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The easiest way to balance flash with ambient light when shooting outdoors

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If you’ve been a predominantly natural light shooter then the prospect of adding a flash or strobe to your images could feel a little daunting. Suddenly your way of controlling light just doesn’t seem to work anymore, and it can be incredibly frustrating just trying to get the beautiful subtle effect that you’re probably going for.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Adding a hint of strobe to ambient or outdoor natural light is a great way to take your images up a notch. And as Pye Jirsa shows us in this video from Adorama, it really doesn’t have to be complicated or scary.

How to choose your ideal Godox strobe in 2021

If you’re just starting out with strobes, there’s more choice than ever to overwhelm you with!  In this guide, we will help you systematically narrow down which lights are going to work best for your type of photography.

The world of strobes has changed quite a bit since we published our last article on the subject. While much of the information there remains relevant, we thought it was time for a fresh guide to highlight some of the technological improvements, particularly in power range which we will get to in a moment.

Let’s get right into it and discuss the main considerations when choosing a strobe:

The Godox MS200 is a sub $100 200WS strobe – A review

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With all the LI-ION strobes going around, it is sometimes hard to remember that not so long ago, most strobes had to be connected to a power outlet to actually work. But with the rise of the battery-operated strobe, the AC-powered strobes are now cheaper than even and provide a great opportunity to get started in a studio for almost no money at all. The Godox MS200 (Amazon | B&H) is a prime example of that.

I recently was contacted by Godox to review their new MS200 200ws monolight. Being on the low budget end of the spectrum at $99.00 on Amazon or B&H, I did not expect too much. I was quite surprised by the value of this value monolight.

Westcott announces FJ400, portable but powerful strobe and FJ-X2m, universal wireless trigger

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Westcott has just announced a new strobe and an accompanying wireless trigger. The Westcott FJ400 is a portable 400Ws AC/DC strobe with less than 1 s recycle time at full power. It’s launched along with the FJ-X2m is a universal trigger which pairs with virtually any camera brand, so you don’t need a brand-specific trigger.

Ten things a photographer wishes he’d known before he started using strobes

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When you first start using strobes, it can be exciting but also overwhelming. There’s a lot to learn and a lot of mistakes to make before you get it right. In this video from Behind the Shutter, photographer Michael Corsentino shares his experience with strobes. He talks about ten things he wishes he’d known before he started shooting with them. If you’re just starting out, this video will help you learn and avoid mistakes.

One photographer’s biggest issue with the Sony system

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If you are using one of the Sony A7X system as a stills camera, you are probably familiar with the EVF. It’s that little monitor at the back of the camera that shows you what the exposure looks like depending on exposure settings.

Of course, you can also set the monitor to show you a constant “proper” exposure regardless of the camera setting. You can decide on this behavior using the “Live View Display: Setting Effect On/Off” menu. When you are at Setting Effect On, the EVF will match hour exposure settings, kinda giving you a preview of your soon-to-be-exposed photo. When you are at Setting Effect Off, the camera will give you a constant exposure. Now Rob Hall has an issue with the third option…

When you add a strobe, or a Sony compatible trigger though, the camera will move into a new mode and show you what it thinks a “proper” exposed subject will be, if you used the flash correctly. Sadly, you have no control over this override and once a strobe is introduced, you are stuck with this method of EVF display.

Pop, Pop, Power To Spare, Anywhere – First Look, Profoto B1X 500 AirTTL Monolight

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As destination workshop providers, instructors and guides, we don’t get to shoot nearly enough studio images. So when an opportunity comes along to break out the studio strobes and craft some well thought lighting and imagery, we get excited. When Profoto sends us their new flagship portable strobe we get downright ecstatic. As we both love landscape images, what better product to test out, in the great outdoors and put it through its paces.

Any experience with Profoto gear will tell you that it’s not the least expensive product out there, but long term experience will tell you that the quality is certainly present in all of their products and the system, as a whole, is pretty hard to beat when it comes down to your control over light shaping. Investments into Profoto gear are exactly that, investments and almost all investors will tell you that when looking at investing, think about the long haul. This is where Profoto really shines, it’s always with you for the long haul, ready to be used over and over again, shoot after shoot, reliably each time…

Photographing a model in sunset with only one strobe

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Combining natural light and flash can be tricky, but photographer Axel Rivera shared a perfect example of such image with us. He shot this gorgeous portrait in quite tricky conditions – it was during the sunset, the model was backlit, and he only had one strobe. But he did a great job, and he kindly shared his setup, tips, and tricks with DIYP.

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