Learn How to Light.

Lighting 101
Intimidated by the idea of off-camera lighting?

Don't be.

We are pretty much starting from scratch, so no worries. The first posts will be about what kind of gear you will need to do the minimalist strobe thing.

When we are done having our way with your wallet (remembering that light gives you far more bang-for-the-buck than does fast glass or the latest digital camera or 300/2.8) we'll move into basic technique. And after that, we'll keep it going with periodical essays and ideas on how to improve (or refresh) your lighting ability.

When you've worked your way through the basics of designing your light kit and learning how to use it, make a point to browse some of the examples in the "On Assignment" section. Those will be updated constantly, too. So keep checking back.

You will likely have some questions along the way. Sadly, it is not possible for me to take the time to personally answer all of the one-to-one lighting questions that pop up. So try to resist asking them in the comments section. The only people reading this behind you are the people who are, well, behind you.

You will find the one-to-one knowledge bank you seek in the Strobist Group on Flickr. There, you can ask away and get the diversity of response that you need. These are the lighting grad students, so to speak. They know this stuff, and are very enthusiastic about sharing their knowledge.

But please do your part and be considerate enough to search the Flickr group threads for relevant keywords in your question first. You are probably not the first person to ask. Or the tenth. Just sayin'.

Most of all, remember to have fun and learn to make some cool light.

For a very nice head start into Lighting 101, take a couple of minutes to watch this informative little slide show.

It is by Paul Duncan, whose site you can see here. 

Learn How to Light.


Lighting 101 Series
(If you start with the first one, they are linked in order to each successive lesson.)

Two Things Your Flash Needs to Have
Traveling Light
Light Stands
Super Clamps
Ball Bungees
Umbrella Stand Adapters
Synching: PC Cords and Pocket Wizards
Building a Pro PC Cord, Pt. 1
Building a Pro PC Cord, Pt. 2
Soft Light: Umbrellas
Soft Light - Wall/Ceiling Bouncing
Bare-Tube Style Lighting
Hard Light - It's Better Than You Think
Balancing Flash Intensity With Ambient, Pt 1
Balancing Flash Intensity With Ambient, Pt 2
Using Gels to Balance Light Color
Cereal Box Snoots and GoBo's
Textural Lighting for Detail Shots
Cross Lighting
Back Light as Main Light
Headshot in a Corner
Lighting for Glasses
Long-Throw Hard Light
Reverse Engineering Other Shooters' Light
Know The Flash
See The Flash
Be The Flash
Don't Let Good Light Ruin a Photo
Keep a Lighting File

Networks you need to build a presence

The Small Business Social Media Cheat Sheet

 By Ethan Bloch on Jan 23, 2012  

One in three small businesses are using social media and, as this number grows, a social media presence has become something that customers have come to expect.  But for businesses that have yet to dive in to the social media arena, it can be a little bit overwhelming. How do you know which networks you need to build a presence on and how do they work? A handy-dandy cheat sheet (a.k.a. infographic) showing the ins and outs of the social media ecosystem has become all the rage.

Internet Predictions For 2012

Click on image for Business Insider Intelligence, a new internet industry research service.

This is another view

  1. Google will buy priceline
  2. Yahoo merges with AOL and nobody cares
  3. Apple will create a search product
  4. China's online population will top 550 Million
  5. Facebook will Integrate Search as a Core Feature
  6. Tesla will be acquired by Chinese or Germans eventually
  7. Call of Duty MW3 will surpass all records for movies or games ever in human history
  8. Hardware will begin to Disappear
  9. Facebook stock price will show 100% post IPO run up

10. More western companies will establish a presence in Chinese Social Media

11. Google TV will be bigger news and YouTube programming efforts begin to pay off

12. IBM will become big news again with some big acquisition....

Learn From A Dog: 15 Life Lessons From Your Pet

Dogs tend to be happy, active and well rested -- things we could all stand to learn. Read on for those and other tail-wag-worthy life lessons from your pooch.
Huffpost....First Posted: 12/21/11 09:02 AM ET

55 Delicious Examples of Food Photography

55 Delicious Examples of Food Photography

Food photography is a still life specialization of commercial photography, aimed at producing attractive photographs of food for use in advertisements, packaging, menus or cookbooks.

Professional food photography is a collaborative effort, usually involving an art director, a photographer, a food stylist, a prop stylist and their assistants. Wikipedia