Jon Crispin's Notebook

I bought 3 Paul Buff White Lightning Ultra strobes sometime in the 80’s.  I always liked the company and Paul Buff designed them to last forever.  He was a really interesting fellow who started out on the West Coast doing recording and engineering work with Frank Zappa.  He saw a need in the photo industry to have a strobe system that was simple and powerful, so he moved to Nashville and started building these.  I still have my original 3 units, and they work fine.

At some point during the time I was shooting the suitcases my dear friend Alex Ross gave me 5 of his Ultra 1800’s, which are 3 times more powerful than my original set.  I used them for the majority of the project.  Yesterday, I pulled out one of them to do some quick shots and saw his somewhat cryptic notes on it.  It is never a bad idea to thank the people in your life who have made a continuous and positive impact.  I wouldn’t be the photographer that I am without Alex’s influence and support, and he might never really know just how much he means to me.  Thanks Ace.