Wedding photographers are raving about how much easier it is to shoot with a continuous strobe hybrid LED light. Below are the top four reasons the Reflex deserves to be in every wedding photographer’s gear bag.
1. Reflex is for people, not posers! Weddings should be fun, including taking pictures. At StellaPro, we want to enable photographers to focus on their subjects, not their lights. Arnold, a Reflex early adopter, posted a 5-star product review stating "My portrait sessions transformed from static posing sessions to full-blown flow poses including walking, jumping, and spinning by my subjects."
Traditional strobes have long recycle times, significant overheating issues, and inconsistent performance. This is because lights that harness gas explosions take a tremendous amount of energy, most of which is converted to heat. Storing and collecting that heat slows down photo taking, forcing photographers to work with posers, not people. You can overcome that slowness when working with professional models, but wedding shooting is all about capturing beautiful images of normal people. The Reflex fires up to 20 frames / second, so you don't need your subject to pose! Have fun with your subjects. Forget about your lights. The Reflex can keep up.
StellaPro ambassador Scott Robert Lim explains in the video below why he loves the spontaneity afforded to him by the Reflex S.
2. Reflex is faster. Strobes are great when you're able to spend time setting up, taking test shots, adjusting, taking more test shots, and adjusting again. Most wedding photographers do not have the luxury of investing time in an individual image - they have volume to deliver, in constantly changing and poorly lit environments. The Reflex combines a high power continuous light with the benefits of digital burst, all in the same light. As a result, you get the benefits of What You See is What You Get (WYSIWYG), combining a high power continuous light and the benefits of digital burst in the same light. There are often times when continuous lighting is simply faster: when you're trying to get shots of still lifes like the wedding cake or rings, or trying to fly through taking pictures of guests lounging around a garden during cocktail hour, there is nothing better than WYSIWYG, because you can see your light and the resulting shadows and mood of the image without having to look through your viewfinder.
Wedding photographer Ross Haley shows how quickly and easily lighting can be with the Reflex in the video below.
3. Reflex is a super light light. They say the best camera is the one that's with you; the same can be said of your lights. The Reflex is 1.7 lbs with the battery, and only 9 inches long. It can easily be carried on your person (or easily holstered with a Spider holster). Rig it up high, hold it on a monopod, place it on a shelf, on the ground, anywhere really. Leave your sandbags in your trunk. If you want, you can simply handhold it. The Reflex is the light that travels with you.
In the shoots below, StellaPro ambassador Reza Malayeri holds the Reflex S in a "straight out of the box" configuration while Nick Pham captures the beauty of the moment.
4. Reflex gives you more keepers. It outputs beautiful light every time. It's about consistency: the Reflex has no misfires, no overheating, no recycle time. Many wedding photographers train themselves to ration their flashes, because they know that they only get a few shots before they have to let their light cool down and have only ~400 full power shots before they have to change their battery. They experience anxiety because they know how unreliable their lights can be. The Reflex fires at 20 frames a second, and gets 10,000+ full power bursts before it needs to be charged. With the Reflex, there is no need to ration your light. For wedding photographers that means more images to sell to your client, happier clients, and more referrals. Keep up with the action with Reflex.
