Blog for off-camera, small strobe lighting

[strobist]

Hey, guys;

I am a photojournalist for the Baltimore (MD, USA) Sun.

Twenty years ago, when breaking into the business and learning the ropes, I made the big-but-common mistake of concentrating too much on long, fast glass and too little on learning lighting.

I am hoping to help to rectify that mistake in others. Over the last few weeks I have been building a blog for photojournalism students, young pro's and very interested amateurs on how to expand their lighting skills using only shoe-mount flashes, used off camera.

I am about 80% of the way to being live, (you guys are my very first invites) and I am looking for some feedback before I put it out there. Rather than get my friends to look at it (who would be about as objective as my mom) I thought it would make more sense to try to get some feedback from strangers. So, here I am as a brand new face, fresh from a Google search for "photo message boards."

I am no web designer. I am a photojournalist. So it is bare bones - about content and knowledge, not HTML bells and whistles. There are some rough (and unfinished) spots, but the goal is to create an online community where photojournalists and other interested parties share their light ideas and experiences.

If you are interested in this type of thing, please browse the still-under-the-radar blog a little and tell me if I am on a good track. (Or not!)

And thanks much for your thoughts.

The address is: http://www.strobist.blogspot.com

Regards,

David Hobby
20-year photojournalist;
Rank newbie blogger

 

[Castlesinthesky]

very nice link. Your experience really shows. You're definitely on the right track. Thanks for sharing.

 

[catchlights]

kudos to your efforts and selfless sharing.


:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[pcwe68]

here's my 2cents
travelling light:
another photo showing all the gears lay out. I would like to know how big is your umbrella. What is a ball bungees? where is the super clamps? How can I know that you can carry all that in the bag?

 

[slaam]

Nice!

 

[Ah_Seng]

Great site !!! Welcome to Clubsnap.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

 

[rolzink]

What is a ball bungees?

maybe this might help.

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101-ball-bungees.html

cool stuff. anyone know where to get?

 

[XSTART]

A simple sketch beside each photo showing the actual positions of the lights and accessories will be most helpful.:thumbsup:

 

[mattlock]

GREAT SITTTEEEE I love it.
i love it i love it i love it.

 

[drumma]

very good stuff!

 

[strobist]

XStart-

That is a good idea. I think I will fold that into the "On Assignment" section.

Thanks!

 

[syke]

Good on you mate! Thanks for the fabulous info.

 

[Witness]

wonderful.....

 

[strobist]

PC-

If you work your way through the Lighting 101 pages, it has more detailed info on the umbrella, superclamp and ball bungees, including where to get them and how much.

-S

 

[Splutter]

Great man

 

[pai]

appreciate the amount of effort you've put into sharing what you've learnt with us. your writing is easy to follow, and the pictures are used well. i'm a newcomer to flash photography, and just zipping through a few of your lighting 101 posts has helped me to think about how to use light. thanks.

 

[strobist]

Pai-

That is the whole idea. Enjoy, and spread the word.

 

[strobist]

here's my 2cents
travelling light:
another photo showing all the gears lay out. I would like to know how big is your umbrella. What is a ball bungees? where is the super clamps? How can I know that you can carry all that in the bag?

To answer your questions more specifically, the umbrella is 43" wide, but double-folds down to the size you see next to the very small light stand in the photo on the traveling light page. Folded, you can see it ball bungee'd (the red things) to the light stand.

The ball bungees are something every photog should have - cheap, light and very useful.

Super clamps are a part of nearly every photojournalist's lighting kit. There is more info on how to use them here.

The whole idea is to get into a different frame of mind about the small flash you use every day on the top of your camera. With a little thinking, you can use the same strobe to do stuff like these:

 

[wainism]

lovely, i am a great fan already!

 

[pcwe68]

To answer your questions more specifically, the umbrella is 43" wide, but double-folds down to the size you see next to the very small light stand in the photo on the traveling light page. Folded, you can see it ball bungee'd (the red things) to the light stand.

The ball bungees are something every photog should have - cheap, light and very useful.

Super clamps are a part of nearly every photojournalist's lighting kit. There is more info on how to use them here.

The whole idea is to get into a different frame of mind about the small flash you use every day on the top of your camera. With a little thinking, you can use the same strobe to do stuff like these:

I guess I do know what they are, but if I am new to photography, those are the first question I would ask, since it appears on the first few pages. and your photos do not show anything - since its all bundled up.

similarly, your other pages just talk about the placement of lightings, you need some imagination to visualize where you place them, and that's still guessing.

I believe, one of the earlier pages you mentioned setting the lights to shoot at F5.6 - how do I achieve that, (its only later that you mentioned you have a light meter). I mean there are folks who post photos for comments and immediately the response are underexpose......how can i even accurately get it at F5.6 without a lightmeter.

Overall, still it's good effort, to an intermediate to advance photographer its good reminder what they can do, but for someone new, its probably just a view of what is possible, but how?-its going to be lots of guessing and trying and hair pulling.

These are just my 2 cents worth of what I hope can be considered constructive comments.