Continuous LED Lighting is a Great Addition to Gear

Last year I wrote about a wonderful new addition to my photo equipment; the Manfrotto Continuous LED Light.  I took this along to Utah, Arizona and Colorado last November and I was pretty happy with it.  

When in Colorado, I visited underground caverns and could not have gotten the shots I wanted with a normal flash.  The Manfrotto Continuous LED Light allowed me to quickly adjust to very dark places in just the right increments of light... no adjusting a flash that is overpowering and then  not bright enough.  Especially for locations in which you need to think fast and get a quick shot, this thing is a lifesaver.  

It serves some pretty creative purposes..... if your headlamp burns out or you need additional light to see where the heck you are during a night shoot, it can double as a light source, not just an alternative to a flash.  If you run across someone you want to interview and didn't happen to bring your professional lighting setup with you in your backpack (right.....), you're good to go.  If you're on an assignment to document some exotic place and want visitor/tourist feedback, you can flip on the LED light with a beautiful sunset in the background, the person you're photographing or interviewing for a quote with his back to the sun and get a great, dramatic result.  I can just see a handsome young couple bundled in a blanket watching the sunset over the Double Arches in Moab, Utah, breeze flowing through their hair with a light glow on their faces with the sun setting behind them.  Magic!  

Perfectly lit face after sunset using the Manfrotto Continuous LED Light.  The intensity is easily adjustable for more light.  Photo un-retouched.  Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, Arizona. 

One of the best features of the Manfrotto Continuous LED Light for me is that the strength is completely adjustable, and easily so, with just a turn of a knob.  It's really that easy.  You don't have to struggle with washed out faces when you can simply turn the intensity up or down easily and quickly.  And the light comes with several gel diffusers to soften the light even more if you need.

It's just a handy little compact item to have in a tight spot.  I highly recommend the Manfrotto Continuous LED Light.  You may not use it as much as you would an attachable flash, but when you need it, you'll be glad you have it. 

Oh, and the LED light comes with a cable in case you want to use it as a flash.  Sweet.

Another selfie using the Manfrotto Continuous LED Light. It could  have been a little brighter but I was tired and really didn't care at this point!

Manfrotto has also recently released a new line of lights called the Spectra Professional LED which are worth checking out, too.