{"id":1983,"date":"2012-06-01T11:20:18","date_gmt":"2012-06-01T11:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/?p=1983"},"modified":"2023-08-28T12:02:20","modified_gmt":"2023-08-28T12:02:20","slug":"5-essentials-every-photographer-must-know-before-using-off-camera-flash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/5-essentials-every-photographer-must-know-before-using-off-camera-flash\/%20","title":{"rendered":"5 ESSENTIALS every photographer MUST know before using Off Camera Flash"},"content":{"rendered":"

Off Camera Flash Essentials<\/h1>\n

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Off camera flash is a popular technique at the moment, taking speedlite flashes off the camera, onto light stands and using radio transmitters to trigger them. It’s getting easier and cheaper – with budget brands bringing flash to the masses<\/p>\n

Technically, there and awful lot to understand to get fantastic results – so here are 5 things\u00a0you absolutely have to understand<\/p>\n

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1 – Understand manual exposure<\/h1>\n

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You need to understand how your camera works and “manual exposure.<\/p>\n

A challenge in itself if you’re not used to metering. To control the brightness of the background<\/a> and the flash-lit areas, Manual Exposure is the most effective way to work.<\/p>\n

2\u00a0– Understand where to put the light stands<\/h1>\n

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How near should they be, what angle should they point, should they be high or low… you can put them pretty much anywhere in the 3-dimensional space around your model… and they all have different effects!<\/p>\n

3 –\u00a0Understand flash power<\/h1>\n

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You’ll need to put your flashes in Manual power output and give work out how much power they need – the power output is in fractions of “full power”, so you get 1\/1, 1\/2, 1\/4, 1\/8, 1\/16 etc. usually down to 1\/128<\/p>\n

4 –\u00a0Understand\u00a0light colour<\/h1>\n

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The white balance question – if you’re shooting in sunlight, it’s a different “ambient light” to that of moon light, or street lights, or\u00a0fluorescent\u00a0tubes…. It’s a question of “white balance”, and we have ways to change the colour of flash light to whatever we need. Or use a mix of white balances to creative effect.<\/p>\n

5 –\u00a0Understand Light “Quality”<\/h1>\n

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The “shape” or “Quality” of light from your flash can be manipulated using accessories such as umbrellas, snoots, barn doors, beauty dishes, grids…. there’s a lot out there. Basically these help control the direction of light, how much it spreads, whether it’s a “soft” light (creating smooth edged shadows) or “hard” light (harsh “mid day” like shadows) – the use of these can become your signature look.<\/p>\n

So those are the 5 areas we cover in our 1-2-1 Strobist Training – it is a lot to take in if you’re new to it, so 1-2-1 time is the most effective way to boost your skills and transform your photography<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Example….<\/h1>\n

Here’s an example\u00a0set-up\u00a0from a recent 1-2-1\u00a0training\u00a0session in Leeds.<\/p>\n

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  1. Exposure set for a dark space –\u00a0low ambient light – so higher ISO, wide aperture etc.<\/li>\n
  2. One light was “high to the left”, the other was “low to the right”<\/li>\n
  3. Power was low as the scene was dark and didn’t need much power output<\/li>\n
  4. Mixed light colour – Warm (CTO) to the left, cool to the right (CTB)<\/li>\n
  5. Hard light all around – adds drama, the hard shadow under her nose shows this<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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    Example 2<\/h1>\n
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    1. Used a very wide aperture, F1.8, so needed ND filter to lessen the light flowing into the camera – need to keep the shutter speed to 1\/200th to synch with the camera<\/li>\n
    2. Simple single light at head height<\/li>\n
    3. Power was extremely low as using F1.8 – 1\/64th power.<\/li>\n
    4. No colour added<\/li>\n
    5. Soft light from a shoot-through umbrella<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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