Let's jump off this train for a minute and think about our different lighting controls in context with each other. More specifically, let's look at size and distance.Read more »

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2016/07/lighting-102-side-effects-lets-jump-off.html

We have all had to deal with specular highlights, even if we did not know what they were called.

Think about portraits of people you have made in direct sunlight. Remember that glaring spot on their face or forehead? That was the specular highlight of the sun. And if the person was sweating or had oily skin it only made matters worse, as that sheen is very efficient at throwing back a hard specular.

That reflection is a function of the intensity of the light source. More specifically, think of it as intensity per square inch. And understanding this starts to tell us how to control it.Read more »

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2016/07/lighting-102-controlling-specular.html

Photo by Kenneth Lau

When you light any three-dimensional object, you create four zones of light. It doesn't matter if it is a face or a tomato. So today let's learn from this tomato, photographed by Strobist reader Kenneth Lau.Read more »

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2016/07/lighting-102-four-zones-four-names.html

So what is it that actually makes a light soft? And why is it a function of both size and distance?

In the portrait above, Dean is being bathed in soft umbrella light from camera right. But let's zoom in a little closer and place some waypoints on his forehead...Read more »

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2016/07/lighting-102-understanding-soft-light.html

This is Gary. Gary is a snail. And he's beautifully lit by my friend Sara Lando. While babysitting Gary for a friend, Sara decided to actually build a miniature set and then photograph the snail in the style of Irving Penn. Because this is what creative people do in their spare time.

And pray tell, what beautifully soft light source is she using to subtly caress Gary and reveal his form?

Oh look, it's a bare speedlight:Read more »

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2016/07/lighting-102-apparent-light-size.html

By using a second light to ensure legibility in the shadows, we can place a "floor" on how low the tones will go on our subject. But we can also combine this with the fast falloff of a closely placed key light to get total control of a subject with an inherently tough dynamic range.Read more »

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2016/07/lighting-102-combining-distance-and-two.html

Just like your focus, light has depth of field.

For this layer of control, we are going to look at two different pictures. Everything will be the same except for one thing: The distance from our light to our subject will change. Nothing else. In particular, the subject-to-background distance will not change.

Exhibit number one is a dark portrait of Dean, situated a few feet in front of a white wall, pictured above.

White wall? Yes, white. But it doesn't look white, does it?Read more »

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2016/07/lighting-102-distance.html

The legibility from our fill light doesn't call attention to itself. It just makes your other light look that much better. It introduces a balance; a range; a relationship between the two lights.

Think of it like a backup band behind a soloist: the band is there to fill in the gaps, add background and make the soloist sound even better. Fill light is the music machine to your drunken karaoke key light.

So just like we did in Lighting 101, lets take a walk around the block and explore some lighting angles. For consistency, we are going to keep the same key light source for every photo on this page. So it is just about the lighting angles — i.e., no other variables.Read more »

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2016/07/lighting-102-angle.html

"One light for shape, another for detail."

This simple concept, which I learned from photographer Jim Richardson about 25 years ago, forever changed the way that I thought about lighting. It's like a switch was turned on inside of my brain. Read more »

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2016/07/lighting-102-shape-and-detail.html

If you are workng with one light, you already know that a single light can create many possibilities but also can force compromises. Do you place the light for the best modeling on someone's face? Or do you cheat it a bit to minimize those deep shadows you just created?Read more »

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2016/07/lighting-102-two-light-kit.html

Welcome to the all-new, completely revised Lighting 102. If you are here, you should already have read through Lighting 101, and have a good understanding of its concepts.
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In lighting 101 you learned the basics of getting your light off camera, how to sync it, and how to position it to reveal form. In Lighting 102 we'll go beyond those basics. You'll learn how to create shape and form while at the same time controlling your light throughout the three-dimensional space in your photo.Read more »

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2016/07/lighting-102-introduction.html

Hey folks,

Things may have appeared rather quiet around here, but there is a lot going on under the hood. You'll remember that in 2014 Strobist transformed from a 2x/week blog to more of a knowledge bank. This was done to create the time and space to develop other projects.

The latter has included things like The Traveling Photographer and the Photographer's Oil Collective, both of which are off and running.

But the flipside of this change in rhythm at Strobist was also to be able to put more time into the larger chunks of the site as opposed to day-to-day posting. I want to keep growing and improving the larger modules that create the real long-term value at Strobist, rather than just posting for posting's sake. To that end, today and tomorrow a completely revised and updated Lighting 102 series will be debuting on Strobist.

Apologies in advance for the feast-or-famine situation in your RSS feed or inbox. I have been working on the L102 redo for a while now, along with Lighting 103 (in production) and Lighting 104 (fully mapped out).

Thanks for your continued interest and support. You guys rock.

Cheers,
David

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2016/07/publishing-today-and-tomorrow-lighting.html

Do you have painted canvas backdrop, or other textile, that you use for portraits?

Why clamp it up to a crossbar (and crop the top) every time you use it, when for about $10 you can build a permanent wooden mounting bar that begs to be included in the frame?

Such was this morning's project.Read more »

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2016/07/diy-10-custom-wooden-backdrop-mount.html

Just a quick heads-up for any of you who may live within striking distance of Columbus, Ohio. (And if that's not you, no need to keep reading. It'd just piss you off.)

So MidWest Photo, the folks that brought us the LumoPro LP180 and a bunch of other cool things, are moving to new digs in Columbus. And they are having two days of festivities on August 6th and 7th.

There is lots of stuff going on: speakers, classes, vendors, giveaways, etc. And it's all free.

I'll be speaking on both days. Saturday the 6th will be on my hybrid "dad/photographer" approach to traveling. And Sunday's presentation will be on learning to completely rethink and reshape your approach to photography. Each is a completely different talk, and both are geared towards the full range of photographers—from enthusiast to pro.

But better yet, Greg Heisler is also speaking on Saturday. In fact, I am following Greg on Saturday. You can imagine how thrilled I am.

If you have never heard Greg in person, I highly recommend it. I guarantee you you will learn some stuff. Especially in a small venue environment like this. As for following him onstage, I highly do not recommend that.

And since it is all free, it'll only cost you gas money. (And face paint if you are going to see Greg.) Kidding. Mostly. But that would be awesome.

Heads-up: it requires registration, because seating is limited. And this will certainly fill. So if you are up for it, make sure to register ASAP for one or both days, here.

Come out and meet us!


Cheers,
David

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2016/06/come-join-meand-greg-heislerin-columbus.html

That's me, above, in 2013. I made a trip to Japan for some meetings with Fuji. I was there with three other photogs and a room of Fuji engineers for two solid days of "How can we make our cameras better?" discussions. Because that's how they do.

One of the highlights of the trip was seeing my work displayed at Corporate HQ at Fujifilm Square in Tokyo. (Pic, above, by Zack Arias.) One of the lowlights was realizing how much better these prints were than anything I could get done in the US.

Sigh.

I just assumed it was some sort of Fuji in-house magic file tweaking or something. Or more likely, Fuji's continuous custody of the whole vertical process, right back to the film SIM.

Then it happened again in the 5th Anniversary event in Tokyo earlier this year: Gorgeous print, followed by the instant pang of sadness that I cannot get it done to this quality in the US.


An Import You'll Wanna Drive

Well, it turns out that you can. I found it while auditioning several labs for printing of an image of mine that is to be sold at a local gallery. Short version: I have found the paper I am gonna marry, and it is Fujicolor Crystal Archive Deep Matte.

The prints are hard to describe. They are beautiful and painterly; somehow muted and saturated at the same time. If you want a mental picture, it feels like a Gregory Crewdson image. As for the paper itself, the substrate is quite substantial and the surface is beautifully non-reflective.



Here's the file/framed mock-up. The thing is, the print looks significantly better than the file. And I can't remember ever thinking that before — other than those two times in Japan.

I have not tried it with anything subtle yet as far as the files go. But on my color-drenched citiscapes, it looks phenomenal. So much so that I am getting several of my existing prints reprinted on this paper.

They tell me at the lab that it is great for B&W, too. You'd better believe I am gonna be trying that.

The paper is silver halide based, and designed for large format and Frontier laser printers, according to Fuji's poop sheet.

It uses CP-RA (or RA-4) process, and is said to be archivally stable for 100 years on display, 200 in storage. (Okay, I'll be dead by then. But this print will still be beautiful.)

Do yourself a favor and try this stuff. You just need two things: A really competent lab, and Fuji Deep Matte paper. I'm using AdoramaPix and letting them drive on the color correction. (New paper, new printer, what do I know, right?) And I was super happy with the result.

Pick your favorite file and go big, as in 16x20 or larger. Because the beauty of this paper is that it somehow seems to both accentuate detail and mask noise. I don't know how it does that. But holy crap.


$5 to Try It

And here's something cool: if you want to try it as a one-off, AdoramaPix has a refer-a-friend special that'll get you $5 off on $15 or more if you are a new member. And since a 16x20 print there is $16.99, it qualifies and drops this little experiment to $11.99. Not bad.

If you give it a try at this link, the referral code should auto-populate. And a quick heads-up, some folks are saying they can't find the "deep matte" option. Here's how to do it:

Sign up using the code. Go to ->Photo Prints, ->Upload Photos Now (upload your image) ->#3 Paper Finish and ->"Deep Matte Finish".

It's only available for 16x20 and up. And these guys being a pro lab, I suggest you let them color correct for you. (If you want to marry them later, you can easily download their ICC profiles and drive the car yourself then.)

So that's my Epiphany of The Day, if you will. Suffice to say I am done auditioning prints.

Try it and let me know what you think.

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2016/04/fuji-crystal-archive-deep-matte-paper.html

As photographers, we often have to do outdoor portraits. And if we are lighting, that means hauling a lot of gear, fighting a lot of sun and dealing with the wind. But lately I've been working to pare the gear pack down to something that is reasonable in terms of cost, size and weight.

The photo above is a good example of what can be done with a minimal amount of well-chosen gear. With a little advance thought, you can overpower the sun, have good mobility and not have to worry about the wind.

Read more »

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2016/03/on-assignment-leaf-and-dish.html

After years of waiting, the Fuji X-Pro2 is finally shipping. Want some F-Y-I before your B-U-Y? I have been shooting with a pre-production unit since October, and have a pretty good feel for its strengths and weaknesses.

Below are the questions and answers from a Twitter AMA (Ask Me Anything) about the new flagship camera. Scroll down for your questions — all of them, edited only for clarity — and my answers. If you're on the fence, hope it helps.

Cheers,
DHRead more »

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2016/03/fuji-x-pro2-all-your-questions-answered.html

Up for a quick shot of knowledge, with an order of motivation on the side?

Take a few minutes to watch this interview with photographer Alexis Cuarezma, a sports portrait specialist based in San Francisco and LA.

The short version? Be like water finding downhill. But the video is full of good tips, strong work and solid dose of BTS pics to satisfy your jones for lighting.Read more »

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2016/02/watch-this-secrets-to-alexis-cuarezmas.html

One of the cool things about Fuji is they are constantly asking photographers how to make their cameras better. And then listening. I've been using a pre-production X-Pro 2 since October. One of the photos I did for them (the only one where I used flash, actually) is the miniature chrysanthemum seen above.

Up for a quick game of Guess the Light? Then take a moment before reading on. And I'll give you this much: it's done with a single speedlight.Read more »

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2016/01/on-assignment-mum-for-fuji.html

I get Twitter upstreams pretty often, and enjoy seeing photos from Strobist readers and answering questions when possible. I don't do full-blown critiques or portfolio reviews because of time restraints and an utter lack of any qualification to judge other photographers on my part. But a pic and a Q? Sure, I'm down for that.

Reader Mans Duffani, from Benghazi, Libya tweeted the above photo—a beautiful portrait—to me. It's a great example of a strong photo that could have been made even better if Mans had taken a moment while shooting to consider the image from front to back. Read more »

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2016/01/twitter-qa-magic-lamp.html