flash photography techniques

01 natural looking flash

flash photography techniques intro page ~ natural looking flash ~ flash & ambient light

Making flash not look like flash: I use flash very often in my professional work and personal work. But I try and make the use of flash not appear intrusive in the photograph. I nearly always have an on-camera flash, but I try to diffuse it or bounce it wherever possible. I use as little direct flash as I can, except outdoors where I try and use available light, and use flash only to lift the shadows and reduce the contrast. However, sometimes it is just best to overpower the ambient light with flash but still try to make it look natural, ie, not like flash. Lets start off with these few photos. They were all done using flash on camera. Youll note that there is no discernable flash shadow. I absolutely loathe a distinct flash shadow. So thats the ideal that I always strive for that it shouldnt be obvious that I didnt just use existing light. It isnt always possible, but that is what I try for in every photograph.

This was shot at f2, with flash bounced directly behind me into the open room to just help lift the shadows. Note, there is NO flash shadow.I purposely didnt use a diffuser dome / Stofen omnibounce here, since it wouldve thrown too much flash directly forward. I needed all the flash to be indirect. specific settings: Nikon D2H Nikon 85mm f1.4 1/125th @ f2 @ 400 iso manual; matrix metering TTL flash: -1.7 exp comp My choice of settings here were dictated by the available light, and I just used a hint of flash by bouncing it into the huge room behind me. At f2, and as fill, I didnt need to blast a ton of light from my strobe.

Flash bounced over my left shoulder. Note that there is NO direct flash, and hence no flash shadow.specific settings: Nikon D2H Nikon 28-70mm f2.8 1/250th @ f4 @ 400 iso manual; matrix metering TTL flash: +1 exp comp The high shutter speed was a specific choice so that the stained-glass window wouldnt be blown out, but instead retain the colours. The bride was entirely lit by bounced flash, so by controlling my shutter speed (for my chosen aperture and iso), I could match the exposure for the window. I bounced flash off that sand-coloured brickwork, and this did affect my colour balance but since I shoot in raw, correcting the WB was no effort.

With those two photos different flash exposure compensation was set. In the first image, the flash was used as subtle fill-flash, and therefore the flash compensation was dialed down. In the 2nd image, the brides face is lit entirely by flash. Hence my flash is my main source of light. So I would have to start somewhere around 0 EV compensation. But from experience I knew that the lighter toned face, and white dress and the backlighting would influence my flash exposure. So I dialled in more flash exposure. In this next image, I bounced my on-camera strobe off the wall directly behind me. One of the best pieces of advice I can give regarding using bounce flash, is not to get stuck on the idea that you need a ceiling above you to bounce flash. Look around for other surfaces that can be used. By making my light source larger than just the area of the small flash tube, I am immediately making my light softer. And this is exactly the reason why we bounce flash.

Before setting this up, I made a few test shots to see that the city lights are correctly exposed. Then I positioned the couple.Because I wanted to move around, I decided to use TTL and not manual flash but this meant I had to bracket my exposures and ride my flash compensation. specific settings: Canon 24mm f1.4 1/20th @ f4 @ 640 iso manual; eval metering TTL flash: -1.7 exp comp The slow shutter speed is to allow the city lights to record. Because the flash and the city lights are vastly different in colour temperature, I fixed it in postproduction. With raw, it was little effort to create two images with different WB settings, and then combining them with layers in Photoshop.

Tangents 02 flash + ambient light

flash photography techniques natural looking flash ~ flash & ambient light ~ dragging the shutter

Here I want to illustrate a particular point for those who disdain flash and prefer ambient light only even if flash wouldve helped. With a bit of thought, and understanding of some essential techniques, using flash need not look unnatural, nor spoil the ambient light.

By metering for the ambient light .. ie. making sure my ambient exposure is correct, I could use flash to lift the shadow areas and make it a better image than it wouldve been without flash. Have a look at the following photo : I bounced flash off the church wall. The church was large, and the ceiling high .. but by shooting in a vertical position, I could bounce my flash straight towards the church interior wall to my left. This spilled enough light onto the couple to improve the image, and make my post-production time much less. (Starting with an image that is very close to the ideal exposure and WB will really speed up your workflow) The settings were: Canon 1Dmk2N Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS 1/125th @ f2.8 @ 1000 iso manual; eval metering TTL flash: 0 exp comp I purposely did NOT use an omnibounce / Stofen attachment, since I didnt want flash to spill forward for the series of images I took here. I did NOT set my flash to 45` since this would not have been a correct angle to bounce at. As the parents walked down the aisle, I had time to make a comparison shot without flash. (I did this specifically for presentation here). So here are two shots in succession. The one with flash, and the one purely ambient light. The shot with flash had the WB slightly adjusted, the other is directly out of camera. Exposure settings remained the same, and I didnt touch up exposure in raw either. Note that the flash shot has NO flash shadow. It looks natural, and a hell of a lot better than the ambient-only shot. By using flash, *I* controlled the light, and didnt merely shrug my shoulders and complain that the ambient light wasnt ideal.

To improve exposure for the ambient-only shot, I couldve set a slower shutter speed, and risked blur as they move and from camera shake. Or I couldve bumped up my iso to get the higher shutter speed, but then have to deal with increased grain. Also, the ambient light isnt even. With flash I had much more control over how the final image looks. And with this I am also daring the ambient-only purists to tell me that the image with flash doesnt look a lot better than the ambient shot.

Tangents 03 dragging the shutter

flash photography techniques flash & ambient light ~ dragging the shutter ~ bouncing flash

balancing flash and ambient light dragging the shutter

When balancing flash with the available light, the combination of settings is usually chosen so that the mood of the place and surrounds is retained or at least have the available light add to the image. In doing so, the advice is often given to drag the shutter. In allowing a slower shutter speed, more of the ambient light is allowed to register and influence the final image.

dragging the shutter

This is a very simple technique but an understanding of how and when to apply it, often seems elusive. So lets take a step back and consider ambient exposure. Here we have three controls for our exposure shutter speed, aperture and ISO. With flash, we have two completely different beasts to consider manual flash, and TTL flash. We will have to consider manual flash and TTL flash separately, since their behaviour and how you control the exposure for each, are fundamentally different.

balancing manual flash with ambient light:

Looking first at manual flash we have 4 controls: - aperture, ISO, distance, power. this distance would be the distance from your light source to the subject, and it should intuitively make sense already. The closer you move your manual flash (perhaps in a

softbox) to your subject, the brighter the light would be, and hence it would affect your exposure. Similarly, it should already make sense that if we increase or decrease the power setting on our manual flash, this too would affect exposure. Now, comparing the controls between what affects ambient exposure, and what affects manual flash exposure, we can see that there are two common controls aperture and ISO. This means that shutter speed becomes the independent control for available light exposure. So when we balance manual flash and ambient light, it makes most sense to start by adjusting the shutter speed, since adjusting the aperture or ISO in an attempt to change the ambient exposure, will also affect the manual flash exposure. This is a crucial concept then - within a certain range, shutter speed has no effect on flash exposure. This key will allow us to better mix flash with available light by controlling the shutter speed. The reason why shutter speed doesnt affect flash exposure, is that flash exposure is near-instantaneous, and ambient light is continuous. You just need the entire picture area (frame / digital sensor) to be open to be lit by the burst of flash from your speedlight. A further explanation revolves around a description of how your cameras shutter works, which is another topic, even though closely related to understanding how flash works. But accept for now that within certain limits, shutter speed has no effect on flash exposure. Enough words though .. lets see how this all translates with some images. In this sequence, the model was lit by manual flash, against the Manhattan skyline as a backdrop. The background light is obviously only ambient / available light. Flash had no effect on the background exposure.

1/250th @ f5.6 @ 400 ISO

1/160th @ f5.6 @ 400 ISO

1/100th @ f5.6 @ 400 ISO

1/60th @ f5.6 @ 400 ISO

1/40th @ f5.6 @ 400 ISO

The only thing that changed between the images, was the shutter speed which I changed by 2/3rds of a stop each time. As you will notice, the exposure for our model (lit only by manual flash), remained even. The background however, changed in brightness, since a change of shutter speed will affect our ambient exposure. At some point, in continually lowering our shutter speed, we do reach a stage where the ambient light does register for our subject. In the images where our settings were such that our subject is under-exposed, we could effectively use flash to bring the exposure for our subject up to a correct level. As an aside correct exposure for our background is a matter of taste as this point. It becomes an individual decision as to which you prefer and with that, there is a fair amount of leeway as to what could be considered to be correct exposure. This technique of using a slower shutter speed to allow ambient light to register more and more, is usually called dragging the shutter. With this, youd use your cameras light meter like you normally would .. but instead of using it to expose perfectly for just the ambient light, now you use it as a guideline as to how much ambient light you would like to register. Somewhere around 1.5 to 2 stops under-exposure will still give you enough detail in the background and then you use flash as your main light source, and use the light from your flash to expose correctly for your subject.

balancing TTL flash with ambient light:

TTL flash is a different beast altogether than manual flash. With manual flash you had the 4 controls for flash exposure aperture, ISO, distance and power. With TTL flash however, none of those have an influence (within reason) on flash exposure. Your camera & flash will follow our chosen aperture and iso combination (and change in distance), and give you what it deems to be correct exposure, by adjusting the output (ie, power) from your flashgun. This implies that we can now use aperture and ISO and shutter speed all three controls to control available light, without having an influence on our flash exposure. (Of course, common sense needs to be applied here with your settings. You can only squeeze so much light out of your flashgun.) With manual flash, if you decided to change any of your settings (aperture / ISO / distance / power), you wouldve had to juggle something else to still keep correct exposure. In other words, if you were at f5.6 and wanted f2.8 for shallower depth of field, youd have to change one or more of the other settings accordingly maintain correct exposure for manual flash. But if you changed your aperture, this would then affect ambient exposure too, and youd have to adjust the shutter speed and / or ISO accordingly. So with manual flash, changing any of the 4 controls / settings, will have a knock-on effect and youd have to adjust something else again. However, with TTL flash, if you decided to change your aperture to control your available light, then (in theory at least), your TTL flash

exposure will remain the same .. since your camera and flash would still give you (what it deems to be) correct exposure. The same goes for ISO and distance. These settings in effect become transparent to TTL flash exposure. With manual flash, shutter speed was the only independent control for your available light, and you would drag the shutter to allow more available light in. With TTL flash, you could change your ISO and aperture as well (and not just be bound by the single option of shutter speed as your control) to adjust the available light exposure. You would have to adjust your flash exposure compensation then to adjust your TTL flash exposure. So now with TTL flash, if you wanted the same effect allowing more available light in you need not resort to a slower shutter speed. You could as easily change your aperture or ISO to allow ambient light to register. Heres an example:

settings: 1/200th @ f1.6 @ 1600 ISO Here I allowed the background to register by choosing a fast aperture and a high ISO as opposed to the traditional choice of lowering my shutter speed. This freedom comes from TTL flash exposures ability to follow my settings and adjust accordingly to give me correct exposure. (or close enough to correct for me to just use flash exposure compensation to nudge the flash exposure where I want it.) With these examples, it should be clear that there is a fundamental difference in how youd approach the ever-interesting challenge of balancing flash with available light.

[update: Feb 29, 2008] After reading this page, also please go through the following page where this technique is discussed as well: Dragging the shutter revisited.

Specific settings: Ive seen some photographers give advice like shoot at 1/8th sec @ f5.6 .. but that kind of advice about exact settings is misleading, since every situation is different. The actual shutter speed chosen will depend on circumstance and the effect that you want, - and the amount of ambient light that is available, - and whether you have a tripod, - or can shoot with a steady hand at slow shutter speeds, - and the f-stop chosen, - and whether you can bump up the ISO to allow more ambient light in, - and how much subject movement there will be, or you will find acceptable. There are a number of interlinked factors here that you balance out depending on the scenario. But in the end, the photograph where the flash and ambient light is balanced by using an appropriate shutter speed, just looks so much better in comparison to a photo where the flash light completely dominates.

Adding motion: Heres an example where I dragged the shutter not only to get more available light, but purposely zoomed my lens during exposure, to add a sense of motion:

Specific settings: Nikon D2H; Nikon 17-35mm f2.8 1/15th @ f4 @ 800 iso / manual; matrix metering / TTL flash: -1 exp comp The shutter speed and aperture and iso was specifically chosen so that the street scene would record in this image. I was fortunate that the couple was in a darker area, and therefore mostly lit only by flash. As I tripped the shutter, I also zoomed, thereby getting these streaks of light converging on the couple. Because they didnt fill the entire frame, I couldnt rely on the TTL metering of the flash to give me correct exposure, so I dialed down my flash exposure compensation.

1. When you add flash to ambient light, dont you over -expose the subject? Speaking very broadly, there are two main scenarios (with any possible combination inbetween): In the first scenario, the background is brighter than the subject, and you set your exposure to give near correct exposure for the background. Since your subject is darker than the background, theyd still be under-exposed. Then you use your flash to expose correctly for them. This is the simplest scenario. But usually what youd encounter is low light situations where the background and your subject have about the same kind of light on them, and would need the same exposure. So what youd do here, is intentionally under-expose for the ambient light around 1.5 to 2

stops so that the ambient light registers, but doesnt dominate. Since your subject would then still be under-exposed, you would then use your flash to expose correctly for your subject. So by adding flash, you wouldnt over-expose your subject, since you are pulling down your ambient exposure. You will encounter a lot of different lighting situations, but those two scenarios cover the basics.

2. How do you deal with slow shutter speeds? I often get asked why the images displayed here that were taken at slow shutter speeds, still appear sharp. The reason why you dont see (much) camera shake in those images, is that I do take care in keeping my camera steady, but theres more at work here than just the basic technique. The image of the piano player (and another image on a subsequent page) probably have a measure of camera shake BUT it is in areas which arent important the background, the city lights. They are slightly out of focus anyway because of minimal depth of field. In the image above of the couple walking against the city lights, they were in shadow. Without flash they wouldve come out sillhouetted / black. Similarly, the piano player (from another page) was in shadow, and then I used flash to expose correctly for him. The photo of the piano player without flash, shows clearly how under-exposed he wouldve been without flash. And this then allowed the flash to freeze movement on my part and his. The flash therefore freezes any camera shake, since the available light falling on my subject(s) is so low. You just wouldnt see camera shake. Since the flash is pretty much an instantaneous burst of light, it will freeze action / camera shake. Therefore you simply dont see camera shake .. even though it probably does exist to some extent in the background.

Tangents 04 bouncing flash

flash photography techniques dragging the shutter ~ bouncing flash ~ wireless TTL flash

how to bounce your flash

A single flashgun, used directly, gives hard shadows because it is a small light source. The only way to soften the light, is to make the source of light larger. The most effective way of doing this with on-camera flash, is to bounce it. Not only do we have softer light then (because of it being a larger light source), but we also have the opportunity to make the light directional.

settings: 1/160 @ f3.2 @ 800 ISO .. using TTL flash; FEC = 0 EV With this image, I bounced my flash to my left, and upwards. I wanted the light to come from an imaginary softbox near me. My approach to bounce flash photography indoors, is to consider it as if I am shooting in a studio with a single large softbox that I can position. For this reason, I try not to use the ceiling directly between myself and my subject to bounce my flash. That will usually create top-heavy light and shadows under their eyes along with being flat light coming from the cameras position. If you bounce the flash off a wall to the side of you, or behind you, then the source of light relative to the subject, is much larger than if you had shot with the flash straight on. There is a world of difference. For off-camera flash, we have a variety of choices how we can control our light sources direction and quality of light. For on-camera flash, when working indoors with bounce-able surfaces around you, using bounce flash is a fast and effective way of dramatically improving the quality of light from our flash. Just for comparison, here is the image without flash, so that it is clearly obvious how much flash was used in the top image. With the ambient light so low in the final image because of my choice of settings, what you see in the top image is nearly all light from the flash.

So where do I want my light to come from? Where would I have placed the softbox if I had been in a studio? This way of thinking usually gets me great results as in this photo above the kind of light that it is difficult to tell whether off-camera flash was used, or effective bounce flash. By bouncing off other surfaces like the walls or ceiling, you will also soften the light if youre using the correct angle. And here I want to stress something again shooting with an omnibounce at 60 or 45 degrees, should not be a default way of using flash. For the best

result, some thought needs to be put into how you use flash, and how you direct the light from your flash. Keep in mind that the intended result is to have no hard flash shadow. No tell-tale sign that on-camera flash was used.

Lets look at an example where the light from the bounce flash is even more controlled:

settings: 1/100 @ f3.2 @ 800 ISO .. using TTL flash; FEC = -1.3 EV Looking closely at this photograph, you can see the interplay between light and shade on her face. Instead of flat lighting as we would get if we bounced directly behind us, the light came from somewhere behind and above us, from our left. The approach here was the same as in the first image where would I have placed my softbox had I been in the studio. The quality of light here is as good as you would get from off-camera lighting. Yet, it is on-camera bounce flash. The difference comes in how the flash was bounced. A key factor in both these images, was that there was NO light directly from my flash on my subject. All the light was indirect. I control the light from my on-camera flash, by flagging the light with a piece of black foam: Follow-up articles: a video clip where I demonstrate how I use the black foamie thing directional bounce flash the black foamie thing why use a light modifier that is black? bounce flash and catchlights throw away the tupperware on your flash using bounce flash to mimic window light how to get short lighting with bounce flash With this second image, the available light makes a difference in that it gives a nice background with some out of focus highlights. My camera settings were dictated by the available light. I wanted enough of the light to register in the background. Since I was shooting with TTL flash, I had control over the ambient light by my choice of shutter speed, aperture and ISO.

adding flash to available light

The preceding page on dragging the shutter explained how to blend available light with flash. Follow-up articles: flash photography essentials when aperture does not control flash exposure metering and flash combining flash and available light

To summarize:

If I bounce my flash by tilting and swiveling it, I get to bounce the light at an angle away from the subject. Then the light that comes back, appears more directional. There are areas of shadow and light. Bounce flash need not look flat. By keeping the basic physics in mind of angles of incidence and reflectance, it is usually easy to figure out where to bounce from to enhance the available light, or how to make the bounce light soft but directional.

TTL flash or manual flash?

I mostly shoot with TTL flash when I shoot with on-camera flash. Off-camera flash is usually easier to deal with as manual flash. Since I frequently shoot with TTL, I dont often use the full power that the strobe is capable of, unless Im using the flash at the extreme end of what it can push out. If your flash is your main source of light, it is important that you stay within the range of the flashs output capabilities, with an appropriate iso and aperture selection. Bouncing your flash reduces your flashs output considerably but your flash should compensate for this loss automatically if you shoot in TTL or Auto mode on the flash. That is, if you stay within the flashguns power range. If somehow the technology doesnt quite match the theory here, just know that this is how your specific camera and speedlight responds and dial in a new flash exposure compensation default when you bounce.

Tangents 05 wireless TTL flash

flash photography techniques bouncing flash ~ wireless TTL flash ~ flash outdoors

wireless TTL flash

Wireless TTL capability in a camera & flash system, allows you to control a remote flashgun with your camera, or the flash on your camera. It allows you the freedom and control of TTL flash, but as off-camera lighting. This gives you much more flexibility right on the spot. If your camera and flash system have this capability, it really is worth your time and effort to figure out how to use it. I use wireless TTL flash in a fairly simple way during weddings, though. I use it to expand from just a single on-camera flash. With wireless TTL flash I can shoot fast and get my flash

off my camera for more control over the direction of my light than bouncing my flash might give me.

Here I first tried a test shot, bouncing my flash to my right behind me. It looked flat, and I wasnt happy with the way the wall was blown out in the mirror. I keep two cameras on me at all times each with a speedlight attached. And either of those speedlights are ready to be used as a master or slave. In this instance I had my assistant stand in the corner away from the bride and me, and he had to point the flash (still on the camera), towards the wall and ceiling to the front and left of the bride. I disabled the output from my own cameras speedlight, but allowed it to trigger the slaved speedlight that my assistant was holding. specific settings: Canon 1Dmk2N; Canon 580EX speedlight; Canon 24-70mm f2.8 L 1/100th @ f5 @ 500 iso // manual; eval metering // TTL flash: +0.3 exp comp . An important thing here to keep in mind, is that using a diffuser cup over my speedlight wouldve thrown too much light forward giving it a clearly artificial look. The way I used it here, the light looks natural as if it might have been soft light from a large window. In this photo, there is very little ambient light it is pretty much all just flash. In fact, just a single speedlight as my light source but I drastically improved my results by doing two things: - bouncing my flash off a wall and ceiling, thereby softening the light, and - moving my source of light away from the camera, thereby creating more directional light.

Tangents 06 flash outdoors

flash photography techniques wireless TTL flash ~ flash outdoors ~ metering techniques

Speaking very broadly, there are two ways of using on-camera flash outside either as: - a slight fill-flash, or as - a brute light source to lift the shadow areas of a subject to the same level as the sunlit areas. Of course, in between that, there is a wide spectrum of possibilities, but for simplicity of explanation, Ill show examples of those two extremes. Metering correctly for ambient light is key here. It is important that you understand how shutter speed, aperture and ISO inter-relate.

The following three photos are really simple in their execution. I metered correctly for the available light, and then shot with flash straight on but my flash exposure compensation was dialed way down. It is as simple as juggling the three inter-dependent controls shutter speed, aperture and iso. When I shoot this way outdoors, I usually dial my Canon speedlights down to around -2 to -3 stops. But with Nikon strobes I tend to dial down less usually around -1.3 or -1.7 because I then use the Nikon speedlights in TTL BL mode, which balances flash automatically with ambient light. .

The idea here is to just use the flash to lift the shadows, and avoid shadows under the subjects eyebrows. The flash should ideally be imperceptible, and is really only used as filllight. Just to round out the variety of cameras used, I should mention that the above photo was taken with a Fuji S2. .

Flash straight on, but dialed down because I wanted it as a touch of fill light only. specific settings: Nikon D2H Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 VR 1/250th @ f3.5 @ 200 iso manual; matrix metering TTL flash: -1.7 exp comp The wide aperture was chosen for the minimal depth-of-field. I wanted the autumn leaves as a soft mush in the background. My exposure was chosen by chimping and making sure that the exposure on her skin was good without flash.

I used the same simple technique here as well for daylight fill-flash as with the previous photographs on this page. I set my camera to expose for ambient light, and then used flash which I dialed down. specific settings: Canon 1Dmk2 Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS 1/250th @ f2.8 @ 100 iso manual; eval metering TTL flash: -3 exp comp

Unless you want the background to blow out, or the shadow areas to go black, youre compelled to try something to balance the shadow areas with the brighter sunlit areas. The easiest way is usually with an oncamera speedlight. To help with contrasty situation here I had to blast a lot of flash in order to balance the exposure between the couple and the setting. So here the light from my flash isnt as subtle as the previous examples but it was a necessity in order to get the photograph, and still shoot while on the move. specific settings: Canon 1Dmk2 Canon 24-70mm f2.8 1/250th @ f8 @ 200 iso manual; eval metering TTL flash: 0 exp comp

Tangents 07 metering techniques

flash photography techniques flash outdoors ~ metering techniques ~ flash exposure comp

exposure metering techniques

I shoot nearly exclusively in Manual Exposure Mode, and for very specific reasons: - I want to control the accuracy of exposures,

- I want to control the consistency of exposures, - I want to control the depth of field, - I want to control subject / camera movement. None of the other exposure modes give me this. I do sometimes switch to Program mode if need to swing my camera continually between heavy shade and bright sunlit areas. But this is rare. Most times *I* want to be in control of my exposure metering for consistency and accuracy. Theres a side-effect to using automatic metering that Ive noticed among newcomers to photography there is a tendency to blame the camera. Its a subtle shift in mind-set, but it is there. Instead of assuming responsibility and learning about good technique, it becomes a quest for a camera that will do it all. With manual metering you are in control. So if there is a problem, you are the one that needs to figure out why, and how to improve on it. You decide. Not the camera. OK .. so I can see your next question would be : Why would setting the aperture and shutter speed be different from using say, aperture priority and have the camera select the shutter speed? Well, the reasons are .. - your cameras meter relies on the reflectivity of the subject and assumes mid-tone grey. Even with matrix / evaluative metering your camera can only guess at what youre trying to achieve. - if you use Program or Aperture Priority while using TTL flash as your main source of light, your camera will vary your shutter speed between shots, and your ambient light will therefore vary. You have to understand the limitations of auto metering, whether in camera or with TTL flash and that lighter or darker tones within the same picture area, will affect your meter. And you most likely dont want it to. You want a lighter tone to appear light in the final photo. You want darker tones to appear dark. If it is an even mix of tonal values, then youll most likely get an accurate meter reading in one of the auto modes. There are also specific reasons why I dont use general exposure compensation. BUT I do use flash exposure compensation all the time, since I use TTL flash outside of a studio. Because the reflectivity and tonality of the scene that my cameras meter is reading changes all the time, I have to ride my TTL flash exposure compensation all the time.

So how do I meter ? In film days I would use a flash-meter for flash. For available light I mostly just carefully used my cameras built-in meter.

With digital, I still largely meter like that. But we have more tools available to us with digital. So for me it has become an iterative process of: - checking my cameras meter, - checking the histogram - and blinking highlights display, - checking the image on the LCD, (although this isnt an accurate assessment of exposure), - experience. There is no fixed recipe in approaching metering in all kinds of situations. Its a mix-n-match of different techniques all used to make sure I get optimum exposure for my images.

Ambient light, without flash The reason why I strongly suggest shooting in manual exposure mode 99% of the time, is that for a specific outdoor scenario, the lighting normally doesnt vary much. And by determining proper exposure, your photos will look consistent in a sequence of photos, - regardless of composition, and - regardless of how wide or tight youre zooming, and - regardless of the reflectivity of your subject matter (eg, lots of bright tones), and - regardless of whether you have bright sky in a wide shot, or not, with a tighter composition. If under the same even light and within the same setting, youre shooting vertical and horisontal and wide and tight and from a high viewpoint and a low viewpoint your exposures will vary unless youre shooting in manual. Its the ONLY way if you want to get consistent exposures. With this consistency in exposure, your digital workflow will be much easier. Even more so if you shoot in raw. Now, that is for ambient light. Onto flash. This gets slightly more complicated.

Manual flash If you have strobes set up that are in a constant position in relation to your subject, such as with in a studio setup, then the ideal way is to shoot with manual flash. Using a flashmeter for this is usually the easiest way to determine exposure. This will fix your exposure to your chosen ISO and aperture. If youre using on-camera flash and keeping in a static position in relation to your subject then it might be easier to use manual flash. This will once again keep your exposures consistent within a series of shots. With digital, you could do a few test shots, and chimp to

figure out the correct exposure with your flash in manual. For a single photograph, it might just be simpler to shoot with TTL flash anyway.

Auto / TTL flash But as soon as you have flash on-camera, and you are moving around in relation to your subject, then youre better off with some kind of automatic metering of your flash. This means using your flash in Auto mode or in TTL mode. It really will make your life simpler with digital photography, to not shoot with manual flash in this case. But now we run into the problem that suddenly the flash output is affected by the reflectivity and tonal values of the subject and the scene. Remember, your cameras meter will try and expose for any scene in the frame, as an average tone. Neither bright, nor dark. This is true for automatic flash as well. Which means you will HAVE to ride your flash exposure compensation to get optimum results with flash photography if your flash is the dominant source of light. If your flash is only fill-flash during daylight, then most likely the best use of flash will be as soft fill-flash. And in that case, the best results are usually with the flash exposure compensation dialed way down. And hence, the reflectivity of the subject will seem to have less impact on the exposure, since our exposure will be primarily for the ambient light. When I shoot this way outdoors, I usually dial my Canon speedlights down to around -2 to -3 stops. But with Nikon strobes I tend to dial down less usually around -1.3 or -1.7 because I then use the Nikon speedlights in TTL BL mode, which balances flash automatically with ambient light. But this also depends on how much flash we need to use as fill-flash. If were photographing someone in the shade, and we need to bump the exposure up to match a sunlit background, then were going to need a lot more flash. And therefore the flash exposure compensation will most likely be around zero. There are no easy answers. Anyone who tells you there is one magical do-all setting for flash, is lying to you.

Being ready is being half-way there .. It is important that you start to anticipate things .. for example, if I am shooting indoors where my flash is my dominant light source, Ill most likely be shooting at 800 ISO or thereabouts, and using a slowish shutter speed to get some ambient light in .. say around 1/40th or so, but it really depends on the scenario. Ill also be using wide-ish apertures.

My Nikon SB-800 Speedlight will be set to TTL (and not TTL BL) and most likely have +0.3 exposure compensation dialed in since it is the dominant light source in this set-up. With Canon, this varies. With my 1D mk2 bodies, I usually kept my flash exposure compensation to +0.7 as a default starting point. (Ive heard of 20D shooters doing the same.) With my 1D mk2N bodies however, Ive found that a default of 0 flash exposure compensation is best. (5D shooters have reported similar.) Also, with the 1D mk2(N) bodies, I have set Custom Function 14 to Average. I found that when my flash is the main source of light, that using Average here gives me the most predictable results. But when I need to use the Canon flash for fill only, then I get more subtle results with the flash metering set to Evaluative. Moving from dimly lit indoors to bright light outside, I do three things as a matter of course as I step through the doorway: - I dial down to my lowest ISO, - I dial to my highest flash sync speed, - and I set my aperture to an approximate value. There is a specific reason why I gravitate towards my maximum flash sync speed. Theres a certain sweet spot there in terms of getting the maximum range from your strobe. This is quite useful when you need to balance a subject which is in shadow, against a brightly lit background, for example. If I had been shooting indoors at f2.8 and f4, then I will be needing smaller apertures outside. For 100 iso, 1/250th, youre looking at something like f11 outside so Ill set f11 and fire off a test shot or two at a general scene and chimp quickly to see histogram, and blinking highlights, and then fine-tune my exposure. All of this in a few seconds .. and then Im ready. Overcast days will mean a different aperture than f11 for bright days, but 100 iso and 1/250th is always my starting point for Canon D-SLRs. If it is heavily overcast, Ill go to 200 iso, but I nearly always try to keep to as high a sync speed as possible. With Nikon D-SLRs, my starting point is around 1/250th @ f10 @ 100 iso. This is because the there is a difference in the sensitivity of the sensors of the various camera manufacturers. So moving from an indoors setting, as I step outside, my camera settings are pretty close to where I need to be. No fumbling for settings. Im ready because I anticipated what Id need.

Tangents 08 flash exposure compensation

flash photography techniques metering techniques ~ flash exposure compensation ~ more examples

Flash exposure compensation

There are two different kinds of exposure compensation : - overall exposure compensation. This is set on the camera body and affects BOTH ambient and flash exposure for Nikon; but only the ambient exposure with Canon cameras. - flash exposure compensation. Setting flash exposure compensation affects the flash output only. Ambient exposure is unaffected. This can always be set on the flashgun itself, but some cameras have a button on the camera body itself where the flash compensation can conveniently be set without taking your eye from the viewfinder.

Exposure compensation is used with the automatic metering modes, however with most Nikon cameras, dialing exposure comp in manual exposure mode will bias the meter. With Canon, you cant dial exposure compensation in manual exposure mode. Flash exposure compensation is used to compensate for the flash output when the flash is used in Auto or TTL mode. It obviously cant be set when the strobe is used in manual output.

Firstly, exposure compensation in general .. What many new photographers have trouble coming to grips with, is the concept of : 1. adding exposure compensation when the scene / subject is light in tone, 2. and decreasing exposure compensation when the scene in front of the lens is darker in tone. The reason for doing so, is that your cameras meter tries to expose for everything as a middle grey tone. Hence, if you are using one of the auto modes (or Auto / TTL flash), the camera will expose any light toned scene as if it should be of an average tonality. In other words, the light toned

subject / scene will be exposed as middle grey. Eg, someone in a white dress against a white wall, will appear under-exposed. So you need to bump the exposure compensation up for lighter toned scenes. The same reasoning goes for darker toned scenes. A man in a dark suit against a dark brick wall, will have skin tones which over-expose if you left the camera to its own decision. The dark tones would fool the cameras meter.

To make it even more clear, lets think about this scenario: We have a setting where the light is consistent and even. So there will be an exact combination of aperture / shutter speed / ISO settings which will give correct exposure for skin tones. Now, if our subject dresses in all black or all white clothing, our meter reading will change yet, the light didnt change. In other words, we would still need the same exposure, regardless of the variation in our cameras light meter reading. So if you insisted on using automatic exposure, then you would have to use exposure compensation. And you would have to vary your exposure compensation depending on your composition because the size of the light / dark patches of clothing and background will affect your meter reading. The same reasoning goes with using Auto or TTL flash. You have to continually adjust your flash exposure compensation, dependent on the tonality of the scene in front of your lens. Also, please read the pages on exposure metering using your cameras meter, as well as the explanation of why using exposure compensation in an auto exposure mode, is much harder work than using manual exposure mode. This is the reason why I use manual exposure mode nearly exclusively. But then you may very well ask why I use TTL flash (or Auto flash) instead of manual flash and the reason why I use TTL flash is that TTL flash is easier to control when I am constantly changing position in relation to my subject. And as I explained on this previous page, it is easier for me in these situations, to use the camera in manual exposure mode, and the flash in TTL / Auto mode. But this means that I have to constantly change my flash exposure compensation.

Which finally brings us to the rest of the discussion on this page Flash exposure compensation when using fill-flash ..

With fill-flash (using TTL or Auto flash), you will most often dial down your flash exposure compensation to give only a tiny bit of fill light. So in this case, your flash exposure compensation will be around -1 to -3 EV. But it depends on the tonality of your subject as well. But when your flash is your main source of light , you will usually hover your flash exposure compensation around 0EV to +0.7 EV depending on the camera and camera system and of course, the tonality of your subject and scene. So your flash exposure compensation could still range anywhere from around -2 EV to +3EV. Once again I want to stress a particular point there are no specific or fixed settings. There are just too many variables for anyone to give specific do-all settings. There are a number of factors which would affect how your camera and flash meters TTL flash, and would therefore affect how much flash exposure compensation needs to be dialed in: - reflectivity of your subject, - how much of your frame is filled by the subject, and - how far the subject is from the background, and - whether the subject is off-center or centered in the frame, - the individual cameras exposure algorithms that the camera designers came up with, - available light (this ties in with how the cameras metering algorithms work), - back-lighting (strong back-lighting always require a lot more flash exposure compensation). Therefore you have to juggle all this when figuring out how much flash exposure compensation to dial in. A seemingly tough task that gets easier with experience. But heres a hint when your flash acts only as fill light, then the actual flash exposure compensation can vary a lot without affecting the quality of the final image much. An example: Flash exposure compensation of say -2 EV will look slightly different than -3 EV, but in the end the actual photo wont be incorrectly exposed with either setting. If your flash was the main source of light, then a full stop incorrect exposure would be a lot and might very well mean the image is a flop in terms of exposure. But when the flash is just fill-flash, it is less crucial although careful and subtle use of flash should always be the aim of course.

With Nikons flash system however, you have the choice between TTL and TTL BL, (ie standard TTL and matrix TTL). With TTL BL, the camera and flash take into account the available light and will reduce the flash output accordingly. In my experience, more subtle fill-flash is possible with Nikons flash system than with the current Canon flash system. The conclusion here is that ultimately it is best to know how your specific camera and flash reacts in various scenarios and various lighting conditions. There is only so much that can be

learnt outside of actual experience and continual practice. You have to know your own camera.

Cumulative exposure compensation with Nikon cameras .. The Nikon bodies (that I have experience of), allow you to set overall exposure compensation even when you have your camera set to manual exposure mode. This allows you to bias the metering. With Nikon, the overall exposure compensation and flash exposure compensation is cumulative .. to an extent. For example, if you were to dial in +1.0 exp comp and -1.0 flash comp, it would cancel each other but only for this scenario where the ambient light is low, and your flash is your main source of light. Where the ambient light levels dominate, and flash is used as fill-flash only, then different algorithms come into play, and you have other factors such as max sync speed and available apertures affecting the scenario as well .. and hence the flash and exposure compensation might affect ambient light exposure differently then. But with Canon, flash exposure compensation and general exposure compensation arent linked, as they are with Nikon. So with Canon, in manual exposure mode, you can only set flash exposure compensation and not overall exposure compensation. (It is no use asking me how it handles this in any of the auto exposure modes, since I use my cameras nearly exclusively in manual exposure mode. Youre on your own there.)

Tangents 09 more examples

flash photography techniques exposure compensation ~ more examples ~ just ambient light

More examples using bounce flash How effective our bounce flash looks, depends largely on us being aware of the ambient light, and the direction of the ambient light and then adding flash to it. Either as a fill, or as a main source of light.

And we can finesse it by specifically choosing the direction in which we bounce flash. We can add to the ambient light, or we can bounce from an opposite direction to lift the shadows a bit. Any way we decide on it, the image will look better if we put some thought into it, instead of shooting direct flash .. or just as bad, in a 45 bounce angle when it isnt appropriate. So here are a few more examples to explain the thought process behind some of this . This photo was taken in a restaurant in Brooklyn, overlooking the Manhattan Skyline. The interior of the restaurant was dimly lit and even with the rainy early evening skies, the outside was brighter than inside. Using my on-camera flash, I had to balance the two areas.

The next image shows my initial test shot. It might give a better idea of the effect of the added flash.

I firstly metered for the outside, and double-checked with a test shot. My settings were 1/15th @ f4 @ 800 ISO, with an ultra-wide angle zoom lens. ( Equipment: Canon 1D mk2N; 580EX speedlight; Canon 16-35mm f2.8) I then added flash by bouncing the flash off the ceiling behind and to the right of me. A test shot showed me I needed to add some flash exposure compensation. +0.7 EV looked about right. Even though the shutter speed was low, I wasnt too concerned with camera shake, because the piano player would be too dark (without flash) for camera shake to be noticeable if I handled my camera carefully. . .

This photograph was taken during the ceremony in a church where the light was enough to squeeze the photos at : 1/80th @ f2.8 @ 16oo ISO But since the walls were light coloured, I was able to bounce flash and get some candid portraits of the bride with flash. If you look at the direction of the light on her face, youll immediately see where I bounced the flash from the wall to my above right. specific settings: Canon 1D mk2N Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS Canon 580EX speedlight 1/160th @ f2.8 @ 800 iso TTL flash: +1.3 exp comp

. . This next image is part of the portrait series I took of the bride and groom of their wedding in Aruba. The sun had already set, leaving the colours too cool. I had my daughter hold up a gold Lastolite reflector about 2 meters behind me, and bounced my flash into that. This gave a lovely warm colour to the flash, hopefully mimicking the setting sun of 5 minutes before. The shadow is more distinct, but still soft enough, and I think it looks natural in this scenario. I also made sure that the amount of flash would blend with the amount of ambient light left.

Specific settings: Canon 1D mk2N; Canon 24-70mm f2.8; Canon 580EX speedlight 1/100th @ f4 @ 640 iso; TTL flash: +0.3 exp comp

Earlier in the day, I used the colourful backdrop of Oranjestads quaint architecture, while photographing the same couple. The sun was bright and overhead, so I had to use flash to lift the shadows. I used direct flash, since there wasnt anywhere to bounce the flash off. I also needed to work fast, so the direct flash was a compromise because I had to make the images work. specific settings: Canon 1D mk2N Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS Canon 580EX speedlight 1/1000th @ f4 @ 100 iso TTL flash: -3.0 exp comp

. The execution of this next photo, is similar to the previous photograph of the bride in the church. I had to decide exactly where I want to bounce my flash off. This would then dictate the direction the light would appear to come from. The bridesmaids were standing in the open doorway watching her so with a bit of luck I was able to bounce my flash so that it lit the bridesmaids in the background. I bounced my flash over my left shoulder, hitting part of the ceiling and bedroom wall behind me.

Bouncing the flash like this made the light appear directional on the bride, and give some modeling. Simply bouncing my flash upright wouldve given flat lighting, and caused shadows under the eyes. Specific settings: Canon 1D mk2N; Canon 24-70mm f2.8; Canon 580EX speedlight 1/80th @ f4 @ 640 iso; TTL flash: +1.0 exp comp From the flash exposure compensation alone, it should be obvious by now that the flash was my main source of light here. Even then, my settings were chosen so that some ambient light would register.

Tangents 10 just ambient light

flash photography techniques more examples ~ just ambient light ~ which flashgun?

At this point I just want to show that Im not actually addicted to using a flashgun, (all evidence to the contrary), and actually do know when to switch it off especially when the

officiant states that no flash will be allowed during the ceremony. An understandable sentiment. Also, when the available light is perfect, there is no need to try and enhance it or control it with light from a strobe. And then there are times when using flash would destroy great ambient light. And as with the other pages, the idea is that we be very aware of the quality of the light and direction of the light. . . With this wedding, the rabbi informed me a few minutes before the ceremony, that he wont allow flash. That is when those f1.4 optics come in really handy!

Specific settings: Nikon D2H; Nikon 85mm f1.4 1/100th @ f1.4 @ 500 iso / manual; matrix metering / ambient light only . . Here I asked the bride and groom to dance along the path, away from me towards the grass. I took a series of photographs, and in this one image, the dress lifted perfectly. In this scenario

I didnt bother using flash since I knew they would be some distance from me. Also, this image is more about the movement and gestures, rather than details in faces.

Specific settings: Nikon D2x; Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 AF-S VR 1/500th @ f4 @ 400 iso / manual; matrix metering / ambient light only . .

This photograph was taken in the hotel lobby, using only the tungsten light mounted inside a strip, as part of a pillar. I asked the bride to lean in towards the pillar of light, and then had the groom snuggle in closer. Flash wouldve been completely superfluous here and destroyed the mood. specific settings: Canon 1D mk2N Canon 24-70mm f2.8 1/125th @ f5 @ 640 iso manual; matrix metering ambient light only I kept the WB purposely very warm here, since it adds to the mood instead of aiming for a correct WB.

. .

I took a series of photographs here using flash on-camera and offcamera strobes but when the videographer moved behind the bride and groom, I switched it all off, and used the video light as back-light. specific settings: Canon 1D mk2 Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS 1/125th @ f2.8 @ 800 iso manual; eval metering ambient light only Once again I kept the WB purposely very warm. It just looks so much better than the correct WB where the veil is white again.

. .

Here too I used the videographers light and it helped a lot in that it created a spot-light effect on the couples faces. The rest of the light was just the available incandescent lighting of the room. specific settings: Canon 1Dmk2 Canon 50mm f1.4 1/80th @ f1.4 @ 1250 iso manual; eval metering ambient light only

. . The DJs lighting set-up was a good back-drop to shoot against, whether using flash or shooting without flash. I like this image for how the flare enhances the mood.

Specific settings: Canon 1D mk2N; Canon 24-70mm f2.8 1/60th @ f2.8 @ 1600 iso / manual; matrix metering / ambient light only

Tangents 11 which flashgun?

flash photography techniques just ambient light ~ which flashgun? ~ flash brackets

Which is the best flashgun / speedlight / speedlite ?

One of the most frequent questions I get asked, is what flashgun or speedlight would I recommend especially to someone wanting to go beyond just using the cameras built-in flash.

Moving away from the cameras built-in flash to a larger flashgun opens up an entire world with new possibilities in lighting. Especially so if you are moving up to one one of the camera manufacturers dedicated speedlights. The add-ons and gadgets that you find on the market that are supposed to improve the quality of lighting from the cameras built-in flash, are just ways to grab some of your cash without really offering you an improvement. To improve your flash photography, you absolutely need to get a larger on-camera speedlight. The question then is, which one? Each manufacturer offers a variety of options at different price points. I suspect the initial reaction for anyone stepping into the world of flash photography, is to be hesitant about buying a large and expensive speedlight .. and then they err on the side of caution, getting a speedlight that is cheaper, but also limited in specifications and ability. But lets step away from the equipment for a few minutes, and consider what we want to achieve with flash. So lets look at this candid portrait of a baby held in her mothers arms:

To get that specific lighting quality soft and directional light you need to bounce your flash. Bouncing your flash gives you a larger light source, and hence softer light. But it isnt enough to just simply bounce off the ceiling directly over you. That would give flat light that gives no shape and form and dimension to your subject. If you look at that portrait of the baby girl, you will see that one side of her face has more light than the other. It is this interplay between light and shade that gives a quality of light that is both interesting, and flattering to our subject. To get there, I had to consider the direction my light needed to come in from, and I wanted to have the light from my flashgun bounce back from the interior of the room to my left-hand side.

In order to do all of this get soft directional light from my speedlight it is essential that my flashgun has a head that can both rotate and swivel. So if you are looking at various speedlights, I would strongly recommend that you dismiss any that dont allow the flash head to rotate and swivel. Anything less would just limit you, and ultimately be a waste of your money. Youd be better off investing a bit more money in a more flexible speedlight. Also, in bouncing flash like this, we waste a fair amount of light. It really isnt an efficient way to use the light. But .. we arent after efficiency here. We desire light that is flattering and then we inevitably come back to those two words soft and directional. So in bouncing flash, we waste a lot of energy from our flash, and to be able to get enough light onto our subject, we need a strong flashgun. Therefore my next recommendation would be to get a powerful flashgun as powerful as you can afford. I rely heavily on TTL flash technology as you can see on the previous pages and on various other posts on this website. So I would strongly recommend a flashgun that is TTL capable and integrates properly with your camera. So I would recommend to anyone, even if this is your first foray into buying a speedlight, to get the top-of-the-range that the specific manufacturer offers. Even if it seems overkill and a lot of money in comparison to your camera or a lens, the combination of flexibility and power and integration with your camera system make the larger flashgun the better choice. A smaller, less capable flashgun could very well just end up frustrating you in the limited potential it offers. A full-featured flashgun loaded with mouth-watering specifications could very well make your life easier and your photography more interesting and pleasurable.

best choices for speedlights / flashguns

Canon Speedlite 580EX Canon (May 10, 2007) $459.98

Nikon SB-900 AF Spee Nikon (Jul 26, 2008)

$569 00

$433 48 12>
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So here are the flashguns I woul recommend above all

Speedlight If you have a Ni on camera, then the obvious choice is the i on SB (B A full featured powerful flashgun that has a flash-head that rotates 180 to either side, which makes it very flexible in where you can bounce your light

. If you have a Canon camera, then my best recommendation would be theCanon 580EX II Speedlite (B . This flashgun also rotates 180 to either side, which is an ability that few flashguns offer, setting it apart from most flashguns available on the market.

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. Similarly then, if we look at what is the msot powerful and flexible flashguns available for other manufactuers, I would recommend the Pentax AF-540 FGZ P-TTL (B&H), for Pentax owners. Similarly, the Sony HVL-F58AM (B&H) flashgun for owners of Sony D-SLRs. And also the Olympus FL-50R (B&H), shoe-mount flash for Olympus users. . These flashguns are spendy, but they also wont limit your potential as a photographer.

Tangents 12 flash brackets

flash photography techniques which flashgun? ~ flash brackets ~ flash photo tips

using a rotating flash bracket

Rotating flash brackets are cumbersome attachments between the camera and flash, which enables the flash to always be over the camera. Since the flash is always overhead of the camera with a flash bracket, regardless of whether youre shooting horisontally or vertically, there is no sideways shadow if you use direct flash to some extent, or a flash modifier on your camera. Digital photography technology is steadily improving to the point where we now have cameras with fairly clean 1600 ISO settings, and very usable 3200 ISO. It is now ever more easy to get great results with bounce flash, and have all the light from the flash be indirect. With this, the need for me to use a flash bracket, has been greatly reduced. It is now possible for me to get vertical images like these, using on-camera flash, with no trace of sideways shadows . because there is no light thrown directly forward from the flash itself. It is all indirect. This means there will be no noticable shadow.

So these days I get by without a flash bracket. However, a flash bracket would still give you an advantage when you bounce flash such that all the light is indirect and that is that the direction of your light source remainds the same between vertical and horizontal photos taken from the same position. This consistency in lighting can help.

Back to the specific topic of flash brackets: There are various makes of flash brackets with a variety of designs. With some you have to let go of the lens to flip the flash over with one hand. With other more elegant designs, you rotate the actual camera. I prefer the rotating flash brackets where the camera rotates with a deft flick of the hand holding the camera. The make I use is Custom Brackets, although the one I originally had, I modified with an angle-grinder to make it more compact and have less bits sticking out.There is a lot of variation between the different makes, that it is worth checking them out for yourself . One of the other highly touted brackets by a different company, has such a clumsy design that it was nearimpossible for me to use the zoom control on my lenses.

The updated (and more elegant) version of the original flash bracket that I used, is the Custom Brackets Pro-M kit, and you can read the review via this link.

As mentioned, flash brackets are bulky and add extra weight to the camera, and these days I prefer to work without one. But they can help with the consistency of bouncing flash, and definitely do help in avoiding side-shadows when using direct on-camera flash is unavoidable.

Here is an example of what I mean by the side-ways shadow. It is intentionally a snap-shot to illustrate this, so dont judge me on this please! : )

Now if you hold your flash horizontally, then the flash shadow will fall behind your subject, and would be less intrusive an element in the photograph. A flash bracket isnt entirely necessary in daylight, since flash will then mostly be used as fill-flash, and the direction of the flash is of less importance than when using bounce flash indoors. Besides, there is rarely anything to bounce flash off when working outside, and the loss in flash output because of bouncing would most likely render the flash light imperceptible compared to bright daylight.

a few more observations on the use of a flash bracket: When I work indoors, I have in effect a large softbox with me wherever I go by dint of the ability to bounce the flash behind me or to the side of me. My specific way of working with bounce flash, is most often with the black foamie thing with which I control the direction of my bounce flash. It works very well when shooting horizontally, or keep to a horizontal framing. But it can be awkward to change the position of the foam I am flagging my flash with, when I change the cameras orientation. By now I am fairly agile with it, but you really are under pressure with a cant-mess-this-up situation like the church processional at a wedding.

In this photo above, I wanted a vertical shot for this flowergirl coming down the aisle. The light on her looks fantastic in my opinion. The bounced flash appears as soft and directional light on her. Just beautiful. But if you look at the bottom left of the frame, you can see some direct flash shadow. Now, no one is likely to notice this unless closely scrutinizing the photograph for how it was lit. But for me I know it shouldve looked just that touch better. The light shouldve been great over the entire frame. I had fumbled the precise positioning of the black foam on my flash, and there is a small measure of direct flash to the edge of the frame. This is an example of where using a flash bracket wouldve made it easier to control the direction of light from my speedlight. In the next two examples, the camera was rotated from horizontal position to a vertical position via a flash bracket. However, the direction of light remains exactly the same since the position of the speedlight, relative to the camera and subject, didnt change.

Whether a flash bracket is necessary for your specific needs or style of photography and whether the additional bulk and weight is something youd be able to cope with, is something you have to decide on your own. There are advantages at times.

Tangents 13 flash photography tips

flash photography techniques flash brackets ~ flash photography tips ~ off-camera flash

flash photography tips

The preceding pages, and the entire Tangents blog, contain a lot of information, whether techniques, ideas, equipment info, or random snippets. The posts cover a wide range of subject material, but mostly deal with flash photography, lighting, and general photography technique. But Id like to bring the essential topics on flash photography together to one solid starting point. This page then lists the most important advice that I can give you about flash photography. It should be a good jump page for anyone new to this website and new to flash photography. .

my top 20 list of flash photography tips

. 1. dont fear your flash It is entirely possible to get amazing results from your flash. Look at the image above. Its done with one on-camera speedlight .. bounced properly. Its actually pretty easy once you get used to it. So hang in there .. 2. you need something better than your cameras built -in flash You really do need a speedlight that attaches to your cameras hot-shoe for best results. You simply cant get there with just that pop-up flash on your camera. You need something bigger. Something that can rotate and swivel. The manufacturers that try and sell you little add-ons and gizmos and promise you that you will get great results from your pop-up flash after spending a couple of dollars on their crap .. well, they are misleading you. Get a proper speedlight! 3. bigger is better My advice will always be to get the most powerful speedlight you can afford. The more powerful your speedlight, and the more features it has, the more options you have. 4. bounce your flash for better results The larger your light-source, the softer the light. For that reason we bounce flash. Were creating a larger light source. This implies that when were working indoors, and we have walls and a ceiling around us, that shooting with direct flash straight-on is possibly the worst that we can do. We may as well have stayed with the pop-up flash, and saved ourselves some money. So, bounce your flash! 5. use that wall as your softbox! Dont be stuck in thinking you can only bounce your flash off the ceiling. Bounce your flash off the wall(s) behind you, and beside you. Even try bouncing your flash into the open room behind you. 6. try for directional light By bouncing off areas to your side, you can get directional light on your subject, instead of flat lighting. Heres another example. 7. flag your flash When you bounce your flash to the side, make sure that there is no direct flash spilling on your subject. I use a piece of cheap black foam, held in place with hairbands, to make sure I only get soft indirect light on my subject. 8. allow TTL flash to make your life easier TTL flash technology can allow you to get great results easily, but 9. .. nudge your TTL exposure with flash exposure compensation TTL flash exposure could vary, and it can also give you under or over-exposure. Thats the penalty for getting good results easily .. your exposure may vary, unless you adjust your flash exposure compensation. With practice (and a sneak peek at your cameras preview), you can pre-judge this to a good degree.

10. TTL flash and manual flash are two very different beasts You have to understand the difference between TTL flash and manual flash, and how their behaviour differ. They each have their own benefits. There are those photographers who disdain TTL flash, and only push one way of using flash manual flash. Youll be a stronger photographer in knowing the differences between manual flash and TTL flash .. and being able to use either with confidence. 11. understand maximum flash sync speed It is imperative that you understand what maximum flash sync speed is .. and why it is often a sweet spot when you use flash. 12. high-speed flash sync High Speed Flash Sync (HSS), also known as Auto FP on the Nikon cameras, allows us to go past the limit of maximum flash sync speed. A truly useful feature, but be aware that there is a penalty to be paid for going into the higher shutter speeds while using flash. 13. aperture controls flash exposure? well, maybe You will often see this short-cut thrown around. It is true to an extent. But you need to be aware that aperture affects manual flash exposure, but not TTL flash exposure. Similarly, you need to be aware that ISO also affects manual flash exposure. 14. shutter speed controls ambient exposure? .. well, maybe This is another short-cut which can be misleading since other photographers may well omit in telling you the entire truth that aperture and ISO also affects ambient light. Where that shortcut shutter speed controls ambient light actually kicks in, is for manual flash, where shutter speed becomes the only independent control for ambient exposure. A subtle but important distinction. 15. gel your flash for tungsten! If youre using flash in an environment that is predominantly incandescent lighting / tungsten lighting .. and you want your flash to appear more neutral, and not so blue (or your background so grunge-orange), then gel your flash to join the incandescent spectrum . 16. throw away the tupperware When working indoors, you can most often get the best results by bouncing your flash. You dont need that expensive piece of plastic that is advertised as being the solution to all your flash photography problems. 17. allow available light in Sometimes flash is your dominant light source. Sometimes flash is your only realistic choice. But it usually looks better if you allow available light to give you some context and colour and mood. 18. start with the available light, and then add flash At times it might need a slightly different approach between manual flash, and TTL flash .. but invariably, a good starting point when figuring out what you need to do with your flash, is to start with your ambient light metering and exposure. 19. matching, and even over-powering the sun with flash We can easily use a speedlight to even out harsh sunlight. But we need to consider our

settings. And be aware that going to high-speed flash sync isnt necessarily our best option here. 20. the end will never be in sight Learning more about flash photography and lighting is a never-ending journey. There should always be the aspiration to become better. Thats the challenge, and thats also the good news.

Tangents 14 off camera flash

flash photography techniques flash photography tips ~ off camera flash ~ video light

off-camera flash photography

The preceding pages mostly deal with how to use an on-camera speedlight to get prettier light. And where we can, how to seamlessly blend our flash with our available light. However, where flash becomes a lot more controllable and perhaps more interesting, is when you move your flash off-camera. Off-camera flash is quite an extensive topic. Instead of trying to cover it all in just one article here, this page will serve as a jump-page to other articles on the Tangents blog where the topic is specifically off-camera lighting. So why would we want to use off-camera flash? The answer is refreshingly simple. With offcamera lighting, we have greater control over the direction and the quality of our light . And that is it in a nutshell. But lets delve deeper into it .

off-camera flash the techniques

balancing flash with ambient light where do we even start? This article is a good overview to start us off on this topic. The simplest approach for me, when I work in fairly flat and even ambient light, is to under-expose the ambient light by a certain amount. Then we add flash for correct exposure. So how much do we under-expose the ambient light by? Well, it depends

balancing your flash exposure with the ambient exposure My starting point with on-location portraits is most often is a combination of: finding an interesting or neutral background; and positioning my subject so that they are placed in front of / in relation to the background so that it all looks visually pleasing. And then balancing the exposures for my background and my subject

the effect of maximum flash sync speed When we work outdoors in bright light, it is essential that we understand what is happening at our maximum flash sync setting, and why it is a sweet spot when you use flash in bright light.

tutorial: high-speed flash sync

I decided to do a series of comparison photos, so we can actually see what happens before, at and beyond maximum flash sync speed. And we can also see what happens with high-speed flash sync. To do this, I set up very simple portrait lighting using a single speedlight and a large umbrella. A simple white paper-roll backdrop, and our model, Rachel

using a neutral density filter with flash to control depth of field Working in bright light, the limitation of having a maximum flash sync speed forces a small aperture on us. That small aperture means more depth of field than we might like. Using a neutral density (ND) filter is our best way to get control over our depth of field again

using multiple speedlights with high-speed flash sync To overcome the loss in effective flash power while in high-speed flash sync mode, you need to work very close to your subject, or gang up a number of speedlights as a group

effective on-location portraits When I photograph someone on location, I rely on a simple, yet effective method that will ensure that at the very least, I will get portraits that work. Here is a step-by-step method

off-camera flash bringing sparkle on a rainy day Scheduling an on-location photo session, we are always left at the mercy of the weather. What gives me the most control though during such a photo session, is the use of off-camera flash. This gives me control over the quality and direction of light with relatively little effort.

positioning the softbox and flash The placement of a softbox is generally around 45 to 60 desgrees from the camera; at a height where the light is about 50cm above your subjects head; and keeping in mind the cone of light coming from the softbox, and that you have it hit your subjects head & shoulders. In other words, you need to aim the softbox at their upper body and head .. and specifically with that sweet spot of the light coming from the softbox, having to point at their heads.

why I love off-camera lighting The main reason for me, is that you can have perfect lighting on your subjects face with much more freedom than if you just relied on the available light. I am usually quite particular about the backgrounds to my photos, where it is in my control.

metering for manual flash when using a softbox An explanation of a simple method for using off-camera flash with available light. Metering for the available light with a hand-held meter, or using the histogram method, we find our available light exposure. Then I take my exposure down by 1 stop. I could do this via my shutter speed or aperture or ISO choice .. or a combination of those.

So what are your settings? What are your settings? - a question that I am often asked about various images. And quite often, the answer is surprising it doesnt really matter. Sometimes the specific settings are of importance, but usually much less so than the method of getting to correct exposure of the ambient light and the flash.

overpowering the sun with flash With a photo session in bright sunlight, I need to clean up the suns harsh shadows with flash. - photo session with model, Johannie - photo session with models, Sarah & Mark

photo sessions with the Modern Gypsies During various photo sessions with the Modern Gypsies, I used a variety of off camera flash techniques
        

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combinging manual off-camera flash with on-camera TTL flash (wedding photography) A common technique used in photographing wedding receptions, is to use additional lighting to lift the general light levels in large reception rooms. The additional lights can be wirelessly controlled TTL flash .. but more often would be manual flashes. Then an oncamera flash can be used, either in manual, or in TTL.

Finding the Light Another example where I used off-camera lighting (manual flash), with on-camera TTL flash to light up a large venue.

background exposure and flash There is often a whole range of possibilities in how we can expose for the background, choosing from a range of settings. In this sense, for some backgrounds, there really isnt any incorrect exposure

flash and ambient light reverse engineering an image Looking at an example image, and figuring out what the photographer did with his lighting. By scrutinizing a photo, well try and decipher how he set this up

using direct (unmodified) flash off-camera When working outdoors, my approach has largely been that of using a softbox or some modifier so that my flash is more diffuse. But with this shoot, I worked with another photographer who uses direct flash off-camera with great results. It was quite refreshing to try something slightly different than my usual method

simple on-location lighting techniques by Chuck Arlund Chuck Arlund is a fashion photographer who explains approach to on-location lighting in this article. He achieves dramatic results, but with surprising simplicity

NYC photo session Sarah & Mark An extended photo session with two models, (a married couple), at various spots in New York. This blog entry is a view of the approach during a photo session, and how there is no single static way of doing things. Various techniques are used; the lighting too is varied; all to give a wide range to the look of the final images ..

sequence: setting up the lighting during a photo shoot With this post I want to show the thought process in setting up the lighting for portraits during a photo shoot for a company. There were a couple of dead ends, and a couple of adjustments as we went along

Lighting the wedding formals (part 1) In lighting the formals, I dont try to get all Rembrandt, but prefer a fairly flat way of lighting everyone. I keep the lighting static for all the images, whether I am photographing one person or twenty. With time usually being a real constraint during the wedding day, there simply isnt the opportunity to play around too much with the lighting .. and I find a simple predictable way of lighting works best.

Lighting the wedding formals (part 3) The main benefit of doing the formal portraits (indoors) with manual off-camera flash consistency. Since the flash gives off a specific amount of light every time it is manual flash after all and not TTL flash and since the flash is on a stand, and therefore at a constant distance to your subject .. this means that your flash exposure will be consistent. It will be consistent regardless of YOUR position. You can move around.

more off-camera lighting at weddings dealing with reflective surfaces Rooms with wooden panelling are notoriously difficult to shoot in when using flash. This is because of the tendency for the light source (flash) to create large hotspots on the wooden surfaces. Here is how I avoid those specular reflections in the wooden panelling.

Chanel a portrait Off-camera wireless TTL flash setup for a portrait of a pet. We had to work fast in the hotel lobby to get a portrait of this beautiful whippet, Chanel, for a magazine cover. We had to be meticulous about the setting-up of the shoot and still be very flexible during the actual shoot

the progression of an idea A glimpse of how I work, showing the progression of an idea. Not just how the actual image was made, but how the idea progressed. And how it was enhanced with off camera lighting

off-camera flash discussing an image from a workshop on flash photography With an idea in mind of how I wanted to position our model in a stark urban setting, I now had to decide on the exposure and lighting. The available light at that point was actually really good the sun was covered by a layer of clouds, but enough of the sun was coming through to give some directional light. However, we wanted to play with some off-camera lighting and I wanted to use flash to add a touch more drama

using flash at a fireworks display Photographing people with fireworks in the background, is just an application of the technique known as dragging the shutter. Our camera settings are dictated by how we want the fireworks to register, and then we add flash to expose correctly for our subjects

off-camera flash with childrens portraits on location A description of settings, and the lighting setup, and the thought-process

off-camera flash the equipment

review: Lastolite Ezybox softbox kit (2010-06) review: PocketWizard miniTT1 & FlexTT5 (2009-04) review: RadioPoppers P1 (2008-09) Photoflex medium softbox with magic slipper using a Quantum TdD-R on location in Las Vegas