Photoshoot and Beyond
“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 »
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 »
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 controling your light throughout the three-dimensional space in your photo.Read more »
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 de…
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 »
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
That’s me, above, in 2013. I made a trip to Japan for some meetings with Fuji. It was me, 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 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 16×20 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 16×20 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 16×20 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.
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.
After years of waiting, the Fuji X-Pro2 ships on Friday. I have been shooting with a pre-production unit since October, and have a pretty good feel for its strengths and weaknesses.
Last week on Twitter I held an 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 »
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 »
