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Here’s why you should upgrade your speedlight to a studio strobe

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I’d argue that nearly all of us owned a speedlight at some point before we owned a studio strobe. When we’re looking to dip our toes into supplemental lighting, strobes seem like a big investment. It just makes sense to pick up a cheap speedlight to play with right?

Like many others, I did the same thing. I bought a cheap speedlight (that was ultimately pretty crappy), then I got a proper one, but I was still unhappy, whereupon I quickly bought a strobe. I immediately wished I’d done it sooner. Here’s why.

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Cinematic lens-flare filter comparison

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Clearer, sharper, brighter!

In recent years, we’ve spent a lot of money investing in expensive camera tech and lenses that produce flawless and crystal-clear imagery (ironically, that’s a dated expression given that we actually want images to be a lot clearer than crystal). But, is it really necessary? Do we really need to remove all traces of the image making process from our photographs? Have our images lost some of their uniqueness along the way?

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Super-soft lighting in small home studios

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In this article I’ll explain a beautifully soft lighting setup that can be achieved in almost any sized space – In fact, this setup actually takes advantage of very small rooms and the tight spaces of home studios!

In recent months, many of us have struggled to get back into the studio to shoot. Lock-downs and safety concerns surrounding large teams of people have made certain photoshoots pretty tricky to achieve whilst still being safe. But whilst we wait for things to get back to ‘normal’, I thought I’d share a lighting setup that actually takes advantage of small shoot spaces. Maybe you can’t get back into the studio and maybe you’d prefer to shoot in a controlled space like your own home. What are some of the disadvantages/advantages of that?

Tight quarters is one thing, but low ceilings can be a real pain too. But is there a way we can use that to our advantage somehow?

In this setup I play with a clever little setup that uses the restrictive confines of your own home to your advantage, and this technique can be achieved in almost any size space!

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How to negotiate with clients and interpret mood boards

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This article will cover a client case study on how I organised not only myself, but the client prior to the actual shoot day.

Topics I’ll cover in this article include:

  • Initial client contact
  • Client phone call
  • Pricing
  • Brainstorming
  • Mood boards
  • Interpreting client mood board into an actual shoot plan
  • Final images

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How to create lighting gradients in your shots with coloured gels

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Using coloured gels can be a little unforgiving, especially if you’re new to using strobes. But one of the biggest reasons using gels can be tricky, is due to how hard it can be to use multiple coloured gels in the same setup. Coloured lights do not play well together and unlike paint, where you can create new and wonderful colours by mixing them, mixing coloured light often results in dull, washed-out colours. Coloured gels do not mix and consequently must ordinarily be kept separate in your shot at all times.

Thankfully though, in today’s setup, I will be showing you how to mix coloured gels with incredible ease, in fact, it’s so easy, we’ll only be using one light to do it!

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A super simple 2-light setup for shooting still life photography

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Big-shock I know. A coloured gel lighting technique from me is hardly surprising, but this time I’m scaling things down and today I’ll be sharing a super simple 2 light setup for still-life.

To be clear, I’m a million years away from being an even remotely good still-life photographer, but I thought I’d share this quick little setup as I had a few questions about some shots I shared in a recent article. Plus, if I, a know-nothing portrait and fashion shooter can throw together this still life setup, anyone can do it.

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Five clamps and brackets every studio shooter and strobist needs

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What even is a ‘studio shooter’ today? Years ago it was a little easier to define, but due to us having tons of heavy, cumbersome lighting and cameras, we were all pretty grounded in the actual home-base of a studio. Today though, the vast majority of my own jobs are not shot in my own space. I shoot wherever I’m needed and whether that be in a home, an office, hair salon or even another hired studio, I’m always on the move. 

The clamps and brackets I’m about to run though in this article are great for all types of studio shooters, and although they will be ideal for those of you who may never shoot outside of your own controlled space, many of these items will be invaluable to those of you, who like me, need to carry, assemble and breakdown their studio setups regularly in a multitude of spaces. 

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This is my favourite $1 lighting modifier

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I’ve always been drawn to interesting looking light. The simple, soft and flat light of softboxes and other standard modifiers rarely hold my attention and I’ve often felt like that softbox lighting doesn’t exist outside of the studio. It’s always looked a little too clinical for me.

We’re shown interesting light all of the time when we’re observing daylight. Dappled light as it falls through leaves, dancing sparkles of light on water, rays of light through buildings and other structures, but we rarely try and bring that interesting looking light into the studio. In fact, many of us chase and covet this idea of ‘perfect’ light from a generic modifier and although there is certainly a time and a place for that, today I’d like to share a lighting technique that is a little more visually engaging.

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Are you still chasing “perfect” colour?

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It’s my belief that colour is actually one of the most subjective elements that we as humans all understand, yet we actually have no real way of enforcing or translating it to one another.

Think of colour like a language. I may say the word ‘Red’ to you and you will have an idea of what I mean, but it’s still extremely vague.

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How to create natural looking window light at home with flash and a diffused scrim

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Unbelievably soft lighting is actually trickier to do than many think. Sure we can place a large softbox in front of our subject to light them, but does that really look good?

No, I’m not trying to trigger anyone here and I’m genuinely curious because, to me, the classic softbox look is a unique look to studio-style lighting. Does that softbox light really look like daylight? If that’s the look you’re after, is a softbox really the best solution we have?

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