#( even though to be honest I was mainly improvising as I don't know if most parts of this will be a thing )

[endexe]

𝑮0𝑫_𝑬𝑿1(𝑺)𝑻.𝑬𝑿𝑬 𝐀𝐒 𝐀 𝐍𝐄𝐓𝐅𝐋𝐈𝐗 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒 ─ Netflix templates created by radwrites and storytellerdorian

[seatosomert]

Lighting.

So what do all these images here have in common?

Please indulge me and take a few minutes to study them.

What do you think now you've studied them?

The answer is that they've all been shot using auxiliary lighting. In other words I've used a light source in addition to the natural ambient light available.

Now, this post isn't going to be about what kit to use. There are plenty of other people out there producing all kinds of videos with different opinions. Some are brand affiliated, some are not.

So I'll leave that to those guys who are already doing a great job of it.

I want to talk to you about utilising available light and portable light sources, what I personally use and why.

Forgive me but I won't say if one thing is better than another etc. Every situation is different and you all have different shooting styles and have varying levels of desire as to the amount of kit that you want to carry.

What I will say is that in EVERY image here I have used a Speedlight, or several speedlites.

So what's a Speedlight? It's not a daft question guys. For years I called them Flash guns. It's a term I picked up from my Dad when he started teaching me to use a 35mm film SLR 27 years ago.

The correct term these days is speedlite and in fact it's a more accurate name for its actual use.

It is essentially a high powered light source that is quick (speedy) to use. That's it.

Now there is lots of technical stuff out there about Guide Numbers (GN) etc, which determine a speedlites power at a given aperture and ISO etc. It's very technical and if I am honest until about five years ago I never fully understood all that stuff until I paid to attend a course with the late, great Andrew Appleton.

You don't really need to know all that to be fair.

What I really benefitted from learning about speedlites is just how convenient they are, how to modify the light from them and how to improvise with objects and materials around you.

I always carry a mini speedlite with me for Sony cameras or a full size one if I'm carrying my Canon DSLR.

The mini one for the Sony's is almost half the size of the Full size one for my Canon and so it's ultra portable, only takes two AA batteries that you can buy pretty much anywhere and it's fairly powerful for its size, giving just over half the power of its full size sibling.

I carry only the one for my hobby Photography.

I like to travel light. So being able to utilise what there is around me is super important. I don't want to be carrying large softboxes or lighting stands when I'm walking around London shooting street, and not do I want to stand out with mahoosive full size speedlite attached to my camera.

I knew many years ago when I started out learning about this amazing hobby of Photography that the more I could learn about light, how it behaves, how to modify it and how to actually see what the light is doing, the more skilled I would become at getting the type of images that I was previsualising in my head.

The speedlites I use all come with a little stand so they can sit on most surfaces on their own. Two of the four that I own can transmit wirelessly to the other Speedlights, and trigger them to fire at the same time, even though they are different brands.

That's super useful to me.

In the wedding shots here, the shot with the guy holding the beer with his wife almost looking on with a little disapproval at his antics, I used two speedlites with shoot through umbrellas hidden in the trees. I had a speedlite on camera also which fired and triggered the other two simultaneously.

I went to that trouble because it was a wedding.

Same with the indoor cake cutting and first dance shots on the other wedding. I used three speedlites here.

But instead of using softboxes or umbrellas I popped the Speedlights on their little included feet/stands and angled the heads accordingly to utilise the reflective surfaces around them to give a flattering light that would also provide fine detail in the finished images. This allowed me to move around the whole area of the dance floor as I shot and I was confident that the lighting was going to work wherever I was within a certain area.

The karaoke shot was very similar. I used three Speedlights, one on camera 2 off camera on their little stands.

The single model shots were using large softboxes on lighting stands with Speedlights.

With the exception of two of these images.

The guy was shot with one speedlite bounced off of a wall behind me and the one of the lady with the white knitted top on (my wife actually) was a single speedlite again, bounced off of a white cotton bed sheet would you believe?

I am always experimenting with light. I love to try new things and I'll often limit the kit I carry or use for a shot to push myself to operate outside of my comfort zone by having to improvise and often very quickly. Especially with events such as weddings. Everything just happens around you at weddings but it's my job to stay switched on to what's happening and get the all important shots that you have just one chance to get right.

I love it. It's why even though I have scaled down my wedding photography as I move more towards B2B Photography, I'll always shoot a few weddings a year as it keeps my skill levels really high.

They're the most challenging work I do.

I don't just use Speedlights. I have access to a studio that a friend runs and I also have my own studio lights that run from mains or a portable battery pack.

They are only used for specific types of work where I need more power than Speedlights can give and where I want to totally control all the light.

I also have some continuous LED lighting which I mainly use for video, but one of them in particular is made by a great UK lighting brand, is circular and very portable and allows me to adjust the colour temperature (I can change the light colour basically) and it has variable power. It's also runs from AA batteries. It also has lighting special effects like police lights, television flickering lights and fire light. It can also be used as a strobe and so will act the same way as a Speedlight but doesn't need a recharge time between each shot like Speedlights do.

If you have been shooting natural light only and you're wanting to develop into an All Light photographer, consider some of the options here, but also get yourself a 5 in 1 pop up reflector. They're super versatile and easy to carry.

I took time out to really study light and how to reflect, shape, diffuse and cut down light. That was the single most important aspect of Photography that I've ever learned and I continue to learn as new options become available and there are some outstanding photographers out there who really know how to manipulate light to their advantage and produce amazing art.

That's it for now guys.

Hopefully this post has given you food for thought.

If you have any questions, do the usual and fire me a comment or message and I'll answer them where I can.

Keep at learning and practising guys. Your time, consistency and determination will reward you ten fold if you do.

Lastly, consider liking if you did like this post, giving me some constructive and helpful feedback if you didn't and don't forget to follow my Tumblr feed for more posts and content.

Enjoy the UK weather if you're here right now and speak soon.

Kind regards,

Neil.