Tag Archives: Flash

Using flash in daylight

Flash can be used at any time of day.

Many people, especially starters, don’t think to use flash in daylight. Flash is good for low light conditions but many other circumstances too. There are lots of reasons to light a subject during the day. However, to make it effective the use of flash in daylight takes a bit of thinking around.

In the video we see an interesting combination of dealing with failing light, use of flash and the settings that help to make a great exposure. The video shows how to think around the settings and to set up flash for the situation. While the photographer is not just using the on camera flash, the same principles apply. See if you can apply this type of thinking to your own exposure control when using flash. Remember, the best photographs come from a carefully thought out exposure.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTrS-0v-BLg&w=500&h=281]

Balancing Strobes with a Setting Sun: A Lighting Tutorial!
TheSlantedLens

Simple tips to save you from disaster on your photoshoot!

Am I preaching to the converted?

Ever gone on a shoot and forgotten something? I have. If you’re like me you will have a bag packed ready. But, check the night before. Things may have changed. Here is some help.

Checking

The night before you go is the first time you should check your equipment. That’s the time to realise you need to charge your batteries. Yes, always have more than one – you don’t want to run out. Charge both. If you have an off-camera flash, check they are up to power too. I use rechargeable batteries in my flashes. So I charge them. But you may have standard disposable ones. Have fresh ones on hand.

Check you have a memory card in the camera and at least one spare. A corrupt card is as good as stopping your shoot if you have no spare. Oh, and make sure you downloaded the previous shoot. I turned up to a shoot once with a card nearly full of my previous shoot. I had not had time to post process them. OK, no problem. Ah! Had I downloaded them? Er… I could not remember. Then, eeek! I had no spare card. One full, no spare. It cost me an hour to find a shop for a new card – I was not impressed with the card either, but no choice. How stupid did I feel when I got back and found out I had downloaded the previous shoot. I could have used the card I had. Better safe than sorry.

Lenses

Choose your lenses if you have more than one. Also check they are clean, properly packed and have lens caps. Camera bags are generally made of very harsh material. If the glass rubs against the material it will rub off the coating and may scratch the glass. Look after your lenses and they will last for years. Got clean lens cloths? Make sure you do… you may need to clean up while out. Oh, I have an extender for my 70-200mm. It takes the lens up to 280mm – enough for most long shots. Don’t forget lens accessories. And, if you think you are going to need them, what about filters?

Camera straps?

Check your camera straps for damage. The little slits the straps go through gradually wear the strap. If a strap breaks your pride and joy will crash to the ground! Check the straps and zips on your camera bag are good too.

Got your tripod? Ah, but have you got the quick release plate? I forgot one once and had a day of really hard shots and poor results.

I normally carry three different light modifiers. They are a little honeycomb for focussed, hard light and a strap on diffuser which directs the light in one direction for soft wide focussed light. Finally, a plastic diffuser for popping on top of the flash for all-round bounce light to give wide-spread light. So, check your modifiers. If you don’t have any get some. Flash is too harsh for most shots.

Camera?

Ha ha! I am not joking actually. I once went on a shoot with a great friend. He had a new Canon 7D – proud as punch. He turned up on our shoot with a wonderful camera bag. In it was everything he needed for the shoot – except the camera body. He had left it on the table at home. Fortunately I was able to lend him one of my spares.

Sundry other items may be important too… Torch? Large plastic sack to cover everything in a sudden shower? Map? Tablets? Sandwiches, drinks, money? Well you get the idea. Everyone’s list is personal, so work out what is meaningful for you.

Going on a shoot for a day or more is a complex business. Your day can be ruined or shortened if you are not prepared. So why not make check lists. One for the night before, one for the morning before you go. Go through everything you have an then put it on the list. Then, check it all in complete confidence that you will have a great day.

Photographer alert: beware the pop-up flash scam

Look out for direct and harsh light.

There is no doubt that one of the villains of photography is the pop-up flash. Your manufacturer has supplied it with scant regard for the outcome of your photographs. You can do something about it.

It is true that most consumer cameras are fitted with a pop-up flash or similar like a flash panels on the face of the camera. The pop-up flash unit is a Light source of very Hard Light. These on-board units are very small sources of light. The direct and harsh outcome causes sharp edged shadows, washed out colours and washed out skin tones. The result makes your subjects look like they could do with a good nights sleep.

In the video Mike Brown explains why the pop-up flash is a pretty poor way to use flash. He uses an excellent and graphic way to explain how the harsh light affects the shot. I really liked the explanation. More after the video…
Uploaded by photoexposed to YouTube on Sep 23, 2010

The idea of mastering the light in pop-up flash is not a difficult one. Understanding the difference between the harsh ‘hard light’ and diffused ‘soft light‘ takes a bit of experience. However, it is really worth working on it. The results are lovely soft shadows and pleasant diffused light.

Getting away from the pop-up flash

One additional consideration that was not mentioned in the video is that the off-camera unit Mike Brown mentions is also usable off-camera. You can use extension cords, or radio transceivers to put an off-camera flash some distance from the camera. Then you can use it as a remote light.

Mike also suggested that you need to have a dedicated brand flash unit for your camera. These are very expensive. In fact you can use flash units that are unbranded. They do everything that the branded units do. They are also up to ten times cheaper!

I use a number of studio lights to work in a variety of ways. However, there are none more flexible than off-camera flash units. That’s especially true where they are linked by radio. Here are some un-branded units for you to consider. You can also buy branded units if that appeals to you as well.

In “Off-camera flash” I explain the issues more fully. I have included a look at the way branded flash units have a lot of redundant features and point out how you can connect an off-camera flash to your camera for remote work.

Nikon ‘Speedlight’ flash units, or the Canon ‘Speedlite’ (EOS flash system) range act as an independent flash for use on the camera hotshoe or as a master to trigger other speedlights off-camera. To do the latter you need one flash on the camera hotshoe and another elsewhere off camera.

Nikon Speedlights… Nikon Speedlights  Nikon Speedlights - better than pop-up flash | External link - opens new tab/pageExternal link - opens new tab/page.

Canon Speedlites… Canon Speedlites  Canon Speedlites - better than pop-up flash | External link - opens new tab/pageExternal link - opens new tab/page

Flash sync cables External link - opens new tab/page are a simple method to connect to the camera. Use a short connecting cable for a flash bracket, a five meter cable is flexible for other use.

Flash radio triggers External link - opens new tab/page are available for off-camera flash. Radio increases the distance you can work with flash, gives more control and reduces trip hazards. Radio can control more than one flash too. They may have a variety of features depending on the model and price.

If you would like more information or have questions, please leave a comment below or you can mail me from the Contact Us page on this site.

Tips for improving your use of flash

Simple tips about flash help all aspects of your photography.

The use of flash is all about increasing the light intensity in the area where you are working. There are many ways that flash can be used. Here is a great round up of flash tips to get you started.

In Six tips for photographing silhouettes we talked about how to create a silhouette. One of the reasons for flash is to prevent a silhouette. Often when you have a bright background you want to light the foreground to prevent your subject being too dark. You can use your on-board flash, an external flash or studio lights to fill that foreground light and bring your subject up to a brightness level that makes them look natural and well lit.

One thing to remember is that your flash is adjustable. This is a fact that many people forget. Look in your camera or flash manual to see how to make the adjustment. Then make sure that you do not have too much power. Nearly always photographers have the flash too high. Very bright flash makes faces look washed out and tired. It will also cause nasty and distracting highlights. You can turn your flash off, down or sometimes up. It is certainly worth experimenting with it to see how much you can adjust it and what effects the adjustment has on your subject.

On-board flash and off-camera flash are two different things altogether. You can easily do some things with the off-camera flash that you can with you pop-up (on-board) unit. However, there are some things you should know about on-camera flash – it is pretty limiting.

The differences between types of flash, and many other useful tips, including more on the tips above, can be found in the video below. It explores quite a few aspects of flash and is a great background for you to get started.

Posted on YouTube by: http://www.steeletraining.com

By Damon Guy (author and Photokonnexion editor)

Damon Guy - Netkonnexion

Damon Guy (Netkonnexion)

Damon is a writer-photog and editor of this site. He has run some major websites, a computing department and a digital image library. He started out as a trained teacher and now runs training for digital photographers.
See also: Editors ‘Bio’.

Some things you should know about on-camera flash

On-camera flash suffers with a number of problems

On-camera flash suffers with a number of problems. It is best to know what you can and cannot do.

On-camera flash can be harsh and unforgiving – use sparingly.

The flash that comes on-board of most cameras is small, tightly focused and very close to the optical axis of the camera. These things cause problems for your shots.

On-board flash problems with portraiture

The small size of the on-board flash makes it a source of hard light. While that may be fine for some shots, it creates hard, sharply defined shadows. These are particularly unflattering for faces which makes portrait photography difficult. The light from flashes is coloured to imitate the bright bluish light of a sunny day. That colour gives the face a harshly blue tinge – making a person look like they could do with a couple of good nights sleep! On-board flash is also directly in line with the optical axis of the camera, and it is close to the axis as well. Light that is straight-on like that also tends to flatten the face in the image. Worse still, it is in an ideal position to create red-eye. On-board flash is also quite strong when used close up. This tends to create ugly highlights on the face. These large white spots of light on the cheeks, possibly the chin, nose and forehead, are pretty distracting for the viewer.

All these problems add up to pretty unflattering results in portraiture.

On-board flash problems in the open

Happy snappers often don’t realise that they have 100% control over their on-board flash. In fact, most probably only ever use auto-settings. The result? The on-board flash will pop up whenever the camera thinks it is needed. A lot of the time it is not needed or in fact it is a nuisance.

While flash is quite strong close up (for portraits say), light falls off pretty rapidly. With light, as you double the distance the illumination reduces to one quarter of its intensity. The tiny on-board flash will therefore have a strong effect close up. In a large room, or a church for example, it will light everything within a few feet very brightly – then everything after that will be black or very dark. That’s because the light does not have much power after a short distance. So, using flash in a dark church for example will have irritatingly bright fittings and people close up, and you will see little else in the background. As an aside, you will also annoy the people nearby who are worshipping or looking around too.

In an open space on-board flash can be pretty bad news. What you tend to find is that in darker situations the flash will provide a perimeter of illumination very close to you. This will be a bright glow on the ground in front of you and some illumination of the trees and bushes (or buildings etc) around about. The rest will be black or very dark. In brighter situations, well suffice to say, you get the highlight issues again if there is any shiny surface nearby. Both these cases cause artificial light that spoils the shot.

In domestic rooms, smaller spaces and shadows on a brighter day, the on-board flash can be useful if carefully used. However, beware. Any flash in a shadowed place will blow the shadows back in an artificial way. So the charm of the shadowed area is lost where the flash fires. As a result of the bright foreground you also get a deepening of the shadows in the background. This amounts to a pretty contrasty scene. It can therefore look gloomy in your picture.

Some solutions

I don’t have a downer on flash. It’s just that on-board flash is very difficult to work with and it is placed in the worst possible place to generate a flash. Ideally I would advise you to buy an off-camera flash. Even moving the flash away from the camera by one arms length removes many of the problems mentioned. Setting the flash to one side, by only several feet, creates its own shadow texture in your shot. This removes much of the blow-out and shadow flattening effect you get when the flash is in-line with, and close to, the optical axis of your camera.

I know that many people will say they cannot afford to buy an off-camera flash. Well, maybe so – but some of the unbranded ones are really quite cheap. I have two unbranded off-camera flash units and they are excellent. You have to get used to manual adjustments (which you should be doing anyway), but they are just as effective as branded flash units costing up to ten times more. So, maybe you should be thinking about looking around. Here are some units which I have used. Buy one now and improve your flash photography straight away!

If you want to improve your use of on-board flash there are two things to can do to improve the situation…

Turn it off: This is an improvement because, for example, in a church situation you don’t want to create that deep black pit in the background. Many people don’t realise that you can turn off the flash. If you look in your manual it will tell you how. On many point-and-shoot cameras you can turn off the flash on the screen. In most DSLRs, its on the screen too. But it may be a button in its own right, or you can find it in the menus. However it is done, the on/off is easy. Then you can take the shot using one of the other settings, or your camera will calculate a longer exposure. The result will be less contrasts, shadows or black areas. If you find you get more camera shake or softness, use a tripod or rest your camera on something.

Reduce the power: It may seem odd to reduce the power to get a better shot, but you will gain a lot from controlling the light intensity. In portraiture you will reduce the highlights. Less power will also create less of a blue pallor on faces too. Oddly, a lower power shot will also light the background better. It is the contrast of foreground to background light that causes bright close things and black distance. If you lower the power the contrast will not be so steep. Your camera will choose settings (or you can) that will enable it to see into the background with less dark areas.

To reduce the power of your flash look in your manual. It will tell you how to do it. Most flash power settings are available in the menu or on the main control screen of the camera. Most of the time I use the bottom setting. On-board flash is so harsh that I find it is the light touch that is best.

There are two more things you can do. One is to use reflectors, or bounce to change your light in some rooms (See: Does Pop-Up Flash Ruin Your Shots?.

The other idea is to further diffuse your flash. A quick trick is to tape a piece of white tissue paper lightly in front off your flash lens. I leave a gap to allow air to circulate so it does not overheat. The tissue lowers the power and causes greater diffusion. You will have to experiment to see the effect on your camera. I use this to great effect on my little Canon G12.

One possible way to use on-board flash to good effect is as fill-in light. This is a useful way to use your on-board flash, and can be used in conjunction with other off-camera lights. However, it does require practice to get it right. It is almost always used with lower flash power levels too. So it is definitely worth learning how to reduce the flash power.

Black and white is fun – try monochrome

Reflection of a girl in a shop window

Reflection of a girl in a shop window. There is more to monochrome than black and white photography. Single colours are a great way to express yourself.

Give your shots a new dimension.

There is something exciting about black and white. The use of one tonal range gives a simplicity that is a new dimension. You can do the same working with one colour other than grey.

In “Don’t photograph in black and white” I said it is better to take a shot in colour with black and white processing in mind. Well, it need not be just black and white. Some photos work really well in other monochrome colour tones. There are several ways you can do it and I am going to set out some ideas for you to try.

Getting the shot

There are many ways you can get a monochrome shot in camera…

  • Find a monochrome subject. My shot above is an example. This girls face reflected off a shop window. The predominant cobalt blues in the shop display created a perfect monochrome reflection in blue. I fired off an opportune shot! So look for situations where you can pick up a monochrome appearance. Reflections are a great opportunity.
  • Filters. There are an amazing range of photographic filters on the market. There is a whole range of colours. Using these you can colour your image as you take it – strong filters will impart a monochrome overall. You will need to experiment however, filters change the nature of the light entering your camera. You might get some surprising results!
  • Gels. Photographic gels are coloured material that colour light. You can, if you stretch it tight, put thinner gels over the front of your lens. This will colour the light as it enters the camera. Try to make sure there are no wrinkles or you will get dark lines across your shot. Although, you might artfully arrange wrinkles to give your shot a unique texture as well as colour. If you use gels you might need some strong lights, hard light is best. Gels tend to be quite colour saturated. So they need the subject to be brightly lit so you see details. Its all part of the fun!
  • Coloured light. Using gels you can also light the scene with a strong colour. Deep red, blue or green gels make some really erie colours and impart some interesting shadows. If you use your gels in conjuction with strong house-lights the colour-cast will be enough to completely colour the shot as a monochrome. Moody and atmospheric shots are especially good with strong gels. They make for some great scenes. If you have an off-camera flash you will be able to try a wider range of shots with brighter results too. Just lightly tape the gel onto the lens of the flash so it shines through the gel when the flash goes off.
  • Shoot through glass. Shop windows, especially armoured glass often imparts a greenish tinge to everything you see through it. It also gives a sort of dreamy, almost watery feel to the shot. Try taping a small piece of glass like that to the front of your lens hood.
  • Colour ordinary glass. There are many types of colourant that will go on a small piece of glass. Various paints, makeup, inks, food colour… I am sure you can think of a few others too. The single colour will be imparted to the shot. Some of the things you put on will give an inconsistent coverage. More creative fun can be had by producing patterns on the glass with your colourant. Then you will be able to influence not only your monochrome shot, but also the texture of the exposure.
  • Processing. There are a whole range of ways you can get some shots to be post-processed in a monochrome. You could just have a go with your favorite image editor. Experimenting is a great way to learn. I will also be doing a future article on monochrome processing here.

I hope those ideas give you great creative thoughts. Activities like this are fun and great for extending your skills. Just make sure you keep exotic liquids, paint and chemicals off your lens. They may damage the coating on the glass.

Light – the essential component

There is one thing in photography that is more important than anything else – light. Funny thing that, many photographers don’t get it until quite late on. Maybe that sounds daft to you. Maybe it does not. If it does sound daft you need to look carefully at what it is you are photographing. Light is the defining factor of EVERY shot.

The knowledge that light is so important makes it almost essential that any equipment photographers use either controls the light or captures it. Try these for size…

Diffusers:
Anything that causes light to be diffused has to be an important aspect of photography. Flash, bright lights and direct strong lights as well as hard light needs to be diffused. Hard light is very unflattering, particularly in portraits. So think of ways to diffuse and soften the light. Here is a detailed entry in the Photographic Glossary, published today, looking at diffusers…
Definition: Diffuser; Diffusion; Diffusion Filter

Photographic Umbrella:
One of the great pieces of equipment that any photographer can have is an umbrella. It is used with a flash to diffuse the light in one of main ways. Here is a new article about the umbrella in the Photographic Glossary…
Definition: Photographic Umbrella


 
 
Ring flash:
If it is not about light modifiers like the diffusers and the umbrella, then it is about light sources. Off-camera flash is the most flexible type of flash for working from the camera direct. However, flash is often a harsh and very hard light. A ring flash is also a hard light but can be used close to the subject. It gives off a ring of light. Here is more detail about the Ring Flash in a new article today…
Definition: Ring Flash
 
Open faced light:
The harshest light is a hard light. An open faced light tends to be the harshest artificial source of light since the face of the light is exposed directly to the subject with no diffusion screen in the way. There may even be a focusing lens to make it even more concentrated. Here is a definition for this light…
Definition: Open Face Light; Undiffused Light; Open Light
 
 

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By Damon Guy (author and Photokonnexion editor)

Damon Guy - Netkonnexion

Damon Guy (Netkonnexion)

Damon is a writer-photog and editor of this site. He has run some major websites, a computing department and a digital image library. He started out as a trained teacher and now runs training for digital photographers.
See also: Editors ‘Bio’.