I often get emails about lighting.

Is lighting really that important?

What’s off camera flash all about?

What’s up with this whole strobist thing?

FLASH MODEL

How do I get better pictures, I don’t have a budget for “professional gear”?

In a blanket effort to answer all of these questions I start with my own:

So how did the use of artificial lighting in photography come to be?

Truthfully it was a case of necessity and the advancement of technology. We often take for granted the tools at our disposal. We should be reminded that early photographers were stuck with long exposures in bright daylight. Yuck! Thank goodness for technology.

In the beginning there was sun. That was it. All they had. Then along comes explosion! A magnesium compound was carefully measured and placed upon a platform, set ablaze, and the light produced allowed photographers to capture images with artificial light. Sounds great doesn’t it? Let’s think about this for a second; set up tripod, frame shot, set exposure, measure explosive compound (very carefully please), explosion, smoke, nasty airborne residue, and done. One shot. Hope you got it right.

Around the 1900s photo plates and film began to get faster. Photographers began to steal techniques and equipment from their Hollywood brethren. These lights were large, heavy, and very hot. But this was all studio photography type stuff. Not for the location photographer at all, at least not until the roarin’ 20s did photographers get the use of flash bulbs. This was great because it gave photographers the ability to freeze motion (and they were smaller and more portable). Direct light, single use, and slow film all contributed to unnatural and often unflattering lighting.

All of this technology in the early years of photography was quite expensive.

Professional photographers would carry their bulky studio electronic flashes on location up until, and perhaps even beyond, present day.

Mass production creates a lower cost of entry for any technology. This is true of cameras as well. 35mm SLR cameras became cheap enough for hobbyists to enter the game of photography. The use of hot shoe mounted flashes became more popular and drove those prices down as well. One of the major differences between a professional and a hobbyist isn’t really skill. It isn’t really financing either. It’s the freedom to be able to experiment.

That experimentation creates a movement. Today, we call that being a Strobist! The use of off camera and minimalist lighting by photographers isn’t new, but it is seemingly renewed. And that’s a good thing.

Today’s digital cameras have advanced TTL technology and enough auto and semi-auto functionality to give anyone the tools to produce great images if they learn how to use those tools properly. If all this takes is patience, practice, and time, then what have you got to lose?

With the latest release of DSLRs from both Canon and Nikon, as well as the other great manufacturers, we now have ISOs as high as 25,600! That’s just insane. Now, while that ISO may not be usable yet, it’s here and we can only expect that new advancements will push those ISOs even higher or better.

See, high ISOs mean that less light is required to capture sharp images with low noise and better dynamic range. That means that light sources simply don’t need to be as powerful as we needed them in the past.

These small light sources (strobes) are adjustable, portable, consume less power, and come with an array of accessories that allow for almost any kind of lighting situation.

Yes, you should embrace the strobes. Yes, you should embrace all that is Strobism. It’s another tool to put in your arsenal of weaponry for when you go out and shoot (your camera that is!). The more tools you have at your disposal, the more you’ll get out of your camera.

The how’s of getting better pictures with off camera flash come with practice and experimentation. So go out there and practice!

Photograph FLASH MODEL by poppaj who can also be found on MySpace under Jeff.