A new way of lighting
I’ve been reading about lighting. Again!
I’ve been reading a blog written by a guy called David Hobby who’s at the forefront of a re-emerging technique of using flashguns off camera to light his images. People who do this are referred to as ‘Strobists’ and I’m happy to say that I’m quickly becoming converted to it.
I’ve never really been a fan of the studio, I think that it can actually be limiting as in essence its just a room with a load of lights in, and maybe a choice of coloured backgrounds. I suppose that a studio is what you make it, and you can replicate any situation within it, but at a cost. I much prefer to shoot on location and bring the studio lights with me.
On a location shoot I’ve generally used a fairly portable set of lights made by Multiblitz. They are a reasonably high output of 400W and come complete with lighting stands and are powered from the mains. I’ve added to this a variety of light modifiers, including soft boxes and umbrellas, and it’s a good, well built, extremely reliable piece of kit.
An up and coming assignment though involves a photoshoot in a health spa. The idea of trailing cables across the wet floor of a steam room, and setting up lighting next to a swimming pool and jacuzzi didn’t sit very well with me – it’s not good PR if you electrocute your models. I reckon that the way to do this is through the use of portable flash.
So I read up on the idea of using a number of hotshoe flashguns (the type you attach direct to your camera) on lighting stands to light my scenes rather than the usual combination of mains powered studio lights.
A studio flash head is basically a powered light which has an output that is manually controlled. You can adjust the power setting which allows you to decide how your subject is lit. You can add gels to these flash heads which will balance the light temperature to that of the ambient light. You can trigger the lights through either a cable, or if you are really fancy then a radio remote, and when one light detects the flash from the other it too will fire. You can add umbrellas, soft boxes and other light modifers and have complete control over your final image.
With a hotshoe flashgun you can also do exactly the same thing!
The differences? There are two main ones. The first is how the device is powered. Studio flash heads are mains powered, and so typically have very fast recycle times (how long it takes for the unit to be ready to fire again). You don’t need to worry about how long you can shoot for, you can just keep on going. Hotshoe flashes are usually powered by four AA batteries. The longer you shoot on the same set of batteries then the longer the recycle time, and eventually they are going to run out.
The second difference is related to the first, and that’s as the hotshoe flashguns are battery powered they are extremely lightweight, can work anywhere independently of a power supply and are incredibly portable. They can go anywhere.
The last big difference is that of power output. Studio flash heads are much more powerful than hotshoe flashes, but how much power do you need? I often add neutral density gels to my studio lights to bring the power down, so can I get the same results with hotshoe flash as with studio lights?
Well, there’s only one way to find out! In the next week or two I’ll be doing a full portfolio photoshoot on location, but I won’t be bringing the £1,500 worth of studio lights with me. I’ll be taking two lighting stands, a couple of Lumopro hotshoe flashes (at £120 per unit), a couple of umbrellas and some colour correction gels. And maybe I’ll throw a reflector in there too. The principles are exactly the same, and that’s controlling light and putting the right amount of it in the right place.
So, can a simple ‘strobist’ set-up replace a set of mains powered studio flash heads? I think it’s a question of power, and so far I’m inclined to say that generally for what I do they probably can. It’s certainly going to be interesting finding out, so watch this space . . . .
