The Strobist's Lighting 101

I have pretty much always opted for the use of ambient light over photographic lights for shooting with the exception of some experiments I did for The Art of Photography course.  This hasn't necessarily been a conscious decision - more just the way things worked out for me.  I have always shot more street and landscape photography than indoor portraits.

I suppose the time comes in every budding photographer's/artist's life when you've got to take the plunge and delve into the unknown.  

One of the reason's I've avoided the use of flash is because I've felt at times overwhelmed with all there is to learn about using a camera.  Adding flash or photographic lighting to this just seemed to make things far more difficult - but is this the case? 

Having got to grips with exposure, white balance, zone systems and metering I have now the knowledge required (and the confidence) to tackle flash.  

Some time ago I bought Understanding Flash by Brian Peterson which is a good read and easy to follow until you try putting it all into practice.  Teaching yourself is difficult especially when you don't have anyone to ask the silly little questions on things that don't seem to fit into place.  I found after reading this book I had too many of these questions and also a flash that seemed to work in a completely different way to the author's.  

I have also found that having a single speedlite was never enough to achieve the results you were after or were trying to realise.  All of this becomes very frustrating and lure for available light becomes even stronger. Until this is I came across the Strobist's Lighting 101.  

Lighting 101 is a lighting blog which gives you the run down on all the gear you need and what you can achieve without breaking the bank.  

I have started experimenting with my flash and I am beginning to feel a lot more confident about it.  What's more, David Hobby provides the answers to nearly all those niggling questions I had.  So re-visiting Brian Peterson's book is something I will be able to do and make use of.  

The only drawback with Lighting 101 is sometimes more than one flash is used and again this is frustrating if you want to attempt to achieve the desired results.  However, as my tutor has recently pointed out to me it is the photographer that makes the shot not the tools.  

My lighting set up at the moment consists of:

Nikon SB-700 speedlite

Lastolite PC jack

Honl snoot and gobo

I am awaiting the delivery of an umbrella and light stand and that will be my set complete.  

I am hoping that this will introduce a new dimension to my portraits.  I will continue to post my experiments on my blog.