STOP Asking About Flash Power | Ask These Questions Instead

11/26/2020 ISO 1200 Magazine 0 Comments

Robert Hall sees it on Facebook and on Instagram. He gets it in the comments of his videos here. "What was the power of your flash?" Aside from the obvious fact that it's silly to expect any photographer to remember their specific flash output from a single photo. He means they are busy managing lighting positions, making visual decisions, communicating with a subject, etc. And he doesn't know a single photographer who keeps field notes of their flash power in a digital era where people can rattle off hundreds of photos per hour.

But even if they did happen to know, the answer does no good to the person asking. In this video Robert lays out all the reasons why chasing the flash output will not help anyone replicate the style of an image.

But, to avoid only creating a video where I rant through the list of reasons why this is a bad question, I also provide some questions that are better to ask and will yield answers that can improve your photography. -said Robert -

CONTENT:

0:00 Only Kind of a Rant

0:57 Verifying a strobes potential

2:06 ISO is not equivalent across all cameras

2:33 F/stops are not T/stops

3:19 Ambient light brightness varies

4:21 Flash distance affects brightness

5:05 Light modifiers affects brightness

5:33 Feathering light affects brightness

5:52 Editing and Retouching distort lighting realities

6:45 Better questions to ask

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About Robert Hall:

Michigan photographer that can change the speed of light. Currently exploring video, mirrorless, and YT. Let's Get Connected: www.robhallphoto.com | Instagram

Text, images and video via Robert Hall Photography