How To: Sync a Canon G9 at 1/2500th of a Sec

The Canon G9 is my knock-around point-and-shoot camera. It has 12.1MP, a fast lens, does video and actually syncs well above its nominal sync speed of 1/500th of a sec -- if you know how to do it.

There are a couple ways to pull this off, and the cheapest way is actually the best.

The first thing you have to know if you are going to sync the G9 (or G7) at high speeds is that the camera's onboard flash has to be turned off. Ironic, I know. But the engineers at Canon programmed the flash to sync at 1/500, so when the flash is on that is where your shutter is gonna max out.

So, now that we have turned off the flash, we'll be synching an off-camera flash via the oh-so-handy hot shoe up on top of the camera. The easy way is to use a Pocket Wizard, which works fine but will in practice limit you to a max of about 1/1000th of a second.

This is because of the very minor lag times introduced by the circuitry in the PW itself. This is even more of a hindrance with some of the other wireless remotes, to the point of not being useful at all for some other wireless trigger units.

What you need for really high-speed sync is a simple, dumb wire. This will mean you are limited only by the shutter speed and the power level of the flash.

Why the power level? Because power level (for a speedlight) corresponds to the actual duration of the flash pulse itself. A full-power flash lasts about 1/1000th of a sec. And no matter what synching method you use, you will not squeeze that flash pulse into a 1/2500th of a second's time.

So, first understand that you can expect a full-power manual flash to be fully deployed up to about 1/1000th of a sec. A half-power flash will buy you up to about 1/2000th of a sec. And beyond that, you'll need to limit yourself to a 1/4 power flash, max.

You may think you are synching a full-power flash at 1/2500th, but you are not getting all of it. Just mind the math and you'll be fine.

So, how do we squeeze all of this flash through, without a PW? We use a dumb PC cord. For the camera, you'll need a PC adapter, such as a Nikon AS-15, which converts a hot shoe to a PC cord. Then, you are all set, just as if your camera had a PC jack.

Connect the PC cord to the flash, either by straight connection or via a hot shoe adapter on the other end, and fire away. This will buy you the full synch capability of the G9, but it seems a little cumbersome.

Fortunately, you can bypass all of these steps with a simple, neutered Nikon SC-17 cord. Which is what we will be learning about in the next post.

The Vancouver Film School/YouTube Scholarship Competition: 10 Days Left!

Back in March, we announced an exciting partnership between The Vancouver Film School and YouTube to award full-tuition scholarships to three YouTubers from around the world. The May 9 deadline for the competition is now 10 days away, so consider this your final (gentle) reminder to enter.



The Vancouver Film School's motto is "Results Matter," so we challenged you to create a short film, animation or creative pitch addressing the theme "What Matters To You" and to name the Vancouver Film School program you wished to attend. The competition is open to filmmakers, directors, actors, writers, animators – anyone who can seem themselves benefiting from programs like Acting Essentials, Classical Animation, Digital Design, Film Production and Writing for Film and Television (to see the full list, visit www.vfs.com).



For those of you who still haven't entered, here are some thoughts to consider. First, this competition is about finding students with creativity and drive, not with a perfect set of skills. If you already knew how to make a film, write a screenplay or design a game, why would you be going to school? So don't be intimidated by the competition - if you have a great idea, express it!



Second, this competition isn't about why you want to go to Vancouver Film School. It's about what matters to you in the world. Is it family? Is it peace? Is it the environment? Is it love? Is it travel? Tell us a story through your film, animation or pitch, and let this question inspire you. If your work shows you have creativity and drive, you could find yourself in the top 10. The YouTube community will then vote for three winners.



It's not often you get a chance to go to a prestigious, international film school for free, so stop reading this blog and start creating. You have 10 days left!



Good luck!



Sara P.


YouTube Film

Trendspotting Tuesday: For Those About to Mock...

Welcome to Trendspotting Tuesday, week four, in which we take a not-so-straight-faced look at the genre known as "mockumentary."



From quirky pseudo-sports to rock bands that go all the way to eleven, countless subjects have been given the mockumentary treatment. Filmmaker Christopher Guest is arguably the master mockumentarian, having perfected many of the genre's conventions in films like Spinal Tap and Best in Show, while the Ricky Gervais-created British TV show The Office has spawned international spin-offs in America, Germany, France and Quebec.



Online video makers have not been slow to document – or perhaps that should be mockument – the antics of characters who take themselves, and their hobbies, a bit too seriously. With over 9,500 videos on YouTube tagged as "mockumentary," you can expect plenty of deadpan voice-overs, fictitious "facts" and painfully embarrassing interviews.



YouTube users have posted mock-docs created as film-school projects, high-school projects and no-frills backyard productions. And while they don't all reach the giddy heights of hilarity that Christopher Guest can wring out of an over-earnest interviewee, it's obvious that people are having fun with the format. We've gathered together some of our favorite mocks for a Trendspotting Tuesday homepage takeover and this misinformation-packed playlist. Perhaps it will provide you with the inspiration to create a mock-classic of your own.







Tune in next Tuesday for another take on the trends that make our video community unique. And if there's a trend you'd like us to highlight, leave a comment below or drop us a note on the Trendspotting Tuesday channel, where you can find playlists from our previous trendspotting features.



Cheers,

The YouTube Team

You Choose '08: Energy

Energy independence has been one of the most talked-about issues of this election — and if you've filled up your gas tank lately, you know why. With oil exceeding $115 a barrel, and gas prices expected to reach a national average of $4.00 a gallon by the summer, the need to reform our current energy policy is no longer just an environmental issue, it's becoming an economic necessity.







Most Americans agree that we should decrease our dependence on foreign oil, but precisely what steps should be taken? Should we begin drilling in untapped oil reserves in states such as Alaska? Should we invest in alternative forms of energy, such as corn-based ethanol? Should we concentrate on developing more hybrid technology? Or, as some suggest, is the energy crisis really an economic crisis in disguise and so should strengthening the dollar be our first priority?



Senator Joe Biden was among the first politicians to bring the conversation about reforming U.S. energy policy to YouTube. Back during his moment in the You Choose '08 Spotlight, he asked voters what they would do to break America's dependence on oil. He received many responses, including this one from Razela, who suggests that the government offers tax incentives to automakers based on gas efficiency standards. Check out Senator Biden's response to Razela's video.



To learn a little about the economics of oil, watch this video from CBS News, in which Josh Landis and Mitch Butler of the Fast Draw team give a quick but thorough overview of what factors determine gas prices—complete with pictures.



Addressing the issue of alternative energy, Ethan Block of WhatShouldYouKnow offers some interesting facts (and opinions) about corn-based ethanol. Meanwhile, hoping to dispel the stereotype that oil companies only care about profits, John Hofmeister, president of Shell Oil Company, presented one of the keynote speeches at the first Low Carbon Fuels Conference in Sacramento this April.



Michelle Kaufmann's YouTube Channel is dedicated to helping individuals make their daily lives more "eco-friendly." In this video, Kaufmann shows us how to make eco-friendly candles from renewable resources like soy and beeswax.



If you're environmentally conscious and looking for a laugh, watch this "eco-parody"of the film There Will Be Blood, made especially for Earth Day. And finally, watch this video from shiftinaction, in which environmental advocate Van Jones reminds us that energy independence isn't an isolated issue — it's connected to every issue facing America's future.







Yours,

Steve G.

Greetings from the Land of Cranes

Finally over my jet lag in Dubai, where the temperature is currently 167 degrees. Although, that's fahrenheit, so that's not as bad as it sounds. The humidity is 132% and the breeze is zero mph. Or less.

But it is totally worth it, as I have been hanging out with the other intructors and learning loads about some really cool stuff without having to pay. More pix and some cool links after the jump.

Dubai is perpetually under rapid construction, with three new skyscrapers popping up in in my field of view during the time it took me to write this sentence. I have met some wonderful folks, and am very much looking forward to meeting those of you who have signed on for the next five full days (gulp) of seminars.

Among the cool people I have gotten a chance to meet for the first time is David Nightingale, of the absolutely lovely site, "Chromasia". As you can see here, David will do whatever it takes to get the photo, even if it means steadying his lens with a huge tripod and his hand with a "Stella" beer...

Seriously, go right now and check out Chromasia. You can see a few of his contruction shots here, here, here and here.

Here is Burj Al-Arab, the totally over-the-top hotel as seen from our hotel's roof. Our hotel is perfectly fine, of course. Until you compare it with the Burj Al-Arab, which is a "seven-star hotel" which is, like, three more starts than anyone else has.

If you have a chance, take a few minutes and explore Chromasia. I am loving David's stuff and wanting to know more about HDR now.

Lighting 102: 6.1 - Gelling for Fluorescent

On their face, gels are a pretty simple concept. You stick a colored piece of plastic in front of your flash and it alters the color of the light accordingly. But so much is possible from just this simple trick.

In this, the first of a four-part section on using gels, we'll be looking at their most common use -- converting the color of your flash's light to the color of the ambient light in which you are shooting. This is called color balancing.

We first visited the idea of color balancing in Lighting 101 where the two most important gels were discussed. The "window green," (or "plus green") gel converts the light from a flash to nominally match that of a fluorescent light.

A "CTO" gel similarly converts your flash's light to match the light from an incandescent (i.e., tungsten) bulb. But for today, we'll be talking about just the little green gel. It's certainly complicated enough to merit its own post, as you'll soon see.

While the fluorescent conversion used to be a simple process, this is no longer the case. But for the sake of discussion, let's assume that it still is. At least for the moment.

Traditional fluorescent light is green. About 30 color correction (CC) units of green, to be exact. By placing a 30cc window green gel on our flash, you make the flash's light match that of a traditional fluorescent environment.

If our ambient is green, and your flash is green, you're okay. Because you can correct for all of this similarly green light by setting your camera on the fluorescent light balance, and all is white again. This is because the FL white balance setting just shifts everything over 33 units of magenta. This is what balances out the green.

Take, for example, this shot I made a couple of weeks ago at Western Kentucky University, while teaching the PJ students there.


(Sorry, Jeanie. You were my most recent example...)

This is a fluorescent-lit studio. In this shot I lit Jeanie with an SB-800 in an umbrella and the flash was gelled with a window green gel. My shutter speed was opened up to let the background of the photo burn in to make a decent exposure.

But in addition, the green gel, combined with the camera on fluorescent setting, brings the colors up pretty close to correct. None of that sickly-green cast that happens when you forget to gel your flash and the fluorescents just come in the ugly green way they really look.

Pretty simple technique, right?

But in practice, there are two little gremlins that usually come into play. First, rooms can often have a mix of fluorescent and daylight. Maybe even a little tungsten thrown in for good measure.

In addition to that, fluorescent lights are now all over the map, color-wise. In reality, they can now actually be warmer than tungsten.

Let's take these problems one-by one.

First, on the multi light sources, sorry to say that you have to choose a source color and go with it. But this can be better than it sounds. My first trick, if there is a lot of daylight bouncing around in a fluorescent room, is to ask if I can turn off the overhead lights while I shoot.

If the daylight is enough to cause light balancing issues, there is usually more than enough to work by with the fluorescents turned off. Then you do not balance at all -- just shoot in the daylight with normal flash.

If that solution is not available, I will close the blinds or drapes to minimize the encroaching daylight. (This daylight comes through as magenta when you are set on fluorescent white balance.) One other thing you can do to help are to work on the opposite side of the room as the windows, to minimize the daylight contamination.

If you have a mix of fluorescent, daylight and tungsten, do everything you can to lose the fluorescent light. Then shoot on daylight with no color correction gel on your flash. The daylight and tungsten will mix a lot prettier than any green/other combo will.

(And if all else fails, hope it runs in black and white...)
____________


And as we said earlier, fluorescents are no longer just 30cc's of green. And for us photogs, that really sucks.

There is no good solution here. The important thing is that you have to be able to counteract your conversion gel with a white balance camera setting. That is to say that, even if your fluorescent light is not a perfect green, you pretty much have to live with the difference. Just green your flash and neutralize it (the flash) with the FL white balance setting. Sometimes the ambient will go a little weird. But it is better than not gelling at all.

For those super warm fluorescents, the ones close to tungsten, I will usually just treat them as tungstens. I'll CTO the flash, and set the white balance on the camera to tungsten. Again, not perfect. But better than nothing. And the flash-lit part will look good.

How can you tell where the fluorescents are, color-wise? The easiest was is to shoot an ambient-only shot and chimp your screen. If it looks more green, gel and balance for fluorescent. If it looks more orange, treat it as a tungsten. This is also a good approach for working in vapor-based light (sodium, mercury, etc.).

Your flash-lit subject (usually the most important part of your frame) will be okay. The ambient burn-in part may be a little off. But that's the price we now have to pay for having 57 varieties of fluorescent bulb colors.

And as for dealing with tungsten lights, we'll be hitting that in the next installment of Lighting 102.


NEXT: L102 6.2 - Geling for Tungsten

Placing Videos Into Google Docs Presentations

Last month, we posted about our efforts to make YouTube as open as possible and shared a few examples of partners who were integrating YouTube content into their applications. Today, we'd like to point out another example.



Google Docs is a free, web-based word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation application that allows you to share and collaborate with others in real-time. The Docs team just announced on their blog that you can now search for and insert YouTube videos into your presentation slides. This means that you'll be able to insert your favorite videos in your presentations and play them to your audience when you're giving your presentations.



To see this new feature in action, check out this published presentation.



Haven't heard of Docs? Watch this video that explains what Google Docs is in plain English:







The YouTube Team

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Announcing the First "Guru Challenge"

We are constantly amazed by the YouTube community's creativity and skill, so we wanted to create something special that showcases all of the crafters, chefs, artists, techies and other masters that fearlessly share their genius on the site. Enter the Guru Challenge, in which a variety of experts ask you to show off your creative instincts (and do a little showing off of their own). Take them up on the challenge, and you might find your video featured on the home page for all to see -- not to mention the props you'll get for being favored by some of the best in the business.




Our first Guru Challenge-er is Zoo York, a cutting-edge skateboarding and apparel outfit. These guys seem to have endless imagination and came up with a clever way of spreading the word about their product (hint: it involves throwing cockroaches on suit-types). But now they want to hear from you. Make a response video and show them how you use your creativity to publicize yourself and what you love.









Influential designer, street-style maven and Zoo York supporter Marc Ecko kicks things off with his own response video:









So accept the challenge and show these guys how you spread the word about the things you care about most. And remember: Play it cool, don't disrespect, and you just might find your video blowing up in a New York minute.




Spread it!


Sadia H.


YouTube HowTo & Style

New at Amazon: Minimalist Lighting, by Kirk Tuck

Minimalist Lighting: Professional Techniques for Location Photography is a new book by Austin-based commercial photographer (and long-time Strobist reader) Kirk Tuck.

For those of you looking to grow the small-light thing into a practice of shooting for editorial, corporate and advertising clients, Kirk's book serves as a road map in his effort to show you his lighting gear choices, philosophy and techniques.

The book begins by chronicling Kirk's own transition from Big Lights to using small flashes for his assignments. From there it grows into a full discussion of specific small flash gear and demonstrated lighting styles.

Minimalist Lighting is not a book on theory. It is nuts-and-bolts book with lots of examples, setup shots and lighting diagrams. Kirk also gets into DIY, talking about things like lighting with shower curtains, making your own high-capacity battery packs and waterproofing flashes with baggies.

He covers all the bases on various synching options, stands, clamps, light mods -- and a section on wireless TTL. There was even a piece on how to secure a flash to a wall using one of those little AS-19 flash feet and some tape. (I had never thought of that, actually.)

There are lots of books on light and lighting. But to my knowledge, this is the first one that specifically addresses so much of what you can do with small flashes while shooting in a corporate/editorial style. It's all about learning to use smaller-power light sources to "go with the flow" of the ambient of a scene, rather than just nuking the whole thing with a gazillion watt-seconds.

If your thing is shooting skateboarders at twilight with their hair engulfed in flames, you'll probably want to wait for the next train. Minimalist Lighting is not about cutting-edge, push-the-envelope visual stuff. Kirk's style is clean an personal, with a corporate look that keeps him busy as a professional shooter in Texas.

But if you are looking for a book to show you exactly how one man is making it happen, and to fill in the gaps in your own skills, Kirk will be happy to show you his way. This is a book for photographers who want to learn how to light clean and corporate, without buying (or hauling around) a ton of lighting gear.

Minimalist Lighting: Professional Techniques for Location Photography, is published by Amherst Media. It lists for $34.95, but will be selling on Amazon for $23.07. There is also an additional 5% pre-order discount if you purchase before the book ships, which is estimated to be on May 1st.

Kirk's Website:
KirkTuck.com

Tribeca Film Festival on YouTube

Today, the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival kicked off its seventh year in lower Manhattan. Like YouTube, the festival is known for its eclectic mix of content, with a little bit of something for everybody. Which is why we're excited to let you know that IFC, a long time member of the YouTube community, will be bringing you red carpet coverage, celebrity interviews, Q&As and more. Another reason to pay attention to this year's fest? YouTube's own ArtieTSMITW, aka Brandon Hardesty, will be making his big screen debut in the official Tribeca selection, Bart Got a Room.







To hear more about other films and events taking place, read on...



For lovers of independent cinema, the 24 films in competition represent filmmakers from 18 different countries, more than half of whom are at the festival with their first ever feature film.



For those who prefer bigger budget fare, Gala screenings include the Wachowski Brother's much-anticipated adaptation of the 1960s animated series, Speed Racer, and the comedy Baby Mama, from Manhattan's own Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.



For music lovers, there's the Breaking the Band music showcase, curated by Grey's Anatomy and The OC music supervisor superstar, Alexandra Patsavas, featuring performances by The Hold Steady, The Virgins, Republic Tigers and Bad Veins.



For sports fans, the festival is teaming up with ESPN once again to present a showcase of films focusing on the spirit of competition.



Sound good? Then stay tuned to the Film & Animation Featured Videos page for IFC's daily coverage.



And to any YouTubers lucky enough to be there in person: send us your videos so we can share!



Ah, the ease of festival-going these days…



Enjoy,



Sara P.


YouTube Film

Marry Me, Katharine Gammon

Wired Magazine, my favorite mag for just about everything -- especially photography -- blogged about this month's cover story and included lighting diagrams from the photographer. They were done Joe McNally style, on airline cocktail napkins by photographer Brent Humphreys.

Please, Katharine, let this start happening every month. I will link to you forever and ever, 'till death do us part.

-30-

On Assignment: Controlling Daylight, Pt. 1

Last week, I photographed Jessie Newburn, a local blogger and social networking maven. I shot in the middle of the afternoon to use this portrait as an example of how to light an outdoor portrait with a couple of small flashes on a sunny day.

(First step: Cheat.)

Being able to create a speedlight-lit photo like this any day, rain or shine, is a pretty straightforward process, if you take it one step at at time.


Tame the Sun, Then Use It

The first thing to do when choosing a location for a lit outdoor portrait on a sunny afternoon is to get rid of the sun. The Big Shots use huge gobos to shield their subjects from the sun. But those cost big bucks and you have to cart them around. My solution, find some shade.

Being in the northern hemisphere, for me that means finding shade on the north sides of buildings. So that is where I looked when selecting a background for this shot.

As we have seen before, shade is your friend for outdoor lighting. It kills the direct sunlight, and leaves you with diffuse light that is several stops darker. The lower quantity and more diffuse quality of the light both work for you when it comes to combining the ambient with flash.


Looking at this wide shot of the shooting location, you can see how a shade environment helps the cause greatly. We shot under an embankment that leads up to a town fountain.

Unless you live at the equator and you are shooting at noon on one of the equinoxes, you can always from a shady building side to shoot against.


Here's a quick available light test shot, taken at 1/160th of a sec at f/5.0 at ISO 200. I went with a normal, moderately high sync speed that just about any camera could hit. (No special camera hacks today.) Remember, if you can knock down the ambient, you do not need insane sync speeds to do this kind of thing in the middle of the afternoon.

What we are going to do is to use this shady area ambient light as fill light, and then use flash to create the main light. So, as you might be able to guess, the next thing I do is to knock that aperture down however many stops I want the fill light to be below the main light.

This is your choice, based on how much drama you want to add into your photo. I took it down from f/5.0 to f/11, which is two and one-third stops. This makes for a nice, contrasty lighting ratio for some real texture.


You can now see the ambient-light-only photo, shot at f/11 at 1/160th at ISO 200, which shows you what my photo will look like before the flash is added. I consider this process as setting up a "baseline" exposure for the photo. Whatever the flash doesn't illuminate will look like this.

Now, it's just a matter of lighting Jessie. Bringing an SB-800 in close, shooting at 1/2 power in a shoot-through umbrella, I bring her back up to a nice exposure -- with a much better quality of directional light. This is further enhanced with a 1/4 CTO warming gel on the flash, warming her but leaving the rest of the environment cool, for nice color contrast.

(BTW, we had taken a little break from the Lighting 102 course, but we'll be diving back into that very soon -- and the "gels" section is next.)

So we now have a dropped-down ambient and a warm-lit Jessie, which makes a pretty nice photo. But if you have an extra flash laying around, you can use it to add texture and dimension to the background of your photo.

In this case, I shot it at a hard angle against that back wall to splash a little (ungelled) light back there and bring out the wall's texture. Remember, if you are using your ambient as a fill light, at a ratio you choose, you can use your second light to add depth and texture to your environment.


As you can see form this sectional crop of the scene shot above, I raked the flash across the back wall. In this frame, it is on the right. It was set at 1/8 power and I was using a Honl Shorty Snoot to control the spill. The fact that there is no gel on the back flash allows us a little front-to-back color contrast in the frame, too.

(Click here to see it bigger. FYI, I was shooting from the left side of this frame, towards the wall on the right side.)


Looking at the top shot again, hopefully you can now see all of these elements coming together in a way that allows you to recreate this style in any full-shade environment. Sometimes when you look at a picture with three or four lighting elements going on at the same time, the reverse engineering can be difficult.


Again, the lighting elements being used are:

• The cool, ambient shade light, dropped 2 1/3 stops, becomes the fill light -- smooth and dark for a baseline exposure.
• Then we build Jessie back up with soft, directional umbrella light.
• We warm up the main light for nice skin tones and color contrast.
• We rake a little ungelled hard light across the background, for color contrast, texture and depth.


And while a high sync speed always helps, this shot shows us that you Canon 5D (1/200th sync) shooters can absolutely do this kind of stuff. And for those with a full 1/250th sync, the upshot is that you can shoot at a faster shutter speed, which means a more open aperture to get the same ambient exposure. Which in turn means that you can use the flash at lower power for faster recycling/shooting speeds.

Example: Instead of 1/160th at f/11 at 1/2 power on the flash, you can shoot at 1/250th of a sec, at f/9, and drop the flash power level down to 1/2 power -2/3 stop. (Or, 1/4 power +1/3 stop.)

Same look, faster recycling.

I shot a second look of Jessie at this some location. We'll hit this shoot again for a "Part 2" post soon, and also take a look at how to tame those umbrella and light stands, which pretty much turn to sails on a windy day.

Related post:

:: On Assignment: Shade is Your Friend ::


NEXT: Controlling Daylight, Pt. 2

Welcome, USA Today Readers

If you are dropping by after reading the story in Wednesday's USA Today, we're glad to have you.

Fair warning: You may at first be a little overwhelmed with some of the current lighting info on Strobist.

Don't worry, that's cool. We were all beginners at some point, too. To help make some sense of it all, read our Welcome Page to see what we are all about. Then get ready to hit the Lighting 101 section if you want to start from square one.

For the regulars, hit the "Keep Reading" link for a couple of videos from the USAT interview, one of which is a sort-of lighting demo. And kudos to USAT staff photographer H. Darr Beiser, who creatively avoided unnecessary work by making me light myself...


Videos from the USA Today Interview

They interviewed me at the local library, where I frequently go to work. I am there so often, it is kinda like the "Norm" thing, from Cheers:





When Darr went to take the photo for the paper, he had me light myself on the spot, and then video'd me while I did it:




Many thanks to both Jeff and Darr -- but next time, please use Adobe After Effects to skinny me up some, will ya?

What issue matters most to you?

If you spent any time watching YouTube recently, you might have seen a slew of videos uploaded by voters, news organizations, and the candidates surrounding the Pennsylvania primaries. A lot has happened on the campaign trail since the last primary in Mississippi over a month ago, and so we partnered with C-SPAN to see what issues are on voters' minds right now.



During the last three weeks, many of you around the country submitted responses to the question "What issue matters most to you in this election, and why?"; your videos touched on such issues as healthcare, education, the economy, and immigration. Among the most memorable was this video from a teenager concerned about the Iraq War, and JoeFelice's video called "Where's Washington", which uses a clever pun to discuss the importance of checking governmental power.



In the past week, the C-SPAN bus rolled across Pennsylvania to ask voters the same question, and hundreds of people weighed in. See the clips below from college students, parents, military veterans, local and state politicians, and other citizens who agreed to go on-camera to voice their hopes, fears and dreams about the country's future.







In this video, star tuba player Michael Stephan shows off his musical skills and then voices his thoughts about the skyrocketing costs of college tuition. In this passionate response, Councilwoman Elizabeth Goreham says that the environment is our No. 1 issue — and that she's not particularly happy with how politicians are currently addressing it. Several of the most powerful responses were also among the shortest, like this clip from Alex, a sophomore at Temple University who was diagnosed with cancer last year and has healthcare issues top of mind, or this one from Ada Tate, who's most concerned about gun laws.



C-SPAN broadcast some of the best responses on their national television program Washington Journal, highlighting a range of opinions about the issues that come up most often. Check out our playlist to watch more of these and other related videos.



With Senators Hillary Clinton and John McCain scoring victories yesterday in Pennsylvania, the race moves on to Indiana and North Carolina on May 6. Keep an eye on our You Choose '08 page to see which issues are weighing most heavily on voters' and candidates' minds.



Yours,

Steve G.

YouTube News & Politics

Trendspotting Tuesday: It's Easy Being Green

It's Earth Day today, and as part of our ongoing Trendspotting Tuesday series, we're marking the occasion with a round-up of videos that reflect grassroots environmental action in the YouTube community.




Whether it's by showing you how to update your home in a more sustainable way, talking about "must-have" green items, or sharing tips on how you can be more ecologically responsible, the YouTube community is bursting with advice on how to alter your lifestyle to help the environment. Take the Earth-loving boys of GivingItAGo, for example. They have been working towards being self-sufficient for almost a year now, with their backyard doing triple duty as a vegetable garden, compost heap, and chicken coop. (They've even named their sunflowers after YouTube users. How sweet is that?)




Or watch aaron333's "veggie car," in which an Atlanta couple tells the story of how and why their car runs on vegetable oil. You might also want to check out Bulletprooffilm, who interviews the ffounders of Noon (a company that makes bags with solar panels which generate on-the-go power for iPods and cell phones), and green architect Michelle Kaufmann, who demonstrates a creative alternative for disposable chopsticks.




And that's just the tip of the ever-shrinking iceberg. If you're looking for ways to show our planet some love on this Earth Day and beyond, this playlist on our homepage will give you a great place to start:









Seeing green,


The YouTube Team

RadioPopper-Palooza

The long-awaited CLS-eTTL extending RadioPopper P1s are starting to arrive to people who were early on the shipping list. I was able to get my mitts on a set, and spent last Friday evening at a local lighting meetup trying to get them to fail.

Keep reading for an unboxing video, an installation video and a torture test from our meetup.
__________


Zeke, over at nicephotomag.com, was so excited to get his P1's he fired up the video camera for the unboxing. He posted this on his site:




There is a little bit of a learning curve to installation and use of the P1s. It's not rocket science, but it is a little more involved than slapping on a pair of Pocket Wizards. Jared Platt has created an installation video, which has been posted to the RadioPopper site. You can watch in a separate window here.

__________


But How Well Do They Work?

I got to play with them for about an hour Friday night in a studio in Baltimore, where a bunch of locals were having a Strobist lighting meetup. Don "Wizwow" Giannatti was on hand, in advance of his East Coast lighting seminar.

The bottom line for the RadioPoppers: In a normal, large-room working environment, I could not get them to fail.

Full length of the 60-foot room? Fine.

No line of sight? No problem.

Firing with a TTL flash in an adjacent room for a little accent? Every time.

Once you get the hang of using them, it is basically just like using eTTL, or iTTL/CLS. But you no longer have the 33-feet, line-of-sight, 30-degree angle limitations. As with out in Phoenix, we tried some hi-speed FP sync stuff, too. Worked like a charm.


In fact, I had to leave the building to drive them to failure. Actually, to me more accurate, they were intermittent in this situation.

In the photo above, I had two SB-800s bouncing off of the third-floor studio walls in TTL mode with RPs. Firing my D300 three floors down from the middle of the Light Rail tracks on Howard Street at night, (which is just so stupid on so many levels) I got about a 50% firing rate. But the studio building is an old, brick. typical inner-city structure. This was a bit of a torture test, and pushed the limits of what they could do.

In normal working situations -- outside shooting, large interior room situations, etc. -- they perform very well. I think many people are really going to be stretching what they can do with wireless TTL.

One downside I note is that you have to remove and replace two screws to change the (AA) battery. This will be a bit of a pain for some, I'd think. But I am told the things sip juice pretty economically, so this will not be something you'd be doing halfway through a wedding.

The screws are metal-into-plastic. So use a little care and do not go Incredible Hulk on them so as not to strip the threads. This, BTW, was because the cases were off-the-shelf, which got around the need for the very expensive design molds that can add six digits and much time to the prototyping and production models.

One other thing you'll have to learn as a result of the RadioPoppers that has nothing to do with the RPs themselves. When shooting TTL from a great distance, you may have to dial down the light on your subject if it is a very small part of the compositional frame. This is a limitation of the TTL metering of the cameras themselves, and each system will behave a little differently. But I found it was very easy to dial in the right amount of flash from the shooting position via the CLS system on my D300.

I am not the only person out there playing with the RPs. Matt "Who Needs Instruction Manuals" Adcock jumped right in with them at a wedding shoot. Also, San Francisco-based photog Ed Pignol is playing with them here.

As you guys know, I am not much of a wireless TTL guy. But you CLS'ers and eTTL'ers will hanceforth have lots more capability built into your flash systems with the RPs. Congrats to Kevin King for all of the technical and economic hurdles he bested in getting a very complicated and sophisticated product to market.
_________

Read more:

:: RadioPopper.com ::
:: Brand New (Official) RadioPopper Flickr Group ::

You Choose '08: Immigration

Few issues in the public dialogue inspire as much passion as the issue of immigration. While most Americans recognize the importance of protecting the country's borders, there is still enormous debate about how we should treat the roughly 12 million undocumented workers currently living in the United States. The questions around immigration cut to the core of American identity, and the debate often finds itself at the nexus of politics, culture, geography, and security. Immigration isn't merely a political issue - it's a personal issue.







One of the most poignant examples we've seen of the immigration debate on YouTube has come from 9500Liberty, a channel started by Eric Byler to highlight the immigration battle taking place in Prince William County, Virginia. 9500 Liberty is the address of an intersection where immigration protests became heated after local policy makers debated an ordinance denying certain rights to local immigrants.



Most famously, Rep. Tom Tancredo brought the issue of immigration into the primary presidential race. In
this video, he asked YouTubers if they've been impacted by immigration. He received quite a number of video responses, like this one from hccowboy, who shares a personal story of how immigration has affected his workplace — in his opinion, for the worse. In a very different video response, tonymynd, whose parents came from Mexico to the United States illegally, argues in favor of treating all immigrants, regardless of their status, with respect.



The Courage Campaign has produced a series of videos in which people recount their immigrant stories. In this one, writer Arianna Huffington talks about her experience as an immigrant — and why she believes immigrants are sometimes used as political scapegoats. Meanwhile, this video from kocotv of a recent immigration protest in Oklahoma captures the raw emotional intensity of this debate.



And finally, as divisive as this issue is, some YouTubers have nevertheless been able to approach it from a comedic perspective. In this video from LatinoComedyProject, the popular "I'm a Mac/I'm a PC" campaign becomes the set-up for a rather "un-PC" sketch about immigration.



To watch and hear more about this issue, check out our playlist below and of course feel free to join in on the conversation yourself.







Yours,

Steve G.

YouTube News & Politics

By Request: Brendan O'Shea's Post Production

Several people asked for some details on Brendan O'Shea's Photoshop work on the cool band photo featured on Friday. Brendan was kind enough to check in and supply the added info:


Says Brendan:

"I got quite a shock this morning when I checked my inbox. A few people have expressed interest in the post production, although it never works for me if the lighting's not a particular way.

The front light is a shoot through umbrella high enough to light everyone in the group. The backlighting is two more strobes, usually just outside the frame. Once again I go to considerable effort to make sure everyone is lit. This involves juggling positions and placement of subjects before I can take any shots at all. If even one person in the group is unlit, it's not going to work.

In the shot above, there was simply no way to light everyone and have the strobes out of shot due to the narrowness of the alley, so I decided I would hide the right hand strobe in a doorway as best I could, and erase it later if it was too obtrusive. This lane was a through road in the city with traffic, so experimentation wasn't much of an option.
As for post, in this case everything was done in Photoshop, but it was nearly there out of the camera.

Here's what I did with this shot: Cloned out everything that didn't help the shot (cigarette butts, onlookers in the background if there were any, lighting equipment) then I cranked up the Radius on the Unsharp Mask, but kept the amount fairly low. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Really depends on the lighting.

Duplicated that layer, desaturated that new layer and changed the mode to overlay. Changed the opacity until it looked OK. Then I burnt in some highlights on her hair and pants to make them appear shinier. And that's it. Ten minutes tops.

I agree wholeheartedly with those who suggested a less Photoshopped look. I actually prefer the unretouched version (I'll put it up on flick as soon as I can) but when the average consumer can come up with some pretty great photos, I find I have to go a few steps further to give them a reason to hire me. Even if it means crossing the 'good taste' line.
I have no doubt shots like these will become this decade's version of mullets and platform shoes, but for now, and for a really good laugh in thirty years time, they're a lot of fun."
___________

Thanks much for the info, Brendan!

Beta Launch for YouTube Feature Updates

We just launched beta versions of three new feature updates to improve overall management of your messages, contacts and videos. These tests are already being served to a small percentage of randomly selected users, but anyone can choose to opt in and test them out. Once logged in to your account, click the following links to start using the beta versions of the new Inbox, My Contacts and My Videos features.



NEW INBOX



Along with a slick new interface, the new YouTube messaging system sports significantly faster loading times and a smarter message throttling system (in other words, non-spammers should see "Sorry, please wait to send more messages" a whole lot less). Video comments, responses, shared videos, friend invites and personal messages can now be seen in one unified view, and a new counter will show the number of unread messages in each category. You can now send a message to multiple recipients, and other people can no longer see whether or not you have read their messages. Friend invites are now easier to manage, with the newest invites appearing on top of the list, new pagination controls, and fewer page refreshes all around.



MY CONTACTS



For the new My Contacts beta we changed the layout and functionality to make creating contacts and organizing your friends, subscribers and subscriptions much easier. You can select multiple contacts at once to view details, apply labels and send messages. You can also add a real name and email address to the info listed for a contact to make it easier to identify your friends when sharing videos or messaging (since you may not always remember that your friend Daniel is really vidcritic517). In addition, your Friends label is now reserved exclusively for users who you have confirmed to be your friend.



MY VIDEOS



The new My Videos beta includes a complete redesign of all video management tools for: uploading and editing videos, favorites and history. You can see details for all of your videos in one view and batch-select videos to perform multiple actions like adding videos to playlists and favorites. Sorting filters for time, date added, views and ratings have been added for your uploaded videos, favorites and viewing history. The new 'Info & Settings' page for your uploads has also been improved with collapsible menus for editing video information, thumbnails and options for broadcasting and sharing your videos.



We'd love to get your feedback on these new features before we launch the full release, so please post a comment here, upload a video or shoot us an email and let us know what you think!



Happy testing,

The YouTube Team

Sketchies 2: And the Winner Is...

The votes have been counted, the community has spoken, and a heavily armed truck containing $40,000 in cash and prizes is on its way to WaverlyFlams.



Congratulations to the 'Flams, who took home Toyota's loot with their own unique take on "living the dream", "Sherlockbot & The Case of the Purloined Piggybank". They win $25,000 in cash, a further $15,000 in production equipment, and the opportunity to meet with UTA Online talent agents.



The videos on our Friday homepage take-over are presented in the order that you voted for them, and we rounded the 10 finalists out to a funny dozen with two of the most popular entries from the first round of voting. After April 18th you can see all 10 runners-up on this Sketchies playlist and at the Sketchies 2 channel.




One of the most exciting aspects of this year's Sketchies was the fact that a number of prominent YouTubers, including TheHill88, tokenblackchic and recent YouTube Awards winner NeilCicierega made videos in support of their favorite contestants. In the kind of politicking more typically seen at YouTube's You Choose '08, WaverlyFlams and second-placed entrants POYKPAC engaged in some hilarious mud-slinging attack ads. You can check out the best of the campaign videos and supporter videos in the player below:







Thanks to all the entrants who packed the start of the year with sketch comedy creativity. It's been, indubitably, a blast. Now we look forward to all the comedy that's yet to come in '08.



Cheers,

Mark D.

YouTube Comedy

Like Martin, Only More Spartan

After seeing the Martin Prihoda Delirium video recently, fellow west-coaster Andrew Jorgensen decided to see if he could get close to the look with a trio of speedlights.

Light is light, and if you can find ways to allow for the differences in power levels, you can do many things with your speedlights that the Big Boys do with their Profotos.

Jorgensen shot four guys from "djHere," a San Diego-based promotions company, for an article in Pacific Magazine. The location was Shelter Island, near San Diego.

He used a Nikon D300, with two SB-800's and a an SB-24. He set one of the SB-800's to slave to the others using the SU-4 slave hack.

That's actually not what the SU-4 mode is really for, but it works great. He used a splitter to sync the other two strobes via one Pocket Wizard. I would have probably just PW'd he SB-24 and set both SB-800's to slave to save running a wire. But his way worked fine, too.


Here's the setup. Even more than the idea of translating Profotos down to speedlights, I like love the Voice-Activated Boom he used to get his main light, shooting through an umbrella, high enough to shoot under it with no stand in the way.

He came fairly close, but was not able to get his backlights high enough because of the distance involved. No secrets there, you just need taller stands, closer distances (for a better angle) or more voice-activated light stand extenders.

Australian photographer Brendan O'Shea used the same triangle light (all small Sunpaks) to shoot the group, "Modern Legion" in an alleyway. (His was done in late March.)

Like Jorgensen, he used a little post work to pop it. Seems to work well for this light. And to O'Shea's credit, he not only was very close to Pihroda's look, but was out there before even seeing that video on the big light technique.

Just two quick examples to show that the idea of looking at the big light stuff and translating down to speedlights can work. You just have to be able to make accommodations for the differences in power.
_________

Related Links:

:: Andrew Jorgensen's Flickr Page ::
:: Brendan O'Shea's Flickr Page ::
:: Original Martin Pihroda Video ::

YouTube Policy Enforcement Changes

We are very excited to announce some big changes to our policy enforcement systems. Having clear rules and fair consequences are genuinely important to us and these improvements have been a long time coming.



STRIKES THAT EXPIRE



It didn't seem fair that a user who uploads three videos that violate the Community Guidelines over the span of a year was being treated the same as someone who uploads those same videos over the course of a week. To change this, we've made it so that violations are now rescinded after six months. Accounts that had one or two warnings (as of April 16, 2008) for Community Guidelines (or Terms of Use) violations have been given a clean slate and are going forward under the new system, too!



Note that this does not apply to copyright claims, which don't expire and are not being cleared.



NEW NOTIFICATIONS



It used to be that if a video was removed for violating the Community Guidelines or due to a claim of copyright infringement, the user would be sent a notice via email. But these notices sometimes get caught by spam filters or go unread. The new system also displays the notice on YouTube the next time they access the site.



MUTING ACCOUNTS



We are experimenting with ways of correcting some types of abusive behavior that aren't as harsh or as permanent as suspending users. What we've come up with is to temporarily mute users, so that they can still use the site and watch videos, but they can't post new content. Right now it is set up to affect users who have two Community Guidelines warnings in a six-month period and will last two weeks. Let us know what you think, if it works well we may expand it to help address other kinds of abuse as well.



These are just a few of the first visible changes made to the way these things work. There is a lot of work being done behind the scenes to continue to improve upon them. We look forward to your feedback and further enhancing the safety and experience of the YouTube community.



For more information, please see our new Help Center article on General Policy Enforcement Information.



The YouTube Team

YouTube Partner Program travels to Japan, Australia, Ireland

What do Japan, Australia, and Ireland all have in common?



They are the newest countries from which users can now apply to become partners in the YouTube Partner Program.
Now open in six countries, the YouTube Partner Program is our way of recognizing the most popular and prolific original content creators in the YouTube community worldwide. It's only been four months since we first expanded in December, but the results have already exceeded our expectations: we've paid out more than $1,000,000 in total revenue to user partners as part of the Partner Program. The program continues to grow every day, and we are excited to welcome tokyomimecity and Hughsnews as two of our newest partners.



So for those YouTube users from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Japan, or Australia: if you've built a significant audience on YouTube and would like to become a YouTube partner, apply now. To others around the world, please sit tight -- we hope to bring the program to new countries soon.



The YouTube Team

On Assignment: Par For the Course

Last week I went to Severn, Maryland to photograph a young female golfer who is sixteen year-old sophomore in high school.

She competes on the men's team and drives form the mens' tees. Before you start feeling sorry for her, she drives 240 and recently shot a 68 on a par-72 course. She can bring it.

I was shooting her for The Sun, and decided to do the job with my Canon G9. That little point-and-shoot might not look like much compared to the other guys' Nikon D2xs and D2Hs bodies, but it does some neat things that makes it very useful as an always-with-you camera.

I usually will do anything I can to hedge my bets or improve my odds before I even get to an shoot, and this time was no exception. The assignment gave me the basic details, and told me to meet Kaitlyn and her coach at the school's baseball diamond after school let out.

Baseball diamond?

Surely we can do better than that. So the first thing I did was to call her school's athletic director (the only contact number I had) and leave a message asking if we could meet at a local golf course instead.

But I was getting no love from the AD, who never did get back to me before the assignment. Thus the headline for this post. But you at least try.

So I decide to go with Plan B, which is to go with the only setting I had available, and knock it down some by using flash to raise up the relative values on my subject.

Problem is, the assignment was for 2:30 in the afternoon, so I was going to need a lot of watt-seconds to overpower daylight -- or a fast sync speed to make my speedlights appear to be more powerful. Which is why I decided to shoot the assignment on my Canon G9.

It'll sync up to 1/2500th of a second without using any kind of a power-sucking FP mode. You just have to tweak it a little so the camera does not know to limit it's shutter to 1/500th of a sec for flashing.

It makes nice files, too. It's 12 megapixels, but the smaller chip size means there is some inherent noise because of the pixel density. So I tend to think of it as an equivalent of an 8MP chip for blow-up purposes and not stretch those pixels out too far.

Anyway, it shoots as low as ISO 80, 1/2500th of a sec at f/8. Which, if you go with the "sunny-16" rule, tells you that it can sync a flash while underexposing daylight roughly three full stops. So it's got that going for it. Which is nice.

But I'm never one to just go with the math -- I like to test things. You know, see them for myself.


So I went out into the front yard grounds of Strobist World Headquarters. I hand-held a flash off-camera, aimed at a tree, and underexposed (cloudy) daylight by two stops. Worked just fine, and I still had some shutter speed / aperture stops left to go for safe measure. Cool.

The next day, when I got to the baseball diamond that would have to substitute for a golf course, I found a shooting direction that would give me a good tree line. The baseball diamond is still there, of course, but I was gonna drop it down to not be so noticeable. I am shooting into the sun, on a partly cloudy / sunny day.

I like shooting into the sun when I am lighting, as the sky can look really cool when you knock it down. Also, your subject is in shadow, which makes them easier to light and they are not squinting into the sun.


As is usually the case, my stand-in while I waited for Kaitlyn was my left hand. It has proved to be a dependable lighting model, if not a muse, for many years.

I cranked my ISO down to 80, and my shutter to 1/2500th (that is so sweet) and dialed in the sky exposure I wanted via the aperture. Nothing technical -- just chimping and looking at my screen on back.

Why this way? ISO 80 gives me the best image quality, which is especially important on a small-chip camera. And the 1/2500th shutter speed meant that I could use the biggest aperture opening possible for ease of flash balancing.

The sky looked best at 1/2500th at f5. Next step is to adjust the flash to give me a good exposure on my hand at f/5. I stuck a Nikon SB-800 on a stand, and softened it a little with a LumiQuest Soft Box II. From about 6 feet away, my hand looked good at about 1/4 power. I synched it with two daisy-chained SC-17 cords -- one neutered and one straight.

So, now I have my shooting aperture, shutter speed, ISO and main light power level all ready to go. Takes way longer to write about it than to do it, actually.

But want a little separation light, too, so I stick a second SB-800 opposite the main light, set to slave with the SU-4 hack. It was pointed pretty close to right back in my lens, so I gobo'd it off with a Honl shorty snoot.

By the way, I have become a big fan of speed straps and will be doing a piece on them (and how to make them) very soon.

This was set at 1/16 power, based solely on the way it looked hitting the left side of my hand in the shooting position. Speaking of shooting position, I always use a marker on the ground for consistency when I am setting up light before a subject arrives. Makes stuff much less complicated.

So, now I'm all set when she gets there.


When she arrives, I back myself up with a quick mug shot right off the bat. For this, I used a Sigma 50-150/2.8 on a Nikon D300.

Why the backup shot, different body and different lens? Lotsa reasons. It is insurance against a bad card, bad camera and/or a malfunctioning lens. Or if something happens and she (or I) have to go before we do the lit shot. Also, it gives the paper a file mug for later, when she shoots a double-eagle and we are not there to see it.

From here on out, everything is easy. As far as the technicals are concerned, she is pretty much the tree in my front yard. No surprises, no complex thinking. I can relax, get her to relax (which is more important) and shoot. I did make one adjustment -- she was a little bright so I dropped my shooting aperture a third of a stop down, to f/5.6. No big whup.


I shot about 45 frames, in B&W and color. I knew it was going to run in B&W inside the sports section, but shot color to have some just in case. They always convert the color originals to B&W, but I think the stuff shot in B&W looks better. Plus, shooting some frames in B&W first helped me to visualize it better for after the conversion.

You can still see the home run fence in the top photo, but it is very much muted. You can't clone it out for the paper, either. That's a real ethical no-no. Fortunately, the paper's repro quality (or lack of it -- we print on Charmin) is such that will mute the line even more if not kill it altogether.

Finally, if you get a chance, take a look at it the top photo bigger, or even full-sized. (Not even full-sized, actually, as I cropped it a little.)

That Canon G9 is a trusty little always-there sidekick that's currently going through the PJ ranks like a hot knife through butter. You can shoot real assignments with it, do amazing stuff with your suddenly-more-powerful flashes, record audio and even shoot full video for the web. That's a lot to like.

Here is the location kit I put together, packed for easy travel and opened up to show what's there. in a waist pack and with minimal shoulder wear-and-tear, I have a high-sync body with a a whole range of lenses, three light sources (SB-800's) with stands, grids, gobo's, umbrella, gels, etc., and SC-17 sync cords for close work. It's ridiculous how much you could do with something that takes up so little space and weight.


NEXT: Controlling Daylight, Pt. 1

Trendspotting Tuesday: Collaboration Videos

In week two of our new ongoing series, “Trendspotting Tuesday," we’re focusing on collaboration videos. Collaborations on YouTube can take many forms, but broadly they are videos in which anywhere from two to a zillion YouTubers band together to create something that probably wouldn’t have been possible pre-Internet or pre-YouTube; things like community-driven narratives, artistic compositions created by people living on different continents, mass self-expression, even innovative ways of playing an “old world” game like tag.



Each one of these forms probably could have a takeover devoted to it, but for now we’re highlighting an assortment of collaboration videos to give you a general sense of the creative possibilities out there. They’re a true testament to the connections made on YouTube every second of every day:









Got an idea for a future trend feature or want to tell us about even better collaboration videos? Drop a comment below or head over to our trendspottingtuesday channel and leave us a note.




Ciao,

The YouTube Team

Bits and Pieces, 4/15/2008

Nothing to tax you too much on Tax Day here in the US. Just a couple of things of interest to lighting photographers. Now if you'll excuse me I gotta get back to seeing if I can figure out a way to classify my SB-800s as dependents...


• Adorama will be hosting "An Evening with Joe McNally" on May 8th, in New York City. (Assuming Joe is past his jet lag from the workshops in Dubai, that is.) It's $25, but you get a $25 gift certificate if you attend. Which makes it free-ish. I'd jump on this pretty quick if you want to go.

• Quest Couch, the man behind all of the LumiQuest Light Modifiers, is looking for feedback on what, if any, kind of a DIY kit they should offer. If you are looking for this kind of stuff, now's your chance to make yourself heard.

• Finally, there's a new issue of The F/Stop out. But I don't think I am smart enough to understand it...

-30-

YouTube Partner Program travels to Japan, Australia, Ireland

You Choose '08: Education

Education is an issue in every election, because it is rooted in every community. However, in national elections we often find educational issues dwarfed by broader concerns - security, the economy, and healthcare. Here on YouTube we've seen the debate over education in America thrive - several advocacy groups have used the site to draw awareness to the issue and several YouTubers have pushed "upload" to have their say.







The EDinO8 campaign, funded by the Gates Foundation, started a YouTube channel to spearhead their online advocacy for keeping educational issues on the agenda of the presidential candidates. This video is their general overview of the current state of education in the United States—and it's not the most favorable report card. (In a UNICEF survey done in 2002, the U.S. ranked 18 out of 24 countries in the area of public education). The National Education Association's YouTube channel, a member of our nonprofit program, argue that better public schools are a basic right for every child. To highlight their concerns, they uploaded several questions for the presidential candidates to a special channel called Education Votes. On the news side, Katie Couric has used her editorial "Notebook" series to cite equally troubling statistics - this video challenges teachers and parents to take it up a notch.



Yet while few would dispute the need for educational reform, coming up with solutions is a more difficult task. In this video, a college student who plans on becoming a high school history teacher makes the case for school vouchers; only by expanding "school choice," he argues, will the state of education in the U.S. improve. Others, however, feel that the free market is the source of all the trouble. Filmmaker and college student Lucas Brown Eyes argues that the privatization of student loans and rising tuition costs are turning college students into modern day slaves, robbed of choice and saddled with debt.



Of course no other issue has stirred up more debate in recent years than the No Child Left Behind Act, signed into law by President Bush in 2001. This video from
seeprogress argues while that No Child Left Behind has its flaws, it should nevertheless be reauthorized and reformed, not scraped away entirely. Meanwhile, taking the opposite stance--and a very different approach--this video from JonathanAndrewSmith
uses college humor to highlight and skewer the policy's shortcomings.



And finally, to put the issue in perspective, beyond policy debates and partisan politics, watch this video from freesouljah, who reminds us that our greatest natural resource isn't oil—it's our children.



Yours,

Steve G.


YouTube News & Politics

HonlPhoto Speed Grids: Controlling Contrast

While hanging out with the Western Kentucky photojournalism students this weekend, I got a chance to play around with David Honl's new speed grids for a bit. Long story short, I like his better than my DIY versions -- for several reasons.

I have been spending a lot of time lately reverse engineering the light of a few photographers whose work I really admire. What I am seeing is that it is not the light that calls attention to itself so much as the light's ability to draw you into an image in a specific way. I love the idea of subtly -- or not so subtly -- highlighting a portion of an image to draw the eye in.

In the past, I would go on the assumption of the quality of the fill light somehow being less important than the quality of the main light. I'd pay less attention to the feel of the fill light, as it was just there to keep the main light from leaving the wrong kind of shadows.

But recently, I have been paying more attention to my fill light -- even creating it first -- and then laying main light down on top of that. For those of you who do not use a flash meter (as I don't) this can be a very helpful approach to creating exactly the lighting ratios you want.


Take this portrait of (WKU PJ student) Emily, for example. In the photo at left, I sat her in front of a metal case in the WKU photo studio and shot her with a shoot-thru umbrella straight on.

I did this purposefully, to create a specular highlight that I would then have to control. Basically, I wanted to give myself some excessive contrast to then knock down.

Looks fine, except for the line going right through her head. But this wasn't going to be my final photo -- or even my main light. I wanted the straight-on umbrella to be my fill light. But I created my fill with the same level of attention as my main would get.

Then I dropped my flash's power level down two stops. Now I have a darkish photo, lit only by my fill light. But the fill light has the same attention given to it as a main light, and I know that it is filling exactly two stops down.


Now, I bring a second SB-800 at camera left, with a warming gel, and fire it through one of Honl's grids. I used the 1/8 grid, which throws a tighter beam than the 1/4.

As I bring the gridded light up on her face and choose my power setting to get the best exposure, my grid becomes my main light and my umbrella becomes my fill. And the fill is exactly the quality and the quantity that I want.

As far as the grid itself, I really liked the smooth falloff at the edges of the beam much better than my DIY versions. The light was more uniform and the pattern was a little looser, too.

Not to poo-poo my DIY grids, because they have served me well. But the store-bought grids are also smaller (cubic inches are always at a premium in my case) and had a very rugged build. You could probably run over them with a car and they'd be fine.

But back to the light, this is something I will definitely be experimenting with over the next few weeks. I am putting together a portrait series as a long-term project. And I think that hard light, coupled with the right kind of fill, will be a good fit.

These production sample grid spots are going to get a lot of use over the next few months. (So, sorry, Dave. These are not coming back.)
_______

Related links:

Gear used: Nikon D300 | Tamron 17-50/2.8 | Nikon SB-800 | Honl Speed Grid
First Look: Honl Speed Grids
DIY Grid How-To's: Cardboard | Straws | Coroplast
WKU Photojournalism Program

Sketchies 2 Wants Your Votes

You don't have to wait 'til November to cast your vote on YouTube. In fact, the polls close on April 15th for the most fiercely contested battle in the world of comedy video – Sketchies 2.



After the community voted for your favorite semi-finalists, a short list of ten have grappled with the concept of "living the dream," and come out laughing. Indubitably so, some might say. To see how our finalists worked the word "indubitably" into ten distinctly different sketches, you can check out this Sketchies 2 playlist.



For a video rundown on Sketchies 2, we turn this blog post over to last year's winners, Awkward Pictures, who somehow manage to keep smiling despite the fact that this year's prize is much bigger than last year's.







Sketchies isn't the only time of year you'll see great sketch comedy on YouTube, but in this second year of a growing tradition we've seen new faces and established talent take their comedy to new levels. If you want to have your say in this full-on comedic face-off, head on over to the official Sketchies 2 channel and give your favorite videos the thumbs-up (yes, you can vote for more than one entry).



Like most comedians, our finalists are clearly eager for your approval. Your votes really do make all the difference, and cut down on future therapy bills.



Cheers,

Mark D.

YouTube Comedy