April 24th, 2025
As I journey on my photography adventure, learning more and more each time I grab my camera, I decided the next step should be to learn how to work with flash, especially off camera flash in a studio setting.
After getting somewhat comfortable with direct on camera flash, I'd been considering getting a strobe and transmitter, or at least a speedlight that could be triggered remotely. Shockingly, while away on tour as a sound engineer, I entered a Cash Converters store in France, and stumbled upon a 700€ studio kit, with stands, softboxes and reflectors for 150€. It was THE sign. I bought it on the spot after a funny exchange in broken French with the store's staff, and arranged for it to travel back home with the tour's gear.
The kit I got - 2 Elinchrom D-Lite RX4 heads, with Portalite softboxes, reflectors, a transmitter and stands. All the gear looked brand new!
Armed with my new lighting arsenal, I began experimenting almost straight away. Having watched hours of YouTube tutorials about flash photography, I knew the basics, and more importantly, I knew what I like. So I got a more than decent self portrait on my fourth or fifth photo. I never really liked photographing people, but this got me excited with that possibility.
Straight out of camera with strobes is an entirely different ball game... (please ignore the old home sweater)
What I wanted to really do with strobes, though, was try my hand at still life product photography, and for that I had the perfect set - my kitchen table has a glass cover - hello reflections!
My mom makes home made jams and has a pretty cool packaging design, so I grabbed one of her jars I had laying around and went for it.
It was a bit worn out, and it didn't sit straight, but I saw what I could do with my humble kit.
After a couple of mediocre pictures, I did a little "pseudo" campaign for Easter, for my mom. My mom is gonna build my portfolio.
I also did a shoot with my girlfriend, but she thinks she is ugly in every photo, and won't let me post any of them. But as I am a strong independent man, she doesn't own me, so here is a couple of them.
I mean, I made her look like the Mona Lisa. Still, I have a lot to learn, especially directing the model, especially when the model is her...
For 150€, I feel like I can rule the world with this pair of strobes. No need for anything fancier, even if TTL capabilities would be nice. You definitely don't need to spend fortunes to get professional results. I've already been contacted for some headshot shoots, and I bet this little investment is what is gonna jumpstart my photography side hustle, three years after I got my first camera to film myself playing guitar... From being a frustrated musician, I can now try and be a frustrated photographer as well!
Joking aside, if you think you are a photographer and never used strobes, think again. I feel I'm starting anew, and I'm enjoying photographing subjects I absolutely hated or didn't even think about with natural light. Portraits were the bane of my existence, for example. Being able to work with strobes also opened my eyes to seeing light more carefully, even when shooting landscapes at golden hour with my strobes comfy in their bag at home.
(all photos on this post are straight out of camera, with the exception of the Easter campaign one)
Happy strobing!
Miguel