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Sunday, March 19, 2006 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.

Lighting is very important in photography. Learn the difference between a hot light and strobe light in this free video clip about professional photography lighting and equipment.

he Light Factory is a museum dedicated to photography, film, and related light-generated mediums. Our exhibitions present aesthetic excellence in contemporary and historic photography and film. The thematic content of our exhibits stimulates dialogue, challenges audiences and encourages artists to test new ideas. The Light Factory offers education and outreach programs designed to teach people of all ages to communicate using the photo and film mediums and to be able to interpret the messages inherent in the images they see both in the museum and in mass media. Following are the values that serve as the foundation for our vision, our mission, and our programs. We believe in… -the transformative power of photography and film -engaging the community through exhibitions and education -creating media literacy among all -evoking reactions and responses from our audience -stimulating creative commentary Each year thousands of people visit The Light Factory at our home in Uptown Charlotte's Spirit Square to experience our exhibitions, take classes, hear talks, and see films. We hope that you will join us as a visitor and participating member.

Great photographs are dependent on lighting! Learn how to set up your photography lights in this free video clip about professional photography lighting and equipment.

Lighting is very important in photography. Get tips for using light reflectors in this free video clip about professional photography lighting and equipment.

Monday, December 08, 2008 Cheap, Soft, 360-Degree Light I was up in New York recently, and saw a video production unit filming in the lobby of my hotel. They were using cheap paper lanterns as light modifiers for their point-source continuous lights. Very cool thinking, IMO.

LIGHTING KIT FOR THE ELDERLY In Books, Friends, Travels, Videos at 12:16am Its small, airplane friendly, easy to use and very light so even photographers of, well, a certain age can lift it. Bob Krist demonstrated his lighting kit in the new Nikon SB900 video….. And people are going nuts about it, emailing him, wanting to know about every bit and piece. He showed the kit during the video, pulling out all the stuff, but not a couple of the crucial items, such as the heating pad and the flask of Geritol. He's one tough sonofagun, though I tell ya. Check out the fight we had on the set…..

Photography equipment is important to good pictures. Get tips for using a camera and flash in this free video clip about professional photography lighting and equipment.

Tutorial on lighting for separation in conjunction with the large format 4x5 view camera class for professional photography students at the Art Institute of Colorado. The video covers meter reading and bellows factor.

Create your own photograph lighting with flashes and strobes. Learn about portable flash units for your camera in this free instructional video for beginning photographers.

Don't overexpose your photos! Learn how to use light meters in the free instructional video for beginning photographers.

Joe McNally is an internationally acclaimed American photographer and long-time photojournalist. McNally is known worldwide for his ability to produce technically and logistically complex assignments with expert use of color and light.

A professional photographer of 20+ years, publisher of prophotolife.com and co-owner of the photo studio daylight-photo.com, in Cincinnati, OH. lots of how to videos on lighting, flash, studio etc

Shooting Pictures in Public Places Is Legal Popular Mechanics, of all publications, offers a rational guide to when and where it's legal to take photographs and video. It's a timely topic, in light of BP's attempts to get local law enforcement agencies to scare away photojournalists, and video shooters who have had their equipment confiscated by cops who didn't want cameras pointing at them. (See our recent blog post on this topic: "Journalists vs. Law Enforcement.") University of Tennessee law professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds' (pictured) conclusion serves as the title of his essay: "Taking Photos in Public Places Is Not a Crime."

Over the years it seems they've done exactly that, funding the kind of international journalism that often is without a sponsor in the USA.   But for journalism to retain any integrity it cannot simply rely on something as intangible as 'a deep sense of responsibility', it must be grounded in a solid set of ethical principles and it must be accountable.   Without these principles journalism doesn't shine the light into dark places, it becomes the dark place. Several weeks ago I came across  a set of pictures on Facebook and Photoshelter by the talented photographer Marco Vernaschi which focus on the subject of child sacrifice in Uganda. The work is both being funded and promoted by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. It's a decent enough story, but not one that is in any way new. The pictures are black and white, often blurred, without hope and even evoke a sense of nihilism.  Nothing however in my journalistic career could prepare me for the disturbing truth as to how a number of the photos were taken.

"HD DSLRs are incredible-they give you a video camera with interchangeable lenses, depth of field control and stellar low-light performance-but they're not without drawbacks. Here's how to work around them. The initial crop of HD DSLRs (Nikon D90, Canon 5D Mark II) were never intended to be used primarily for video. It wasn't until Canon introduced the 5D Mark II that HD DSLR video really took off, and that was without manual video and audio controls. Canon eventually provided manual control of video, but it wasn't until earlier this year that they released manual audio controls (to an extent) and 24p recording. Ever since, the 5D2 has found its way onto film and TV sets. The entire finale of Fox's House was shot with 5D2s. Canon's now brought HD video to the majority of its DSLR line,"

This is not designed to be a course on the history of photography such as a resource to dip into. In addition to pen-portraits of many of the most important photographers of the period, it contains information on some of the most significant processes used during the early days of photography. The project was confined to the first eighty years or so, as this is often a convenient cut-off point in books and when dividing courses into a syllabus. To some extent this has been a frustration, in that there have been many important developments and many interesting photographers who practised during and subsequent to that date. It is hoped that a sequel will be forthcoming in due course. This work is intended to be of general interest, but it may also be a useful starting-off point for students preparing for courses which include brief study of the history of photography. The site will be revised regularly in the light of feedback and further study.

Long before the first public announcements of photographic processes in 1839, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, a scientifically-minded gentleman living on his country estate near Chalon-sur-Saône, France, began experimenting with photography. Fascinated with the craze for the newly-invented art of lithography which swept over France in 1813, he began his initial experiments by 1816. Unable to draw well, Niépce first placed engravings, made transparent, onto engraving stones or glass plates coated with a light-sensitive varnish of his own composition. These experiments, together with his application of the then-popular optical instrument, the camera obscura, would eventually lead him to the invention of the new medium.

With its vibrant oversized photographs and minimalist design, the Boston Globe's The Big Picture weblog launched on June 1 to instant global acclaim. It's designed, programmed, and written by Alan Taylor, an old-school web programmer and blogger, in his spare time while working on community features at Boston.com. (You might know Alan from his popular MegaPenny Project, Amazon Light, or his other projects.)

The Abu Ghraib prison scandal first exploded into public light in April 2004 when reports and photographs of torture were revealed in a daring New Yorker article written by Seymour Hersh. At a conference recently held at Stanford, entitled Thinking Humanity After Abu Ghraib, Hersh and a panel of experts came together to think through the legal, political, psychological, and ethical implications of the abuses at Abu Ghraib, and also to weigh the consequences of the US government's evolving approach to handling enemy combatants and suspects taken during the war on terror. You can now find all of the presentations on iTunes (which you can download for free). Here is the lineup: