

If you want to do butterfly lighting, for example, you can literally see the butterfly shadow intensify or disappear as you move your light around your subject.Ĭontinuous lighting is also easier because you aren’t messing with triggers or receivers on your camera. You know where the shadows will fall, how the light will hit your subject, etc.īecause you can see the light, I think it can be a lot easier to learn lighting techniques. You know how bright the light will be on your subject before you fire the shutter because you can see it with your own eyes.

I think the number one benefit of continuous lighting is that what you see is what you get. The answer is…it depends! There are pros and cons to both systems, which we will discuss below. Flash: Which is Better for your photography? Speedlights and strobes, like continuous lighting, can also be used behind modifiers, with no modifiers, etc. Flash lighting can be a simple speedlight, like the one pictured above, or a more powerful strobe. When you fire the shutter, the flash fires, quickly lighting up your subject and then turning itself off. If you decide to invest in continuous lighting, research the best type of continuous light for your needs.įlash or strobe lighting, on the other hand, is intermittent light. Incandescent bulbs, for example, are readily available but run hot to the touch. Each kind has its own advantages and limitations. The only difference is you turn a continuous light on, it stays on.Ĭontinuous lighting comes in different kinds, including incandescent, LED, fluorescent, tungsten and even plasma lights. You can use it barebulb, with modifiers, behind scrims or in other ways you can flash. In photography terms, continuous lights are always-on artificial lights we use during a session to provide light (or shadows!) where we want it, to flatter our subjects.Ĭontinuous lighting can be used exactly like flash. As long as it stays on continuously, it’s a continuous light. That could be a table lamp, an overhead light or even a flash light. So what are continuous lights? Continuous lights are really any light that stays one for an extended period of time. flash debate is to understand what each group is and how it works. They are both talented photographers with different styles and that was the point of these shoot.The first step in choosing the right product for you in the continuous lighting vs. And again, Jessica has admitted several times that she needs practice with flash, so she doesn't pretend to be something she isn't. using flash or not doesn't make you a better photographer by any means. It is all about personal style and personal choice.
Natural light vs fhash fotragrapher how to#
There are lots of photographers who know how to use flash but prefer not to. I think saying that natural light photographers are lazy is a bit of a stretch. They both have completely different styles in shooting and what they like which I think made this video even more interesting. I personally preferred Manny's final images which surprised me because I tend to prefer natural light work. Manny admitted that working with flash can be limited because he can't move the model around as much as he would like to. In this particular video I found it very interesting to see the differences in technique and outcome. I always like Jessica's work and she has admitted many times that she isn't great with flash but plans to learn more this year. They were also technically superb with a great balance of ambient and strobe lighting to achieve that high contrast result. Kobeissi's natural light images had a fashion editorial feel, partially due to her excellent model direction, whereas Ortiz's images were a little more engaging for me. As the shoot was framed as a head-to-head, I'd have to give it to Ortiz here, but it's not cut and dry. That is, much harsher shadows could have been achieved with just the natural light, and the off-camera flash could have been used more as a fill light than a key light, but it's a brilliant reference tool for the different styles. It's worth noting that Kobeissi and Ortiz really leaned in to their respective styles here. Off-camera flash photographer, however, offers a glossy commercial feel that you're more used to seeing in print. The shadows are often much softer and the images are closer to scenes you would see with the eye. Natural light portraiture is usually true to the first half of its name: natural. Both lighting styles have their own place and offer different results which - for me - are intended for different purposes.

I find it difficult to stand resolute in either camp here I'd rather be (to quote Tim Minchin) in defense or the fence.
