LATEST ADDITIONS

A monolight is a self-contained studio flash that consists of a power supply, flash head, and modeling light wrapped up inside a single housing. Monolights are typically powered by AC current but there are times on location when an electrical outlet may not be so conveniently located and long extension cords can create safety hazards, even when securely fastened down. I’ve had people trip over taped cords and believe me, it can ruin your day. That’s why a new breed of monolights, such as Adorama’s Flashpoint II monolights, offer a DC option with a battery pack when you might be out standing in a field or, at one time during my tests, in a big parking lot. A switch lets you choose between AC or DC power provided by a dedicated Ni-MH battery pack that measures 7x7x3” and weighs 2.65 lbs.

I usually do not write reports on new computers, but the new 2011 Apple Mac mini (www.apple.com) is an exception. It is not because it has the fastest CPU, as that is not a major advantage for working with digital photographs. In fact, doing digital photographic editing does not involve much computation (“compute” is to calculate or reckon a figure or amount) and no calculation is needed to edit an image with Photoshop. When an image editor opens a digital photographic file, the entire image, every pixel, is put into RAM memory.

Facebook users have the chance to win a Smith-Victor 2,000 Watt Pro SoftBox Light Kit or Smith-Victor FLO-220 220W Dimmable Fluorescent 4-Lamp Bank with Barndoors by posting their best original image and description of the lighting used to the Smith-Victor Facebook page. Entries should include details such as where lights were place, if the photo was shot with ambient light, and how the light wasdiffused. Each participant can enter up to three images. Entries will be judged by photographers and lighting professionals and the best two images with descriptions win the prizes.