Syl Arena

SYL | 'sill'

1. short for 'Sylvester'

2. rhymes with 'Bill', 'Phil' and 'Will'

3. not pronounced 'Sile' or 'Sly'

Shortly after Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon, Syl Arena "borrowed" his father's newfangled Polaroid camera, climbed a tree, and made his first photograph. Syl was in the third grade. He has wandered the world of photography ever since.

In college, Syl studied commercial photography at Brooks Institute and fine art photography at the University of Arizona (BFA, 1984). Among his more noteworthy accomplishments in school was the construction of a pinhole camera that used 20" x 24" litho film. True to his eclectic style, Syl then printed these giant negatives as cyanotypes, carbon prints, and screen prints--a early indication of Syl's willingness to explore the boundaries of photography.

Over the years, Syl has shot for newspapers, magazines, and catalogs. He has been recognized for his expertise on color critical workflow and his ability to turn noon to night by firing off a dozen Speedlites simultaneously.

Widely known for his teaching ability, Syl is the author of the bestselling Speedliter’s Handbook, and he has taught lighting and photography at Maine Media Workshops, Santa Fe Photo Workshops, and Dubai’s Gulf Photo Plus. Syl covers the world of photography on his blog, PixSylated.com.