Becki Dickinson :: The Photographer Blog

On October 20th I, along with another 10 photographers, had the opportunity to study with Neil Van Niekerk.  Neil is well known for his flash photography work within the general photography population and especially amounst professional wedding photographers.  One visit to his website will show you just how much knowledge he has to share.

The workshop ran all day with the first half of the day devoted to theory and the second half taken up with actual real life model shoots.  It should be noted that Neil possesses  knowledge of both Nikon and Canon flash systems.

If you’re a photographer struggling the mastery of your on/off camera flash go study with Neil.  It will open your eyes to the possibilities.

A couple of important tidbits I took away with me after attending:

• The importance of using gels on your flashhead
• Just how easy it is to use pocket wizards
• The value of sync speed
• The flash is NOT your light source
• Direct flash-BAD FLASH
• sign up for his workshop to learn more

Here are some samples of shots I took following Neil’s methods:

Okay, yesterday was a blustery and cold day but Amy, Jonathan, their two “children” and I braved the elements in order to shoot their first real photo session in 14 years.  It might have been a good time to do studio shots but then we wouldn’t have gotten the “urban grunge” type images.  And we wouldn’t have had the pleasure of being chased off the railroad tracks by an employee of the city.

Here are a few of my favorite shots: