Lighting Journey: The Challenge

I guess it started a while ago when I realized that for most wedding photographers, myself included, “I exclusively work with natural light” translates into “I am afraid of strobe.” For many years, I lived by this mantra understanding and celebrating pure, natural light. However, despite the ability to manipulate this light, I have to admit that my photography was ultimately being restricted by the oh so glorious Sun.

As an album judge for WPPI over the years, I watched the albums go through and  noticed a trend – flat light. As technology advances with higher ISOs and cheap digital cameras, people appear to be skipping over lighting theory. In reality, wedding photographers are probably the guiltiest of this in the photography genre.

While I have my reservations, I realized I had become quite comfortable and skilled working with natural light. I also understood that to be the best possible photographer for my clients and myself I needed take advantage of all the lighting tools available. This of course, included manipulation of artificial light and thus facing my apprehension head on. It was scary but also exciting.

After all, one of the greatest attributes of being an artist and a photographer is the ability to always be challenged and the never-ending opportunity to learn and grow. Last year, I choose to push myself out of my comfort zone of natural lighting and now I would like to share my journey into the world of enhanced lighting with a blog series, “Lighting Journey.” I hope you enjoy the ride.