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Learning About The Small Things

Aug 12, 2008 by Udi Tirosh Add Comment

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Nikon sb800If you, like me, have little money to spend on big expensive lighting, you can start up your flash photography with a small flash (AKA strobe).

Actually some of those are so cheap, you can start off with a few, or add strobes as you go along. I started with 1 small flash: The Nikon SB 28, added the Nikon SB 800 when I got my D70, and when I needed more light, I added the Nikon SB 26. The SB 26 sells for about 100 USD on eBay and other small flashes like the famous Vivitar 285HV sells for about 50 on eBay and about 80 for a new flash.

If you indeed choose this path (which from now on will be called the strobist path) there are several very useful resources on (and off) the web for you to learn how to perfect your small strobe lighting technique.

I have deep appreciation for all photographers listed below, they all helped me learn and grow to the photographer I am today.
This is why I am shamelessly promoting sharing their recent and not so recent projects.

strobist

Strobist

David Hobby is without a doubt the leader of the small strobe movement. In his strobist blog, he discusses lighting in general, but the main focus in on small strobes lighting. If you are new to lighting, this is definitely a great place to start. You can begin with Lighting 101, move to lighting 102 (which is currently running) – Both are a great way to kick off your lighting skills, and keep up with the blog for general lighting goodies. David is also very keen on DIYing things, so if you like DIYP you are bound to like The Strobist. Another way to suck in all the great strobist info is to get the Strobist DVD set, it is an 8 DVDs set with all the blogging goodies brought to life.

By the way, David is one of the few photographers (if not the only one) who have a verb named after them. But sometimes you just have to strobist something. 

David X Tejada

David Tejada

David (it looks like Davids are a magnet for small flashes) is the author of a great blog called The f-Stops Here. David is a commercial photographer located in Colorado, and he has been an inspiration to me and was featured on the site several times.

David is a master of controlling small flashes and in his blog he shares a lot of his great photography and how he made it. I’ll give a hint (surprise, surprise) there are no big flashes involved… To make it even more fun and interesting, he shares his experiences in a series of videos – a great way to spend an afternoon.

David recently started to share his vast experience in a one day workshop – Small Strobes Big Results. If only I lived in Colorado.

joe mcnally

Joe McNally

So, Joe McNally is the guy who makes things possible. Nothing is too complicated for this guy. And guess what? Joe is doing most (or at least a considerable amount) of his work using small flashes. He even manages to out light the desert sun. Then again, I don’t know if packing seven Nikon SB 800s is considered small flash lighting anymore :)

As for sharing, the nice guys at Google put up am hour and ten minutes long video of Joe, discussing his work.

Joe has also wrote a great book about photography and on location lighting, called “The Moment it Clicks“, where Joe shares tips and setups accumulated in over 30 years of experience.

dg28Neil Turner

Neil Turner does not run a blog. He does run a site dedicated to small flash lighting. In a series of short and to-the-point article Neil discusses techniques, equipment and more. No doubt a great place to sharpen up your small flash skills.

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Filed Under: Tutorials Tagged With: flash

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.net

About Udi Tirosh

Udi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

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Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

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David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

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