RadioPopper JrX Will Make You Fat and Happy [Full Review]

Do you shoot with flashes on manual? Do you burn needless calories walking over to your AlienBees, Nikon or Canon flashes merely to adjust power settings?

Fear not my lean friends. Soon, you too will be soft and rotund from a complete lack of exercise -- just like the portly people in Wall-E, the publicity photo for which I am both transforming and parodying above.

Now, onto the wireless goodness ...
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I have spent the weekend testing and shooting with the newest wireless trigger to come out of the Phoenix Skunkworks. The oft-delayed, er, much-anticipated RadioPopper JrX system.

Reader's Digest version: They are excellent remotes that offer significant range over 16 channels and have thus far been 100% reliable for me under normal shooting conditions. They also allow remote power level changes with White Lightning/AlienBees and/or legacy Nikon and Canon TTL flashes.

The remote power setting feature works simply and brilliantly. Three physical knobs, functioning just like volume controls, for each of three groups on any of the 16 channels.

These triggers make a strong, value-oriented case for any photographer looking to move into a quality set of remotes. And according to the website, RadioPopper expects availability within Europe and Australia shortly after the North American debut.


So, How Much?

The folks at RadioPopper originally wanted to make a bare-bones, reliable trigger at a rock-bottom price. But over the course of the design phase they decided to expand the feature set while working to keep the triggers accessible to budget-minded photographers.

In the end, they ended up with a very capable remote that still comes in at significantly less than than the gold standard PocketWizard transceivers. Transmitters will be $69.95, with the two flavors of receivers clocking in at $69.95 and $89.95, respectively.

The "Basic" model receiver ($69.95) is a "dumb" remote -- simply a substitute for a sync cord. Albeit a very long sync cord, as I find them to be very reliable out to distances of at least 100 yards. The "Studio" model receiver adds the remote power plus remote modeling light level control on WL/AB strobes and will go for $89.95.

Kits are priced at $119.95 and $139.95, respectively. You can upgrade a Basic to a Studio after the fact for $39.95.

Interestingly, there is no physical difference in the two receivers -- firmware alone differentiates the two. Props to RP for allowing us the choice. There clearly was more margin in the "Studio" receivers. But talking to RP Head Cheese Kevin King, he said the thinking was to let the more expensive models carry the freight to some extent and allow entry level photogs a solid Basic system for less money if they so chose.


I Know What You are Thinking

And the answer is, yes, it is technically possible to hack a Basic into a Studio. So, you DEFCON® types can go ahead and give it your best shot. They said if you can hack it, they might even want to hire you.

So in addition to untold riches (well, an extra $20) there might even be gainful employment on the line.


At the Firing Range

Right out of the blocks I took them out for a range test. The were solid at 100 yards, which is sufficient for all but the most extreme circumstances.


Above is three, separate WL's on ten-foot stands firing at 100 yards. The antennae appeared to be pretty omnidirectional, too, as this distance held up even when I was not aiming at the strobes.

In this wide open environment, they held up beyond a hundred yards (I even got a pop or two at 500 yards) but they were not rock-solid reliable beyond the length of the football field.

Radio is a fickle lady, and your mileage will certainly vary. In fact, given the particular physical environment and radio noise environment, you can expect significant differences in performance levels in any brand of radio remotes.

For the record, I think the PocketWizard Plus II's still are the standard bearers, but you can get a full set of JrX's for the price of one PW transceiver. Let your range needs and your wallet be your guide.


In the Studio

I shot indoors with them this weekend, too, using WLs to photograph Dasha, seen at left.

This is where the ironically named "Studio" receivers come into their own. I say ironically, because I would think the biggest advantage to being able to control power at a distance would be for location shooters who light over large areas.

But I successfully avoided burning any unnecessary calories in my makeshift home studio, too. (It is a work in progress at this point, more on that soon.)

In this environment, the JrX's really come into their own. First of all -- knobs. Not dials, not menus, but KNOBS. Thank you, thank you, thank you. The three knobs control flash groups A, B and C, with "A" being closest to your camera's eyepiece.

They are fast, intuitive and you can even disable them so you do not accidently change your flash levels after you get them set. Just dial them up or down. No f/stop calibrations, as that would be impossible given the large number of flashes they can work with. But it is easy to do it by feel -- and you can set the modeling lights to track as well. (Although, to be clear, I am really not a modeling light tracking kinda guy. I just need enough light for old eyes to focus in a dark studio.)

As a bonus menu option, you can even configure the dials to be able to turn off various flashes at the bottom setting on the dial. Nice touch.


I loved working this way -- with the combo of the digital back and the remote volume controls, zeroing in a three-light shot like the one at left was a breeze.

I started with the key, and used that to base my exposure. Then I dialed up the ring (coulda done that without the remote, obviously, but still...) And having volume control on the background light was especially nice. I would not have started out this dark back there, but in the end I took it down to almost nothing.

(Lighting particulars, for both photos: Gridded beauty dish key, high right. ABR800 with a small Moon Unit soft box as a ring fill, and a tiny bit of light on the grey background from the BG light.


Not Just for the Big Guns, Either

So, here's why you'll want the "Studio" models. That volume control works with many, many legacy speedlights via ingenius use of the "quench pin." This is something the open source trigger guys are doing, too, and RP has wired it through use of a stereo 1/8" jack for the sync port.

Adapters for Nikon and Canon are coming shortly. They have not announced pricing, so I will not scoop them here. But I was pleasantly surprised when they told me the planned amount, given that they will be multi-pinned hot shoe-to-1/8 jack cords.

No word on whether they can control an LP 120 yet, but I would guess not. The technique uses the quench pin in a TTL environment, so I would not hold out hope. But old Nikon flashes like SB-24s, '25's, 26's are said to work, along with '600's and '800's. Nikon switched into a new system with the '900's, so they are out.

Canon has a similarly long list of compatible volume control flashes. Check with the RP website for the latest info on that as it becomes available.


Nice Power Touches

Battery life is said to be at approximately 40 hours of usage, whether triggering or in standby. But the transmitters, at least, will turn themselves off after an hour of non-use.

And all units have a built-in battery meter using flashing patterns on the power light. This is especially important, given the choice of a CR123A battery for power.


Regrets, I Have a Few...

Let me preface this but saying they are great little remotes, and will be standard kit for me when shooting with WLs and ABs. I am a lazy somebody and these remotes have my name written all over them.

But no gear is perfect, and the JrX's are no exception. So, herewith, a pissy little list of nit picks.


1. The CR123A battery. It is three volts, so they could have gone AA or even AAA. I would have taken on some additional size to stay with my AA standard for flashes, but I understand that was a design choice.

CR123A's are not as widely available as AA's, so I would suggest going online for great pricing. www.CR123Batteries.com (see update, below) has alkaline CR123A's for under a buck, but they also have well-regarded NiMH CR123A's and chargers for very reasonable, too. And yes, I stocked up before I told you guys about it.

[UPDATE: Ni-MH's work fine, and Amazon has a much better deal on them than the above store.

While we are on the subject, the remotes do ship with batts and a good selection of sync cords (props for that). But they do not ship with the standard 1/8-to-PC cord needed for straight, dumb manual Nikon SB operation. Hopefully, RP will source that cord. Or maybe hook up with Lon at Flash Zebra or something.


2. DIP switches. Argh. I know, I know -- they had a lot of configurations to accommodate. But fat-fingered nail biters like myself will need to carry a ball point pen. There is a lot to remember, until you get acquainted with them, too. I will prolly work up a PDF cheat sheet and shrink it down to fit one of the blank areas on the units. Labels, gentlemen, labels. This should be an unnecessary hack.


3. Speaking of needed hacks: There are no strap lugs on the receivers. This means that a lot of receivers will be hanging by the sync cords or the (supplied) phone cords that interface with the WL/ABs. I am prolly gonna go the velcro route here. Which might be a good thing, as it will allow me to orient the antenna the way I want (perpendicular) rather than letting gravity set the angle.


4. Lastly, an easy fix I would like to see in a future firmware upgrade: Make the standard "on" indicator on the LED to be a slow flashing, like PW does. That is easier to confirm in bright daylight, which is especially important when you want to make sure they are off for packing. I had to cup my hands around them to be sure.
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But, like I said, these are small gripes. These are great little triggers.

Kudos to RP for re-setting the bar for quality and features in a small, modestly priced remote. With the JrX's, RadioPopper has established itself as a major player in the photo gear industry.


More info at RadioPopper.

There Goes My Weekend...

You are looking at what arrived at my house today, and the reason my previous weekend plans (i.e., judging the Boot Camp II/3 entries) will hence be cast aside:

These are the much-awaited RadioPopper JrX's.

I have already begun to test them, and will be posting a thorough review shortly. (Will update more on Twitter over the weekend.)

Don't wanna short-change the Boot Campers, so I will be judging entries within the next few days.

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Behind the Scenes with Mad Men

I watch very little TV, but am a huge fan of Mad Men. For those of you from places where it does not yet air, it's a layered and sophisticated drama series about the advertising business, c.1962 in New York City. It's the best thing on TV since The Wire, (RIP) which has pretty much spoiled me for most everything else.

The new season of Mad Men starts this Sunday night, and rest assured that I will be camped on the couch with an appropriate beverage at 10:00. But in my fanboy impatience for season three, I came across a pretty cool 'making of' video for this year's promotional poster.
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The concept is brilliant. Don Draper, the duplicitous creative director for Sterling Cooper and the lead in the show, is always juggling several dark secrets in the air at any one time. The idea to show him sitting amidst rising water his own office (without losing his perfect veneer of control) was spot on.

I am a fan of the show's lighting just as much as of the show in general. It is sculpted -- very 1960s -- but with a modern twist. And the movie poster is no exception.

Photographer Frank Ockenfels lit most of the frame from the back/right and top, with the back/right light motivated by the lamp visible in the frame. The frontal fill (if it is there at all) is several stops down, keeping things dark and moody. And they finish it off with a super-tight grid, almost on-axis (just above the camera) right on actor Jon Hamm's face.

In essence, he is lit completely differently than is the rest of the frame. It's almost film noir everywhere but on his face, which gets the full glamor treatment. Which, of course, draws you right into his face while maintaining the mood in the rest of the photo.

If any of you LA types has an in with the Mad Men folks and can get us an interview with whoever is designing the light (would that be cinematographer Phil Abraham?) hit me with some contact info in a 'do not publish' comment.

If you are not in the US, you can see a list of international networks which air the show here. And click on the pic up top for a bigger, full version in another window.

Peter Belanger's Time-Lapse Macworld Cover

Photographer Peter Belanger did a soup-to-nuts video on the creation of a Macworld cover -- from studio shoot (including lighting) to post production to final layout. Fast, but way cool.

More info on it on his blog post, and you can see more of his work (mmm-mmm, humongous donuts ...) here.

Many thanks to all who sent this in!

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Light Aircraft, By Andrew Zuckerman

By including the lights in the composition, Andrew Zuckerman's photo of this Icon A5 sport plane elevates the subject practically to an object of fetish.

To WIRED's credit, the magazine used this photo in the story -- much to the delight of the photographers who subscribe. But what about the lights that you can't see in the photo. Any guesses?

See inside for some Q&A with Zuckerman, plus a look at one of his other projects.
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Andrew Zuckerman: Q and A

Many photographers would have freaked a little when they first saw the Icon A5. It is a beautiful, but complex, shape that sees and reflects everything. Many people would have cursed under their breath and ordered a truckload of silks. How did you arrive at the idea to light the environment, so the reflections of the lit floors and room would define the shape of the plane?

When I looked at the space the morning of the shoot I was struck with the tone that the floor of the space and the plane shared - so I decided to use that as a formal device.  To me - form is the most important element in an image- I am always trying to identify a way to elevate and distinguish the form of the subject.


What kind of strobes did you use? You had enough aperture to go front-to-back sharp -- was that mostly about the efficiency of the reflective lighting or did you just slam a lot of watt-seconds?

I often travel with profoto acute 2400 ws packs.  They are super simple and portable and they give out a ton of light.  A lot of the light was simply coming in through the large garage door.  We were in the mojave desert at noon and the sun was cut beautifully by the roof and door opening.  The feathered natural light was the base ambient and the strobes helped to sharpen and define the shape- they were aimed directly at the plane- probably at full power to hold the stop.


Other than the three rim lights, is that another soft box or two giving frontal top light? And is that light also picking up the whole room, or did you do that with shutter speed? 

Those are not softboxes in the glass of the cockpit - it is a reflection of the skylight in the garage - the ambient is all coming from the sunlight from the outside.


Leaving the rim lights in the frame was either inspired or absolutely necessary. Or maybe both. There aren't too many mags that would have gone for such a self-aware look, which is one reason WIRED rocks. Did you give them safer photos of the plane? They appear to give photogs a lot of leeway to stretch the boundaries. Does that create more freedom for you, or more pressure?

Wired Magazine has always been a great publication to work with - they trust the people that they commission to do work for them and that trust inspires one to create the best work possible.  When I got back from shooting I did an edit and sent the editor the images that I thought worked best and that is what they ran in the magazine.  If they had thought the strobes in the shot didn't work they would have asked for them to be removed, but I think WIRED is about transparency and the mechanics of how things work- so the strobes were speaking to that message.
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Zuckerman's light was opportunistic and inspired, but it follows the classic technique of working against the ambient.

Normally, when we think of doing that we tend to light from the front and push it against a brighter ambient background. But in this case, all of the light was pre-set from the front and the background was just a whole lotta dark.

Question: Why use hard light?

Because you need a lot of power and soft modifiers are gonna steal at least a couple of stops. Besides, unless the mods are huge, it won't smooth the specular highlights much anyway. (You'd need a really big silk and many, many watt-seconds.)

Second question: Why aren't the hard lights' reflections showing up as bright spots on the plane?

Zuckerman has positioned the lights so the topography of the plane hides the specular reflections. (Those are small highlights, so they are gonna be pretty easy to hide.)

So, with a plane so complex and reflective he is not lighting it so much as lighting the floor all around it. Which, in turn, is reflected by the shiny, curved plane revealing beautifully controlled form. In a sense, the floor becomes the modifier. And because the reflective surface of the plane is so efficient, all of the tones are in the same neighborhood.

So, how would you expose for all of this?

Assuming I would have been bright/lucky enough to think of it (I'm not sayin', either way) I would crank the lights all of the way up and nail down the flash portion of the shot first. As mentioned above, the reason for this would be to maximize my depth of field. If I needed still more, I might cheat the ISO a tad. But that'd be a last resort.

I'd be shooting at the high sync speed and chimping the various aperture settings until the strobe-lit part looked best. It sounds inefficient, but you could zero it in really quickly.

Then I would open the shutter speed up in third stops until it balanced the way I wanted. You are going to get very close for the first shot just by metering the foreground. Your aperture already chosen by the flashes, just dial in your shutter speed to zero out the needle and start from there. One combined exposure would present itself as the best option, with a little wiggle room for different mixes right around it.

So remember, the idea is not always to light from the front and burn the ambient from the back. That's just the way it tends to work out because we generally like to have control over the quality of the frontal light on the the subject -- especially when we are shooting people.

The important thing when mixing flash and ambient is to try to line them up so they are working against each other, for maximum control.
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Andrew Zuckerman's 'Wisdom'

Also worth noting (if you have not yet see it) is Zuckerman's book, "Wisdom: 50 Unique and Original Portraits". In it, he photographs and interviews 50 significant people, all over age 65, to create a collection of their advice about life.

"I learned an enormous amount about love, work, the environment, and conflict resolution as those were the main themes the interviews touched on," Zuckerman said.  "In addition to the knowledge captured in the interviews I learned a lot about how to efficiently work through a project that contained so many uncontrollable challenges."


To that end, I would recommend a visit to the project website. There you can see not only excepts from the DVD that is included with the book, but a "making of" that includes glimpses into both the logistics and the lighting involved in creating the glowing, ethereal portraits. (Click on 'making of," and then, 'how it was made.')

I found the book inspirational both from a human and a photographic perspective. It was a meaningful and significant project, and one which would have intimidated many photographers -- especially younger ones. (Zuckerman is in his early 30's.)

As a photographer, my takeaway was that if you are waiting until you are "older" to take on a meaningful project, you are just fooling yourself.

His upcoming project, "Bird," is due in October of 2009.
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Read more at:

:: WIRED Article and Pix, and video: Icon A5 ::
:: Wisdom Project Site ::
:: Wisdom Book (Amazon) ::
:: Andrew Zuckerman: The F Stop Interview ::
:: Andrew Zuckerman: Main Site ::

What Crosses My Mind While Sampling the Spinach Ravioli with Pesto...

Which is literally what I was doing when I turned around and snapped this iPhone pic in my local Costco recently. (Making sure not to get busted as a terrorist for snapping a pic in a Costco, of course...)

It's 10'x10', and 10' high. It looks pretty color neutral and costs about $200. It sets up easily with an accordion-folding frame.

How would you use it?
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Why couldn't this be an inexpensive, easy-to-pack freestanding scrim to easily surround someone in shade for outdoor shooting?

Choose your background -- in any direction -- and erect the canopy over where the subject will be. Now they are in soft, white-light shade a coupla stops under the ambient background. Perfect for ambient-balanced fill. Add lights and stir, without worrying about what your ambient sun is doing.

Presto -- totally controllable foreground and background.

You could light your subject completely independent of the background. For instance, you could work some front flash against ambient back light. Or you could kill unflattering front/top sunlight and replace it with better quality flash.

Height is an issue if you are going to shoot standing and light from up top. Or heck, maybe just blast the AB1600 right through the canopy if you want.

It folds into a rolling duffle bag, is easy to transport and could double as a changing room (or a cookout-type canopy) when you are not using it to shoot.

Am I nuts? Has anyone tried this? If so, hit us in the comments and let us know how it worked out.

Improvisational Light

One of the biggest misconceptions about this site is that is is about a specific type of gear and/or lighting technique.

While I will admit to giving a lion's share of time to the use of speedlights, I am pretty much a big tent guy when it comes to lighting. The concentration on speedlights is mostly a reflection of the fact that speedlights are already likely to already be in the hands of most of the site's readers.

I am not averse to using whatever may be around when it comes time to lighting a photo. That could mean anything from a White Lightning in a 60" Softliter (a favorite combo) or, as in this case, a speedlight and a garbage bag.
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Thus it was on our annual trip to Florida to see the family. I am making a point of traveling very light when it comes to photo gear, as not doing so can quickly start me down the slippery slope of packing everything.

So this time I brought one body, a wide-to-portrait zoom and two speedlights. I knew I was going to have to shoot a thirteen-person group shot, which is standard fare for our summer get-togethers.

My plan was to position the camera on a table (no tripod to lug around) and shoot with on-camera SB-800 as fill and a second speedlight on it's little AS-19 stand bouncing off of the ceiling as key.

The setup works great, and minimizes the gear very nicely. In addition to the above I bring a second, charged battery for the camera and a small AA charger for he flash batts.


"Hey, While You're Down Here..."

With a couple days left in the trip, my dad asked me if I could do a nice photo of my mom for his computer wallpaper. I told him I would love to, but a guy named John Harrington told me I always have to charge people when I shoot or I am The Devil.

So we settled on a day rate of $1,000, with usage rights granted for one year's electronic display on his monitor. After that time period he would have to renew or I get the house if he kept using it.

Kidding of course. And anyone who can put up with me as a son for 44 years certainly deserves a freebie every now and then. Just please, don't tell John, okay?

My problem was that Mr. Travel Lightly didn't pack any modifiers appropriate for shooting anyone of "a certain age," if you know what I mean.


Scrounging for a Mod

I wanted to do something down at the lake (same as in this shoot) which meant that I would not have any walls or ceilings off of which to bounce my bare flash.

Then I remembered my friend Aaron's idea to use a trash bag as a modifier and figured I could alter that setup a little an do just fine.

Aaron wadded his up and shot through the blob-like result. I, of course, refused to be satisfied with anything a mere Google Engineer (Aaron's reeeaal smart) could dream. So I decided to use mine as a poor man's Last-o-lite panel.

[To Aaron: This improved design gives a much larger surface for the new, diffused light source. I would explain it to you, but there's math involved. I don't want to stress you out...]


Here is the grand result, possibly taking the prize as the World's Cheapest Modifier. I say that, because the clothes hanger is free and the bag is not one of those expensive Hefty Bags, but rather a cheap, Wal-Mart store brand. I think it cost, like, three one hundredths of a penny or something.

I even splurged with about six inches of tape down the open end of the hanging bag to keep it from slipping. ('Cause that's how I roll.)

To support the bag I snipped the hanger in the center of the bottom and just spread the wire out to hold up the top edge.


Here it is in action. It is being held by my very favorite VAL in the world, AKA Missus Strobist. I would have loved to get it up higher. But what the hey, we are improvising with the light stands.

I say this because the light source actually turns into both high key and low fill based on its location. Imagine looking at it from my mom's position -- the key light is up top, and the reflection of the key from your position in the water becomes a fill. It's almost like a one-light clamshell setup.

I triggered this flash (set in SU-4 mode) with an on-camera SB-800, dialed way down. This gave me a tiny amount of wrap, but that was not really something I was concerned with at the time. The point is that I could have cranked the O-A fill up if I wanted to.

If you notice, the trash bag is doing double-duty as a reflector, too. In fact, judging by the light falling on Susan it is more efficient as a reflector than as a diffuser.

Funny thing -- I was shooting mom and trying to distract her from the process and asked her to tell me about how she met dad.

"That's just one of those things photographers say," she correctly responded. It's pretty hard to fool someone who dealt with me as a teenager.
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The best camera gear to use is the gear you have with you, which was also the case during a really neat moment we experienced while in Florida.

A few weeks ago, an astronaut visited my kids' school in Ellicott City, MD, and spent the day with them. They all signed a poster that was to go up on the next space shuttle mission.

As luck would have it the mission was postponed five times, so it ended up launching about two hours after we got to my parents' house.

So, both my kids watch for the first time a space ship blast off -- and it is carrying their actual signatures on board. And Mr. Doofus leaves the house to watch it with them with his D3 still packed in his bags.

So I end up shooting it on my iPhone -- with the case covering part of the camera lens at that. I love how the existing clouds look like humongous shuttle exhaust plumes, rolling off of the ground.

It may only be an iPhone shot, but I am very glad I got it. It was a special moment to watch.