Nanlite Pavoslim 120C: Why I Never Use Flash

[@xfinalchapterx]

great video! i also love the fact that you took the time and interviewed your grandparents. this holds so much value for you and your family that can't be measured in money. i can't tell people enough how important having these experiences is.

[@geoffreybassett6741]

Great photos Brandon, definitely hear you on enjoying seeing what the result is when taking the photo. One of the things not discussed about the flash side of things in your video is that you get so much more power in your light in a smaller weight package. A sub $200 flash gun can generate as much light as a $1200 video light more than 4 times the size.

[@devinfloresmedia]

This is why I prefer flash for photo. I don't want to have to carry around heavy video lights if I don't have to and I can still balance or overpower the sun in a much more compact and affordable light.

[@danielgaluppoproductions811]

Best review I’ve seen of these lights. Thank you. I got one and love the light.

[@DavidLeeKersey]

Ok I'll admit this is a "me problem" but man seeing that drawer open up with all those lens sitting there straight up with not a lens cover in sight gave me the willys.

[@arkayngaming727]

I assumed all the lens covers were removed for cinematic effect, similar to how people clean off desks before taking pics/vids

[@brucemacneil]

Most photographers I know throw away the lens cap.

[@one901]

Definitely a you problem because they are in a drawer not rolling around in a bag

[@koomar341]

Awesome video, Brandon! Informative and makes me wanna take photos of my family now too

[@MaxRovensky]

I'm rigorously anti-flash because it's a pain to expose for I want to see what it will look like before I shoot and be able to control the falloff

[@Meclesky07]

I think we all feel that way, but the power of flashes and the resulting sharpness of the photos is unmatched by any continuous light source (under $1k)

[@Meclesky07]

Some strobes have modeling lights that allow you to preview the spread and coverage of the light

[@rnrnrkrk994]

I used to be anti flasher but recently began using more and more. I just find the unnatural lighting look fascinating for some reason, especially with the smartphones catching up to mirrorless natural light photography.

[@devinfloresmedia]

I may be in the majority, but I like when things look "lit".

[@marcgilles4520]

5:50 that’s an amazing shot.

[@noenken]

I think you never had a flash of quality, tbh. At least that's what it sounds like. Varying output is not what a proper flash should do unless you use TTL. And dialing in exposure as precisely as possible is what flash excells at. At least I never needed it more precise as 1/10 or even 1/3 stops.

[@bearded_fotog]

Good video and all very valid points. BUT, if you shoot outside and on a sunny day. Video lights (non commercial ones with out lots of portable power like on a movie set) will not over power or match the ambient. SO your back to using flash for on location to match or overpower and that's with the possibility of using and ND filter as well. Been down this road and I use nothing but video/constant lights for all my work now. SO shooting outside is only done in early morning or late evening towards sunset.

[@foxbatt]

Great vid and fantastic to see how someone who shaped the look of LTT applies a similar rigor to photographing grandparents. However, sponsor integration aside :), the size, cost, weight and power required for continuous lighting makes it unwieldy and impractical in many situations, esp when you do need/want to overpower ambient lighting. Freezing fast action is also something flash can do far more efficiently/effectively.

[@Mattmixson]

We all need to talk to our grandparents and parents and ask them questions about their life.

[@jolyoncox]

Well said.

[@MrWiseinheart]

And record it all on video to review later in life when they're no longer with us.

[@daniel-lara]

While I really enjoy Brandon's process, I was immediately distracted for the amount of stands and the huge key light (customized bracket even), the results are awesome, no doubt about it, it shows Brandon expertise about light indoors situation that works great for video and stills... but this is mainly a video production setup. If you are a beginner with a small budget, you can achieve the same results with one flash (HSS for same depth of field results, -right, this might be the tricky part, but there are affordable options, much more affordable than continues light-) and even less layers of modifiers, but like I said in the beginning, it's always great to see how different artists shows their techniques and their approaches to different situations. Great video Brandon.

[@LouisLuzuka]

I’ve always wanted to do this 😮

[@jolyoncox]

Thanks Brandon. Did you also use the LLL 50mm on the BMCC6K for video? The smudgey bokeh looks really dreamy and interesting in the portrait of your grandfather...like it would work well for video, too. Thanks again!

[@brandonylee]

I mostly used a helios 44-2 in that video, but yes the LLL 50mm has a super interesting look for video!

[@MrWiseinheart]

​@@brandonyleeI was wondering about that as well, because it had a very unique characteristic to it, makes sense now👍 looked really pleasing.

[@waynosfotoscameras]

I get the advantages of a constant light, but in this application you had to build a frame, screed and setup the light. Speedlites ts would of been much quicker and smaller. If this was a paid job. I would of chosen flash, unless I had video planned. But that is part of the job, you also need to work quickly with many jobs, and simple is better, and this would of been using speedlites.

[@jantestowy123]

Amazing, learnt a lot. Thanx!

[@andersistbesser]

I am a led light person as well. Flashes are a thing of the past for many modern content creators

[@MrWiseinheart]

Are you going to post that video were you're interviewing them? Everybody should record their grandparents and parents, so when they're no longer with us we have those memories that we can rewatch and reconnect.

[@toshmeister92]

This is awesome. What brand of FLOPPY do you use?

[@brandonylee]

I had some custom made by a local sewing company that makes them. If you have a film industry in your city chances are there's a similar company in your area.

[@overdev1993]

for photo shoots yes video lights are better but not for events where you need to be mobile

[@plphotographer]

The amount of LED lights for outdoor portrait or lifestyle photos is out of reach of 99,9% users. For indoor LED's ad "berable" but for outdoor shoots or in sun shoots indoor is out of reach. With flashes it's easy to control in multyply light scenarios. I've used to use video lights about 20 years ago, than moved to flash lights and never look back. And don't have any problems with using my flashlights + my lightmeter that can atomatycly setup start point of flash source on my subject. Another problem with LED's is heat that they are generating on liong time shoots. For my outdoor on-location usage I would have to have havy 1200-2400W or more lights in LED + some power generator, or I can have one backpack with 3x 600Ws or 3x 800Ws or 3x 1200Ws battery operated flashes + battery pack if needed.

[@ifyourelistening8332]

Phenomenal 🔥

[@Crusader1089]

Honestly I don't think we ever would have used a strobe flash if we could have helped it. Flash bulbs made sense when the only way to get light bright enough for film was extremely powerful bulbs or potentially literally single use fireworks. Living in the far flung future of the 21st century we don't need to worry about overheating our models with bright lights thanks to LEDs. And digital sensors are so much more sensitive than film we don't need to worry as much about a burst of light. These days the only times I can see the flash being useful is when you want to freeze motion but don't have a camera that can act faster enough, such as the industrial process of taking photographs of biscuits going down a conveyor belt and identifying ones that need to be removed.

[@devinfloresmedia]

Flash has a lot more power in it than continuous lighting at a fraction of the weight and size. The sharpness of a photo taken with flash is much more costly and difficult with continuous.

[@giantfrigginnerd]

I get the vibe that your gran absolutely destroys at Mahjong

[@brandonylee]

Truth

[@LouisLuzuka]

😮

[@aeonsnarfus]

Of course you know what flash is going to do, because you know the inverse-square law, and you have and use a light meter. Also, you just can’t abide by high ISOs and the smartphone look.

[@freibuis]

I personally will never use flash. used to when I started, but that was kind of needed for film.. but as I got older. I stop using a flash completely.. rare;y will I use a light boxes. I like looking photos that my eye saw..

[@zenphotocraftmedia8326]

This video is a troll

[@zulfika_]

6:05 this angle is so getting oversused and boring

[@jack2005y]

I mean you are more a videographer than photographer. Of coz u r more use to video instead of flash. No offence but your photo works with video light looks unprofessional. Maybe its skill issues

[@matthijszondervan7638]

The one big problem is that film lights are much more expensive 🫰. I would love to use them but a flash inc softbox is 150 euro while a good film light with good power costs twice that.