Interesting in buying the Profoto D2? Check it out on Adoroma.com.

The post Profoto D2 – The world’s fastest monolight with TTL first appeared on .

FYI, I’ll add some gear information at the end of this post.

Now, Let’s Dive In!

In case you haven’t noticed, the photography market is cluttered with photographers. Many of the photographers in the market do not understand lighting. If you want to rise above the clutter, you should invest in lighting gear and try new things with lighting.

Other than price (not a good way to compete), what makes your photography any different than the clutter in the market? Don’t be afraid of lighting. It will likely be the #1 thing that can take you to the next level, generate more revenue for your business and separate you from the clutter.

It’s true that Lightroom and Photoshop also make a difference in the end result of your photography, but at the end of the day, if you DO NOT understand lighting and are calling yourself a professional photographer because you make money doing photography, you WILL hinder your growth as a pro.

Maybe you are using lights and you are getting plenty of business with one light to your left and one light to your right. That two light simple setup is super easy to do which means it’s super easy for everyone else. Why not get beyond the basics?

Do you know how to use a kicker light? a hairlight? Do you know what a grid can do? a snoot? Do you know the difference in using a beauty dish and a strip box? You should learn how to use different modifiers. Try new things with light. Never stop learning how light can make a difference in your photography.

I’ll admit that as a full time professional with lots of lighting gear and modifiers that it’s easy to get lazy with light. But I will also admit that when I try new things with light, it gets me excited and I can see a difference in my work.

The shot below was taken in a very bright room, but I made it look much different with strobe lighting. The background is actually a red wall. The guitar was lit with a snoot with a grid. The main subject was lit with a 24 inch Octabox that was very close to his face which created a nice soft light.

I did this setup on the fly and love how it came out. Again, try new things with light. It can make a difference. Don’t let light be your enemy. Light will get you to the next level.

Low Cost Gear List To Get You Going For About $1,000

Stands: Giottos LC325 – $50 Each x 4 = $200 – Hard To Beat For The Money

Strobes: Neewer DS 300 – $110 Each x 4 = $440 – Hard To Beat For The Money

Triggers: Yongnuo 603 Triggers – $33 Per 2 x 3 = $99 – Research Others If You’d Like
(You’ll have to have some kind of trigger to fire your strobe lights.)

Modifiers: 60″ Photoflex – $40 Each x 2 = $80 – Amazing Light Shaping For The Money

Modifiers: On the strip boxes ($200 for two), I’m going to let you do some research. You can search both Amazon and Ebay for various strip boxes. I know that you can find TWO with Speedrings (will need to attach to light) for $200 or less with some digging.

The total above is just barely over $1,000. Yes, you can go even cheaper, but I don’t recommend it. When compared to high end professional lighting, the setup above is a STEAL!

Can You Afford More?

If you can afford more, I would highly recommend that you look into Paul C. Buff lighting and modifiers. If you can afford even more beyond that, I suggest jumping into Profoto lighting and modifiers.

Next Steps!

No matter what you do with lighting, you should at least invest in one light, one stand, one set of triggers and one modifier (60 inch umbrella) to get you started. That’s about a $250 investment. Even if money is super tight, that shouldn’t break the bank and will likely help you generate more revenue.

Only buy what you can afford, but buy some kind of lighting to start toward getting to the next level.

The post Pro Photography Tip: Understand Light – Rise Above The Clutter! first appeared on .

The image above is one of three headshot sessions that I did on a Sunday right after returning from vacation. It gave me an opportunity to put the OCF Profoto Beauty Dish to use and it is awesome.

In the shot above, I used a Profoto B2 on a boom arm with the OCF Profoto Beauty Dish above my camera lens. I love the way the light came out. I have been very pleased with the quality of light from the Profoto B2 and I think when combined with the OCF Profoto Beauty Dish that it all works out great.

Yes, you can use a speedlite. Yes, you can use a different modifier. I’m a fan of using what you have to work with. In my case, I have both Canon Speedlites and the Profoto B2. I prefer to use my Profoto gear for certain types of shoots. I use my speedlites more for corporate event photography.

The Profoto OCF Beauty Dish (silver) is pictured to the left. The price as of this post is $179 which may seem expensive to some, but if you are already shooting with a Profoto B1 and/or B2, there is no need to by another brand beauty dish in my opinion. It is true that you get what you pay for; however, if Profoto gear is not in your budget, don’t stress. Do the best you can with what you have to work with.

Westcott makes the Rapid Box Beauty Dish that can be used with speedlites. It is in the same price range as the Profoto OCF Beauty Dish. So if you have a speedlite, you may want to consider the Westcott.

If you are already a Profoto B1 and/or B2 owner, I highly recommend the Profoto OCF Beauty Dish. It comes in silver or white, but I’m pleased with the silver.

I’ll admit that when the Profoto OCF Beauty Dish recently came out that I had my hesitations, but after using it on multiple studio sessions, there is no looking back.

The post One Of My First Outdoor Headshots With The Profoto OCF Beauty Dish first appeared on .

Oh, before I dive in, this post will focus on strobe lighting not constant lighting. Both types of lighting have advantages and disadvantages, but this post is more about overcoming the fear of studio lighting and starting out with strobes.

STOP saying you are a natural light photographer because you don’t know how to use strobe lighting inside and/or because you don’t own any strobe lighting. I’ll give you links at the end of this post to start out on THE CHEAP.

You do not have to have the amount of studio gear that you see on the left. I intentionally used that image to overwhelm anyone readying this that is not familiar with using studio lighting. The best way to get started is to start small and just start shooting. Conquer your fear by getting started not continuing to fear by avoidance.

A classic, basic studio lighting setup is one light to your left and one light to your right. Typically, you would likely have one stand, one umbrella and one strobe on your left and the other on your right. Although you can start with just one light, the nice thing about two lights is that you can move them around the subject to experiment. You can change the settings by having one put out less light than the other. You can just do more with two lights than one. In addition, if you really want to be a one studio light photographer, by having two lights, you’ll have a backup.

Rather than continue to fear using studio lighting, why not make a small investment (as little as $200 +/-) and get started? With digital, you can quickly get up to speed by doing a lot of test shots.

Starting Two Strobe Gear List:

Two of the cheapest strobes that I am aware of that actually work: Get 2 For $88 Off Of Ebay
(*Yes, if you go really cheap, you can get two cheap light stands and two cheap umbrellas for under $100 total.)
Technically, you can get started with two lights, two umbrellas and two strobes for under $200 (That’s dirt cheap!).

If you want something more heavy duty at around $130 each, these would be a good option.

If you want to step up in the same power range as the $130 ones above, you can get these for $279 each.

You’ll need a way to trigger the lights unless you want to run the cord that comes with it into the side of the camera provided your camera has a sync cable connection (or you could get this to run the cable to – hotshoe adapter). Go to Ebay or Amazon and search for “youngnuo triggers” (under $75 for 4 of them- they come in pairs) if you are looking to stay on the cheap side. If you want something more high end, then search for “pocket wizards” ($99 each x 3). You’ll need one trigger to mount to the camera hotshoe and you’ll likely want one for each strobe or you could use the slave mode on one of the strobes.

*Yes, you can find (2) umbrellas on Ebay for $30 or less, but I would recommend going with a 45 inch (minimum) umbrella and here is one option for about $30 or if you want to get some that I have had great success with, here is an option for around $50 (LOVE THESE).

Finally, you’ll need two light stands. *Yes, you can find cheap ones on Ebay that are not that sturdy for about $15 to $20 each. However, this light stand is my favorite for the money. At $50 each, they are sturdy and will likely last for several years.

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The post Studio Lighting For Photographers Can Be Intimidating But… first appeared on .

In case you are not familiar with the term TTL that Mark uses in the video, it simply means that the camera and flash are working together automatically to determine the proper flash output based on the camera settings. In manual mode, you’d have to manually make the needed adjustments.

Mark also mentions exposure compensation on the flash which means that when in TTL mode it changes what the flash thinks it should be putting out based on the results that it puts out on its on. So if the flash is too bright and you change the exposure compensation by lowering it by 1 stop, it will put out less light on the future images.

The post Video Tutorial: One Flash, Three Looks: Exploring Photography with Mark Wallace first appeared on .

The post Profoto US Video: How to Create the Golden Hour With No Sun. Ordinary to Extraordinary first appeared on .

Although I am not a wedding photographer, the video is still inspirational. As a photographer, I find that many of the Profoto videos that are 3 minutes or less on their YouTube channel are inspirational.

No matter what brand of strobe lights and/or speedlites you shoot with, you should find the Profoto YouTube Channel inspirational.

Here’s Why…

1) Lighting – Whether you use Profoto or not, it’s possible to pick up new ideas from the short videos.

2) Well Made – All the videos that I have seen are well made and keep my interest especially the ones that are 3 minutes or less.

3) The Environment – Many of the videos are shot in places that I could picture myself shooting in and having fun doing it.

4) The Inspiration – Because of #1, 2 and 3 combined, I get inspired. The videos make me want to try new things with my lighting, go new places and get out of the studio.

The post Get Inspired By Watching 3 Minute Or Less Profoto YouTube Videos first appeared on .

I get it. Not everyone reading this post and watches the video above can afford Profoto gear, so let’s get beyond that right from the start. So many people commenting on Profoto videos talk about Profoto being so expensive. I hope they, along with you, get beyond that and learn from the videos.

Personally, I love the Profto YouTube Channel primarily because they have a lot of videos that are 5 minutes (+/-) or less that show some nice lighting techniques. Yes, they are showing Profoto gear because it’s the Profoto Channel. Yes, Profoto gear is not cheap. However, you can put the techniques to work with the lighting gear that you have even if that is speedlites. Does that mean you’ll get the same results? Not necessarily. But it does mean that you can do the best you can with what you can afford.

Although you can do a lot of work with just one light, you will likely still have to spend some money on some kind of extra gear unless you have multiple speedlites (or studio strobes) and modifiers. For example, this grid shot in the video uses 4 lights with grids. So if you want to attempt to mimic it exactly, guess what? You will need 4 lights of some kind and 4 grids plus 4 light stands. No matter how you look at it, you’ll have several hundred dollars in lighting and modifiers even if you are using Yongnuo speedlites.

I shot the portrait below with a Profoto B2 head with a 24 inch octabox with a grid on it. The grid helps keep the light tight and prevents spill onto the background. Guess what? You can shoot the same shot with a speedlite. If that’s all you have, then make it work with what you have to work with.

The post Photography Lighting Techniques For Free: Profoto On YouTube – Grids first appeared on .

The post Photography – How Light Changes: Snoot, Softbox With Grid & Softbox No Grid first appeared on .

I believe in only making gear purchases when it’s in the budget and can be done without causing undue mental stress and financial hardship. I also believe that it can be stressful for photographers to pay too much attention to what other photographers have when it comes to gear. There will always be someone with something nicer, so avoiding gear envy will save a lot of wasted time.

My first venture into Profoto lighting will be with the Profoto B2 Two Head Kit System. It is on its way from Profoto to Southeastern Camera in Raleigh as of this post and should be in this week.

I’m looking forward to the portability because most of my larger projects are offsite not in the studio. Since I also travel around the US, including International travel, I’m looking forward to having a lighting system that is very lightweight and extremely portable that will also go far beyond my Canon 600 speedlites. Although my speedlites will still serve a purpose and remain in my Think Tank camera bag, my goal is to maximize the use of the Profoto B2 kit.

I have watched all of the videos that I’m sharing in this post and it’s hard not to get excited about this new lighting system. It’s phenomenal to say the least and all the reviews that I have seen are stellar. NO, I’m not super excited about the financial investment, but I am super excited about how this system will benefit my (our) business.

Being a full time professional that wants to continue to expand, equipment purchases are simply part of being in business. In the case of the Profoto B2 system, it’s an investment not just simply a wasteful purchase. It will get put to good use very soon.

Check Out All These Awesome Videos Below:

The post Profoto Off-Camera Flash System: The Profoto B2 Is Extremely Portable first appeared on .