Verb of the Day: "Potatoe-Chip"

EDITOR'S NOTE: I am hard at work this week on something a little different, but it is gonna take me a coupla days to finish it up and write about it. In the meantime, I thought I would toss the following out to snack on...
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In case you were wondering whatever happened to former U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle, he is now apparently popped up teaching spelling in Germany.

No, not really, but that is the first thing I thought of when I saw "potatoe-chip" being used in a California SunBounce video on YouTube.

Turns out that is just the way they spell it over there. Heck, maybe Dan was German. And for those of you in other countries wondering what the hell a snack food has to do with our former VP, well, best not to ask.

You say potatoe, I say potato -- but as a verb? Yep. Hit the jump, and we 'splain dis to you.
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When You Jump Out of a Burning Hotel, Aim for the Firefighter with a "Sun-Mover"

Okay, so maybe I consider a typical collapsible bounce panel and think, "Looks fine to me." But CSB's Peter Geller is German. And Germans tend to have a whole extra frontal lobe in their brains just for engineering. And Peter is not happy with your typical collapsible reflector.

I first saw a Sun-Mover about a month ago when I got to play with one at PMA. And when I say play, I mean, like, "play a drum" play.

They are oval shaped, and hold their considerable tension even in the wind. This creates a flat, predictable surface for bouncing light. And since the super-strong frames are constructed out of, like, transparent aluminum special high-strength steel, it is pretty much like holding a solid reflector. They even have motorcycle-like handles.

I'll shut up and let them explain:




I would not know how to describe the way a normal flex-reflector screws up the light when it gets a little breezy, but but Peter just points his German engineer brain lobe at the dictionary, and bam, "potatoe chip" is now a verb. Perfect.

And why should you care if it stays flat? Because a flat disc can throw a very efficient, focused, predictable beam of sun way better than a potatoe-chippy reflector can. Check out the before and after shots of light being reflected way into a doorway (about half-way down the page.)

For a lot of people, this level of efficiency might be overkill. And they are certainly not the cheapest reflectors out there. But for those of you who shoot using sun (or hard strobes) and reflectors in the wind and want predictability -- or long throw -- they are pretty flippin' sweet. And you can play bongo solos on it when you are kicking back after the shoot.
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We are, of course, huge fans of junk food here at Strobist International HQ. If you are wondering where to get the miniature Pringles, that'd be a Dubai thing. Sadly, we can't get them in the US, either.

UPDATE: Amazon for the win! If you are in the US, they are in the "gourmet" food section -- $17.72 for a 50 pack case, with free shipping for Amazon Prime folks. It's a Mini-Pringles Bonanza! (Thanks for the tip, Charlie!)