one strobe or two?

I am a brand new beginner at photography. My question is this...I have access to two strobes. Is there any reason to learn with one strobe before starting to use two?

no

no

What he said. It's no harder and you'll get better results right off the bat!

Definitely two..

I started with one strobe and found it to be a real hassle, you really have to fiddle with the strobes so much and hope that the scene youre shooting lines up on the opposite side of where the strobe is positioned. although I have gotten some nice shots with one strobe, it creates some really hard shadows that works for some shots but not for others. I say go for two and you can always experiment by turning one off if you want to try something different

I started out with one strobe butt after a couple of dives found that two strobes gave me far greater options for lighting affects

I guess there's no real reason why one should start with one strobe, but I did so simply because of a somewhat restricted budget. Now that I have two strobes, I realize what shooting for a year with only one did for me. It made me less likely to simply default to two - gave me pause to at least think about the situation in front of me and consider what one, or two strobes, could do for the image I wanted. I also liked the reduced task-loading of only one strobe in the beginning.

These days I hardly feel hindered if one strobe runs out of gas on a long dive, and sometimes only take one - depending on what it is I plan to shoot. I firmly believe in the principle of, "Take everything you need and nothing you don't." - particularly with u/w photography, given that the task-loading and a photo-oriented focus can take away from what should be the first consideration... the dive.

Lee

I was reading an underwater photography book, and the author stuck with just one strobe, and his explanation is: There is only ONE sun! Hence one source of light is enough. My wallet agreed with him, but my result strongly disagree.

There is an idea that you should start out with 1 Strobe and learn it, before you step up to 2 Strobes. I think that M.Edge wrote it in his excellent book.

A lot of extremly good UW-photographers are using 1 Strobe only. It is quicker to aim 1 strobe correctly.

I personally started out with 2 Strobes and used them both all the time. Nowadays, I quite often find my right strobe switched off.

If I would have started over again. I would probably have started with 1 strobe and learn it properly, before moving over to 2 strobes.

/Erik

Start with one if you are just a beginner, as you will have enough to worry about. Also starting with one will make you think more about your lighting, the best position for the strobe for each shot. I have seen plenty of beginners using two strobes (because they see images of all the pros with two) and then not move them once during a dive and wondering why they get flat, washed out or images full of backscatter.

Keep it simple and have a lot of fun.

Cheers,

Nigel

Depends on what lighting effect you want. One strobe can gives some dramatic shots

Definitely get two strobes. There may be many times you only want to use one, and you can turn one around or off then.

If I would have started out all over again. Then I would have started with 1 Strobe.

When I had command of it. Then I would have bought the 2nd Strobe.

I believe that my Pictures would have gotten better faster that way.

For some reasons:

1) It is a lot easier to control 1 Strobe, especially strobe angles.

2) You get a faster feeling for how shadows improves a picture

3) You get to buy a new toy a bit later and not all at once :-)

/Erik

I think that if you have two strobes (as the OP did) then take them both but the best way to learn about their use is to find a scene and shoot it with one and two at various powers for each. You can do this in your kitchen if your dive time is too precious. Learn about where shadows add to a photo and on which side they should be, but make sure you learn about the effects. Simply taking two strobes down both set in TTL and not moving them around at all is not the path to learning.

Bill

I was reading an underwater photography book, and the author stuck with just one strobe, and his explanation is: There is only ONE sun! Hence one source of light is enough. My wallet agreed with him, but my result strongly disagree.

I will go with the "one strobe, one sun" theory when they sell a strobe with the same guide number as the sun!

The battery pack would be a pain to travel with.

Bill

Back in the day I did the "start with one strobe because I don't feel like buying a second strobe"….and by the next SCUBA excursion I was using a second strobe.

Just start with two strobes! Better results and you will be using two sooner or later anyways….

What kind of pictures benefit the most and the least from 2 strobes?

Wide angle benefit most, but macro can benefit from 2 strobes as well.

I purchased 2 strobes to start with, I've gone back to just one.