Back to Basics: Flash Photography Tips for Beginners
Sprinkled in-between the more advanced lighting, photography and post-processing tutorials that we feature on the site, we’ve been trying to add in the occasional basic tutorial or walkthrough for the beginning photographer. Not everybody who reads PetaPixel is a pro- or even an intermediate-level photographer, and we all have to start somewhere.
The video above falls squarely into the “for beginners” category (in case the title didn’t clue you in), and even though it was uploaded all the way back in 2010, it will still come in very useful if you’re just starting out.
Whether your weapon of choice right now is a point-and-shoot, a DSLR without any external flash, or a DSLR with a hotshoe flash, Phil Steele of Steele Training shares a few solid tips on fill-flash, slow-sync flash (commonly labeled as “Night Portrait” mode on a point-and-shoot), and starting to use basic diffusers.
There isn’t really anything here for the advanced user. The video offers basic tips and then directs viewers who want to learn about advanced off-camera flash usage to Steele’s more advanced, paid tutorials.
But if you know somebody who is just starting off, or even just a friend who loves taking pictures and could use some flash photography tips, this is a great way for them to spend 11 minutes of their weekend.
