DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

The Strobist offers up some advice for those starting out with flash

Sep 21, 2017 by John Aldred 2 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

David Hobby is the man who started off the whole strobist movement. He literally is the Strobist. It’s been a while since we’ve seen him on video, and he took a bit of a break from the site for a while, too. He is now back, with a new free Lighting 103 course, focusing on colour.

The Phoblographer caught up with David recently at the Fujifilm Festival in New York City. Naturally, out came the camera, for David to impart some of his wisdom. Specifically, it’s aimed at those thinking about, or looking into getting their first flash.

YouTube video

I picked up my first couple of speedlights about 15 years ago, when I was shooting a Nikon D100. I’d never heard of David Hobby at this point, but a lot of the questions I had back then people still have now. He tackles many of those questions, and a few misconceptions in the video that people regularly still ask today.

Manual vs TTL

It’s a common believe that TTL is easy but unpredictable, and that manual is difficult to use but consistent. David says they’re both about the same, really. The only difference is how they are controlled. Which to use will depend entirely on your needs at the time. Some photographers bounce between both. David’s a manual kinda guy. And, well, so am I. If TTL works for you, though, then great.

Buying your first light

I regularly see people asking when they should get their first flash. David’s answer is simple. If you have a camera and a lens, then go buy a flash.

Maybe it’s just me, but when I got my first DSLR, also acquiring a flash felt mandatory. I didn’t really know why, at the time, and I certainly had no idea how to use one. But, somehow, I knew I needed one, and I’d figure out what it was for after I got it. After I did get my first flash, and started to play with it and understand a bit more about light, I was hooked on using flash for my photos.

Lighting, especially now, is also the most inexpensive way to up your game with photography. An inexpensive speedlight like a Godox TT600 with an Xpro trigger costs about the same as your average kit lens. And, well, you’ve already got one of those. If you want better lenses, you’ll be paying a whole lot more money. Learning how to light your subjects properly will offer a whole lot more benefit to your photographs than buying a new lens, anyway, at any price.

Get the flash off the hotshoe

While most cameras have a slot on top, known as the hotshoe, into which you can place a flash, it is the worst place to put one. Joe McNally calls it “Xerox light”. You’re just blasting hard ugly light straight from the front, and making the ugliest portrait imaginable.

Getting that flash off the camera is the key to really learning how to control light. Does that mean you can’t control it when it’s on the hotshoe? Of course not, as demonstrated by Neil van Niekerk. But, getting the flash off the camera is the easiest way to learn the principles. Once you know what it is you want to achieve, then you can worry about trying to get a similar look with a flash on the camera. Although it’s still not always possible.

White light is a lie

This is a tough one for many people to wrap their head around, but white light doesn’t really exist. It’s a combination of several colours combined. Even when those colours are combined in just the right amounts, our camera still may not see them as being white.

The same light, which appears white, may present differently on highlights vs the shadows. Or there may be an odd colour glow coming from a certain area. Even the sun changes colour at different times throughout the day. So, understanding colour is vitally important.

One book that David suggests people check out is Gregory Heisler’s 50 Portraits. It’s a fantastic book to study portrait lighting, as well as colour.

Visit the Strobist website

Naturally, David is going to plug his own website. And, why wouldn’t he? The Strobist website is packed full of useful information on flash. It’s presented in a way that it’s easy for beginners to pick up, but there’s also great advice in there for more advanced flash users. And it’s all completely free. So, if you haven’t seen it yet, head on over and check it out.

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Default ThumbnailThe Strobist Corner: Super Simple Gel Holder For “Strobist” Gels Honest advice to all starting wedding photographers The Strobist is back with a free flash lighting course focusing on colour Default ThumbnailThe Strobist Corner – Extending Your TTL Flash Cord

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: flash photography, lighting

John Aldred: from diyphotography.net

About John Aldred

John 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.

« Mobile photo editor Snapseed gets a UI facelift and new perspective correction tool
A detailed hands-on field test of Nikon D850 »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Learn photography

Recent Posts

  • Samyang adds 100mm T2.3 to its compact autofocus cine prime lineup
  • Build your own DIY night vision camera with a Raspberry Pi
  • This adorable LEGO retro camera set hits the stores soon
  • Here are the cameras that shot Flickr’s best images
  • Meta AI image generator Imagine gets its own website

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.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

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.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy