Flash and night photography

[EleanorW]

I will be taking a one evening course in night photography in about 4 weeks. My question I have is, how important is having an accesory flash to this style of photography? Should I try to buy the flash before the class, or just as soon as I can otherwise?

 

[thenikonguy]

well it will certainly make it easier to learn if your able to have the flash with you while your being taught...

 

[EleanorW]

Yeah I know ... for some reason I had thought (back when I was realllllly new) that you didn't always have to have a flash, that ambient light was enough.

 

[thenikonguy]

ambient light can deffinatley be good enough, and sometimes you get great results with natural lighting.. but sometimes its nice to have a fill flash..

and when your talking about night time photography, your not going to have a whole lot of ambient light..

 

[EleanorW]

Thanks for helping me talk myself into buying the flash... was trying to be 'financially responsible' this month but that would be no fun

 

[Plato]

Thanks for helping me talk myself into buying the flash... was trying to be 'financially responsible' this month but that would be no fun

Why not wait and see what your intructor tells you. "Night photography" might mean scenics, where a flash is useless.

 

[EleanorW]

I've seen a bunch of his work and he takes all sorts... the flash is "recommended" on the course detail sheet.

 

[Plato]

I've seen a bunch of his work and he takes all sorts... the flash is "recommended" on the course detail sheet.

OK.

 

[Stormin]

Recommended is prof speak for, "If you don't have this, you may seriously regret it at some point during my class." At least that was the case with all of mine in school.

 

[Samanax]

After Dark Part 1

After Dark Part 2

 

[Village Idiot]

ambient light can deffinatley be good enough, and sometimes you get great results with natural lighting.. but sometimes its nice to have a fill flash..

and when your talking about night time photography, your not going to have a whole lot of ambient light..

And some times it's awesome to just nuke the **** out of whatever you're shooting with 5+ lights for some amazing over the top results.