Photography’s low entry barrier makes it easy to start—just set your camera to "automatic" or use your phone. However, strobe lighting can quickly stall progress. Unlike natural or indoor light, strobes don’t show their effects in real-time, requiring test shots to see results, which can be frustrating and time consuming.
The key challenge with strobes is defining your goal. Everyone wants their photos to "look great," but that can mean many different things. Having developed a strong available light aesthetic early on, I intuitively knew to make my strobe setups mock my favorite sun-lit pictures.
Last month, you created a dynamic portrait using available light. Now, recreate that portrait with strobes as your light source. Use the same model and location, aiming to match the original shot. It’s a difficult task, but an invaluable lesson.
This exercise sharpens your understanding of available light and teaches you how to harness it with strobes, significantly advancing your lighting game.