From the e-mail conversations I have had with a few of you, I am starting to get the impression that there is a small-but-enthusiastic army of Nouveaux Flashers out there, ready to take over the world with just a (used) 60 watt-second strobe.
For example, I have to wonder what any motorists driving down a certain street in Romania a few days ago might have thought of the sight of a photographer - complete with off-camera flash on a stand - snapping away at a very well-lit tree. I am not making this up.
(I am thinking the reaction might have included whatever the Romanian word is for "drugs.")
And no, I am not making fun of the reader in question, either. Far from it. I think it is great. You get better by practicing, and I have seen an outpouring of genuine enthusiam on this site from day one that really makes me feel good about setting it up.
But since I set up this site to help people avoid many of the mistakes I made as a young photographer, you might as well consider this one: In your new-found enthusiasm for lighting, remember not to shoe-horn cool light into photos that might have been just as good (or better) shot in ambient.
Conversely, don't think you are done creatin a good photo just because you have set up nice light.
I say that because I always have a strong inclination to apply whatever trick I just learned on the next job that comes along. I doubt I am alone in this psychosis. In the photojournalism pecking order, content and moments trump cool light. If you are concentrating on light at the expense of the other two, you are short-changing yourself and your pictures.
Case in point: Yesterday, I walked into a court hearing for John Allen Muhammad, (the convicted killer in the Washington, D.C. "sniper" killings in 2002) armed with a strobe, a light stand, and umbrella and Pocket Wizards.
Granted, this is my normal set-up that I usually carry with camera gear into indoor settings. But still.
We were going to have the opportunity to shoot the major players in his second trial (Maryland jurisdiction this time) for the killings that happened in Maryland. Actually, I felt pretty smug when the light turned out to be about 1/20th of a sec at f/2.8 at ASA 1000. I just set that strobe up on a stand in the corner, put it on full manual into the white ceiling, popped on a Pocket Wizard and got ready to shoot at 1/125 at 2.8 at ASA 400.
Long story short, the lawyers became concerned at how Mr. Muhammad might react at the sudden site of nine video guys and an equal number of still shooters. It was a genuine media circus, and probably not too respectful of the jududicial process at that.
Upon sensing that the judge was a hairs breadth from kicking us all out, we quickly agreed to let the AP's Chris Gardner shoot - available light - as a single pool photog to preserve our chance of getting any photos at all.
We were lucky. It worked, and Chris and I spent the next hour burning CD's for everyone else of his whole shoot.
Back to the point, at some point during the day, Chris said, "Do you always carry a light stand around like that?"
"Well, yeah," I told him. It is nothing much to throw my little set up on my shoulder, so why not? As long as I can lug it, where's the downside?
Well, the downside is subtle and a little sneaky.
The downside is that you go in, planning to light. And because of your set-in-stone preconceptions, miss a found picture or moment. Why? Because you did not let the assignment develop more organically, for lack of a better word.
I look at light like this: The primary benefit of adding light is to raise the quality level on low-yield assignments. That's a no-brainer.
You could say the same for portraits, but it is not always the case. I try to think of strobe light as an option, along with all of the ambient sources at my disposal at the assignment. I walk in ready to use a strobe, a window, a desk light, a florescent, a sunbeam - whatever is there. Any or all of the above.
Just don't walk in with your lighting technique set in stone and ready to do. The gift of being open to serendipity is one of the best strengths a shooter can have, IMO. Be ready for cool stuff to happen. Keep your eyes open.
And if it doesn't, (or if it was never going to in the first place) think up some cool light and do it up right.
To a hammer, everything looks like a nail. That's the trap. Don't be a hammer. Adding light is a great option.
Just don't use it as the end-all. You still have to make a good photo -- whether you add light or not. And if you think that way, your lit photos will have more life, too.
Next: Keep a Lighting File
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