L102: Lesson #1 discussion

[Uncle Frank]

Only a jerk would assign homework on the first day of class.

Drats. After all this waiting, I was hoping Dave would be jerky enough to assign a lesson :Crunk:.

Science tells us that we can only taste five things: Sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami. Don't believe me? Check out the Wikipedia page for more info. (And I didn't know what "umami" was, either.)

Oh, great . Now we have another mysterious Japanese word (umami) to add to our vocabularly along with the universally misunderstood, misspelled, and mispronounced bokeh.

Next: Seven ways to control light

Let's guess at what's coming. Seven ways could be...

Power of light source
Size of light source
Direction of light source
GoBos
Filters
Reflectors
Modifiers
Aperture
Shutter speed
ISO

Hmmm, that's ten ways. Either Dave doesn't have enough imagination, or I don't understand the question. Wanna place a bet on that proposition? I'll take Dave :wink:.

 

[peterparker]

I'll take a guess that he will put aperture, shutter and ISO together as exposure. That still leaves 8...

 

[greyflash]

Drop the last three which are technically camera controls and voila you have seven.

 

[Uncle Frank]

L102 lesson 2 is up, and Dave's 7 modifiers are revealed.

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2007/06/l102-light-controls-overview.html

 

[jklofft]

UF,

I think I'll be joining you on the odyssey. Can't wait for the first real assignments!

 

[Uncle Frank]

UF,

I think I'll be joining you on the odyssey. Can't wait for the first real assignments!

I'll be glad for your company, Jeff.

If you're itchy to get started, you can pass the time profitably by reviiewing Lighting 101...

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html


... or checking out the creative ways Dave tackled some real world assignments.

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/on-assignment.html

 

[cwilt]

I will play along as well. As long as I can find a little free time to do so.

 

[Uncle Frank]

Great. You're very good at flash work already, so it will be fun to see your homework .

 

[greyflash]

OK, no big surprises there.

 

[jklofft]

UF,

I've read the 101 stuff, but am still somewhat hopeless at lighting. I'm hopeing for a better result with this "class".

 

[Sharon]

I'm looking forward to the L102 also, as off camera flash is all new to me. I've got the flash and the stand, but still have to get the umbrella. I've been reading the information at strobist and I'm trying to decide between the soft silver and the white with the removable black backing. Any thoughts on which one would be better for a beginner? I thought the white/black might be more versatile since I could use it to shoot through or bounce.

Looking forward to the lessons and learning with all of you.

 

[Uncle Frank]

I thought the white/black might be more versatile since I could use it to shoot through or bounce.

That's what I did, Sharon. There's no reason we can't start off that way, and get some more umbrellas later on. They're not very expensive.

 

[jcovert]

I'm also following along here...but I admit I'm struggling to get it. ..and since I don't know what I'm doing yet, I haven't purchased anything, so I feel fairly lost still. Are there any 'no-brainer' products in the Strobist class that I can go ahead and buy and start playing with? I have an old Vivitar 550FD that I'm hoping to put to good use somehow. I feel like I should have some setup to be able to follow along at least, but I just don't quite know how to get started. (Budget is $400-ish for now at least).

Just throwing that out there, and joining the Strobist club formally! ;-) I'm super excited to take my photography to the next level.

 

[ibcj]

jcovert,

If you haven't already, you may want to check out http://mpex.com/Strobist/, which is linked from the Strobist blog. Seems as though they have some good information and setups for us Strobist beginners.

 

[Sharon]

Thanks, Frank. Think I'll try to get the white/black umbrella ordered today. And you're right about the price, a nice change compared to most photography related stuff.

jcovert, someone else can probably answer this better than I can, but I'm new to the off camera flash stuff also. I'm starting with an sb800, light stand, and an umbrella. I'm going to use the pop-up flash in commander mode to fire the sb800. I'm not sure if you can do that with the d70. But, I'm sure someone can answer that question and make further suggestions.

 

[Uncle Frank]

jcovert, someone else can probably answer this better than I can, but I'm new to the off camera flash stuff also. I'm starting with an sb800, light stand, and an umbrella. I'm going to use the pop-up flash in commander mode to fire the sb800. I'm not sure if you can do that with the d70. But, I'm sure someone can answer that question and make further suggestions.

Yes, the d70 can do that. In fact, I have a d70 for a backup, and used it in that manner just last week.

 

[peterparker]

UF,

I've read the 101 stuff, but am still somewhat hopeless at lighting. I'm hopeing for a better result with this "class".

Same here.

 

[Ray C.]

It's great to see lots of folks jumping in for L102!! Even if this is brand new to you, don't be intimidated. It's really not as tough as it may appear.

In fact, the reason I suggested running a parallel L102 here at the Cafe in the first place is to give people a smaller venue for feedback, discussion, ideas, critique, etc, before putting your best stuff up on the Strobist Flickr Group. Because let's face it...there will be hundreds of photos going up on the Flickr site for L102 for each assignment and the feedback on individual images will be minimal. Here, we can bounce ideas off of each other, ask questions, etc.

And please don't be afraid to ask questions. Chances are, there are other shooters who probably have the same question. I'm not an expert, but I do have a pretty firm grip on off-camera lighting and will be happy to help in any way possible.

The real beauty of the Strobist Flickr group and discussion board is that there are some true lighting gurus who post thier images there, along with complete setup information...now THAT is a valuable tool!

For example, check out any photos and comments on the board from Don Giannatti, who goes by the name "wizwow" on Flickr...that dude has got it goin' on. Also his website is: http://www.dongiannatti.com/

 

[Uncle Frank]

In fact, the reason I suggested running a parallel L102 here at the Cafe in the first place is to give people a smaller venue for feedback, discussion, ideas, critique, etc, before putting your best stuff up on the Strobist Flickr Group.

If there's enough participation here, I'm going to avoid the Flickr group altogether. Too easy go get lost in that big crowd, and I can't figure out how to post/tag over there anyway.

 

[Sharon]

Frank, did you order the collapsible umbrella (43") from Midwest? I didn't put my order in yet and am trying to decide between that one and a 45" from B & H. The B&H one doesn't fold up as small as the Midwest one. Seems there is tax and shipping from Midwest, plus it doesn't tell you if they are in stock. I know it's in stock at B&H and no tax.

Thought I'd get your opinion, if you don't mind, and see which one you ordered and if you're happy with it.

Thanks! And I don't think I'll be doing the Flickr thing either since I don't have anything set up for that. Hopefully, there will be many people participating from the Cafe!