Day 4 Lighting Series: What You Need to Know
Welcome to the final episode of the lighting series! On the first day, we talked about what relying exclusively on natural light is actually costing you. This may be stress, anxiety, or consistency in your work—which all have an impact on your brand your business.
Then on day two, we talked about how a lot of us put ourselves through that stress because we have some fears and misconceptions about what working with strobes and flash means.
People are concerned they can’t produce the pretty window light look if they use strobes and flash. I shared how that's actually not true. You can, and it’s actually pretty easy!
I talked about how people are concerned about the expense of using strobes and flash, but remember it doesn’t have to be expensive! The first lighting set up I invested in was just $300, and it’s still totally possible to stay within that budget.
Yesterday I talked about how fear is really the thing that holds people back from learning this amazing skill. Lighting seems hard, but what I've discovered through teaching lighting to myself and then thousands of other photographers around the world, is that you actually already know most of what you need to in order to get started. You know the hard parts, because you already know how to see and work with window light. Light is light! So if you can work with the sun shining through a window, you can absolutely work with a bulb shining through a softbox.
So then what do you actually need to learn in order to be successful with using strobes and flash in your business?
That's what we're going to talk to you about today!
HIGHLIGHTS
Here's what you need to know.
To create beautiful, natural-looking light with strobes and flash, you need to start with a solid understanding of the core technical differences between working with natural light versus artificial light.
When I say technical, I know that turns a lot of people off. However, there are just a few key differences. For example, your shutter speed is one of them. When you're working with a strobe or a flash, your shutter speed takes on a different role than it does when you're working with natural light.
I teach that in detail inside of my signature lighting course, The Missing Link!
You also need to know about sync speed. What is your camera sync speed? What does that mean? Why is it important? If you're a film photographer, it's a little bit different than if you're a digital photographer.
Once you understand those technical things, you need to know what kind of equipment you need to get started. This is usually the point where photographers feel stuck or they just give up. The reason for that is that there are so many choices when it comes to buying and acquiring studio equipment.
Don’t let equipment freak you out and stop you from learning. Remember you already know the hard stuff—big windows produce soft light and small windows produce hard light. The same rules apply to light modifiers—the bigger the modifier, the softer the light.
You also do not need a ton of gear. I teach a one-light approach in The Missing Link, so I teach you how to create beautiful, soft light with just one light and one modifier. This really does simplify everything and solves the equipment overwhelm problem. In the course, I also provide a detailed equipment list so that you only invest in exactly what you need, which will help you save money!
You need to know exactly what equipment you're going to get and why, and then the last piece is learning how to turn everything on, where to place it and how to meter. That's it, and it's really easy!
Our students see amazing success, and I truly believe that is because the system I teach is simple and so straightforward.
Everything I do is with one light, one light modifier and one stand. You can also create a lot of different looks with just one light, which is really fun!
If you’d like to learn more about everything I’ve been talking to you about all week, I have a completely free training that walks through everything I’ve been talking about this week. You can save your seat here!
I hope if nothing else, this lighting series has inspired you to start thinking about incorporating artificial light into your work. This is the perfect time of year to start learning it, so you're prepared when the busy season comes.
