Strobe Lighting

The Canon 5D MkIII and the Nikon D800 are two of the hottest cameras on the market right now. In this video commercial photographer Nathan Elson joins up with The Camera Store's Chris Niccolls to see how these two cameras stack up in the image quality department. Enjoy!

Photographer Dave Hamilton takes us behind the scenes on his latest shoot with hockey legend, Trevor Linden. This video is very informative and well produced - including a lighting diagram for each of the different setups. Aiming to get that perfect cover shot for Vancouver View Magazine's April 2012 issue, Dave was able to get some nice shots using his Canon 5D Mark II.

If you enjoy looking at fashion images, then the photography duo Sofia Sanchez & Mauro Mongiello should be on your radar. They are ranked as among the top fashion photographers on Model.com and it's easy to see how their work stands out within one of the most saturated fields of photography.

In this behind the scenes video, Jay P Morgan shows us how he combined natural light and strobes to get that perfect shot while on location. First, he starts by determining where the sun is going to set on the horizon by using the very handy iPhone app, Sunseeker. For this project, he was shooting stills as well as video, which can get a bit tricky.

If you are a beginner in terms of lighting, or looking for some quick and simple light setups, then Don Giannatti has you covered. Don (a.k.a.

Fstoppers.com has featured some great behind the scenes videos over the years and showcased amazingly talented professional photographers in our Fstoppers Originals series. Recently Patrick and I were invited to Scottsdale, Arizona to expose the secrets of commercial photographer Blair Bunting.

This video from Smarter Every Day shows how you can capture any gun's flame throwing abilities with precise accuracy. Using a Pulse Generator, Destin explains how he rigged his flash setup to fire at the exact moment the gun is fired. By dragging the shutter and combining the exposure with flash, the Alabama native created some pretty interesting photographs.

Last week Pocket Wizard released all the specs for their new PocketWizard Plus III Transceivers. Along with the specs being released, so have a bunch of BTS videos and reviews. Our friends over at the McNally camp did their own testing on many of the features on the new PW3 as well. [Pre-order your PW3 here]. Enjoy!  

I've always been a fan of documentary photographer, Mary Ellen Mark. Having published over 15 books, she has taken some of the most compelling images and is considered a living legend. In this video, she talks about the state current state of documentary photography and gives helpful advice to those trying to break out in the field.

Today, Pocket Wizard rolled out the newest in their line of wireless flash triggering devices: the long-awaited update to the industry standard Pocket Wizard Plus II, the Pocket Wizard Plus III. We at Fstoppers have been playing with them for awhile, and we're here to give you all the details, including an exclusive video look at the new Pocket Wizard Plus III.

As an owner of a Lensbaby, I'm a big fan of what these lenses can do. In this video, Lensbaby goes behind the scenes to interview commercial and fine art photographer, Fritz Liedtke. Obviously there are other ways to get similar effects that Fritz shows us but by using the Lensbaby Composer Pro and the Edge 80 Optic, he is able to see it instantly and directly in the camera.

In this video, Photographer Tyler Oxendine takes us behind the scenes on his shoot for the 2012 D1 Combine Class. In the first lighting setup, he's using two Alienbee B800's with a PLM Umbrella and a yellow gel attached. In the second setup, Tyler dropped down to using just one of the Alienbee B800's with a PLM Umbrella.

Well, it seems that a good idea is worth stealing, in this case it's the iPhone photoshoot that Fstopper's own Lee Morris did well over a year ago with a 3Gs. Well, Cris Matthews of VideoJunkie in the UK has done his own take using an iPhone4 and an LED video ring light. Cant wait to see some more copy cats do this with the new iPhone4s, being that it's camera is now so much better. Enjoy!

The response Peter Hurley's downloadable tutorial The Art Behind The Headshot has been receiving over the last few months has been unbelievable. Peter's technique has changed the way so many photographers approach working with models, and it's apparent by his facebook group that photographers of all skill levels are taking the best headshots in their portfolios.

We are still making our way through all 179 contest entries and posting our favorites as we come to them. I'm a big fan of the BYU Photo Team's shoot below which involved shooting the girls with splashing water. By soaking the gymnasts right before they jump, the team is able to capture the motion of their moves with the water.

Last time, photographer Jay P Morgan gave us tips on the best way to use a reflector. This time he shows us how he combined a Hensel 1200w Porty Pack with a beauty dish attached and the photoflex 5 in 1 reflectors. If you missed his previous video, click here.

The Fstoppers 2011 BTS Contest is now closed and we are going through every single video 1 by 1 to choose our favorites that will make it to the next round. In the next round our panel of celebrity judges will narrow the lot down to the top 3 winners. At this point we still have not seen every video but if you would like to look through them yourself, you can see them all here on our forum.

One of the biggest rewards of our 2011 Behind The Scenes Contest is we finally get to meet our readers and see what they enjoy shooting. Meet Kevin Kozicki; he is a great fashion photographer based out of sunny Los Angeles. In his contest entry, Kevin wanted to use poinsettia leaves in some sort of beauty themed image while not going in the typical Christmas/Holiday route.

Unless you shoot fast moving objects with flash on a regular basis, you might not be aware that a strobes "flash duration" has a huge affect on an image's total sharpness. Flash duration is simply the time at which your flash is emitting light.

Warning! You now have 3 days to submit your behind the scenes video for our big 2011 contest.

Jay P Morgan is at it again with a new Christmas themed photoshoot. Almost everytime I watch one of Jay's photoshoots I learn a clever way to artificially create something that I wouldn't have thought of before. If you've ever wanted to know how to create realistic fake snow on a set, Jay teaches you a simple and easy way to bring the elements into the studio.

Amy Lynn must really want to win some of the $20,000 in photo gear we are giving away in our Behind the Scenes Contest because the photoshoot idea she came up with is one of the most original ideas we've seen yet! Amy wanted to create a fashion image with a twist.

We are heading into the final stretch for our 2011 Behind The Scenes Contest and someone is about to win a truckload of gear! The latest video that caught my attention was from LA photographer Mike Kelley. Mike has been featured on our site before but in case you missed that post, his portfolio is full of some pretty kick ass commercial images of buildings and outdoor environments.

A few weeks ago, commercial photographer Jay P Morgan showed us how to balance strobe light with ambient light on a large 18 wheeler (which involved closing down a California highway on ramp). In this video Jay is shooting a lifestyle image for Pilot Freight Services which requires him to light a large outdoor areas with studio lighting.

As we get closer to the deadline to enter our Behind The Scenes Contest we are seeing more and more entries, many of which are looking truly great. As I was browsing through the submissions, I noticed this one by Cory Albrechston where he demonstrates how he designed and lit a set to create the look of someone trapped under a sheet of ice.

Russell James is perhaps my favorite photographer of all time. His images of sexy women never look cliche, and basically everything about his photographs are brilliant. But few people probably know what steps Russell took in becoming one of the world's most successful photographers.

There are a ton of car photographers out there but very few of them are this good. Lee Howell just sent me his newest portfolio shoot that involved shooting a new Audi R8 GT in a soon to be opened tunnel. Lee got his hands on one of the craziest car rigs I have ever seen and walks us through the basics of his production. With a little bit of post work, the images become world class shots.

One of the biggest announcements I was really excited about this year was the release of Nikon's Flagship SB910 Speedlight. Many people were speculating that the revamped portable strobe would be smaller like the classic SB800, finally offer wireless syncing via radio, incorporate a small constant LED light for video, or add another half stop or two of power.

When Lee and I started this website almost two years ago, our vision was to not only share knowledge of what some of the best photographers around the world were doing but to also create a community that could inspire other creative professionals.

Most people know Joe McNally for his photojournalism or his editorial work. Others know him as the author of some of the best photography books on lighting. But Joe "numnuts" McNally is also one heck of an advertising photographer too. Recently Joe photographed the Anti-Gravity Dancers in an ad campaign for Epson's new R3000 printers.

It's pretty rare that a solid behind the scenes video comes from a super high end photoshoot. Usually they aren't full of much photography insight and instead focus on the model. But that doesn't mean you can't get inspired and learn something from the best of the best.

Jaren Wilkey is the manager of Brigham Young University's photography department (perhaps he helped on this shoot?). His Behind The Scenes Contest submission idea was to create a photoshoot that played off a news story there at the university. Jaren and his students set out to produce an editorial type image featuring computer hackers.

I just realized that our Fstoppers Twitter account has tons of unread direct messages (we prefer you email us). One of them was from Douglas Sonders who had a crazy experience with one of the original Ghostbusters Ecto 1 Cadillacs. These caddies have so many lights on them that I can't make any sense of what is going on but it looks pretty cool.

There are just less than 7 weeks left to submit your behind the scenes contest video. Submissions are starting to come in and it's amazing what our readers are doing through their photography. As the video submissions come in we are going to feature the standouts here on the front of Fstoppers.

Some of my favorite behind the scenes videos we've featured on Fstoppers are of Matthew Jordan Smith. He speaks well and always articulates his lighting and setups in a way that both amateurs and pros can understand.

Von Wong has been featured on our site many times because he is constantly coming up with unique ideas. In this video Von Wong sets out on an unplanned photoshoot with a couple of dancers. Sometimes too much planning can actually limit your creativity. While many of us would have worked on a single shot, Von Wong came away with a group of excellent and completely different images.

Some of our readers might have met up with Monte Isom at last month's Fstoppers NYC Meetup. His videos have been fan favorites on the site and this week he is sharing another one of his commercial shoots. In this behind the scenes video, Monte shows you how he photographed his latest Molson Export Ale ad campaign featuring hockey players as they slide in towards the camera.

Things have been pretty quiet in terms of video submissions for our big 2011 BTS Contest and I know that everyone is planning to have theirs done last minute. Let me give you a little advice, DON'T WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE. As submissions are posted on the forum we will be posting our favorites on Fstoppers.

Jay P. Morgan is a commercial photographer based out in Los Angeles. His behind the scenes videos have been a hit with our readers because they always feature some useful lighting or photoshopping technique. In his latest video, Jay shuts down a highway ramp in order to light an 18 wheeler truck against the LA skyline.

Joel Grimes is a commercial advertising photographer who is most known for his composite portraits. In his recent interview with [Framed], Joel discusses how he got started with his career, how he uses 16bit HDR images in his workflow, does a full photoshoot, and even shows off his musical talents. The video is long so take your time watching it because he gives a lot of useful tips.

This striking image (pun intended) was shot by Blair Bunting for a Deadliest Catch ad for Discovery Channel. Curious to know how he did it? Well, luckily for us, his assistant Paul Morton filmed the whole thing, and Mike Maez was kind enough to edit it down into a digestible and inspiring video.

Jay P Morgan is a commercial photographer out of California who has a history of creating some of the best most educational behind the scenes videos out on the internet (click here to watch tons of them). In this video Jay explains how you can shoot athletes in a studio environment and composite them into any scene easily and effectively.

Ryan Enn Hughes just submited his entry for our BTSV contest and it is quite impressive. Ryan teamed up with The Big Freeze and set up 48 D700 cameras in a circle and then fired them all at once as dancers did their thing.

Strobist has an interesting article by architectural photographer Mike Kelley. Usually exterior shots of homes and buildings are simply too large to effectively light with speedlights or big power packs. The tried and true method of capturing a great looking exterior shot is to turn all the lights on in the building and wait for the ambient sky light to match the build's artificial light.

Taking your creativity to the next level can make all the difference between typical photographs and artistic photographs. Orb Outerwear just released their new Fall 2011 fashion designs and they included a fun behind the scenes video to go along with it. So many photographers already have a pretty solid understanding of lighting to produce great photos.

I have to thank Tyler Kaufman for turning me onto this next video. Sports photographer Peter Read Miller recently shot some of the top NCAA college football players for the latest issue of Sports Illustrated.

I'm sure many of you have heard the saying "overcast skies make for amazing photos". While it's true that soft overcast light is usually more flattering on people's faces, it can also make your photos super boring and even gloomy. So what can you do with your bag of tricks to spice up a photo session during cold, rainy, or overcast days?

A big part of what makes commercial photography so interesting is it often requires photographers to incorporate the latest graphic trends into their work. In other words, in order to cut the mustard in commercial photography, you not only have to be at the top of your game but you also have to produce something eye catching in a market full of interesting media.