In typical internet fashion, going to one page led me to several other pages I never knew existed...
1. I have a feed that pulls in any photo equipment being sold in my area on Craigslist, and as is often the case, what's being sold doesn't make me want to break out the checkbook. Seems like it's always something too rich for my blood, not really anything I'm interested in, or some antiquated little nugget that I really can't justify spending any money on. This was once such case – a case of flashbulbs, in fact. Now, in theory, I could use these, having an old press camera with a Graflex Flashgun/Lightsaber, but I've never used the flash with this camera, nor ever intended to, so I think I'll pass. What piqued my curiosity though was this passage:
"...bulbs are just the thing for cave photos. Spelunker's [sic] have been using them for years."
Which led me to...
2. ...this page, going into great detail about photographing the interiors of caves, and the virtues of a bare-bulb style of illumination, namely from old flashbulbs. Now, I can certainly see where being able to pump out that much light on each exposure can be awfully nice in a dark cave, but having to go over and change out those bulbs after each exposure would be a pain in the butt in ANY location, let alone a darkened, damp cave. Should I ever find myself shooting down in a cave (and I must admit, this sounds like a lot of fun), I think I'll take my chances with off-camera strobes fired remotely.
(As an aside, I hate the term flashgun. There's this old fogy I deal with periodically that still uses that term and it drives me nuts. He's one of those types that if he's reading you a model number, he'll say "Delta-Echo-Alpha-4-Fiver-Baker" instead of DE-A45B. End rant.)
While looking at other sites discussing photography in caves, I found a link to...
3. ...Cress Photo, who apparently has the market cornered on flashbulbs and accessories, including special rigs used in motion picture and television special effects. Now that's all well and good, but do they really need photos of buxom, bikini-clad women holding or standing next to their equipment? Does this kind of marketing have any kind of positive effect? Does any heterosexual male see this and think, "Ladies LOVE bare-bulb flash photography – I got to get me some of that?" Do female photographers (there are a few out there) see this and not feel that still, here in the 21st century, their industry is an old-boys club that welcomes them mostly as models, and occasionally as colleagues? Does sex still sell anything to anyone other than 18-year olds? I mean, it's offensive, both from a certain feminist standpoint, and mostly in an insults-my-intelligence kind of way. I want to be sold on the virtues of your equipment, not be lured into your website by skin. Is THIS the best we can do?
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