I am always looking for new ways to use my equipment. I started out my business using small flashes called speedlites, and I eventually started to move away from them in favor of more powerful studio strobes. However, studio strobes somewhat limit me to shooting indoors unless you bring along a generator or VERY long extension cords to my location shooting.
So to get what I want in a small package that I can easily carry, I have been going back to my roots and relearning the joys of using my speedlites. I went to the “Need Light? SpeedLite!” workshop last Saturday in Irvine given by two excellent commercial photographers, Bob Davis & Stephen Eastwood. Bob is a high end wedding photographer based out of Chicago and Stephen specializes in commercial and fashion photography in New York City.
I’ve been using mostly natural light for my outdoor shoots but my photos just didn’t have that “pop” I wanted, especially the eyes. After watching some excellent webinars by Joe Brady from MacGroup and attending Bob & Stephen’s workshop, as well as Syl Arena’s excellent workshop last year, I am back to getting these small lighting wonders out on a regular basis. Don’t get me wrong, I love my studio stobes, but my speedlites have given me the creative freedom to go wherever I want and get the creative vision I need.