It’s always a challenge figuring out what the LPA holiday card is going to be. Every year we come up with all these grand ideas involving everyone in the company, dressed for the holidays, in some crazy location. Then reality hits that we are all very busy, the days are short, and people enjoy wearing Christmas sweaters about as much as they enjoy eating fruit cake. We had to come up with Plan B.
Last year, photographer Curtis Baker found himself with an all-access pass to photograph Dolly Parton at her opening show in Nashville, Tennessee. Luckily, he brought along his PocketWizards so he could get two points of view for the price of one photographer!
He writes:
“After the intermission, I took the D700 and a Nikon 14-24mm 2.8 with a Manfrotto Magic Arm and attached it high up to the huge video wall behind the stage. I used a PocketWizard remote trigger and cord to fire off wide angle shots of Dolly facing the crowd. Every time the house lights came on to light the crowd and her hands went up, I would push the little button on my PocketWizard in my shirt pocket, hoping for a magic shot.”
Nice work, Curtis! Read his full account and see more of his music photography (and the PocketWizard shot) at his site.
All images and quotes in this post are used with permission and are ©Curtis Baker, all rights reserved. This story is ©PocketWizard. Please respect and support photographers’ rights. Feel free to link to this blog post, but please do not replicate or re-post elsewhere without written permission.
Gina Bullard’s story for WCAX on LPA Design, the creators of PocketWizard technology, is now available for all to see. Part four of a four-part series on Vermont photography, Bullard interviews PocketWizard’s Dave Schmidt, and gets a demonstration of PocketWizard radios, including sitting in on a photo shoot at LPA headquarters.
The story includes some great images and a slick four and a half-minute video showing off what all that Vermont technology can do. Check it out now to learn what goes on by the mad scientists of the photography radio airwaves in South Burlington.
LPA Design, where PocketWizards are designed and built, is a dog-friendly office. On any given day there are anywhere from two to five of Man’s Best Friend wandering about. We don’t ask much of these dogs, just the usual “let me scratch your head” or “chase the ball” but after a recent studio portrait session for the staff, we put the dogs to work as models.
Louie photographed by Dave Schmidt at PocketWizard Studio, ©LPA Design, 2011.
For years, the team of developers and engineers at LPA Design, the company behind the PocketWizard brand of photo products, lived in a growing maze of offices on the second floor of a small strip mall. The sound of doors banging shut as people moved about was continuous. This was not a space outsiders were invited to and the few who did visit over the years were left mostly with a memory of the smell of the sandwich shop below. It was time for a move.
LPA’s new home in South Burlington, Vermont.
The Burlington Free Press has a new story about a local business. That local business just happens to be LPA Design, inventor and manufacturer of PocketWizard technology, located in South Burlington.
The article is definitely worth a read, as it gives the seminal history of how the PocketWizard wireless triggering came to be. Who knew, back at a 1995 NBA All-Star game, the fledgling technology would be given its first test after someone’s zealous use of a multitool’s blade?
We won’t give away the full story, but it’s an exciting read, especially for anyone who’s had to scramble and make technology work in a hurry.
So. Burlington, VT – January 11, 2011 – LPA Design has filed a complaint for patent infringement in the United States District Court for the District of Vermont against Phottix (HK) Ltd. and Eternal Fortune (HK) Ltd., alleging that the Phottix Atlas wireless flash trigger produced in China infringes upon two patents held by LPA Design. The Vermont-based company, incorporated as Lab Partner Associates, Inc., is the manufacturer of the industry-leading PocketWizard® line of high precision wireless control devices for the professional photography market, including the popular PocketWizard Plus II®.
The PocketWizard technology allows professional photographers to control complex lighting systems remotely from the body of a camera. It is particularly useful in studio, sports and event photography, and has become the industry standard as a result of sustained research and development conducted in Vermont.
“LPA was an early and ground-breaking contributor to the technology and market for professional quality wireless flash triggers,” said Tim Neiley, CEO and President of LPA.
“LPA has worked hard to bring its patented technologies to market through constant innovation and improvement always with a view to the needs of the professional photographer. This lawsuit is necessary to protect our investment in innovation.”
LPA Design holds patents in the United States and throughout the world covering its proprietary wireless triggering technology. The patents in the lawsuit cover technology in radio communications between wireless trigger devices and the innovative auto-switching transceiver introduced for the first time in the PocketWizard Plus II wireless trigger.
The patents LPA Design is asserting include:
United States Patent No. 5,359,375 issued for an invention entitled “Microprocessor Programmable Digital Remote Radio Photographic Control.”
United States Patent No. 7,437,063 issued for an invention entitled “Wireless Camera Flash Synchronizer System and Method.”
Founded in 1990 as an electronics R&D consulting company, LPA Design has expertise in printed circuit board design, RF communications and antenna optimization, and remote sensors. Among other innovations, LPA Design developed the industry leading
PocketWizard line of high precision wireless control devices for the professional photography market. PocketWizard products provide ultra-high precision, wireless synchronization of cameras, flash lighting, and light meters, allowing professional photographers to create unparalleled photographs and achieve unmatched reliability in capturing high value images.
LPA Design is represented by Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC in Burlington, Vermont.
The old cliche dictates pictures are worth 1000 words. I disagree. Pictures are worth millions of words, and millions more to each different person viewing the same photograph. Legions of stories exist as testament to the power of photographs and our desire to protect them. Otto Bettmann, fleeing Nazi Germany with two steamer trunks loaded with 25,000 photos — the foundation of the Bettmann Archive — and no clothing, is just one example.
The technology of photography allows us to visually document our very existence for both ourselves and future generations. Previously, only paintings could do this, and their accuracy is always subject to question. The data and testament of a snapshot from any given year is invaluable to people interested in the subject matter of any photograph. A picture can say, “this was me when I was your age,” or “here’s our first home,” or “this was your great-grandmother.” Photographs are nothing less than a bet-the-farm hedge against our inevitable deaths. When times are more uncertain than usual, photographs can document “we made it at least this far. Remember us, this period, and what we went through.”
It is one of these photographs which changed a young man’s life. As America’s war in Vietnam spilled into neighboring Laos, chaos followed. Some estimates cite over one million Laotians fled their country as a direct result of that war. Simphoukham’s parents were among them, eventually winding up in a refugee camp in the Philippines after their son was born in a similar camp in Thailand. His parents knew the value of documenting their odyssey to a new homeland for their son and future generations. They saved and traded on the black market for one family photo to be taken. The image survived the family’s landing in San Francisco and has become a vibrant signpost of their old lives and struggle for success until becoming American citizens. One photograph changed their son’s future.
©Ari Simphoukham Collection. Ari Simphoukham at age two with his parents in a refugee camp in the Philippines, 1987.
©Ari Simphoukham. Focal length 50mm, f/2.5, shutter speed 1/500, ISO 160.
“I started off as an events and senior portraits photographer,” says Ari Simphoukham. While in a fraternity at UC Davis as an International Relations major, Simphoukham was shooting a Nikon D50 all around campus. Soon he was asked to shoot an event by someone who noticed his photography. This led to other organizations asking him to work for them. “Eventually I was approached to shoot senior portaits. I got better and better, and improved my photography while getting paid. It was amazing.”
©Ari Simphoukham. Focal length 18mm(14-24), f/8, shutter speed 1/250, ISO 400.
A cousin’s friend needed a wedding photographer, and Simphoukham was recruited. “I did it and couldn’t believe how fun it was,” he says. “After that, I concentrated on weddings. I tried to meet other wedding photographers to learn techniques and the business end of it. I improved along the way.” He had found his calling and his paycheck, and eventually left school to pursue his career. “I know this is what I want to do,” he states.
©Ari Simphoukham. Focal length 10.5mm, f/14, shutter speed 1/60, ISO 400.
Simphoukham took the bold move of dedicating an entire year to learning his craft. “One of the reasons I love doing this is because wedding photographers are awesome,” he declares. “They’re so helpful and so easy to talk to. They’re very helpful, and that kindness made me want to be a wedding photographer even more.” Simphoukham assisted several Bay Area wedding shooters to further hone his skills. Although he still shoots senior portraits, wedding work is where his passion lies. “Weddings are more work, but I feel they appreciate my art more,” he adds.
©Ari Simphoukham. Focal length 14mm, f/6.3, shutter speed 1/500, ISO 400.
Currently located in Los Angeles, Simphoukham is shooting weddings and expanding his network of wedding photographers. Eventually he sees himself setting up his studio in the Bay Area. These days Simphoukham is shooting two Nikon D3 bodies, one D300 for backup, “and a lot of lenses,” he says. Originally a film photographer, his workflow is now all-digital. He uses PocketWizard Plus II’s to fire his strobes. “Being a wedding photographer is hard because the lighting changes constantly. You have to be on your toes and aware of the light always. The PocketWizards help me control the light because if it gets too dark, I just dial in what I need from the strobes and it’s okay. I can get a very natural look, as opposed to a deer-in-the-headlights direct flash.”
©Ari Simphoukham. Focal length 85mm, f/3.2, shutter speed 160, ISO 800.
Regarding post-processing work, Simphoukham says, “I find the best photos are not the ones I do heavy work on. The best photos are the ones that are that way straight out of the camera. I think I heard this quote from someone: you can make a good picture better, but you can’t make a bad picture good.” He uses Lightroom and Photoshop for minimal post work.
©Ari Simphoukham. Focal length 14mm, f/13, shutter speed 1/100, ISO 400.
“When I first started learning about off-camera flash, PocketWizard was the name in radio remote flash. All the good photographers were using it back then. I’m going to upgrade in the future. It just works. I’ve never had a problem with them. The Plus II is simple and it works. It goes through walls. What more could you want?” he laughs.
©Ari Simphoukham. Focal length 85mm, f/9, shutter speed 1/60, ISO 100.
Simphoukham is just as passionate about his client photos. “I try to tell a story with my photography. I think nowadays everyone has a camera, but not everyone has the ability to portray a story with a camera. I develop a story behind the photos everyone can read,” he says. “I’ve been very fortunate to have great clients. When they appreciate my work, I feel great.” How great you feel the day you get married is one of the things you never want to forget. Who better to document that day? Connecting emotionally to photographs is something Ari Simphoukham knows quite a bit about.
Ari Simphoukham Wedding Photography
WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE…
Most swimming photography is divided into two categories: those that use flash on camera and those who shoot available light. Belgium-based photographer going by the blog (en Francaise, naturellement) name ”Haristobald” (EDIT: a.k.a Martin Boland) approached it differently, creatively and produced a hot video showing precisely how he made the images. To boil it down to its most basic description, he used two off-camera strobes and a black background. The lighting is dramatic and so are the photos. Check it out
Watch parts 2 & 3 of the video on his blog.
Deep thanks to every single enthusiastic photographer out there! You are all stars in our book. You made 76 videos during the contest, and your creativity and passion are applauded by us. Thank you all for sharing and participating. Choosing was a very hard process and so many more of you deserve some recognition for your efforts. So, look forward to some post-contest features from other outstanding efforts.
We’d also like to extend deep thanks to David Hobby at Strobist. His passion for teaching, photography and sharing is something in which we are honored to participate with this contest.
Kevin Eddy got himself into the NM Penitentiary, but alas, it was abandoned. What’s a photographer to do? Well, in Kevin’s case he pulled out his trusty strobe with a PocketWizard attached and set up a downright eerie shot . On the Flickr site, you’ll also see how other photographers rated the shot (a ten out of ten, it seems). Check it out here. Well done!
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