I wanted to take some portable flash with me to Guatemala for my assignment to photograph electrical linemen from Oklahoma and Arkansas as they build out power infrastructure to rural farming areas in this central American country. The project is called Energy Trails.
We will be working in areas without electricity and some of the homes may be dark inside, so I wanted a way I could light up the interior if needed to photograph the team working and the family as they participate. With modern digital cameras and their incredible low-light performance, flash is not nearly as important as it once was, but it can still help with portraits and other work.
I have used Nikon speedlights in the past, but they are expensive and not nearly as flexible as modern lights like the ones I am bringing on this trip.
A couple of years ago I set out to build a really portable but useful off-camera flash system. After much research, I settled on Adorama’s Flashpoint system – their rebranded Godox lights. I picked the AD-100 as my primary portable battery-powered strobe lights. They are small, compact, powerful enough, and most importantly for me, they have a lot of accessories that let me control and modify the light. I have shot in a studio for years and really like having the ability to control my lighting, and these Flashpoint lights give me that control in a very small, portable package.
