More with less. That’s our goal. The less we’re encumbered by unnecessary stuff, the easier it is to arrive at our destinations ready to work. I like to think in terms of analogies, and here’s the one that springs to mind: “all the capability of lighting we used to pack in a Chevy Suburban neatly packed into the trunk of a Toyota Prius.

”The bulk of equipment necessary to do a project seems inversely proportional to the creativity you can bring to a project. For the pro, each heavy case and each extra pound creates more and more mental resistance to releasing your real creativity. If you are a working professional, you become dependent, on some level, on your comfort level with your equipment and your routines(however inefficient) and you become afraid to change. You may buy a new, smaller flash, but you bring along the “safety blanket” of the big strobes, the expensive softbox, and the other trappings.

The sheer momentum of all the heavy equipment begins to wear you down. Imagine starting with an absolutely clean slate. Imagine abandoning all the preconceived lighting schemes you’ve been using and creating a whole new language of lighting with precise control and less physical strain. Now imagine that this whole new lighting kit fits in one little roller case with your cameras and lenses. This is your chance to reframe how you’ll work going forward.

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