One of the most regularly asked questions we get asked here is what is the best way to sharpen a photo in Photoshop? There are many many different ways to sharpen images in Photoshop using various tools, filters and layering techniques. Below we’ll take a look at a relatively simple and one of the most effective ways to make your portraits super sharp.

When it comes to portrait photography black and white really takes some beating. There is something about black and white portraits that really focuses the attention on the subject and makes them more dramatic. So as a little bonus in the example below we’ll also convert the image to black and white as well as sharpening it up.

As mentioned above one of the easiest, as well as most effective ways to sharpen a photo in photoshop is to use the High Pass filter. The big benefit of this filter over others is that it only sharpens the edges of things in the photo (or what photoshop thinks are edges – areas of high contrasting tones). I’ve tried a few of the other techniques for shapening and always find I come back to the high pass filter for it’s effectiveness and ease of use.

Sharpening Tutorial Workflow

Ok, so below is the image we are going to sharpen up, As you can see it is reasonably sharp however the focus is probably on the mans jumper on top of his head. Due to the big aperture (f2.8) the eyes are ever so slightly out of focus. Hopefully by sharpening to image in photoshop we can sharpen the eyes up a little to ensure his wonderful stare pops a little more.

1.Duplicate the layer

First I open up the image and duplicate the layer. You can do this by either dragging the layer to the new layer icon or by using one of the following shortcuts.

Windows shortcut: Ctrl + J

Mac shortcut: Command + J

2. Set the blending mode to ‘Overlay’

Next set the blending mode to overlay. You can do this by selecting ‘Overlay’ in the Blend Mode options drop down in the Layers dialog box.

3. Add a High pass filter

With the duplicated image selected we want to add a High Pass filter. To do this select Filter > Other > High Pass.

You’ll be presented with a preview box with a slider at the bottom that will allow you to adjust the radius value of the filter. The radius you need/want to select will vary depending on the resolution of the image you are processing.

Play around until you get an effect that works. I usually start off with something between 3 and 9. The higher resolution image you start with the more effective the sharpening. Be careful though as it can be easy to overdo this effect.

4.Change image to B&W

Next we want to turn the image to Black and White. While there are a number of ways we can do this here I used the gradient map. Navigate to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map. On the slider that appears bring in the bottom two sliders towards the center point. This makes the dark tones darker and the white tones lighter, increasing the overall contrast of the image. Hit ok and you should have a pretty good improvement on the original…

5. Fine tune the sharpness

One easy way to adjust the amount of sharpness in the final image is to alter the opacity of the high pass layer. To do this simply alter the Opacity % which appears at the top right side of the layers palette, next to where you changes the Blend mode to Overlay.

By reducing the opacity you’ll reduce the effect of the sharpening on the finished image. You can see the difference this makes by looking at the image below where I reduced the opacity of the layer with the high pass filter to just 10%, as opposed to the photo above where it is set to 100%.

I think for this shot about 60% Opacity on the high pass layer seemed to work best. It’s very much a personal choice but as I said earlier it is easy to over do effects such as the high pass so I always err on the side of caution.  So here is the finished sharpened portrait….

One of the things that many aspiring photographers struggle with is being able to take consistently sharp photographs. In this article we’ll look at some of the techniques that are essential if you want to take consistently sharp photographs.

You’ll have probably already seen some of these tips before but take tome to think if you use all of them every time you take a shot. If you really want to make a difference to the sharpness of the photos you shoot then making a small gain by constantly implementing in a few of these tips will help you achieve sharper results.

Use a tripod/monopod

One of the most common causes of ‘un-sharpness’ is camera shake. This is simply when your camera move while the lens aperture is open and the shot is being exposed. The most reliable way to ensure your camera is completely still is by using either a tripod or monopod. Which one you choose is up to you (check out our monopod v tripod article) but either will significantly reduce the risk of camera shake.

Keep the camera still

Unfortunately it is not always practical to use a tripod when shooting. If you are forced to shoot hand held you should still think about how to avoid camera shake and keep the camera as still as possible. If possible try and brace your shoulder, arm or camera against a wall or pillar to maximize stillness.

If bracing isn’t an option then try taking a few minutes to ensure your grip on the camera is as solid as possible. Joe McNally presents some really useful tips to avoiding camera shake by improving your camera grip in the video below.

Watch your shutter speed

No matter how solid your grip is you’re going to need to watch your shutter speed.

As a general rule make sure your shutter speed is equal to or quicker than the focal length you are shooting it. For example if you are shooting using a 100mm lens aim to have a shutter speed of at least 1/100 of a second, faster is possible. If you’re shooting at 50mm then don’t shoot slower than 1/50 of a second, and so on.

Don’t forget if you are using a crop factor camera you’ll need to scale up by the crop factor. For example if I’m shooting on my Rebel XSi / 450d with my 50mm lens then i’ll multiple the 50 by the sensor crop factor (x1.6) which means I’ll aim to shoot at 1/80 of a second or faster.

Of course the above is just a rough rule of thumb. If you’re shooting fast moving subjects such as wildlife or sports then you’ll want to select a much faster shutter speed in order to help you freeze the action and reduce motion blur.

Focusing

Don’t forget that just because you are using auto focus that your camera will always achieve perfect focus. Don’t be afraid to try manual focusing, with a little practice you can soon master the art.

Alternatively if you’re using auto focus then switch you camera to just use one focus point. This will enable you to focus exactly where in the composition you want to.

Clean Your Lens

Get in the habit of cleaning your lenses before you head out shooting every time. If you have grubby finger prints or dust on your lens you’ll struggle to take sharp photographs. Check out our article on cleaning lenses for some more information.

Find the Sweet Spot

You’ll probably notice over time that your lenses perform differently at different focal lengths and apertures when it comes to sharp focusing. For example my beloved 50mm f1.4 is at it’s sharpest around f2.

image by bitsofreality

Optical lens design is as much an art as it is a science. This means that all lenses will behave like this with differing ability to produce pin sharp images at different apertures and focal lengths. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as a lenses ’sweet spot’.

Not all lenses are the same and the sweet spots of different lenses will vary according to opinion and personal taste so take some time to experiment and find where your sweet spots are.

Post Processing

Of course post processing is always an option. It’s always best to get the picture right at the time when you shoot it however post processing software such as Lightroom and Photoshop provides you many different ways in which to sharpen photos after the fact. For an easy to follow example check out our Photoshop portrait sharpening tutorial.

Forget the ISO

Always aim to shoot with the lowest ISO setting you can get away with. As we’ve discussed before, increasing the ISO increase the digital noise in the final image which results in less sharp photographs. As the latest cameras get better at reducing noise at higher ISOs this is becoming less of an issue. However always aim to increase ISO as a last resort if you are struggling to get a fast enough shutter speed.

Image Stabilization

If you’re lucky to have any lenses with on board Image Stabilization (Vibration reduction on Nikon) be sure to switch it on. These technologies allow you to reduce the effects of motion blur and effectively get sharper images at slower shutter speeds.

Focus on the eyes

If you’re shooting portraits or wildlife make sure you focus on the subjects eyes. You can have 90% of your photo out of focus but if the 5% focus is on the eyes of your portrait subject then the whole image will look ’sharp’. This is particularly relevant when shooting at very large apertures such as f1.8 as the depth of field can be very narrow (sometimes only a cm or two).

To prove the point the above photo was taken using my iphone 4gs. The quality of the lens and size of the sensor is pretty pathetic compared to even a bottom of the range DSLR however because I focused on the eyes, which are nice and sharp, the photograph really works well.

Photographing children is never usually an easy task. Getting them to sit for a portrait can be a frustrating experience so we thought we’d pull together some useful kids photography tips.

Get down to their level

This is perhaps the best tip to photographing children. Firstly by crouching down and lowering the camera to their eye level you will tend to allow them to relax more. Secondly the shots you take will tend to relate to them more, as if the photograph itself was taken through the eyes of a child.

The world is a different place when seen from 1/2 meter high. Get down on your knees and see it from their point of view.

Work at their pace

Children can (and usually are!)be very independent. Telling them to sit very still, smile and look at the camera generally doesn’t work. Rather than trying to get formal shots like this go with the flow and let the child have some input. Ask them how they want to pose, ask them to give you a nice big grin, in short encourage them but try not to instruct them.

Work at their pace, if they are bored and have had enough so be it, get some more shots later and take a break.

Make it fun

As mentioned above instructing kids will not work (for very long if at all. Try to make their photo shoot fun. If they think it is a game or sorts they are far more likely to give you some nice poses.

If you’re struggling to get them to pose why not pull out some fun props to keep them entertained. All that was needed for the shot below was a 5 dollar toy gun and the words “gimme a 007 pose”, I was expecting a big grin but the steely serious look works wonders in this shot!

The Open Eyes Method

If you are really struggling to get a good shot with a smile and eye contact there is one tried and trusted way to get the shot you want. Simply as them to shut their eyes and not open them until you say so. Ask them to smile when you tell them to open their eyes. 9 times out of 10 they will smile, open their eyes and immediately look straight at you allowing you to get a good shot with them looking right down the lens.

Ok, so I didn’t get a smile in the above shot but at least I got some good eye contact!

Work in their environment

Kids hate being out of their comfort zone. If you can photograph them in their own environment they will instantly be much more relaxed and more likely to give you much more natural poses to photograph.

Rather than trying to get them to sit still on the nice seamless white background set you’ve constructed try instead to look for suitable backgrounds to use in their own environment.

Do Something Fun

Sitting for a portrait session is boring for an adult, never mind a kid.One great tip is not forget about a studio portrait and just try to photograph them doing something fun, enjoyable that they actually like doing.

If at first you don’t succeed…

Like all aspects of photography you might finds you don’t get the shot you are looking for first time round. Some children may take 2 0r 3 shoot sessions before they truly relax and trust you. As a result be prepared to make a return visit and be persistent to get the best results.

Recently I’ve been thinking about what to pack for an upcoming holiday, in particular what camera gear I’ll take with me and how I’ll use it. I love both traveling and photography and the two things together are a truly great combination.

I’ve been so busy with work (amongst other things) I’ve been really struggling to find the time to dedicate to my photography so I’m really looking forward to this trip as it’ll allow me some serious shooting time everyday.

Camera Gear to Pack

For most of my traveling time I like to have all of my cameras/lenses in a proper purpose made camera bag. My bag of choice at the moment is the Lowepro Slingshot 300 that we reviewed some time ago. The compact size of this bag means it doesn’t attract undue attention from airport staff eager to charge for overweight hand baggage (which it invariably is with all of the lenses mentioned below!).

Here’s a list of the main camera gear I generally pack for a trip away:

• Main Camera Body

• Canon 50mm f1.4

• Canon 70-200 f2.8 L IS

• Tokina 11-16mm

• Canon 24-70mm f2.8 L

• 2 x batteries + charger

• Multiple memory cards

Day Photography Bag

Once we’ve reached our destination I sometimes like to travel a bit lighter and depending on what we are doing each day be a bit more discrete with my gear. For day tips or evenings out I’ll quite often not take the full bag of lenses and will instead use my converted Timbuk2 courier bag to just carry the camera with the 50mm attached as well as a couple of other lenses, a guide book, some snacks etc.

Timbuktu Messenger Bag with Domke Inserts

For me the Timbuk2 is also perfect if I’m going somewhere a little off the beaten track where I don’t really want people to know I’m carrying a few thousand dollars worth of camera equipment. It looks discrete from the outside and when combined with some camera bag inserts provides great protection for your gear.

Holiday Photography Work flow

After reading Thomas Hawks excellent post where he describes his digital work flow I got thinking a bit more about my approaching trip and how I store, process and back my photography files up when I’m traveling. While i won’t be shooting in a professional manner during the trip I still worry about things like security, backups and work flow while I’m away.

1. Multiple Memory Cards

Memory is cheap these days that most people (myself included) have large amounts of storage, be they SD or CF cards. Depending on where I am going i generally have enough cards to shoot for a 2 or 3 days before having to free up some more space.

2. MacBook Processing

Every night I’ll copy my days shooting to my macbookpro and add it to a Lightroom Catalog that I will have created for the trip. Once imported I’ll proceed with my usual work flow  of deleting poor shots, moving to a logical folder structure, key wording images, rating what i consider my best shots, batch editing and finally editing single shots.

3. The Back up

Once i’m done i’ll plug in a Iomega 500gb USB hard disk that I use to run Time Machine on for my MacBookPro. This means i’ll have the whole Lightroom Catalog (not to mention the rest of the files on my macbook) backed up in case of hard disk failure  or theft.

4. Security

Obviously there’s no point in backing up your images if you keep your backup in the same place as your master copy of the files. The first thing I do when I head down for breakfast in the hotel each morning is leave the macbook in the hotel room and take the hard drive with me, everywhere I go. I keep the two separate at all costs. If we’re traveling then the macbook goes in my wife’s bag, the hard drive in mine.

When you’re staying in far flung places it can be a challenge and a worry leaving expensive items such as macbooks or lenses in a hotel room. Here’s how I try to reduce the risk of things going missing while I’m out:

• Samsonite Suitcase: Put simply they’re the lightest, toughest  and most secure
• Kryptonite Kryptoflex Looped Cables: These great security cables come in a variety of sizes. and are great for locking a suitcase up to something immovable almost anywhere.
• Master lock padlocks: These are tough little padlocks and some are approved by airport security for locking cases.

One great way to inject some interest in our photography is to get down and take a worms eye view of the world. By shooting from a low point of view, you instantly get a different perspective that challenges the viewer to think more about the photograph.

I love photographs that make the ordinary look interesting. The shot above was taken of my wife on a cold, winter trip to the beach. The tide was out and the beach was incredibly bleak which forced be to think about composition in order to get an interesting shot. The further we walked out to find the sea (it was about a mile out), the more she became worried about spoiling her precious Ugg boots – boom, suddenly I had the idea for this shot.

Get Low in Low Light

Sometimes getting down low is essential in low light. In the shot below I was shooting at about midnight and didn’t have a tripod. The only way to avoid massive amounts of motion blur was to rest the camera on something solid, which for the composition I wanted (with St Pauls being in the middle of the frame) ended up being the floor.

I shot this using the infamous Canon 50mm f1.8 fully wide open at f1.8. Despite this the exposure was 1/2 second, definitely too slow to hand hold the shot. To be honest I think the shot works better with the low point of view than if I’d used a tripod to get a more traditional composition.

Watch Out for Focus

If you’re shooting with a DSLR then you’ll need to be careful of your focus. With your camera’s lens being so close to the ground you camera’s auto focus can easily incorrectly focus in the wrong place, usually only a few center meters in front of the lens.

When shooting like this I find it easier to use manual focus. If you’re not comfortable using manual then it might help to select one focus point, at the top of the viewfinder, and ensure your camera isn’t pointed down at the ground.

Getting the right focus on the above picture of the wild dog was particularly interesting. I was shooting with a Lomo LCA which fixed focal range meant I had to get the camera exactly 80cm from the dog’s nose to ensure a sharp photo.

My subject was a street dog in the Vietnamese countryside so I wasn’t sure exactly how he’d react to having his photo taken! As I inched down to take the shot I was convinced the dog was going to go for me – lucky for me he didn’t and i managed to get exactly 80cm from his nose! BTW – if you’re wondering about the wild colors in this shot it’s because i cross processed the film.

Composing Low Down Shots

Get down and dirty – Shooting at such a low angle means that composition of your shot can be a bit tricky if you don’t have a vari-angle LCD screen. While you can get good results by guessing in our opinion it pays to get down on the floor and compose the shot normally, like you would if standing. For the Ugg boot shot above I ended up covered in wet sand but i definitely think it was worth it.

Although Flickr is designed to be a non-commercial website for sharing photographs it can at the same time be an incredible way to market your photography.

Getty Images

Flickr recently did a deal with Getty Images (Getty is the worlds leading stock photography company) which allows flickr users to make their images available to Getty’s editors. In order to ensure the Getty editors can see your images you need to ensure you update your flickr preferences.

To do this go to your flickr account preferences (http://www.flickr.com/account/prefs/gettyimages/) and ensure you select one of the top two options.

Once you’ve done this Getty editors can view your images and will be in touch if they want to license any of them.

Micro-Stock Photography

One of the easiest ways to get started making money is to upload all of the images you have on flickr to a micro stock photography site. These sites sell images to advertising agencies, graphic designers and other users and split the profits with the photographer. There are literally hundreds of stock sites you can use however the largest and one i’ve had the most success with is iStockPhoto.com.

iStockphoto have pretty high standards so be prepared to have some of your images rejected but if you stick at it and build up your online portfolio you can develop a nice steady passive income as your images get licensed over and over again.

Use Flickr as an additional Online Portfolio

Even if you have your own online website that you use as your portfolio don’t underestimate the reach of Flickr. I tend to upload my favourite shots to flickr mainly because it’s a nice chronological collection of my work, but also to help spread the word about my photography. As a result I get quite a few people click through to my website from my flickr account.

Over the last 3 years i’ve had many queries from people via flickr (through flickrmail), including requests to buy individual photos and future commissions. One example is when a local company got in touch with me after seeing the image below of a jogger running across a local park.

After some discussion they bought the image above (as well as a couple of others) and commissioned me to shoot some more local images to use in their forthcoming advertising campaign. I ended up with a load of my photographs all over town on 60foot bill boards which was great. Even better was the fact they paid me a nice four figure fee for my trouble!

Link Back to Your Website/Blog

When uploading photos to flickr always include a link to your website/blog in the pictures comments. That way any prospective clients can quickly contact you and see more details about your photography business and style of work.

Take Local Images

Leading on from my example above take some time out to take some good quality images of your local area. I know from experience that local firms often like to use local images in their advertising and promotional material so try to make sure your have some good content uploaded to your flickr account that might appeal.

Tagging Images

People won’t buy your photos or services if they can’t find you. Always take time to correctly tag and label your photographs. Try to think about different kinds of tags to use, not just the obvious ones. Include tags that describe the emotions of your photographs as well as just descriptive tags. As a general rule I aim to have at least 20 tags on each photograph i upload to flickr. The more relevant tags you have the more chances you have that people will find your images when searching.

3rd Party Products

There are a number of third party websites out there that allow you to create and sell various products that incorporate your photographs from flickr, earning you a nice commission for every sale they make that uses your images.

• Blurb allows you to create professional quality photo books from your images (linked to your flickr account). As well as buying a copy for family and friends you can allow blurb to sell them on your behalf and they’ll pay you a commission for every sale they make.
• Moo.com is the place to go to create, buy and sell funky business cards.
• Zazzle is a similar site to the others mentioned above but with a much larger product base. Create anything from t-shirts, key rings mugs and bags and earn commission on sales featuring your images.

Build Your Network

As with most businesses, building a good network of fellow professionals is often an essential part of being a photographer. You’re much more likely to pic up work via flickr if you take the time to build up your contacts and interact with other users.

I’m not talking about spamming here. You should take the time to build up a list of contacts who you genuinely like their work. Be generous with your commenting and favorites and over time you’ll most likely build up your own following. I know of several people that have built up strong and lucrative photographic collaborations that started from their flickr contacts.

Cleaning your lenses can be a bit daunting for fear of scratching them. Many people get scared of cleaning any part of their camera setup as they seem like such fragile devices. A while ago i posted on how to clean sensor dust but haven’t looked at the correct method to clean lenses here on the site.

I came across this great video that gives an excellent tutorial on how to clean your lenses so thought I’d share it with you. Oh and enjoy the far out jazz on the video too!

I’ve been thinking for a while about getting into some time lapse photography. I’ve noticed over the last year or so it is getting very popular.

Below are a couple of great time lapse videos i’ve come across. Sit back and enjoy.

This colation from New York was put together by Josh Owens of mindrelic. I love the way he moves the camera during the shooting to accentuate the feeling of movement in the end video.

NYC – Mindrelic Timelapse from Mindrelic on Vimeo.

This one was made by Kevin Meredith (aka lomokev). He’s usually more at home shooting with lomo lca film cameras but this shows he’s just as good with a new fangled DSLR.

I think the time might have come for me to invest in a decent remote that can take shots at specific intervals so I can do some experimenting with time lapse myself.

This is the second in our series of articles about strobism. In the first article we talked about exactly what strobism is all about and how it can dramatically improve the pictures you take.  In this article we’ll run through some of the basic kit you’ll need to get started in the world of strobism.

Flash Unit

Ok first off you are going to need a strobe right? There are a million and one options out there from the high end top of the range offerings from both Canon and Nikon to cheap brands you’ve probably never heard of from China.

Most of the newer expensive models from the big manufacturers come loaded with lots of sophisticated auto exposure, TTL gadgetry designed to allow you to use the flashes in auto mode and get great results. While these flashes are great and do amazing things to really improve you should learn to understand what your flashes are doing and how you can manipulate the light they produce.

As a result you should look for a cheap flash that allows you to manually control the power output as strobism is all about manually setting your flashes. We recommend a Strobist classic, the Vivitar 285 – Powerful, reliable and and under £100. You can’t go wrong.

Umbrella Stand

Next up you’re going to need a stand to mount your strobe on. This can be where it gets a bit confusing as just a stand will not help you, you’ll also need a mount head adapter and flash cold shoe.

Light stands come in various flavors however unless you are planning on shooting outdoors a lot (where wind can be a problem) then a fairly cheap one should be fine to  get you started.

The mount head adapter fits on top of the stand and carries the cold shoe adapter that your flash gets fixed to. The adapter lets you adjust the angle of the flash unit (and umbrella if you use one) and in our opinion these ‘joint areas’ are where most of the wear and tear takes place so are worth investing in a bit higher quality gear. The cold shoe mount simply lets you attach you flash unit to the adapter so any old cheap one will do.

Most umbrella adapters come with a hot shoe mount included.

Umbrella

One of the keys to successful off camera light is often being able to diffuse or soften the light, especially so when shooting portraits. The most common, flexible and cheapest way to do this is to use an umbrella. You’ll have two main options when it comes to choosing an umbrella:

1. A Reflective Umbrella
As the name suggests these umbrellas are used in such a way so that the flash is fired into the inside of the umbrella which in turn bounces the light back of the silver surface and onto your subject. Theresult is a nice soft diffused light, perfect for general portraits.

2. A Shoot Through Umbrella
Again as the name suggests these umbrellas work slightly differently to reflectors. The light is again fired inside the umbrella however they are made of translucent white material that lets the light pass trough to the other side, which is where your subject should be positioned.

2. The Best of Both Worlds

More recently there are umbrellas out there that give you the flexibility of both types of umbrella. They are made of two layers, one of which  is detachable. When the outer black layer is on then your umbrella is a reflector however take this outer layer off and you have a shoot through. For the small extra cost we think these convertible umbrellas are well worth it.

Strobist Kits

On Amazon there are a number of companies selling strobist kits containing umbrella/s, stands , mounts and adapters.  These are great as you usually save money and are guaranteed to get compatible gear.

Triggers

Ok so strobism is all about getting your flash off camera. You’re not going to get very far unless you have a decent way to be able to trigger your flash when it is over on the other side of the room to your camera.

You can use either cables or Infra red triggers/receivers to fire your flashed however both have quite heavy restrictions. Cables obviously limit you to the length of the cable while infra red often won’t work unless there is an uninterrupted line of sight between your camera and flash.

By fart the most reliable option to fire your off camera strobes is to use radio triggers. These trigger use radio frequencies to allow communication between the flash and the camera. The benefits of radio are that they have a much larger range (often a few hundred feet!) and no direct line of sight is required, unlike infra red.

If money is no object then you choice is a simple one, buy a set of the industry standard pocket wizards – we promise you won’t ever regret the investment.

If you are on a tighter budget then fear not their are some great radio triggers out there for not much money at all. With the cheaper (off brand triggers) you can expect the odd mis-fire and the designs can be a bit clunky to use however they cost a fraction the price of the pocket wizards so if you’re just starting out they are a no-brainer.

Batteries

Once you start experimenting with off camera flash you’ll soon start to worry about how much you are going to end up spending on AA batteries. It can be quite easy to use a set of AA batteries in a strobe over the course of a couple of hours, particularly if shooting on full power. Fear not because there is an easy way to save on this expense, just take a look at our article on the benefits of NiMH batteries.

Gels

Before you go and take your amazon cart to the checkout there is one other thing you may want to consider to get your strobist kit complete.A pack of strobist gels costs less than $10 and will prove well worth the money.

These are little strips of translucent plastic that you attach to the end of your flash unit to change the colour of the light it produces. You can use these to either give you backgrounds an interesting color such as the shot below or alternatively to neutralize or cancel out tricky/unflattering light such as nasty fluorescent strip lights often found in office buildings – very useful for those quick corporate head shots.

Summary

Hopefully you’ve realized that getting the right gear to get started with off camera flash need not be so confusing and in addition it doesn’t have to cost the earth.

Over the last couple of years the term strobist has become increasingly popular in the world of amateur photography. We thought we’d run a little series of articles on strobism, explaining what it is, what gear you need and how it can improve your photography.

image by geroco

What Is Strobism?

Strobism refers to the use of small flashguns (often referred to as speedlites or strobes) to create effective lighting for all kinds of photographs. The ‘movement’ of strobism rose in popularity in the last couple of years after the photographer David Hobby set up his now seminal blog strobist.com.

Strobism is all about controlling what is perhaps the most important aspect of photography – light. Traditional photographers used to seek out the best light possible in order to make great photographs, strobists create it themselves. At the heart of the stobist movement is being able to understand how light, and more specifically the combination of light from multiple sources contributes towards great photographs.

Why Bother With Strobism?

The whole ethos of strobism is to use small inexpensive flashes to gain the same lighting effects as big expensive studio lighting rigs. What David Hobby did a few years ago was to show exactly what these little flashes were capable of if you the photographer followed a few simple rules and learned how easy it is to control and manipulate the light they produce.

Stobism is all about showing what great pictures small lights can produce.

photo by tetsumo

As David explains in this interview you can achieve truly great results by getting your flash off camera. Doing so enables you to explore and accentuate the 3 dimensionality of your subject in a much more powerful way than when using your flash on camera. As David explains, doing this with small flash units is just mimicking what the pros have been doing with much bigger studio lights for decades. Strobism is just making professional level lighting accessible to the amateur on a budget, and doing so with the same level of quality!

What Strobist Kit Do I Need to Get Going?

The beauty of David Hobby’s ethos is that all you need to get started is a flash gun (ideally one which allows you control the power output manually such as a the Vivitar 285 which costs less than $100) and a means of getting the flash off camera (either a cable or infra red or ideally a radio trigger system). Perhaps one of the reasons this technique has become so popular is that you don’t need a $500 flash gun to get started – any will do so long as you can manually control the power output. Add in a umbrella setup and for $150 you can be up an running.

Here’s the basic strobist kit you need to get started:

• $85 -  Vivitar 285 Flash

• $23 -  Remote radio triggers

• $30 -  Shoot trough umbrella,  stand & flash bracket

The Strobist Holy Grail

David Hobby has also produced a Strobist DVD box set which is pretty much the strobist bible and essential to learn how to use these little flashes to their maximum capabilities. In the first disc he runs through the kit you’ll need to get started and where you can get it (much of it is sourced for cheap on ebay). The second disc contains a video of one of his seminars where he runs through (and demonstrates) all of the core principles and techniques he uses.

photo by nickwheeleroz

The other DVDs contain different studio and outdoor shoots where he and runs through the set up, his thought process and the lighting execution used for each shoot. Having learned the theory on disc two these later discs allow you to see exactly how he uses the techniques when on a real life shoot. As he shoots he literally talks you through his exact thought process step by step from set up through to capturing the killer shot.

He also goes on to show a number of accessories and devices you can make out of everyday items like cereal boxes to help you control and manipulate your light. This do it yourself approach is perhaps one of the main reasons for the now cult following of the strobist movement. The whole thing is about getting professional quality light and photographs from simple, cheap but highly effective lighting set ups.