I just cannot get to love speedlights. I am genuinely good at making natural light work for me, I love continuous light if it's on a scale where it can work affordably.....I just walk away dis-satisfied every time I use flash. Perhaps I should just work around my limitaions and give up! Cheaper I guess......
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Am I either stupid or lazy?
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Using artificial light isn't compulsory.
sk66
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Trying to use speedlights as proper studio lights definitely has it's difficulties (lack of power, focused beam, no modeling light, etc, etc). And using a speedlight as your primary light source (direct) doesn't usually look that good.
IMO, speedlights are best used for fill/bounced fill, and for shots you just have to get (reportage). You can do other things with them, but there are usually better tools for the job that make it easier/better.
IMO, speedlights are best used for fill/bounced fill, and for shots you just have to get (reportage). You can do other things with them, but there are usually better tools for the job that make it easier/better.
KIPAX
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TBH I am slightly addicted to strobist photography and always enjoy a blip of flash with my Fuji X100V as it has a leaf shutter
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well an OK photograph only requires 'enough' light - but a good photograph generally requires 'good' light.
If you live in a world where there's always 'good' light, then you're lucky - but I often find that the ambient light at my disposal needs a bit of help from other light that's available to me.
Personally I learned how to use natural light by working with studio lights, once you fully understand what good lighting looks like it's easier to take advantage of the natural light available to you.
If you live in a world where there's always 'good' light, then you're lucky - but I often find that the ambient light at my disposal needs a bit of help from other light that's available to me.
Personally I learned how to use natural light by working with studio lights, once you fully understand what good lighting looks like it's easier to take advantage of the natural light available to you.
Good point, good light an be a luxury. I must persevere. One problem is that horses are fine with flash itself but reflectors can be regarded with suspiciion and umbrellas are generally seen as horse-murdering instruments 
Not ideal when you are snapping a £1/4m animal....
Not ideal when you are snapping a £1/4m animal....
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I’m not an expert on the methods (though I will have to learn at some point, daughter and her mates want pics of them with horses) but all I’ll say is that the best horse images I’m aware of are all beautifully lit, so it’s more than possible.Good point, good light an be a luxury. I must persevere. One problem is that horses are fine with flash itself but reflectors can be regarded with suspiciion and umbrellas are generally seen as horse-murdering instruments
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Good light is a necessity, not a luxury so yes, you do need to persevere. Personally, I'm involved with a horse rescue and rehoming charity and I don't hesitate to use flash when necessary, even though many of these horses have had a bad time in the past and tend to panic whenever something different happens. I take your point about " horse-murdering instrumentsGood point, good light an be a luxury. I must persevere. One problem is that horses are fine with flash itself but reflectors can be regarded with suspiciion and umbrellas are generally seen as horse-murdering instruments
" but when they're properly secured to stop them flapping around, the problem goes away.Incidentally, the speedlights that you mentioned are of very limited use with subjects like horses when there's a high or even moderate level of daylight, much more power is needed.
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Good point, good light an be a luxury. I must persevere. One problem is that horses are fine with flash itself but reflectors can be regarded with suspiciion and umbrellas are generally seen as horse-murdering instruments
Yes, please keep at it. Light is the key.
A well groomed horse looks fantastic with flash, and my limited experience is the same as yours - the flash itself is no problem but umbrellas and softboxes can give them the jitters. Not always, but quite often. Take it easy and introduce lights slowly and carefully, preferably with the owner/rider on hand to offer reassurance. With patience, I could get two silver umbrellas pretty close, front and rear.
" Incidentally, the speedlights that you mentioned are of very limited use with subjects like horses when there's a high or even moderate level of daylight, much more power is needed. "
Can't disagree with that........
On actual lighting in general, I must admit I find lighting can look very overdone very quickly on horses....yes it can look pretty dramatic, but I'm not sure it's a look I gravitate to naturally. But never be closed to new ideas........
Can't disagree with that........
On actual lighting in general, I must admit I find lighting can look very overdone very quickly on horses....yes it can look pretty dramatic, but I'm not sure it's a look I gravitate to naturally. But never be closed to new ideas........
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Horses are strange subjects. As you will know, any photo of a horse stands or fails mainly on camera viewpoint and its stance, angle, ear position and so on, but once that's covered then it's all down to the lighting, as are most other subjects. The trick, as almost always, is for the lighting to make the shot outstanding but without anyone actually noticing it
Dramatic, flashy (oops) lighting is like dramatic, flashy driving - in most contexts it catches the eye but for all the wrong reasons.
I have an e-book that may help you. https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/free-lighting-e-book.689037/
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Good point, good light an be a luxury. I must persevere. One problem is that horses are fine with flash itself but reflectors can be regarded with suspiciion and umbrellas are generally seen as horse-murdering instruments
I know a lot of equine photographers and most never go near a £1/4m horse, let alone take snaps - horses can be suspicious of anything but the biggest issue in my experience is nervous riders and handlers, they react and the horse reacts to them, evrything else can normally be overcome with conditioning
Mike
Depends on which level the riders are at.........leisure riders will likely be a heap less confident, and top level horses have seen it all before and have the T shirt.......but you are right, it's often the rider who spooks and the horse follows....but not always.
Conditioning is indeed the way, but it can take a lot longer than a single photoshoot if the animal is minded to be an eejit.
Conditioning is indeed the way, but it can take a lot longer than a single photoshoot if the animal is minded to be an eejit.