Lighting How To

The flash vs natural light debate is almost as old as photography itself. (Or at least as old as flash photography itself.) Photographer Craig Beckta recently jumped into the fray with the below video, which is titled “7 Reasons Why Flash Is Better for Portraits Than Natural Light.”

There are two common reasons that some photographers only shoot with natural light: They’re under the impression that off-camera flash is too complicated, and on-camera flash delivers lousy results. The quick video below may change your mind, as a pro portrait photographer demonstrates how to get great results with on-camera flash and a cheap bounce-light accessory.

When the folks at Fotodiox asked me if I wanted to look at one of their FlapJack portable LED studio lights, I told them “no.” 

Hi everybody! I’m very excited to be launching a new Q&A column here in Shutterbug—a magazine I’ve been reading, and been a fan of, for so many years—so it’s truly an honor to be here with you. I invite you to send in your questions to editorial@shutterbug.com, and I’ll do my best to answer them in Ask a Pro. OK, let’s jump right to it.

Hi everybody! Welcome to my new Q&A column here in Shutterbug—a magazine I’ve been reading, and been a fan of, for so many years—so it’s truly an honor to be here with you. I invite you to send in your questions to editorial@shutterbug.com (with “For Scott Kelby” as the subject line), and I’ll do my best to answer them in Ask a Pro. Now on to this month’s questions.

Ask a Pro is a Q&A column from professional photographer, writer, and educator Scott Kelby. Scott is here to answer all your photography-related questions, so if you have something you’d like to know, e-mail him at editorial@shutterbug.com (with “For Scott Kelby” as the subject line) and your query could be featured in the next edition of Ask a Pro.