Strobist 101: A Spin Around the Block

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Photographer David Hobby has a phenomenal resource for off-camera lighting over at his site, Strobist.

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If you haven’t had a chance to read through it, he has basically created a wonderful complete off-camera lighting course/tutorial on this site, Lighting 101 and 102. If you’ve ever considered working with off-camera lighting, this is a must-read series.

From the website:

Lighting 101 is the core foundation of Strobist. It is a free, start-from-zero tutorial that will teach you the basics of lighting and minimalist lighting gear. Lighting 101 will have you up and running in no time—and at minimal expense.

and

Lighting 102, currently under revision, is the sequel to Lighting 101. Where L101 was about gear and basic concepts, L102 will teach you how to further understand and control the qualities of your light to make it do your bidding.

For the first time in a long time, David has actually posted a great new post in Lighting 101, A Spin Around the Block, or trying out your umbrella, flash, wireless trigger for the first time…

Using just a single light, and simply moving it around, David helps show the myriad of feelings and results that can be had…

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It can be a bit overwhelming sometimes when first trying this equipment out, he does a great job (as usual) coaxing folks to give it a try and see how things unfold. Well worth a read!

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David Hobby’s site is brilliant. I’ve followed him for years and have learned a lot.

One of the things I’ve found very helpful is to study the light used by the Old Master painters. By this I mean I really study a piece of art I particularly like.

I ask where is the light coming from?

How many light sources are there?

How large is(are) the light source(s)?

They I try to implement the same lighting techniques in my own work. Old paintings are forever educational and this can take a lot of time thinking about. For me it’s been time well spent.

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Not to mention the sheer pleasure of just spending time studying the painting in general. I could look at a Caravaggio for hours…

I’m wondering if a post about reverse-engineering light in a scene is warranted down the line?

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That’s not a bad idea, actually. I enjoy reverse-engineering all kinds of things.

Until then, here’s a really good reverse-engineer on lighting from Mr. David Hobby Himself.

http://www.strobist.blogspot.fr/2008/12/beers-with-rembrandt.html