During the winter months or the dry hot summer, I don't often get out as much as I'd like to for my normal landscape photography.  So I've found myself bored but wanting to still photograph something.  I've been slowly accumulating flash equipment and now finally have some flashes and modifiers get started experimenting.  I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos on flash photography and still life photography and have actually picked up enough knowledge to get started.  The kicker for me was when I switched to the Nikon D850, which does not have a pop-up flash.  The Nikon cameras had used optical flash to trigger remote flashes, which was a bit of a pain.  With the D850, I splurged on some Phottix triggers.  After enlisting the help of a knowledgeable flash expert from my camera club, I got them to work (well . . . most of the time).

The photos below are all examples of flash photography using high speed sync.  This is where you shoot at a higher shutter speed to cancel out all ambient light and only use flash to light the scene.  The flower was in bright sunlight, which wouldn't look good.  But by using flash, I could control the amount and direction of the light.  I used a Rogue Flashbender to light it.  The other two photos were taken at a nearby antique mall.  Luckily the owner was very nice and let me set up some umbrellas I used to shoot the flash through to get softer light.  The beer keg photo used one umbrella, the Rogue Flashbender and a black reflector to block out the distracting background.

While none of these would win any print competitions, it does illustrate the flexibility and creativity that can be achieved by using off-camera flash.  If you've never considered trying flash out, its worth experimenting with during those times when getting out to hike to those lovely landscape scenes isn't possible.   Then I'll also have something to continue shooting when my hiking days come to an end. Days of Old Blue Blossoms

Beer and Moonshine