Just found a very interesting and informative website for improving our photography..

[Fumesucker]

Strobist.com

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/02/welcome-to-strobist.html

I already knew a fair bit about using off camera flashes but this site takes it to a whole 'nother level.

Like the man says, the ultimate compliment to a photographer is "Wow, you must have a *nice* camera!"..

And it's more about light and how you use it than it is about the actual equipment you have.

[ManiacJoe]

1. Yes, lots of good stuff at Strobist.

Now if I could just find the time to read/learn it....

[Fumesucker]

4. One short article in Lighting102 taught me how to emulate a softbox on the cheap..

I'm getting ready to do a post on it as soon as I Photoshop a bit..

[dbmk]

2. Don't know about ultimate :)

Read this on a forum:
"
Someone wrote to me: "Beautiful pictures! You must have a nice camera."
I replied: "Thank you for the beautiful comment. You must have a nice keyboard."
"
:)

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

3. lol

that's great

[Fumesucker]

5. Yep, extremely apt analogy..

:rofl:

[priller]

6. Here in Austin we have regular Strobist meetups

Also Flickr group meetups. I've been to one big Strobist meeting where we rented out a nightclub on a Sunday morning, hired some local models, and arranged 5 stations with different lighting setups, just to let people try out lighting in a variety of situations. We used smaller flashes, big strobes, umbrellas, soft boxes, etc, etc.

It was a great experience, although I have to admit I was a bit overwhelmed by it. Trying to think about the photos and the lighting and the ambient lighting and also interact with the model was just too much to handle the first time around. By the end I just asked the model to go outside and shoot natural light.

But overall I would highly recommend something like that if you have an active Strobist group in your area.

Some photos from that day:

[Richard D]

7. Thank you for this!

I'm only through a few lessons and I've learned a lot already.