meyer | 04/25- 03:29 PM

I’d like to share some alternate techniques I’ve been playing around with.

In simple terms, “light painting” involves taking long-exposure photos in nominally dark environments, where you artfully set up or move a light source to either reveal an otherwise-hidden object, or draw in space using pure photons. Assuming you yourself are either generating or reflecting relatively little light, and/or are moving during the exposure, you become invisible to the film or camera’s sensor, leaving just the light behind.

I recently went on a light painting shoot along with other members of the New Mexico Outdoor Photography Meetup group, dragging along a Canon 5D mkII, a Pixel RW-221 wireless remote control (so I could trigger the camera from larger distances, and without line-of-sight), and a Manfrotto 055CXPRO4 carbon fiber tripod (the lighter weight was appreciated while bumbling around in pitch dark in a open space full of prickly pear cactus). Although I started out with the requisite flashlight and blink toys as light sources, I quickly went off-script and started using an iPad as a light source, plus spent a bit of time in Photoshop and Camera Raw afterward. Here’s what I tried, and what I learned.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Elinchrom Ranger High Speed Sync w/ Pocket Wizard

Tom Bol | 04/21- 01:30 PM

Achieve sync speeds over 1/2000 using an Elinchrom Ranger and Pocket Wizard Hypersync

High speed sync is critical for the action sports shooter.  If you want to freeze action and use flash, your options are limited.  One choice is you could use high speed sync using speedlights and shoot at 1/2000 or faster, but the power output and effective flash range is greatly reduced unless you use multiple speedlights.  Another option is using studio strobe packs/heads and underexposing the daylight so that the main light illuminating your subject is the flash.  As long as the flash duration is fast, your moving subject should be sharp.  But what if you don’t want to underexpose the daylight 2-3 stops?  Of what if you want to shoot at a wide open aperture like F2.8 on a sunny day and use strobe.  Your shutter speed would be much faster than the standard 1/250 most cameras allow as their fastest sync speed.  Now everything has changed.  Using Pocket Wizard Hypersync technology, shutter sync speeds of 1/2000 and faster are possible using studio flashes.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Manfrotto’s New Products for NAB

Dan Carr | 04/19- 02:31 PM

LED Panels, Fluid Heads, Support Accessories and More.

Manfrotto came to NAB last week with several interesting new products useful for both stills shooters and DSLR movie makers.  Fluid heads, LED light panels as well as some interesting accessories for supporting all manner of things from flashes to remote cameras.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Interview with David Hobby

Sara Frances | 04/18- 09:54 AM

Strobist.blogspot.com visionary talks about “special forces” guerrilla lighting with small flashes during The Flash Bus Tour.

Go-anywhere lighting. On assignment without electric cords, heavy equipment or big teams. Quick, effective, self-contained, low cost. No high maintenance studio set-up here; Hobby even says when he goes into the studio, he ignores the big lights and sets up his small ones in a matter of moments.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Exploring Light, Discovering Style: A Lighting Tutorial

Bruce Dorn | 04/11- 08:37 AM

Part 11, Lesson 9: Embrace Serendipity

Concept: Have a plan, but try to embrace the unexpected.
Tools: Fresnel Focusing Spot+Unexpected Sungun

Action: I suspected that this balcony and stairs could provide a tasty composition and felt that a single directional source should create a crisp and glamorous lighting pattern. After rigging a single undiffused Mole-Richardson “InBetweenie” Tungsten Solarspot, it was a snap to balance to the room and we were soon ready to shoot.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Travel lighting kit

Tom Bol | 04/11- 06:40 AM

The Elinchrom Quadra makes a great travel lighting option.

I often get asked how I carry my lighting gear on shoots, and what gear I use.  This is a big question, with lots of answers.  The simplest way to deal with airlines and portability is use speedlights.  Today there are more accessories than ever for speedlights, and you can create some incredible images using these handy flashes.  Weighing in at a pound with AA batteries installed, speedlights are the ultimate lightweight option you can carry onto the plane with you.  But what if you want more power, more lighting modifiers (larger) and quicker recycle times for those portrait sessions?  That is where the Elinchrom Quadra does a fantastic job of finding the middle ground between speedlights and large studio strobe packs.

Friday, April 01, 2011

Let There be Light…

Sara Frances | 04/01- 11:05 AM

Joe McNally talks about light - the be all and end all of imaging

In the video interview I’m talking with Joe about how you pay your dues. Study and experiment every day. Gather tips, tricks and ideas from every expert you can find. It’s a real treasure to be able to listen to Joe and to read and analyze his books. Every inspirational step brings you closer to defining your own vision of light.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Integrating Shutter Drag with Flash

Sara Frances | 03/21- 09:56 PM

This image comparison shows how to visualize, set up and optimize a winning combination.

A quick PR shot of event decor is really a fairly complex architectural assignment, but you have to get it in about 30 seconds with virtually no equipment. Here’s how to combat low overall light level, nasty contrast and lack of impact.

Monday, March 07, 2011

Ultimate Flash on Camera Part 3

Sara Frances | 03/07- 03:19 PM

More how-to examples for scoring dimensional, directional flash with one speed light on camera with the Ultimate Light Box

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, right, discusses with Mayor Doug Hutchinson, left, the fine points of a commissioned painting awarded to the City of Fort Collins.

Last Tuesday I photographed Colorado Creative Industries Day and the Governor’s awards to cities around the state which are making significant contributions to arts in their communities.

Monday, February 28, 2011

Light Painting WiFi

Chris Meyer | 02/28- 08:01 PM

Using extended shutter times to visualize the communications web around us.

Some friends recently shared with me on Facebook a novel application of light painting: Creating a four meter tall bar that displays an 80 point bar graph of WiFi signal strength, and then walking through various urban settings to visualize the “strata” of communication signals.

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