Follow the Light | Learn to Make Beautiful Light with your Speedlites

[@b991228]

This is a dearly needed video. Instead of being told that flash can not effectively overpower ambient light Jared Platt instead teaches you how to see the available light that is out there and augment it with flash. You learn to see the beautiful light that is out there and enhance it.

[@b991228]

When working outside in the evening sun with a manual flash what is the power of the wrap light to use as starting test shot. How about 1/16th power with a 60 guide# flash. I understand the every flash and ambient sunlight will be different but where to start. One stop or less?

[@gentlegnt]

Undeniably one of THE best instructional training/informative videos I've seen yet. Very concise and pinpointed with statements and explained everything very clearly and didn't rattle on and on and on. Told WHY his techniques were used and where lights were placed and tips/pointers to consider as well. What to look-out for and what to capitalize on. Thanks so much for this video. Outstanding!

[@ZOly62]

Best takeaways from this video: 1) Dont compete with the sun, work with the sun & follow the light! 2) 01:15:46 How to check the light for portraiture.

Great instructor and thanks for B&H for bringing someone so good. Nevertheless, the fact that sometimes what Jared is showing does not appear because the edit keeps showing the image is not ideal. It is certain that we lost a lot. Hope you can change that!

[@nikolewithak3107]

Very informative. Times when I couldn't see where his flashes as he was talking were because photo was full screen and I couldn't see where he was pointing to the audience. Love the live demo for the flash use at the end. Overall very good video. Learned a lot. Thank you Mr. Platt. Thanks B&H for all your videos and also to Canon for sponsoring videos like this. Much appreciated!

[@humbertoribera5016]

Initially I thought not showing where the instructor was indicating was just inexperienced editing. After more than one hour watching and this trend repeating image after image, over and over again, I conclude it is not accidental. Why would a director chose to do this? Great presentation very informative and in stark contrast with a bizarre video image editing sequence.

[@jamesdouglaswhittaker4612]

My problem too . Lost a lot of good valuable information

[@ajybhadu]

Finally! Jared Platt on b and h! Waiting for this webinar for almost two years

[@AlergicToSnow]

Excellent presentation. Made me think differently about my approach to outdoor portraits.

[@kevinstephenson9209]

I found that when the speaker was talking the camera was still on the picture so we missed what the speaker was talking about when he was pointing out a specific location of where his lights were. Other wise it was an excellent class. You just need to watch your final editing before publishing.

[@4eyeoptics856]

Agreed

[@juanriver2719]

Ive been a photog for over 10 years and this might be the best vid ive ever seen on flash.

[@myname4742]

Amazing to think that, at the point of my viewing this video, 56,949 people were all frustrated that the editing of this video was such that we can't see where Jared is placing the lights. Apart from that, a very well done presentation.

[@gailaking]

Great instruction. Very concise and knowledgeable. Same comment for the editing where he says, "light coming from here" or "back there" but the scene we see is just focusing on the photo itself. We have to guess a bit, but it would have been more informative if we saw the video of him pointing to areas of the photo. I'm a big fan of Jared.

[@MarcelinoNogueiro]

So far I'm halfway through the video and it's very good but I have one issue for the camera person, when Jared is referring to an image and where he places the flashes etc and pointing to areas of the image, there is no need to keep the image in full screen, we need to see what he is point to, not the image! I have seen other B&H presentation like this where you do the same and it very difficult to follow what the presenter is referencing.

[@b991228]

It is not about seeing where you place the flash, you need to see the shadows and highlights and understand how the flash is placed to create the desired effect. See the original ambient, probably hard light and wrap or follow with a strobe light toward the camera to create additional soft light that will bring out the subject. You are not overpowering the light, you are enhancing the light.

[@emanuele7909]

I'm just an enthusiast and this is one of the most effective session on lights ever joined. Unfortunately in some occasions it would have been better to have you shown in the video during your explanations rather then keeping stuck on the picture but nevermind, it was great anyway.

[@arthurcoon7901]

Jared always does such an outstanding job of showing what he does. I was able to follow along with his description of his lighting-and I took a couple of page of notes! Thanks, B and H!

[@milliemolnun]

He is excellent as an educator. Because not only did he work on the themes from an artistic point of view, but also a scientific one. That way it is easier to understand. If you know how light behaves, it is a little easier to handle it. And they need to fix the video. He explains things in the room that cannot be seen because they have the photo on, instead of having him.

[@thekidusa]

Agree with many of the comments already posted here. The director of this two shot setup is basically asleep for either, not switching back from the picture to him pointing out where all his placements are or at least do it as a pip inset at the very least. they begins to wake up sometime after the one hour mark but it's almost when he's done showing his examples

[@adriank9234]

Well presented, samples, especially the little 'fella' at the 12:09 mark on, etc. My only small 'gripe' is at 14:15 with the bride/groom on cliff edge where the horizon runs through their necks, 'chopping off the heads'; just needed to be shot from around 300mm (1ft) lower perspective placing their heads and part of torso into the sky. Just my thoughts. I am a professional wedding photographer for 40+ years, and not some mutt commenting needlessly.

[@dadnoonan]

Well done. Clean, simple and visual examples. Very well done.

[@romiemiller7876]

I agree with you about flash. It's easy to carry one or two Godox "Pocket Flash" units and a V1 speedlights with the accessory packets. Every thing here is on point. It's the best video on flash/ambient light mix that I've found on KZbin. * Amen on no trees in Az. You could stand on top of the restaurant in Shady Grove with 10X binoculars & not see one tree anywhere. Well, one item is slightly off point, but I think you're right in the context of the video.

[@josemarivictorsilayan9167]

Wow that is really good advice.. to “follow/work with the sun..” instead of “going against the sun..” Thanks for this!!

[@fernandomanuelhairdressing7471]

Unfortunately we can’t see where he is explaining his light placement...

[@romiemiller7876]

Did you add the person in the left side of the blue window (1:40:30), or was that a lucky accident? Shoot metered manual. Works every time. That said, I use TTL quite a bit.

[@brentm2030]

Great and infomative video. The only thing I could add is that when he speaks to his audience sometimes he showing them something that doesnt show in the video. I liked this video very much.

[@Caalphoto]

Wow! Great video! Love the concepts he presents here! Will definitely try some of his techniques ASAP!

[@odarrien]

Excellent presentation. Very informative. Thank you.

[@leslienelson7016]

The monsoon season brings a lot of dramatic clouds in July and August to ARIZONA, Come back then.

[@ssuryakanta1]

Thanks for sharing so valuable tips ,this is the best ever video i have seen .

[@davesnow6762]

Very interesting video. Agree with comments re editing - showing the photo longer and not what the speaker is trying to convey. Also, please give the audience a microphone - unable to hear any of the questions. Really appreciate where Jared Platt is coming from re the positioning of the light(s).

[@shadedshotsphotography]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge

[@RozelyLindim]

finish watching it..very informative.. I learn a lot..many thanks

[@AlergicToSnow]

...and fantastic images. Great work!

[@DiamondoSutjipto]

Nice tutorial. Learn a lot from this video. Suggestion: Prefer that you say "the light is on the right or left" rather than "here or there". I could not relate where is the light coming from if you say here and there. Hope this help.

[@intagphotovideo]

great presentation....and thank you for talk before your event :) Inta

[@jannieschluter9670]

This guy is next level.

[@ronco52]

This was a very good video on using Speedlight’s, the images displayed were awesome. To make it an extraordinary video add some graphics in a small window showing the placement of the Speedlight’s in the photos when he discussed the photo on the screen. At least use more descriptive instructions, over here, over there did not help at all. That being said, I look forward to seeing more video’s by Jared Platt!

[@BubblesPothowari]

Please Please Please. DO NOT show zoomed in photograph, when the trainer is pointing & explaining as seen by audience in the class.

[@miavonni]

B&H and Canons goal is to sell you things!

[@RenePfluger]

Great ideas about light, some new ways to be better

[@NECHOLA]

Halfway through this and living every minute. Just wish, as some others have said, that I could have seen HIM when he was showing where to position the flash instead of only being able to see the photo. Otherwise, this is great.

[@HasanNYC]

Man, you came to nyc and I probably walked in front of B&H without knowing.. Thanks for the video.

[@mercedesruthpardocarro2594]

Excellent presentation. Thank you!

[@harrygilliland5675]

Good video very informative .

[@fangbifxx]

This is really good one. Thank you so much.

[@BandH]

Glad you liked it!

[@wawero23]

greetings from Poland ! (opera house in Kraków in Poland :D )

[@marcomark8]

What are those sticky things called that you use on the windows and do you have a link for them?

[@mjgbirder]

Great video, thank you… :-) Interesting how different your approach is to that of typical studio portraits where most people start from a point of killing the ambient light and only using flash light to light the portrait. One thing that might by helpful for people like me watching the online version would be to try and always use terms like camera like camera right or camera left. Quite often in the video you were saying you light the scene from this side or from that side. Buy because this was sometimes whilst the feed was looking at the finished image we couldn’t see which way you were pointing at it made it a little hard to follow… M

[@mjgbirder]

PS. The “hand-face” tip for finding the best light direction is brilliant… :-) M

[@cweb1988]

this was reeeeeally helpful.

[@dgaustad]

Good video could have been great. Rather than leaving the still of the image he took with only his audio streaming in while he is showing and describing exactly where he placed the flashes (since that's what we want to learn) you should have flipped back to the video from the presentation showing where he placed the flashes. You could have shown the original picture quickly and we'd see right away how it turned out and then flipped to him in the presentation showing us what we clicked on play to learn rather than leaving us guessing which of 3 flashes he was talking about and where he put it. I'd rather not see the still images at all and just watch the video of the presentation if you're not going to flip back to the presentation when he says it's important to put the flash right here....where show me. Was nice to hear the 5D MKIV can handle TTL much better I'll test that this weekend.

[@shaolin95]

Dave G fully agree! Maybe they can re-edit and post again

[@IvanDoherty1]

Very good video with an unusual philosophy regarding the augmentation of light. Most photogs talk about overpowering the sun etc. I liked his take on it and it makes some sense. Yes, the editing of the video leaves something to be desired, as said the one thing you want to see is exactly where he is positioning his lights given his very defined technique.

[@majkelalm]

B & H always do this in these videos, and it's equally frustrating every time. It's also mentioned every time in the comments, so I'm not sure why they're not correcting themselves

[@hagarthehorrible1391]

Micke Alm they never correct themselves. I've been saying for the longest time that the main monitor in the event space has a much warmer white balance for the longest time but to no avail. The photographer's work looks very different than it is cos the screen is too sepia-ish.

[@maxbo3361]

Dave G he answered with detail and used son photo as example. When he said he wanted it here, re: portraits, imagine a portrait. The flash is just outside of camera, less than arm’s length.

[@jvcarvay]

Every time Jared Platt says "...we have the light HERE..." or "... then the light comes from HERE..." and in screen we have the photo and not Jared, the Lumiere brothers come back to life and sacrifice a kitten.

[@darylnd]

I had a shot of vodka every time he said, "literally."

[@michyjua]

I have a cuestion. Is there a system that instead of read the average of the light is hitting the subject , reads the distance among the flash and the subject,? so the flash caculates acording to the iso, aperture, selected, it could gives the right light needed for the selected subject. If the answer is not. this is good point to think for cameras and flash industries. It would revolutions the way and make easier to photographes to work

[@prhayz1]

TTL

[@EcoHabitat00]

Great info. However, I wish that the editing of the video would´ve allowed to see more of Jared himself every time he was explaining where the light (speedlight) was coming from or how he tweaked the head of the flashes.

[@AlexanderSogliero]

Fantastic presentation. Just would of been helpful if the things and techniques he was talking about could of been referenced on the pictures he was using as illustrations.

[@kochavigivoni5814]

Wow, thank you very much!!!

[@MichaelWellman1955]

I agree with the other comments here. A very good speaker and talk but he needs to show us where his flashes are, what is the power of the flashes and it would have been nice to see a before and after pic to see what the impact of adding the flashes had.

[@martinmcglone8456]

enjoyed presentation

[@jerrybergquist]

This class is very enlightening (pun intended) but, as stated in prior comments Jared is often explaining this visually and you are focusing on the photo and we are missing his examples. If you have the ability to edit this video so we can see Jared's examples that would make this class more valuable for online viewers.

[@MartinV.]

very informative

[@old4004]

A really fine presenter on an important subject, but I "ditto" the comments concerning not being able to see his explanation when only the picture is showing.

[@jackofblades6736]

can you guys please show your host explaining the photo like a picture in picture instead just showing a static photo.

[@jardom6044]

What he says about the direction of the sun at 21:55 doeasn't make any sense when it comes to this particular example.

[@Millie-um2bi]

Homie needs to stop being afraid of shadow on his subjects lol 1:14:52 the natural light photo looks much better

[@luchocairo8717]

good video

[@omnesilere]

Look with your eyes people complaining about, 'I can't tell where the light's coming from.' This lesson is for you the most.

[@sistasuga]

You really have to play a good guessing game to keep up with what he's saying while he's giving direction.

[@Каин-г9ч]

01:08:20

[@ftbalz]

About "Canon Speedlites"....uses images already shown to be made with Profoto strobes...

[@bochen2351]

Oh Canon please make your Speedlite cheaper, so we do not have to go for some random Chines brand for the same light. Please Canon I love you. You will crush other brand if your flashes are cheaper.

[@IvanDoherty1]

Don't discount Godox, they work great and all on one wireless trigger seamless across its range. You would be shocked at how good they are. they have just put Bowens out of business, must be doing something right.

[@richardbierman9856]

I'd say, if you think that your deluded! Anyone who thinks you need to pay stupid money for OEM speedlights has more money than sense! I'm a Nikon shooter, and gave up on Nikon speedlights after blowing up a Nikon sb900,! Godox all the way for me, lithium ion 860 mark 11, and ad200's.... Great system!

[@AngelFrancoart]

Excelente!!!!))))

[@dianedg6082]

I think the speaker had lots of information to share, but found this frustrating to watch, since the whole idea was to learn placement of lights.

[@frederickmcdonald6636]

A good presentation but it could have been great! Here the photographer is talking about where the light is coming from but we can’t see him in every frame! He shows us where he places the light with his hands and we don’t see him all the time. You will see what I mean when watching and it’s annoying…. but he’s an awesome photographer

[@ronmckibban3299]

Class very good but whoever is doing the video needs to follow YOU when your are doing a demo.....They mostly just focus on the screen..

[@josemarivictorsilayan9167]

Clap clap clap! :)

[@markegan2974]

love jareds lessons but seriously as all the below meniton if your going to teach then we need to see what your teaching the class , ie when you talk about where the lights are and we dont see you pointing them out its bloody hard to watch , come on guys its an easy fix put a small screen with him live all the time if you cut to an image

[@msmarykay10034]

This was a great training but the person recording the video needs to pull back to the instructor when he/she is actually showing the audience where the flashes were placed to light the scenes. Trying to follow where he placed the flashes, without actually seeing his motions, whether right or left, behind or forward, was impossible for me. Guessing where he probably put them was not necessary as he made a conscious effort to show those in the room. I cannot understand why when Jared is SHOWING US WHERE TO PLACE THE FLASHES, the person behind the camera doesn't know that NOW is the time to leave the screen shot and pull back to let the viewers, who will only get to watch online, see exactly HOW this photographer is explaining his placement to the live audience." So frustrating.

[@hobbyrx2267]

Realistic Strobism

[@shutupavi]

whoever edits these videos hasn't mastered when to show lecturer vs when to show slide

[@riddles1137]

Half way through and I’ve given up, as an educational tool it’s pretty poor as you can’t see What Jared is talking about most of the time.

[@3-y86]

this is horrible

[@WilliamBurdine]

This video could have been enhanced quite a bit by showing the speakers movement in relation to his photos... we are looking at photos and yet his words are descriptions of how he is moving the light, "I put it here", "I shot from this direction", etc... there is no context because we have no idea what he is pointing at or showing the live audience. That is why I gave this a thumbs down.

[@BandH]

Thank you for this feedback.

[@lendumore]

Forewarning you all now. Several times during this video, the speaker uses language like "right here".."over here"..or "down there", etc when talking about off camera lighting without actually walking you through the light setup scheme (correction, he did it onc at almost 40 min into the video). It's extremely frustrating and one of the worst B&H tutorials I've seen to be honest.

[@photofocus_professional]

B & H photo video . Pleas Do not upload more then 30 minutes videos otherwise it's better you upload lengthy video should chapter vice its very easy us learn this and search it .

[@GregWallis]

Great video till halfway through and then he loses it. Terrible editing.

[@jaroszw]

Great workshop in 50% destroyed by B and H...if he is showing something please don't put a photo on the screen for so long!!! You make this video useless...unless it is your goal?!

[@shaolin95]

I like th outdoor photos a lot but sorry...many of the indoor shots are not beautifully lit as you say buy way over exposed

[@stuartschaffner9744]

shaolin95 , the speaker is a professional wedding and fashion photographer. He adapts to the standards of his customers.

[@karlbratby4349]

so if the customers standards are not very high then will shoot to not a very high standard.. ?

[@Shortdwarf_dot_com]

@Jared Platt got a link for the @tethertools item you mention holding a speedlight on a window?

[@BandH]

The item mentioned was the Tether Tools Rapid Mount, which has been discontinued.

[@Shortdwarf_dot_com]

@@BandH bummer, yet thanks for your reply! what consideration has the video editor given to zooming out when your presenter indicates angles & light placement to your in-store audience?

[@nammavar2093]

very informative