Justin Huffman wrote:
Your splitting hairs here. Ive learned a TON from strobist.com and I havent spent one dime. Nobody from the site asked me for money, and I didnt have to enter an email address or "register" to get to the meat and potatoes of the content.... so for the purposes of this discussion, yea its free. Lets not get into counting david hobbys' money.
I'm not criticizing David, I'm just saying there are other blogs and sources (http://www.dg28.com/) of lighting information that provide as good or better info, but their marketing skills are not on the same level as Hobby's. I was just pointing out that he does it to make money, not out of the kindness of his heart. He did a fantastic job of setting up the blog and promoting it to turn it into a revenue stream. He planned it from the start as a business venture. His marketing skills surpass his lighting skill by far.
If you follow the link above and go to the education link, you will see that Neil posted the same type of journalist/Strobist info for free years before Hobby did. Neil's marketing wasn't as solid and he did not become a household name.
I myself have been using Metz 45 and 60 flash units in the 'strobist' way since the early eighties, not for the sake of 'alternative' technique, but simply because I couldn't afford studio flashes and generators, let alone use of that kind of stuf on location like eg Annie Leibovitz did
I didn't have Annie's Dynalites either, but I did have three Vivitar 283s with home-made sealed lead acid battery packs. Kinda neat, actually.
cordellwillis wrote:
"Strobist" is purely a name created for his blog. Not a technique of any kind.
I also read it since he first started it...back then, he leaned heavily on his photojournalist background, which means speedlights and low weight stands, so in the first few years, "strobist" meant speedlights and fleabay triggers (cheap as possible) which is what got most people interested in learning lighting since it was so inexpensive.
Hobby has trademarked the "Strobist" name though, and nowadays he's no longer synonymous w/ speedlights since he's migrated to Profoto...
kenyee wrote:
.....and nowadays he's no longer synonymous w/ speedlights since he's migrated to Profoto...
What David was doing in 'Strobist' times, which he doesn't do now was use a Nikon D70. This enabled him access to higher speed shutters whilst retaining output.. 'overpowering the sun' was possible then. Every strobist wants the same now but armed with only half the story.
To answer the OP, I have enjoyed Strobist and use it more for fun stuff than anything else, but it comes in handy for some work stuff (photography for my ironworks shop). I saw David on the Flash Bus Tour with McNalley and it was educational and fun, but I learned more just from the site.
This one was for work: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7147/6698925743_48dd86c098_z.jpg
We built this protective grille to cover the opening that firemen used to slide down the pole in an old firehouse that was converted into a residence. I used a flash inserted into a large brake light housing off of a car to mock a fire engine running its emergency lights.
David has now totally stepped away from the original Strobist thing of lighting on a shoe string with Profoto lights and Phaseone digital back (he switched to MF if you hadn't heard). Though he is totally transparent about all of it. That's not a knock against him because his sight continues to be a source of inspiration for many and his Lighting 101 is a great accessible entry point into OCF. He and Joe McNally were two big inspirations for me (actually Joe McNally was the inspiration for my entry into lighing with small flashes).
Anyway.. Hobby's hoco360 was part of what gave me the idea for my photoblog that highlights people who are serving the needy http://www.focusedonthelight.net
I realize Hobby's site is not a charitable site and may eventually make him money but it was part of the big picture of getting me there when I was looking for some way to give back with my photography. Just helped to spark the idea and I think that underlines what is most useful about the strobist site these days - inspiration.
DigMeTX wrote:
Anyway.. Hobby's hoco360 was part of what gave me the idea for my photoblog that highlights people who are serving the needy http://www.focusedonthelight.net
I realize Hobby's site is not a charitable site
brad
You have some nice shots in your blog.
My question is this: Who cares if Hobby's site will generate him a profit? It was helpful to me and inspired me to get out and have some fun, as well as develop some techniques that will hopefully make me some more money. Why shouldn't he profit from his work in putting together a web site that educates and inspires?
I'm not sure why people are confused over the fact that it is a how-to site not a groundbreaking techniques site. I don't think he has ever claimed anything else. It is like accusing your math teacher of being a marketer by ripping off Euclid.
patrick_morris wrote:
I'm not sure why people are confused over the fact that it is a how-to site not a groundbreaking techniques site. I don't think he has ever claimed anything else. It is like accusing your math teacher of being a marketer by ripping off Euclid.
Actually, it's more like other successful inner city math teachers being bemused when the movie was made of Jaime Escalante doing the same thing they had been doing.
^ That is a PERFECT example because those prideful teachers were so busy being bemused that they didn't notice that Escalante was doing it better than they were and accomplishing things that none of them had accomplished. The attitude of being bemused by that sums up the pettiness that one often sees in such situations where people are trying to tear down someone who has been more successful than themselves or gets more recognition than they do. It's a shame we can't all just be happy for and supportive of those who are succesful among us.
That is a PERFECT example because those prideful teachers were so busy being bemused that they didn't notice that Escalante was doing it better than they were and accomplishing things that none of them had accomplished.
The point is the bemusement instead of excitement for a fellow teacher who is being recognized for incredible success. It implies derision and it's born out of the same pettiness that leads people to diminish a David Hobby or others who have attained success and recognition. I see it here all the time.
After reading Strobist and Charles Gardner, I was going over my kit last week and attempting to get re-organized. I have light weight Norman stands that are lighter in weight than my larger Manfrotto by Bogen air cushioned stands, two of which also have wheels on them. I made sure that I have the necessary tips, adapters and umbrella holder brackets which can hold both the PW and SB800 speedlights with an umbrella all at the same time. My larger White Lightening unit is available also. Lighting is so much of what we do with photography. It is helpful to see what people are doing with lighting and what they carry. Additional benefits are costly, such as serious strobes to take outdoors with battery paks or generators. That is probably what I am missing right now but the portable speedlights will have to suffice. I also have a set of Reflectasol flats in various textures. They serve as a bounce flat to the side of a face, eliminating an umbrella with attached strobe. The Reflectasol flats can also be used as an umbrella in a holder on a stand with a speed light or a large studio strobe light like the White Lightening instead of using a round umbrella.
"Strobist" is now a "universal catch phrase" for portable lighting and light modifiers used on location photo shoots. There, I said it. That is how I knew it from not even going there, previously.
DigMeTX wrote:
^ That is a PERFECT example because those prideful teachers were so busy being bemused that they didn't notice that Escalante was doing it better than they were and accomplishing things that none of them had accomplished.......
brad cook
Public school teacher
I half expect those prideful teachers were busy getting on and actually 'doing' it rather than 'talking' about how they were doing it. Same sort of thing here, but to different audiences...
It's ironic that a cult built on street level equipment accessible by many, now has a leader using equipment accessible by just an elite few, and which a few years ago was completely unnecessary. The funny thing is, the features of that new equipment mimics the function of the original, this time in individual isolation to the camera and the lighting producing the same benefits the original cult was founded on - but not now. Speedlites and Speedlights are still promoted despite their failings and despite the newfound old desires of the founder, namely more output or more ratio which has long been lacking. So much for promoting "less is more".. less is positively less.
Does that mean David 'sold out'? Not really, it's just the way the consumer market works. I suspect that electronic shutter technology has little investment since the returns on selling multiple Speedlights will have a far greater profit margin than a single camera would. The lowly Speedlight must have become one of the greatest profit centres for camera manufacturers ever with their inbuilt inadequacies resulting in multiple sales to their fallible victims - merely to counteract their own failings, purely and entirely. How many times do you see this positively encouraged, and how many actually fall for the Hype? A whole industry has developed on the back of this 'buying more' each with ever diminishing returns for every one bought.
Sid Ceaser wrote:
A pet peeve of mine is when people come up to me asking me if I'm a "Strobist" and what my "Strobist Kit" is. Ugh.
Just smile and humour them, they're "Hobbyists" after all. As followers of "Strobist" (AKA David Hobby) they have little option...
You've made many incorrect assumptions about me and others, some rather insulting, but it's OK I'm used to that here. I tend to prefer discussions based in rational logic rather than stereotypes and assumptions so I'll just leave it at that. I'm glad you have a system that works for you as a commercial photographer. I work with what I have as a small-time hobbyist and occasional portrait photographer and it works for me too. God bless and have a wonderful 2012.
In photography, there is always something else to try and to buy. It takes the place of learning what you already have and using it effectively. I like the idea of a cult devoted to "keeping it simple". That seems so very hard to do and it takes a "master" to figure that out, (not to mention purchasing all kinds of stuff and then narrowing it down to a manageable way to carry it all.
