Critique the Community
On-Location Flash Photography
Flash Us With Your Best Strobe Images
Congratulations to the winners!
Congrats to everyone who made the latest critique video and the winners. Please message Lee Morris directly to claim your prizes. We look forward to seeing everyone's submissions in the next Critique the Community!
Rules & Prizes
Welcome to the February Critique the Community! This month we are giving away an awesome Profoto Flash Kit, and so it is fitting that the theme is On-Location Flash. For this contest, we want to see your best images featuring flash photograph out on-location!
Rules
- Each photographer may submit up to three images.
- Every photo entered must feature artificial flash used out on location. Your image can be created with flash as the primarily light, it can be used as fill to help balance out the lighting, or it can be the only light source in the photograph. While we are not entirely discounting studio lit images from being "out on location," we really want to see scenes that utilize outdoor and unique interior locations. Photos taken on pure seamless backgrounds will most likely not make the final critique.
- 10 Images will be chosen by Lee and Patrick for the video critique.
- Finally, every image submitted MUST HAVE some written commentary on how the image was created, what flash, lens, camera, or light modifier you used, and some of the challenges that made the final image come together. Any photo with a single sentence description will not be included.
Prizes
First Place - One lucky winner will receive a Profoto A2 Connect Kit for the camera system of their choice. The Profoto A2 flash is a "Coke can" sized flash that not only gives packs a strong punch of light, but it also makes flash photography simple and lightweight. The A2 flash offers 100Ws of power with around 400 flash exposures per battery. The flash is triggered by the Profoto Connect and mounts to any of the Profoto Clic light modifier system. This prize is valued at $1095.
Second Place - The second place winner of this critique will receive a full copy of ACDSee's Photo Studio Ultimate 2026. This power photography editing suite gives photographers the ability to edit, cull, catalog, and retouch all of their images in one easy to use program. Packed with some of the latest Ai tools like Sky Replacement, Face Detect, Auto Selections, and Splotch Removal, Photo Studio Ultimate gives photographers state of the art editing tools that both save time and produce professional results. This prize is valued at $109.
Third Place - As always, our third place winner will receive their choice of any Fstoppers photography tutorial found in the Fstoppers Store. Our elaborate and exhaustive photography tutorials not only help photographers immediately start taking professional quality images, but most of our tutorials also share business and marketing techniques that can help make photography a full time income. With genres like Headshots, Landscapes, Architecture and Real Estate, Fashion, Macro, and Product Photography, there is something for every photographer no matter what genre you specialize in. This prize is valued at $299.
Good luck to everyone who enters and we look forward to seeing your best images using flash out on location!
Featured Image by: Steven Houle
Thu, 02/26/2026 - 23:30
This contest has ended.
126 people have cast a total of 3,912 votes on 195 entries from 96 participants
Contest Submissions
Click on the thumbnails below to comment and rate each image.
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13 Comments
Photo looks like AI to me, snow covers everything but their faces.
Doesn't need AI, the rain droplet/snow are highlighted by backlit. So the rain droplet/snow doesn't get highlighted in the couple's shadow, hence the clear face. If you look closely, There are some droplets in front of the guy's face and over both of their body.
Pretty blunt assertion. Are you suggesting the entire photo - because it is a really dynamic composition using skilled and creative lighting techniques - must be an ungodly AI fabrication; or it just looks AI-ish; or AI was simply used as a means to enhance the image? Based on what I have seen in other posts, you seem to like to throw that “fake photo” “not real” “that is AI” conspiracy nonsense around pretty loosely without having the courtesy to corroborate your theory. Unless you are some forensics-photo-guru, you shouldn't make those type of statements without some due consideration, including a solid argument tucked in your hip pocket. Saying something looks “AI” nowadays - while in fact it well may be - has become a robotic and nauseatingly lazy auto-response to anything that looks vaguely visually appealing to the eye. To some, indicating their work looks like AI is a compliment while to others it is defamatory. Depends on the context, so err on the side of caution and professional acumen. You’ve stated in previous comment sections that you use PS, so by virtue of the fact that many simple production tools in this robust and powerful application have used even minuscule levels of AI for decades, you may in fact have just implicated yourself as a bit of a hypocrite. Of course, you are entitled to your opinion, as am I.
I do not know where to ask this.
Is there still a way to see all new photos sent by users of this portal?
I can only see "popular", "photos of the day" or "Editor's choice", but not all new photos :(