Think about the light you need, either as a creative solution, or because it’s too darn dark! Chances are you have either a built-in flash on your camera, or hopefully, a separate unit. Now, we’re not going to get into studio lighting as that is a massive subject, and just want to look at the […]

It’s a constant search for the Holy grail of the best light modifier. We’ll just talk about the speedlight range here. Since not a whole lot new has come on the market since last year, that should adjust your thinking. I’m sure you’ll want to try at least one of these units, and perhaps add them […]

This is probably the best overall Photo Event of the year.

Sure, we’re coming into the season of new gear. PhotoPlus Expo will reveal all of the new tools you’ll lust after. As a matter of fact, I’m working on some new gear reviews of goods that you’ll find useful to add to the bag, or post-production workflow. But… How are doing with the gear you […]

Back to School, Pumpkin latte’s, Halloween candy, And Orange is all over the place! For me, the fall only means that one of the best photo gear expos is coming soon to NYC. All of us gear monkeys will be seeing, feeling, touching, buying, new kit that will make what we love even better. Sure,the […]

My Nikon D700 has been a good friend for years. Then along came the D800: incredible video specs, 36mp, crazy great body construction. Of course, the d800 beget the D810 bringing it all to a new level. But being greedy, there were things I really wanted and had missed. The just announced Nikon D750 took […]

The bain of every photographer using speedlights is the rather ugly, harsh light blasting out of the end of them. It needs to be tamed, shaped, many times softened so that your subjects are treated with respect, and beautiful, flattering light. It’s a quest we’ve all been on. Last week I shot an assignment for […]

For years we have been attending the best photographic trade fair in the world: PHOTOPLUS EXPO! If you want to see the latest gear, put your hands on it, and shoot away. Come Here. If you want to hear form the masters in the business. Come Here If you want to hang with your fellow photogs […]

You may know Joe McNally from his speedlight adventures on the Strobist, or teaching his methods for getting some great photo journalistic shots. Quite honestly, our first encounter with Mr. McNally’s work was an exhibit at the Skirball Museum in Los Angeles of his massive over life sized, Polaroid portraits of the Faces of Ground […]

Probably a good idea to let one of the masters of the speedlight give you his version of lighting first. Even if you think you got it all down, Joe McNally has some lessons for you that you need. We all need em. And if you just bring your speedlight out for some flash on […]

Since the advent of Pocket Wizards, the photographers life, especially with strobes, has become a less cluttered one. In our early training days, everything was wired and the best you could do was have a slave on a strobe bank unit, so multiples could be tripped simultaneously. The Wein company in CA had some great […]

Austin,Texas, with a triple scoop of Interactive, Film And Music events. Seminars, performances, networking, parties. it’s got it all. South By SouthWest has got to be one of the best all around festivals happening today, bar none. The finest minds in the interactive and social media space, combine with some of the finest content creators […]

There was such a great response to the last time we gave away the Gary Fong Lightsphere, that we knew that it would come around again. How about a full up kit with a ton of the components that Gary Fong makes? Details on how to enter to win at the end of this post. […]

This may be the most non-camera related item we’ve ever given away, but trust us on this: we use it ALL the time. As airlines charge you for everything imaginable (including blankets and pillows) the worst part for us, are the baggage charges: $25 for the first and $35 for the second. Ouch. But the […]

You have possibly seen this item attached to speedlights at various events. Or maybe read about it in your fave photo mag/blog. Yep, you know the thing that looks like a food containers from the deli counter? And most likely was the inspiration for the bit of kit that has become a staple in many […]

Rogue FlashBenders light shaping tools. Sure, we’ve talked about em, given some away, and had some nice still photos. To really understand some of the best uses, it takes a live demo to see what you can get. At PhotoPlus Expo 2010, photographer David Guy Maynard set up camp at the Expoimaging booth to give […]

Yes, it’s here again!- the US photo trade show, PhotoPlus Expo with some amazing seminars to compliment the new gear to see on the Javits Center floor. We’ll be there starting this morning, to bring you some news from what may be coming up in the word of tools to make your photo life a […]

In this case, you provide the feast of light, we’ll help you move it! It’s all about how you shape the light. Plenty of Speedlights will give you the raw output you need , but that light can be pretty gross just pouring out of the top of those things. You need to shape it, […]

They have been very busy, those people at Nikon. In the past few months they have released an incredible about of new product. Today, they announce 2 new prime lenses: 35mm f/1.4 G and and a 200mm f/2 lens with VRII. Both have Nano Crystal Coating for reduced lens flare, with great Bokeh, and use […]

Sometimes when we review a product and we like what it does so much, we do what we can to get one in your hands. This is the newest addition to the bag: Rogue FlashBender Small Positionable Reflector Yes, it’s a mouthful but, it does the job. We love simple tools that work. This is […]

In this 3rd and last installment with Frazer Harrison, Getty Images photographer, he goes deeper into the bag and walks you through some of the tools he uses daily to do his photographic job. We did a video of him a few years ago when he was a Canon guy, and now that he has […]

In this next installment with Frazer Harrison, he gets deeper into the bag with some amazing tips on speedlights, batteries, lenses and more. Get a bit of reality from a working pro, who, when we taped this, was getting ready for a weekend of Oscar events. He’s the real deal, and lets you know what […]

We have been enjoying bring you this latest series of What’s In The Bag? with Kristian Dowling. He has generously been sharing tips, gear ideas and showing what he uses to get the money. In this segment, he lays out a path. The path he took. And advice as to what your path can be, […]

This time Kristian Dowling gets to the meat of the matter: Out comes the hardware-Nikon D3 and Nikon D3s. He’ll tell you why these cameras are his choice, plus this time you get a close look at the bag itself, a ThinkTank Airport Security V.20. And now part, Part 4 with Kristian Dowling, Coming soon, […]

OK, it’s kind a Part 2, and lenses are kinda part 3 but don’t let that distract you from the great info that Kristian continues to share in the next installment. He’ll show you his techniques for off camera flash as well as the gear needed to effectively do it. The light, the power,a nd […]

We’re back again with a new series of vids of photographers sharing with you the gear they use, and more importantly, why they use it. This photographer, Kristian Dowling, was of special interest to us as he not only shoots existing light or speedlit shots, he is expert in the use of strobes and light […]

What we really mean to say is that Delkin products ( the Archival Gold DVD, Fat Gekko people) has come up with a few things to make your life on or near water a little better. At PMA a couple week ago, they were showing off a waterproof bag, the Jellyfish, for your smartphone or […]

The Hot Shoe Diaries is written by Joe McNally and may be the best handbook on using speedlights out there. (Not to be confused with Red Shoe Diaries, an adult series on HBO in the 90’s hosted by David Duchovny) While you may not use the bagful of flashes that Mr. McNally uses, he will […]

Who knew. Well, we used to know. Every month in the Pasadena Elks Lodge, all kinds of used gear photography dealers gather and lay out their wares on long tables. What do they have ? All kinds of camera goods in all kinds of conditions. Brand new, used, VERY used, and that exact thing you […]

…for about 2.5 hours on this very solid DVD with Bob Krist and Joe McNally , Nikon School Presents A Hands-On Guide to Creative Lighting Sometimes we have items that are so popular we have to give them away again. This is one of those things. We love it when the manufacturers take it upon […]

Give your shoulders a break. The camera bag manufacturers have heard your backs aching, and want to give you some relief. Nope, not an assistant to carry your gear, but bags to make things a little easier. Roller Bags. Most of the major brands have been entering this field for awhile, but today we’re going […]

A few years ago, we attended an event where the photog had this funny white contraption on the front of their flash that looked like a DIY food container/light modifier. Should it hold my potato salad or shape my light? Food or Flash? It turns out it was the 1st version of the Gary Fong […]

…for about 2.5 hours on this very solid DVD with Bob Krist and Joe McNally (yep,there he is again), Nikon School Presents A Hands-On Guide to Creative Lighting We love it when the manufacturers take it upon themselves to teach you about the products they sell. No, really. Yes, they are promoting their products, but […]

Can we say they have the coolest camera gear website? Sure, we can, Because they do. And the recent revise makes it easy for you to check out their products in all kinds of ways. Now we’ve said it before: most photogs have a variety of camera bags based on the need of the shoot. […]

A couple of weeks ago, we showed you some items from David Honl’s line of light shapers, distributed by expoimaging. Basically for those using speedlights, which is basically ALL of us at some point, you really want to use the light in a better way perhaps, than just opening up the floodgates. Sure, you can […]

While we trooped the floors of a slightly smaller PMA last week, there were a ton of products to still check out and we’ll be giving you a look at some of what we felt was the best of the bunch. Coincidentally, David Honl, photographer & inventor, was on our flight to Vegas and we […]