Things have changed…

… since the days of flickering, dim, noisy, greenish fluorescent light. A lot of things, and most of them are really cool scientific innovations. And the bottom line is, we now have a very affordable alternative to hot incandescent studio light, and breathtakingly expensive flash lighting.

I’m sorry for the delay in getting this video-blog (AKA vlog) posted - my community is still digging out from a massive, category 2 hurricane that hit the US Gulf Coast earlier this week. With no power and no internet, my schedule looks a lot like my backyard - a mess.

Many thanks to my good friend, Laura Guyon, without whose WiFi beams this video could not have been posted. Thanks Laura!

Thank you also to my Patreon supporters and to those kind folks who have made donations through my donation page (https://www.allanwallsphotography.com/donations). None of this would be possible without your generosity!

If you would like to support my efforts and help keep the videos coming, please consider signing up as a Patreon patron, which can be done by going to https://patreon.com/allanwallsphotography. I could certainly use your help!

The video ended up being a little lengthier than I had planned, but I’m blaming that on the “Hurricane Survival Pro Tips” that you will find throughout the video. I know I should take hurricanes more seriously, but…..

In this video, I explain how fluorescent light works and explain why it has never been a favorite of photographers. Then I walk through all the innovations and improvements that have transformed the flickering, dim, noisy, greenish fluorescent light of the past into the high CRI, affordable, versatile lighting solution it is today. I go over how the new fluorescent lighting is used in photography and video, and consider a number of specific use cases, including macro photography.

Unfortunately, with very limited access to the internet, I have not been able to provide links to the equipment I talk about in this video. As soon as that changes, and I am once again plugged in to the ether, I will write an addendum to this vlog entry and, when I do, all the links will be found right here.

Next up in the series is one I am really excited about - LED Lighting. Keeping that one brief is going to be a real challenge! After that we will have only "Flash Lighting" (which may end up being a mini-series) and my "best practices for lighting in macro photography" episode, to complete the series.

Here is the video - I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed making it!

Coming soon after that - a project I have been working on for some time - a deep dive into Color Science for photographers. One other project I am really looking forward to will be out shortly. It is going to be a special “Album Cover” project, documenting every step in the process of designing, planning, photographing, and editing the cover art for an upcoming major label EP - stay tuned for details!

One last Top Tip for catastrophe survival…. whatever existential risks you will be facing down this week, keep calm and keep your chin up - you've got this!

Until next time…

Allan