Who says old dogs can’t learn new tricks?

I’ve always sworn by ambient light. Partly because I love natural light, but also because I simply haven’t had proper flash gear, let alone the skills to use it.

Last year in the autumn, I decided to try something completely different and enrolled on a people photography course for some new inspiration. The course was fun and while I don’t feel too comfortable pointing my lens at anyone, I think I actually learned something about photographing people. In addition to that, I learned a great deal about flash photography in general, and got inspired to study it further.

The course and some online courses on using flash that I took in the winter were quite an eye-opener for me in terms of the quality of light. After all, I had always had this prejudice of flash as a harsh light source. You know, that it would be easy to spot any flash photos from among those taken using natural light.

I had used reflectors and diffusers to modify ambient light, particularly in the case of artificial light indoors, but without too much theoretical knowledge about the size or type of light source, and I had never been able to apply the same techniques to using flash.

I’m still no expert in flash photography and I may never be completely comfortable with photographing people, but I feel like the basic knowledge I have gained in using flash has opened up a whole new world for me in macro photography and in shooting food. I still love natural light and use it whenever there is enough of it available, but I love the fact that with flash, I can create the light that I want when there isn’t any (or enough).

Which is about 4 months a year where I live!