Strobist on DVD

This weekend, as I was prepping photos for the store, I was also watching a very special set of videos put together by David Hobby, AKA the Strobist. David has been working on this project for a while now and I'm super happy that it's out the door and shipping now.

So, what's on the DVD set? In a nutshell, it's a recording of his one day seminar spread across 4 DVDs, a kick start DVD about gear, and 3 more DVDs covering specific shoots. All in all, its a firehose of information that's presented in David's patented we're gonna talk about everything at once style and screw the step by step outline because really, it's all interrelated and you just need to live and breath it a few times and then you'll get it style. Did I say it was a firehose? Yes I did. But, when the material is on DVD, you can rewind, play things again, and go back to something you missed earlier.

If you ever wanted to go to one of his seminars, but couldn't, you'll get all the content from his seminar by picking up the DVD, and at a discount over the ticket price and any travel expenses you might have spent. If you've been to one of his seminars, the three DVDs, labeled Bonus, are the real meat and potatoes of the set and are worth the price of admission on their own.

In fact, these so-called "Bonus" disks are best part of the set. Far from being just extra material, the content on these disks is where you get to see it all really come together. The 5 "Main" disks are just the warm up for the real show on these last three disks. For example, watching David work through shooting a model in a pool under crappy sodium vapor lights and coming up with a great shot with the help of an assistant holding a light on the end of a monopod and another assistant holding a backdrop in the water was fascinating, to say the least. And watching David accidently dip his camera in the pool, recover after a moment of worry and drying everything off, and then move right on along shows the kind of things that really do happen on location.

David is the first to say that this is not a slick production by any means. He's chosen to go for more content rather than better production. Really, what else do you expect from the man that brought you all the fun DIY projects like cardboard snoots and homemade ring flashes? It may be low in production value, but in my mind, that's appropriate for David. It's part of his philosophy top to bottom. On the other hand, some might hate the low tech approach, so watch the video below. If you dig it, you're on the right wavelength.

Bottom line, as long as you're cool with the production, this set is highly recommended. And, even if you've been to one of David's seminars, I still rank this as highly recommended because of the value of the content on the three "Bonus" disks alone.

The DVD set goes for $139 and there are reportedly 1000 copies at Midwest Photo Exchange ready to go. Why only 1000? David is funding this out of his own pocket and that was what he could do for the first run. He'll turn around what he makes from this run and reinvest in future runs. I'm thinking this first set is going to sell out fairly quickly, so if you really want this and want it soon, I'd jump fast.