Lighting How To

Many photographers love the look of outdoor portraits shot under natural light. But sometimes either the setting or ambient light levels don’t cooperate and off-camera flash delivers the best results.

When I realized that this column would be in the magazine’s lighting focus issue, I looked at the data for the photos I’d taken earlier this year during a nearly month-long combination of safari workshop, assignment, and stock shoot in Africa. What I found surprised me: I’d used flash on about one-third of the 13,000 photos I’d made on that trip. I had no idea I’d used my Speedlights as often as I had.

When I first heard about the AlienBees DigiBee flash units, my reaction was probably mirrored by many: An AlienBees light with a digital back, what’s to get excited about? And while the new DigiBee might not have all the whiz-bang features of some of the higher-priced lights on the market, there are several hidden surprises that may make you want to take a look.

We all love working with available light, but sometimes a bit of illumination from a simple flash can make a world of difference in an image, even when shooting outdoors. If you’re relatively new to flash photography, this tutorial is for you.

Here’s a loosey-goosey studio lighting tutorial from Photo-Me-Ike where he tests out the new Orlit Rovelight 610 TTL system to see if it’s a viable alternative to the popular and relatively inexpensive Flashpoint (aka Godox) system.

Lou Freeman is an acclaimed fashion and lifestyle photographer with a client list that’s second to none. And in the video below, she shows how to create glamorous boudoir photos by using portable, continuous light sources.

Typically when we discuss photographing birds in flight, the emphasis is on techniques for capturing super sharp images. But as you’ll see in today’s tutorial, there’s another critical consideration under certain lighting conditions.