New to lighting? Welcome. Start with Lighting 101, linked below, as millions of other photographers have done before you. Or scroll down further to access Strobist's other free courses.
Lighting 101 is the core foundation of Strobist. It is a free, start-from-zero tutorial that will teach you the basics of lighting and minimalist lighting gear. Lighting 101 will have you up and running in no time—and at minimal expense.
Lighting 102 is the sequel to Lighting 101. Where L101 was about gear and basic concepts, L102 will teach you how to further understand and control the qualities of your light to make it do your bidding.
Lighting 103 is a deep dive into color. It explores the intersection of light and color to help you give your photos more nuance, realism and depth.
Strobist Lighting Cookbook combines the concepts learned in L101-103 to give you more understanding and fluidity with your lighting. We also explore some of the shoots from a 360-degree/ecosystem perspective.
A Baker's Dozen: Here you'll find a sampling of posts to help you understand the scope of the lighting education on this site.
On Assignment features full walk-throughs of over 170 real-world assignments, complete with discussions ranging from lighting to concept to execution—and even some screw-ups.
It (largely) follows my path as a newspaper shooter and beyond, progressing from simple speedlights to more complex studio flashes.
Sad fact: There are a lot of companies that make some pretty crappy lighting gear, but are still happy to take your money. The Strobist Gear Guide is designed to help you avoid making many of the costly rookie mistakes I made over the first few years of my career.
This is the gear that works for me, day in and day out. It is solid, reliable and will get the job done without destroying your wallet.
Books are gear for your brain. Chosen wisely, they represent some of the best value for dollar you can spend as a learning photographer.
Featured on the Strobist Bookshelf are my current favorites, winnowed from hundreds of books read over the course of my career. It is a relatively short list, but there are solid selections for nearly any lighting photographer.
Since 2017, I’ve led annual workshops in Cuba and Vietnam focused on thinking like a photojournalist while traveling with your camera. The Traveling Photographer's Manifesto is, in many ways, the book version of that workshop. More, here.
Crosslight: Hi-Low Version
Matt Adcock gives the details on this creatively lit portrait session by the wedding shooter team at DQ studios over at FlashFlavor.com. Quin (the "Q" in DQ) does an excellent job of explaining the easy process of setting the flash/ambient balance for the shot.
I love that "up-light" against the wall thing. Gonna have to steal that, I think.
Also, check out this other cool (and warm) DQ studios shot featured earlier on FlashFlavor. Those guys are doing great work.
If you are a wedding shooter, FlashFlavor should be your home page.
No matter what your area of shooting, you should be looking to people in your field who are really busting some creative stuff as inspiration for your own shooting.
To that end, I point the wedding shooters (heck, anybody, actually) to Matt Adcock's new wedding-themed lighting blog, FlashFlavor.com.
Matt's just starting out with the blog thing, but he already has several great posts. If I were a wedding photog, I would bookmark this site and then pester him to update it at least three times a day.
(Sorry, Matt, but that's good stuff.)
The photo seen above was gotten in a church that doesn't allow flash photography. Yeah, it's a cool shot. But as far as I am concerned, the brownie points come from the sneakiness involved in getting it.
I'll take a chance every now and then to get good light. But you really have to hand it to a guy who is willing to risk his immortal soul to make a hot picture.
And if that isn't enough, check out Matt's video below from a "trash the dress" photo session. He shot it in an underground natural cave/pool in the Mayan Riviera. You know, just like the last place you did a wedding shoot.
For more info, and higher-res stills, check out his blog post on the subject.
Five-foot-eight Matt Adcock (who is still taller than me) apparently loves his babies Canons more than does digicam-tossin' Mike Larson, as Matt opts for the camera-on-a-stick method of getting those overhead shots.
The difference, of course, is that Matt is still rockin' the off-camera flash. He has a voice-activated light stand toting a synched speedlight.
Can you see the second flash, which is actually in the photo? Hit FlashFlavor.com to see a bigger pic, and learn more about how Matt does it.
Here's your scenario: You are assigned to shoot a wedding on a beach. Brief ceremony - about 10 minutes long.
Oh, and did we mention it's at night? With no lights at all? And when we say 'no light' we mean that the bright part of the night sky reads (at ASA 400) f/2.8 at twenty seconds.
The goal: General coverage of the event and one stunning photo.
Matt Adcock gives us the rundown on how a couple of fellow Atlanta wedding photogs handled this nightmare assignment over at FlashFlavor.com.
Matt Adcock gives the details on this creatively lit portrait session by the wedding shooter team at DQ studios over at FlashFlavor.com. Quin (the "Q" in DQ) does an excellent job of explaining the easy process of setting the flash/ambient balance for the shot.
