Research

After looking for artists who use on location lighting it seems the select few who use location flash lighting are either shooting for documentary, editorial possibly some fashion work. The main issue with using lighting like the elinchrom sets is that they are slow to set up and cumbersome to move around. They payoff however is their quality and amount of light they output. They are also correctly balanced bulbs at 5500 degrees kelvin which matches the mid day sun, useful for shooting outdoors in the daytime. Gels are available to change this if you’re shooting in shade, behind cloud etc. Another option would be to use strobes like the nikon sb flash guns or the canon ex speedlite range.

These images are part of a documentary series by John Delaney who has been taking images of family businesses in NYC. The lighting isn’t particularly interesting but he has used a lighting kit on location. Another photographer who uses big lights on location is Rineke Dijkstra, she uses one portable flash to use as a fill in her series of teenagers on the beaches.