Recently I have become increasingly interested in flash photography, mostly as a result of following the excellent Strobist blog created by off-camera flash guru David Hobby.
Looking back through my photos, and a great many that others have taken, I have begun to realize that lighting is unquestionably the most important factor in the difference between a stunning (or even good) shot and a mediocre one. The Strobist philosophy is all about learning how to use light, both flash or flash and natural together to create the exact lighting conditions to fulfill an artistic vision.
As a self-admitted control freak, you can imagine why this would appeal to me greatly.
The only real hurdle for me to learning the Strobist off-camera flash techniques was not having a flash. Or any way to get it off-camera. Fortunately, my dear 'ol Pa stepped in and graciously donated his Canon 580EX to my cause, and I was able to pick up some cheap radio flash triggers from eBay.
After a quick trip to MPEX in Columbus, OH (a fantastic camera shop - also recommended by David Hobby), I was finally set with a very nice light stand and shoot-through umbrella to compliment the 580. The setup looks a little like something you'd see at the DMV, but used correctly, it's an excellent diffuser, especially for things like portrait headshots:
In addition to upgrading lighting for portraits from what could have previously been referred to as 'mugshot chic' , I've also been playing around with using the flash in a more controlled way to get a specific lighting effect that creates a mood. Placement of shadow is just as important as highlights, and the play of light and shadow has an enormous impact on the feel of an image.
Here's a comparison of a Dragonball Z figurine brought back to me from Japan in two different lighting environments:
Figurine shot in lightbox w/ basically omnidirectional light:
Figurine shot with off-camera flash through a snoot (long tube) to control the highlight area:
Both shots are basically the same composition, taken with the same lens and camera at similar settings, but the look and 'feel' are completely different. To me, the second shot represents just some of the possibilities to be found in off-camera flash work.
I'll close with one final strobist shot:
The reason that I am particularly proud of this shot, other than it looking pretty cool and not burning the house down while taking it, was that I was able to get the look I was after in the glass by itself within about 5 minutes of playing around with the flash/reflector setup. After that it was just a matter of adding a little isopropyl alcohol for the finishing touch.
To me, learning the techniques and being able to apply them (relatively) independently to achieve a specific vision in my head is really cool, and one of the reasons that I think photography has become such a strong interest for me.
