Professional lighting technology and lighting control

This tutorial "Professional lighting technique and lighting control" is aimed at those of you who want to create your photos professionally and safely using suitable lighting techniques. It is a deliberately subjective tutorial. It is based on the experience I have gained as an advertising and artistic photographer since 1998.

The target group is therefore professional photographers and those who want to become one. However, dedicated newcomers will also find what they are looking for here, as I will also explain in detail how to work with flash systems for success.

Photography means "painting with light". If you look at the usual photography magazines, you might think that camera technology alone (plus the whole range of small photo accessories) is enough to create exceptional photos.

However, if you analyze really impressive photos, you realize that the light or the lighting mood is often a significant factor in the success of the photo. Nevertheless, many photographers have several cameras, but hardly any lighting equipment. With the exception of the system flash, which is probably in every photographer's bag.

Anyone who expects more from light than just that it "gets bright", i.e. who is primarily interested in the QUALITY of the light, should think about which light is particularly suitable for their type and range of photographic subjects. If the photographer considers his favorite subject areas, his working method and his personal taste, this results in an individual requirement profile for the lighting technology, which not every light from every manufacturer can meet.

As was made clear in the previous tutorial, in most cases flash units are best suited for creatively setting the light when accomplishing photographic tasks. They are best suited to the requirements of professional and dedicated photographers.

Having outlined the most important requirements in the previous tutorial, this part is about which professional flash systems are suitable for both outdoor and indoor use; in other words, whether there are devices that cover both areas of application and are therefore the ideal solution for all those photographers who want to remain flexible and work creatively with artificial light both indoors and outdoors; and (for example, due to financial restrictions) cannot afford to purchase two different systems (one for indoor and one for outdoor use).

In addition to the devices listed so far, there are of course many other flash units that are suitable for indoor and outdoor use to varying degrees. If you are prepared to accept compromises in the range of functions and ease of use, you can either buy an outdoor flash unit, which can then also be used indoors - with some compromises. Or you can buy a studio flash unit that can occasionally be used outdoors with the help of external battery packs.

Many photographers are used to having almost all settings made by the camera. Although this "all-round carefree package" produces usable results in most (standard) cases, there are enough exceptional situations in which the automatic mode would deliver incorrect results. Even when photographing with the aid of flash units, you have to say goodbye to "automatic mode". Photography is done manually. However, this is not difficult, as the following explanations prove.

The best flash system is useless if you can't use it effectively and efficiently. Irrespective of the technical operation of the respective devices, which should be adequately described in the accompanying operating instructions, there are also many tricks and special features that only those who have either years of experience in using flash systems or have undergone intensive training will know. This tutorial is intended to help you to use this artificial light effectively and creatively from the outset like an experienced professional - without having gone down the laborious and lonely path of "trial and error" beforehand.

Anyone who photographs for "big", well-known brands must place great value on quality in their work. This also includes professional lighting. Unfortunately, there are no patent recipes for setting the lights, which is why really good photographers never stop experimenting with the light. However, if you work with flash systems and have a sufficiently bright modeling light at your disposal, you should be able to master almost any lighting challenge with ease. Because according to the principle "What you see is what you get", you only need to look closely: The photographer sees every effect caused by changing the light position or the light characteristics (by changing the light shaper or distance).

When photographing outdoors, you have to expect the lighting conditions to change quickly and imperceptibly. Our eyes get used to changing brightness - the camera does not. This is the reason why even professionals like to work outdoors with one of the automatic functions (aperture priority, shutter priority or program automatic) (or at least constantly orient themselves to the values of the light meter).

However, if you are using a battery-powered flash unit, you also have to work manually outdoors.