One
of the things that will always separate the amateur photographers from the more
serious photographers and the pro’s is their use of lights and their lighting
techniques. If you consider yourself a
photographer then you already know it’s all about the light right?
How
many times do we hear people say they prefer to shoot with ambient light only? I’ve found that quite often it’s because they get
intimidated by using flash, especially off-camera flash. One of my favorite sayings is by Zack
Arias. He says “Did you know I’m an
available light photographer? I look in my bag, see that my Vivitar 285 or a
Nikon Speedlite is available to me and I use that”.
Don’t
get me wrong, we all love great ambient light, but even when I am shooting in beautiful
ambient light, a lot of times I’ll still break out a flash just to add a little
dimension and punch to my photos. By adding an extra light source, I can create
my own shadows and direct the viewer’s eye to what I think is the photos story.
Face it, you can have the best composed shot in the world, but if your lighting
is crap, it’s a good chance that your shot will be also.
These
days if you want to learn more about off-camera flash there are a thousand
different websites and books out there to learn from. By far the best resource
on the web for getting the most out of off-camera flash is the Strobist website
created by David Hobby. David may have started the Strobist, but there are some
other biggies out there like Joe McNally who is another master of off-camera
flash. Joe and David actually teamed up a few years ago and toured the US doing
seminars on off-camera flash called the Flash Bus tour. Another person I’m a big
fan of is Neil van Niekerk and his Tangents blog. Neil’s written a series of books aimed at off-camera
flash that I have written about several times on my blog. If you type his name
in the Search Box on this site it will bring up those reviews. These are just a few names of people I admire
personally for their work with off-camera flash. But back to my review…..
Back
in July of 2015 I was turned on to another photographer, Tilo Gockel, who also does
great stuff with speedlights. He was asked to be a guest blogger on the
Photoshop Insider (Scott Kelby’s blog) Tilo himself comes from Germany and has currently
written two books on off-camera flash. His first book was called ‘Creative Flash Photography’ and the second is called ‘One Light'. I have not read the second book but I can
tell you from personal experience, his Creative Flash book is great. If you’re
new to off-camera flash (or even if you just want to improve your own skills)
these books will definitely help.
In
the book Creative Flash Photography, he has broken it down to 40 lessons, he
calls workshops. These richly illustrated, easy-to-understand workshops are
filled with recommendations and instructions for flash setups, along with detailed
lighting diagrams, and tips and tricks for how to achieve professional looking shots
using simple accessories you probably already own. He’ll even show you how to easily
achieve high-end studio style shots in your own home with easily accessible
equipment and even a few tips on creating your own lighting modifiers and tools.
Tilo shows you how to make magic by mastering the use of your own speedlights
so you too will be able to create these amazing photographs in any situation.
Mastering
your flash is one of the best ways to improve your own photography. Maybe you’re ready to take your skills to the
next level? If you’re interested in
either of these books just click on any of the links in this post to get you
the best possible price online. Look below the main advertisements to More Buying Choices to avoid paying full price. I loved this book and I’m sure you will too!
And,
as always, keep shooting and have some fun!
