Every now and then a photographer comes along and you can just feel they’re destined to be a leader.  Meet Joe Dallas.  I met Joe through Bambi Cantrell several years ago when she recommended I take a look at his work.  He’s a wedding photographer out of Georgia and had some nice images and was just one of those people it was great to talk to.  Ever notice how some times you’ll meet somebody and then they show up everywhere?   Well, that’s the way it’s been with Joe, bumping into him at all kinds of conventions, workshops and even a wedding.

Leaders, even when they don’t know it yet, have a way of setting the pace.    Some times it’s something innovative that makes their contribution to the community significant and that’s exactly what Joe is demonstrating.  Three weeks ago he launched The Get Real Workshops and has already far exceeded expectations in terms of the initial reaction.   Joe had the vision to bring six of the best photographers and teachers in our industry together.  He’s coordinated the schedules of a star-studded cast with Chuck Arlund, David E Jackson, Zack Arias, Bambi Cantrell, Dawn Shields and Jim Garner all teaching in Columbus, GA over the months ahead.

 ”I’m an available light shooter.”   For years that was my go-to response anytime someone would ask me about my shooting style, or how I  approached certain lighting scenarios. The statement wasn’t completely true, because I did in fact use and know how to use flash.

At  receptions I would often use an on-camera speedlight and bounce it off  of the ceilings or walls to create a larger and softer light source.  Generally I avoided flash all together. I knew I hated the flat look of direct, on-camera flash.  However, I didn’t always posess the ability to make whatever environment I found myself in look more 
attractive by adding artificial lighting. I considered myself to be a proficient natural light shooter, so choosing the course of least resistance, I would often opt out of using flash.

Then came the day when I took everything off of automatic settings.   No  more ETTL, no more Aperture Priority, no more auto white balance.   Back to basics. I figured if I was being paid to be a photographer, I better know this stuff like the back of my hand.   Not allowing my gear to make the decisions for me made learning the relationship between aperture and flash exposure and all the other ins and outs of flash a lot easier. Less variables meant more predictable results.

I urge all  photographers to take on this task.  Even if you learn it and choose never to do it again, at least it’s another tool you have at your disposal if the situation ever calls for it.

My last argument for learning to use flash: As the ISO race continues with the major camera manufacturers, available light shooting will be even more accessible in darker and darker situations. The key word in that last sentence is accessible!   Everyone can shoot at  a high ISO.   Everyone can shoot an environment the way they found it, especially all the Uncle Harrys of the world.  However, not everyone has the skill set to create dynamic images with artificial lighting.  This skill set will help differentiate your work  from others.  

Here’s a great before and after example.

Beautiful model, nice car and okay natural light. Anyone could take the image below.

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Understanding lighting gave me the option of exposing my background with more density and gave the subject more pop without spending hours in Photoshop masking and cloning.

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