One Light Photography - No More Excuses!

There’s a lot of negativity and miss-information surrounding the use of costly camera kit and how it impacts photographic results.

[@thethirdman225]

Unfortunately we live in a consumer society with a multitude of websites full of people who seem to be trying to outdo each other. A 1.4 lens is seen as "not as good as" an f/1.2 lens. A Canon lens is seen as inferior to a Leica. A photograph taken with a $500 lens is seen as inferior to one taken with a $5000 lens. You know the drill. People start seeing things that don't exist. Where it all falls apart is when people talk about Hasselblads. Cameras don't create. Cameras don't light and cameras don't do post production (though I'm a minimalist in that department, preferring to get it right in the camera). Between you and Peter Coulson, - who once did a shoot with a Sony RX100 to prove the point - there's enough inspiration to forget the naysayers.

[@bzkdnb]

stop making excuses, start learning and start doing! The most important thing in photography. Doesnt matter is this portrait/sport/documentary.

[@danielh8360]

Beside photography I shoot guns in sport copetition. Same rule. If you can't shoot, more and better equipment won't help you at all.

[@jasondick5402]

Thank you. I am one of those lazy people who just have the basics sitting in the cupboard. Being told laziness is a sickness helps to get out of it. I needed this video!

[@simianinc]

Thanks Karl. And for a lot of photography, one light but moved around and stacked in post allows many photographers to mimic the multi-light product shots

[@randallvargas5315]

Olympic athletes can only go to the Olympics because they receive money from sponsors haha

[@a.jol.sr_photography]

Karl..... As an amateur photographer, your words of wisdom really have propelled my work.

[@didierperrusset]

Somebody I forgot the name said : "genius is simplicity" One light shootings can be amazing and stunnig as well, to me.

[@najamraja303]

true...........Karl

[@Bob-Horse]

Well said Karl, so true and so important to take on board.

[@jlwilliams]

06:10

[@jessestarks3128]

Preach Brother Taylor, preach! There will always be doubters and in most cases they don't want to learn. It's far easier to complain, hate and troll. I follow several photography channels and even when they shoot different subject matter, I learn something from all of them.

[@thewatcher33]

Absolutely right. I love working with speedlights, I have 4 of them and I mainly use only one when I'm doing Portrait outdoors, two sometimes. They are light and portable. I also have 4 studio strobes, all new but I hardly use them. I also use the speedlight indoors. Using one light allows you to be more creative with shadows and makes you more attentive to the surrounding ambient light or lack off because you are forced to look to find additional light for rim lighting effects, better flow of light.

[@matthewalexander8752]

Karl, I find your clips & knowledge inspirational. You remind me of my early photo roots with film in the late Sixties. I served my ‘apprenticeship’ in an old established properly run Camera Club in the west of Scotland, and like you at a young age - I could not afford to buy an expensive camera- let alone studio equipment. The Club studio was basic with a variety of No.1 & No.2 Tungsten Flood lights- I don’t think the brolly flash had even been invented. But it did also have a darkroom where I learned basics of ‘ D& P’.

[@disco4178]

I bought your advertising DVDs about 5 years ago and they were a game changer for me! Your free KZbin tutorials are fantastic and anyone serious about producing great imagery would do themselves a huge favor by buying/subscribing to your educational materials. Thank you for putting the work in to help make others better.

[@photosbyjosef]

Awesome awesome video.

[@GrandEpicPhotos]

Thanks Karl, you’re my hero!

[@kevintudeau8313]

Remind me when I was a live photographer in the past and I used a Canon 60D with an old zoom not really fast (like 3.5 to f5.8) and people was "Your photographies are really great, but it's because you have great gear".

[@SimonWestPhotography]

Thank you for sharing your many years of experience and knowledge, which I have followed for the last 7 years of more. There are always going to be those people that try and knock others and let them as it only reinforces how good you are which this video and your others demonstrate. Keep up the amazing work.

[@tandonpicture]

Hi Karl.Thanks so much for all your knowledge sharing.People who doubt your knowledge themselves donot know what they are doing. Photography is all about learning and trying things and photographers like you really help so many photographers around the globe to take that one step forward.