A basic understanding of the Inverse Square Law is the foundation of all photographic lighting. People who don’t have this basic understanding can only produce good results by accident, and these are the people who believe the marketing BS that we’re talking about here. The rest of us simply ignore the BS.
Marketing BS only works when people can be persuaded to spend money on equipment, convincing themselves that “better” gear will produce better results. It doesn’t (for example), work with chess players, these people can’t be conned into believing that they will win more games if they buy a more expensive chess set, and it doesn’t work with pool or snooker players, who will buy one decent cue that will only ever be replaced if they break it or lose it – really good players could beat me if they were playing with a broomstick, everyone accepts that it’s all about the level of skill and care, photography is the opposite.
We can blame Godox for this particular example of BS, but it’s our fault if we believe it. It’s also the fault of the “influencers” who create deceptive ads on social media. These ads nearly always masquerade as helpful or instructional videos, but as someone who has produced genuinely helpful or instructional videos (or at least has tried to). I can tell you that it takes a lot of work, a lot of time and a lot of money to do so. These “influencers” are usually people who have created a reputation for themselves as influencers or celebrity photographers, they have never been good enough at photography to manage without their social media income – lost sheep masquerading as sheepdogs!
They may be paid directly by the manufacturer, or they may be paid by the retailer, or they may be paid by YouTube, or by an affiliate programme, or they may have made the video in return for free equipment, or they may be selling their training programme, or they may be paid by more than one source, the only clear thing is that they don’t post these videos for our benefit
And it isn’t just Godox. There’s another firm, that sells seriously overpriced LED lights that claim to have far more power than they actually have, and their “celebrity photographer” claims that the inverse square law doesn’t apply to the products he promotes. Everyone who understands the principles of lighting can spot, immediately, that this is just BS, but the market for these junk products is the people who
don’t understand these principles!
And there’s the famous and apparently reputable manufacturer who, a few years ago, posted a series of videos that (clear to actual photographers) were illustrated with photos that were actually taken with different light modifiers to the ones being sold . . .
So, what’s the answer? Just learn the basic principles of lighting and ignore any marketing that contradicts those principles and that “proves” the deception with heavily-retouched photos, it really is that simple!
