Toronto Photography Meetup Group

NOTE THE TIME CHANGE to 4pm


Ok, time to make this a real event.

The motivation for this event is something like this:
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And also the recently completed night street shooting event, I thought we should go set up lights in public and get people to have their portraits taken.

Let's meet at the junction of Cumberland and Bellair streets, right here:


Details:

What: Strobist-inspired street portraits
When: Saturday, 21 Nov
Time: 3:30 till about an hour or so after sunset
Where: Cumberland and Bellair streets, shooting in Yorkville park
Bring: 1 or 2 light setup

Depending on the date (hopefully on a weekend) I'd be interested, and can contribute a vagabond II, ABR800 (with octobox), and a 580exII to the list of lighting accessories...

''shopping the photos to perfection " -- what you talkin 'bout Willis? ... lol

waiting on the when... but very interested!

Don't want to come off as picky or anything like that and I'm pretty sure your intentions are good, but just a reminder for the enthusiastic lighting-inclined people that keep throwing the word Strobist around here on TPMG events, please read this comment from David Hobby, maybe you were (rightfully) not aware of this, but Strobist is in fact a trademark.

and good luck with this event.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/toronto-st ... 118260179/

ah I see. Thanks for the info. Always thought it was a free-to-use term.

I'd be interested, but I have a tricky work schedule

I think the problem David Hobby has with the term Strobist is when people use it for paid workshops where the organizer stand to make a profit. These people are jumping on the popularity of Strobist and trying to make money off it. Amateurs like us who have embraced the Strobist movement are not trying to exploit the term, only trying to share knowledge.

I might be interested depending when you set it up. I've had some good results doing this on my own after reading http://www.zarias.com/?p=465

I even wrote about it a bit here on my blog on how I approach people....
http://www.porterspixels.com/2009/10/portrait-practice.html

In one of my classes I took, one of the assignments was to approach 10 different total strangers and get them to pose for a portrait. It was harder than you think. A lot of people thought I was a nut job with a camera while some folks were more than willing and got some good laughs in between. Lot's of very attractive folks roam through Yorkville every day.

Now I don't like playing devil's advocate here but if you plan on setting up any light stands, strobe units, umbrellas, portable background rig etc. you will need to get a permit from the city to do so and it's usually by-the-hour permits. Some areas in the city cost more than others. UNLESS you happen to find a location that does not require a permit or has any restrictions <cough> then I think it would be a lot of fun.

I agree with Carlton. When I'm doing mine I carry a SB600 and that's it. I could see maybe getting away with an assistant holding it on a lightstand so it can be packed up quickly but a vagabond might be a bit over kill. Just my opinion.

Yes, actually. Although I appreciate MikeES's offer to bring a Vagabond and all that, I think it might be less trouble to have a flash on a light stand, and maybe a shoot through umbrella, and that's it. We'd take turns being camera assistants, and being "voice operated light stands". Pack it light, first sign of trouble, move...

How does Nov. 14 sound to people? Somewhere downtown, so the people density is higher and people are more likely to agree to pose.

I'm interested as an observer, or witness. (for when someone punches a photographer )

David Hobby should register Strobist as TM if he intends to enforce his rights to it on the internet and in jurisdictions outside of Toronto, Ontario. Rights of unregistered TMs may only be enforceable within a certain geographic region, so if someone elsewhere decided to start a photography studio/school that focused on small flash techniques, there probably isn't anything he could do, even in the courts of that jurisdiction to prevent them from doing so.

wouldn't getting a permit amount to the same thing as renting out a studio space. In this case if someone has a decent printer, we could charge people to make up the costs of the materials and permit.

I could also bring my Vagabond and strobes too.

Does anyone know how much it would typically cost for various areas? Has anyone compiled a list of prices or is there an online resource for this?

If you're going to start charging people, you will now need a vendor's permit. The last time I was looking into permits, the average rate was $40./hr on the hour. Renting a studio defeats the intended street theme.

No, no...

shoot really light. Not caring if the term is TM'ed but I'd like to use the strobist philosophy - small battery powered flashes, small as in AA size batteries, not sealed lead acid accumulators, and 40+ Ws (GN58m/ISO100) flashes, not 320+Ws studio strobes!

If people want to sell prints, prepare to hand out namecards, and have them conduct private transactions with you...

No permits, no selling photos. Taking pictures with an amateur mindset in the truest sense - for the fun of it, and learning more about the craft, of course.


Ok, I think we should start making this a real event. Shall we discuss here:

(i) Dates: Weekends - probably Saturdays - Nov. 7/14/21?
(ii) Locations: Yorkville, Kensington, Bloor Annex?
(iii) Time: 4:30pm till about slightly after sunset, approximately 7:00
(iv) Bring: Camera, (small) flash with remote capability (wired or wireless triggered), light stand optional, modifiers optional

I think I am going to call this a "Strobist

you don't need a permit for non-commercial shoots on the streets.
might get asked to move if your equipment is considered a safety hazard (someone tripping over your light stands, etc), but you don't need a permit.

Great idea. Nov 21st is my vote.

I'd be down for this.

I'd love to try something like this: http://jerrycentral.com/2009/04/17/nick ... ist-alert/

It doesn't have to be random people. I can bring a model or 2.
Though, it's probably a good idea to split the group to teams of 2-3

Yeah, I vote for 21st and Yorkville would be nice.

Cool video!
Thanks for sharing.

Good idea, I feel tempted to attend, but I

I'd like to come purely as a human light stand if there is room for that (not taking up the spot for something actually shooting). After last night's shindig, I realize that I'm wholly under-experienced to do quick street shots of decent quality.

Hi everyone,

please sign up for the real event - I've set it for Nov 21, at 3:30 pm at Yorkville Park, low sun, but in the shade, so it's easier to balance ambient and battery powered flashes. Then we'll shoot till the sun sets for a bit, and go for dinner and warm up.

See the first post for details.

There is no maybe column but I'm a definite maybe. Is it 3:30 or 4:30 I am confused.

3:30. sorry. sun sets at 5, so we should be there early.

i'll correct the sign up columns too.

Depending on my schedule I may come out and I'll bring with me a heavy duty lightstand with some superclamps with strobes on ball heads and snooted. I really liked the men's health photos, plus a single lightstand with strobes is much more inconspicuous than a vagabond.

OT: As to the use of Strobist, unless it's trademarked then go ahead and use it, although probably not for something you profit off of. It would be like Canon having issues with a "Canon" equipment meet-up.

Why even use the word "strobist"? I mean, if someone happens to take and post a pic taken with on-camera flash, another person is gonna say "that's not Strobist" etc. How about we just call it street strobing?

not going into the semantics of the term...

what we're going to do is to shoot portraits of random strangers, and make use of controlled lighting sources.

Diverse enough definition?

I'd love to try this but have no equipment or knowledge really. Would it be okay just to observe?