FREE LIVE VIDEO SEMINAR Control Your Lights & Cameras with PocketWizard Plus III and PlusX Radios
PocketWizard radios enable you take your flash off-camera and use it almost anywhere for lighting effects ranging from natural-looking to amazing.
You can also use the Plus III or PlusX to fire remote cameras in sync with remote flashes. If you are not using them now, they should be at the top of your must-have list.
Host Joe Brady will show you how to make best use of the PocketWizard Plus III and new PlusX radio triggers. He’ll demonstrate how they work together with your camera system and various camera and flash techniques to improve the way you shoot pictures. He will even show you new ways to use those old flash units you may have put away.
Join us at this free live broadcast sponsored by PocketWizard and learn how to take control of your camera and lights from anywhere.
The PocketWizard Plus III, one of the most popular models in our current line of products, has new firmware available in the form of version 1.200!
One of the most noticeable differences to be found in the new firmware is the new system to monitor battery level. In our previous firmware, battery level was conveyed solely by color, but in firmware revision 1.200 we have changed this to be more intuitive and even easier to read. Now when the battery is between full and fifty percent the Status LED will blink green once, when between fifty and twenty-five percent the Status LED will blink amber twice, and when below twenty-five percent the Status LED will blink red three times.
Along with the improved battery indicator we have also made adjustments that improve communications between the Plus III and the MultiMax as well as improved compatibility with several older flash models. To read about these changes read the Plus III Firmware 1.200 release notes.
To update your radio simply plug your radio via USB into your computer and open the latest PocketWizard Utility (version 1.54) and the option to update will come up automatically. If you do not have the latest PocketWizard Utility, find it on our Downloads page.
Scott Kelby has been doing a lot with remote camera triggering lately, with some great results using remote cameras at Atlanta Falcons games. We’ve posted a fewpreviousstories about his exploits, and now he’s back with the definitive guide to remote camera triggering.
He goes over what you need, how to set up it, and gives a couple of tips on where to place your cameras. He’s been depending on the PocketWizard Plus III’s to trigger all four of his cameras and he says:
“I used these for the first time during the play-offs and and I’m in love with these things. The range is incredible… so you can put remotes in crazy places. It also has 32 different channels so you don’t have to worry about someone else firing yours.”
He hopes the video inspires more people to try remote camera triggering and we do to! “Once you do it one time,” he says, “you’re going to absolutely love it!”
See more videos from Scott at scottkelby.com and for more videos, check out KelbyTV.
The Phoblographer’s Chris Gampat is out of the gate and running with the new PocketWizard PlusX. He’s written up his first impressions of the just-announced trigger and says “so far they’re quite tempting — especially at the $99 price point.”
In the couple of hours he spent with them, Chris managed to trigger studio strobes and flashes from two floors above and on the other side of the building from his apartment. In a later review, he’ll be comparing them to his Plus III’s, but for now he concludes the PlusX is “compact, solid feeling, reliable, and simple to use.”
Wes Craft Photography is a husband and wife wedding photography team working out of Chicago, priding themselves on capturing “bold, beautiful, editorial wedding photography.” Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at one prime example of their work.
On the wedding day we strive to capture all the emotional moments in vivid and dynamic ways. It’s part of our signature look to use off-camera lighting to achieve that. PocketWizard Plus III radios allow us to fire our multiple lighting groups in customized combinations and overcome challenges to get the shot. Sometimes, as it was with this shot, it’s the simplest lighting setup that works best.
It’s the last day of WPPI, and the response to our special, limited edition Plus III in “Tutu Pink” is almost as frenzied as the buzz surrounding our new PlusX.
The pink Plus III was created to support the Carey Foundation, a nonprofit organization devoted to real world support of women fighting breast cancer. Established by Linda and Bob Carey, the organization will also be benefitting from an upcoming gallery show featuring Bob’s Tutu Project images.
On the evening of March 22nd in New York City, details will be announced on how you can bid on one of just 20 signed and numbered PocketWizard Plus III radio triggers in “Tutu Pink.”
Considering almost everyone has a camera of some form or another with them all the time, it’s kind of crazy how popular (and fun) a good old fashioned photo booth can be.
In this AdoramaTV video presented by Mark Wallace, you’ll learn how to set up a photo booth that will automatically process and display your photos. All guests need to do is pick up the PocketWizard Plus III, stashed by the entrance, and click away to remotely fire both the camera and the flash.
Don’t forget, silly faces are mandatory and strictly enforced!
Photographer Brett Harkness recently shared with us images and diagrams from the book Light & Shoot / 50 Fashion Photos by Chris Gatcum. Here are his thoughts and details behind putting together the images from this shoot.
This image was shot for a clothing company called Love Miss Daisy, which focuses on 1950’s vintage clothing. Taken in the U.K. in July, I decided to end the day long shoot with something a little different. It was around 9pm, the light was fading fast and we were about to wrap up, but I wanted to finish with a bang! I had some smoke bombs with me I’d been looking to use for awhile, so I thought this was the time to give them a go!
Wrapping the model in vintage petticoats I set up the main strobe, an Elinchrom A head with Ranger RX Speed AS pack with a 135cm Octabox. I added a second strobe behind the model to light the fallen tree to the left of the frame and create a rim-lighting effect as it passed through the smoke and across the subject. This head was “naked” to get the most spread from the bulb and had it’s own Ranger pack, both heads on the A channel. It was starting to get dark, but to add further drama I decided to underexpose the scene to give full effect of the strobes.
We love discovering photographers creating great images with interesting use of off-camera flash. Chris Arace is a Detroit photographer who not only uses PocketWizard radio triggers to light his portaits, but his series ”We Are Vacancy” includes images of talent actually handholding speedlights. In his own words, here are his thoughts on his work.
An artistic rebellion of faith and spirit. Eager to create. Created to create. Rise against the onslaught of homogenization in culture, we shall. We Are Vacancy.
The above statement was crafted as part manifesto, part inspiration, and part dedication. It provides a tangible concept for me to visualize and create images for this series of shots. The idea was created while on location last year. I often am running at a fast pace on shoots in some diverse and amazing locations. It was not always possible to create personal, compelling imagery under the time crunch of a production schedule. We Are Vacancy allowed a portable, manageable, and very artistic way to satisfy my personal artistic needs.
Last September we released our short film about photographer Bob Carey and his personal endeavor called “The Tutu Project.” Using PocketWizard technology, Bob employed remote camera triggering to take self-portraits of himself in a pink tutu. With his wife Linda undergoing chemotherapy treatments, she and her fellow patients enjoyed the photos. This led to The Tutu Project and the creation of the Carey Foundation to support women undergoing breast cancer treatment.
The series has proved incredibly popular, with media coverage from CNN, The Today Show, the BBC, and countless other media outlets. Last fall Bob photographed himself and survivors at a series of halftime events at NFL games.
PocketWizard is proud to announce it is cosponsoring an event to celebrate the Tutu Project’s first anniversary. The event will be held at The Lab NYC, 122 West 26th Street, New York City, on Friday, March 22nd and Saturday, March 23rd, 2013.
One of the most noticeable differences to be found in the new firmware is the new system to monitor battery level. In our previous firmware, battery level was conveyed solely by color, but in firmware revision 1.200 we have changed this to be more intuitive and even easier to read. Now when the battery is between full and fifty percent the Status LED will blink green once, when between fifty and twenty-five percent the Status LED will blink amber twice, and when below twenty-five percent the Status LED will blink red three times.
