Photography tips, episode 8: Flash unleashed.

This is part three of a series about using an external flash unit- be sure to check out part 1 here and part 2 here first, as they give some background to this final post.

Part 3- Get the flash off the camera (no quotes).

This is where the true magic in lighting can happen.  In the last post, we used bounced flash to repurpose different things (walls, ceilings, foam) to become our light source.  In this post, I'll show you the basics of making your own light source.  Getting the flash (or flashes!) actually off the camera opens up so many possibilities, and if you really are interested in learning more about off camera flash, I highly encourage you to visit the sites I link throughout the post (and once again at the end).  As I am still very new to this type of lighting, I'll just focus on the "how," and let you read on other sites about techniques.



Other than your camera and flash, to achieve true off camera lighting you will need to have a triggering method, such as a sync cable or some sort of wireless device (there's a quick note in italics after this paragraph that mentions another option for newer camera owners).  I'll focus on wireless triggers, since that's the way I went.  Just know that if you connect your external flash with a sync cable instead of a wireless trigger, it does the same thing (although you are limited to just one connected flash). Wireless triggers come in all varieties, but most just send a signal to your flash to tell it when to fire, so you have to use your flashes in manual mode.  You might think this makes things more complicated, and it does ever so slightly (oh my goodness, you might have to adjust something!), but you will get more consistent results shooting manually.  So once you have your flash(es) set up, there's no need to mess with settings, everything should come out the same! Also nice to have would be a light stand (with a flash bracket), and a light modifier, such as an umbrella, to soften the light.  The good news is that you can get very basic versions of this equipment (triggers, stand, umbrella) for about $40-$60 total.  You can, of course, spend a LOT more if you want.

Just a quick note- quite a few newer dSLRs have the capability of controlling an off camera flash wirelessly- by using their built in flash.  This can be a fun way to start experiencing off camera flash without purchasing anything new (and offers TTL), but in my experiences it is no where near as reliable as using a sync cable or wireless trigger, as there are a lot of "contingencies" when using the built in system.  I'm sure some people much wiser than myself can make great use of this, but I found its limitations too... limiting.  And I'm only starting my off camera flash journey :)

Personally, I started with a budget light stand (it came with an umbrella mount, this is important) and shoot through umbrella from a local camera store ($30) and purchased a set of wireless triggers from Amazon ($20).  Mind you, this is about as cheap as you can get- but I think for the money, this works just fine, especially when learning.  You can easily spend $100 on a top end light stand and umbrella, and $400 for a set of wireless triggers, and while they might be more reliable and solid, they do the same thing.  Bottom line- if you derive your income from photography, get the best you can (if that were the case, though, you certainly wouldn't be reading my blog).  But when you start out learning, this basic equipment will suffice- you can always upgrade it later when you see a need.

Well, now that you've got yourself the equipment necessary to get your flash to fire off camera, how do you set it all up?  It's pretty straight-forward, and the more times you set it up, the faster it will go.

1. Set up your light stand (and umbrella)

2. Attach the wireless receiver to your flash

3. Attach the receiver/flash to your light stand

4. Attach the trigger to your camera's hot shoe

5. Turn on your system, and fire away (no picture for this one!)

Of course, everything needs to be turned on (and wireless trigger/receiver need to be on the same channel), but assuming this, the flash should fire when you take a picture.  That doesn't mean it will give you a correct exposure- remember, this setup is manual only so you have to set the power on the flash as well as dial in the best settings on your camera.  This blog isn't really the place to learn how to do that- and in fact I HIGHLY recommend The Strobist.  It is where I learned all about off camera flash, and David Hobby has created an amazing resource that takes you from beginner to proficient as quickly as you can learn the steps.  I'd recommend starting at the beginning of Lighting 101.  But just so I don't leave you out in the cold, try starting with f8, 1/200 at ISO 200 and your flash at around 1/2 power.  Of course, this depends highly on your flash and how far it is from your subject (and ambient light), so that's why I encourage you to visit The Strobist.  Once you have single off camera flash figured out, you can get more receivers/flashes to add more light (in different angles/spots) to create different effects.  The difficulty ramps up considerably with each flash added to the equation, but as long as you take it one light source at a time it's completely manageable.  I wouldn't want to attempt a 5 light setup without having learned a GREAT DEAL about single off camera lighting.  

Finally, I'll leave you with a few shots taken with off camera flash, give you the settings I used, and for the first two I'll show you some "pull back" shots.  Enjoy!

f4 1/200 at ISO 200.  Single off camera light.

Here you can see that I had her close to the single light source shot through an umbrella (which gives the nice soft light), and she was playing with a toy, so was tolerating the pictures.  Framing the shot close let me remove any unwanted elements such as the toy she was playing with and the one behind her.

f8, 1/200, ISO 400. 3 off camera lights.

This isn't the best pulled back shot (this was taken later that evening), but it shows the relative positioning of the subject to the background.  The main light is shot through the umbrella you see in the right of the picture.  Behind and to the left is the fill light, softening the shadows on the right side of the face.  Also if you look closely you'll see a 3rd light on a light stand pointed at the backdrop to give it some color.  This is a pretty basic 3 light setup, and in this case, set up in a living room.

f4, 1/200, ISO 200.  This was shot with the same basic 3 light setup as the last picture, with a white seamless paper background.  I then converted it to B&W, and there you have it!

f8, 1/200, ISO 200.  This was shot with 2 off camera lights, one umbrella'd like in previous shots, and one aimed at the wall behind me.  I did some harsh editing to give it the more gritty look.

So there you have it!  That's not so bad, right?  Honestly though, if off camera flash interests you, go visit The Strobist.  His site is absolutely amazing for learning all about off camera flash.

One more time, my favorite 2 sites about flash photography:

The Strobist (David Hobby)

Tangents (Neil van Niekerk)

Happy shooting!